Is Lance going to win?

[Tom Barr]

Well, at 2 seconds behind the time trial's specialist, it's already looking good and Ullrich is 1 minute behind already.

34 mph for 19km! I can do that for about 4 minutes on a very good day and then I die.

I am almost rooting for Ullrich, he's been beaten for 5 years and Lance getting 2nd would not be any thing to shrug at after 6 wins.

But I'd still bet my $ on Lance.

Plant Fest is in the way of the Death Ride in the Sierra's 15,000ft of climbing at over 6000ft and passes at 12,000ft for 130 miles. I'll have to change the dates next year to accomodate the ride!!

A Tour of CA would be brutal.
Our Iowa hill ride is 8000ft and 66miles, then there's the monster ride that links that to 16,000ft and 135 miles, worse than the death ride due to the steeper grades(around 12% for 2 mile section, you pedal out of the saddle and each pedal, you come to a complete stop before the next down stroke!).

And I'm stupid enough to go ride with pros......it's okay, they wait for me
But when I ride with my MT bike friends, they get murdered and I wait for them The gradfes are sometimes as steep as the steeper MT grades but we go faster and have smaller chain gear ratios, so when I'm on a MT bike, those steep hills look much easier and I don't mind hopping out of the saddle for any steep sections. Few Mt bikers enjoy more than 2-3000ft climbs either for each ride.

Well, time to go ride some hills

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[fishface]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

GO LANCE GO!! :gw

 

[PeterGwee]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Lance did had minor glitch on the start... His foot left the pedal for some weird reason. Sheryl Crow a major distraction perharps?

Regards
Peter Gwee

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

She seemed to help last year.
The winner set a world record for the trial, Lance was 2 seconds off that and passed Ullrich at the end. That hurts when you are passed in a time trial. I've passed people but never been passed before(only due to luck of the draw).

Well, I have no legs left after today's ride and tomorrow's will be much worse. At least I will not be fat for the plant fest

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[fishface]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

The gradfes are sometimes as steep as the steeper MT grades but we go faster and have smaller chain gear ratios, so when I'm on a MT bike, those steep hills look much easier and I don't mind hopping out of the saddle for any steep sections. Few Mt bikers enjoy more than 2-3000ft climbs either for each ride.
Regards,
Tom Barr

hey tom, come on over to the west coast and i'll show ya some steeps on the north shore and yah, i think lance is gonna walk with it!

 

[Greg Watson]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Our Iowa hill ride is 8000ft and 66miles

Well if you want to visit the "State of Iowa" (not just some dinky hill), we have the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (aka RAGBRAI) which is about a week long ... you dip your tire in the Missouri River to start off and you finish when you tires reach the Missippi river a week later ...

About 70% of the out of state riders who ride it the first time do not finish ... they seem to think that Iowa is flat and when they find out its not, they just are not prepared well enough physically be able to endure the ride ...

10,000 people make the ride very year ... It's July 24th - 30th this year, and sorry, but there is a lottery for tickets and if you don't have yours already, you are out of luck ... it's a total of 523 miles long this year ...

For any of you suckers, uhm I mean enthusiasts who are interested, check it out at http://www.RAGBRAI.org ... and if you decide to ride it, put my name and number in your pocket so when you collapse and they carry you off in one of the chase ambulances, I'll get you back to your airport when the release you from the emergency room ...

Greg
Iowa (the State, not a dinky hill)

 

[aquabillpers]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Well, since you brought it up . . .

I think he has already won by surviving testicular cancer that also spread into his brain, blood, and other organs. And he came back to continue to be a world class athlete.

But in a way he has also lost, because he left his wife and three kids for Sheryl. I don't know the details of his relationship with his ex, but I can imagine the pain and sadness of three little kids when their daddy leaves them.

I respect him as a superb athlete but not as a person.

Bill

 

[groovyfishguy]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

I respect him as a superb athlete but not as a person.

Bill

Yeah Sometimes the price of victory is too high.....

 

[fishface]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

I respect him as a superb athlete but not as a person.

i would think that it would be awfully easy to judge someone incorrectly and unfairly based on what one reads in sports illustrated and national inquirer etc. who know's what his personal relations are really like...

 

[aquabillpers]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

i would think that it would be awfully easy to judge someone incorrectly and unfairly based on what one reads in sports illustrated and national inquirer etc. who know's what his personal relations are really like...

About all I know about Mr. Armstrong is that he is probably the greatest bike racer in history, that he has survived a terrible disease, and that he walked away from his three little children. All facts, no interpretation needed. Two plusses and one big minus that removes a lot of his luster, IMO.

I'll be rooting for him in the race and hoping that he will do what he has said he will do when he retires, spend more time with his kids.

Bill

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

I respect him as a superb athlete but not as a person.

Bill

Ya got walk, errr....ride....a mile in his shoes, she might be whacky psycho, I've met my share....then again, he might be whacked.

The kids lose anytime things don't work out, it might not be him or it might not be her, they are the only one's that know.

A bad relationship is worse for the kids.........been there done that. Parents got to weigh their own life and happiness with the kids, my rule is simple, the kids come first and the partner is second.

The kids will always be your kids, the spouses can come and go.

The other issue is that relationships do not have to last forever to be successful, I know some terrible marriages I would not wish on my worst enemy.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Iowa is far from flat, it's got lots of rollers that will wear folks out.

Death ride is in 4 days. 130 miles, 15000ft. All in one single day, all above 6000ft and average about 9000ft.

One of our nastier rides is called Iowa Hill, it's about 12% up 2 miles.
Old priest grade going towards Yosemite is a nasty little hill.
One hill by itself is possible. A series of climbs is what really takes the toll.

I use to think the Mt Tam loop I did yestday was a killer ride (most any pro or good rider would never sneer at this ride), 4500ft, 45 miles. 2:15 later.......Heck, I got done and felt I could knock off another 30miles without hurting. The first time I thought I'd die. Now I was cussing at cars yesterday for going so slow I do better with lots of up and down, the ups I get beaten by the little dudes, the flats and downhills I can catch up.
Doesn't matter what you do, the less weight the faster they will go up.

That's why the little dudes get the polka dot jersy for climbing in the Tour, not Lance.

I'm not sure but someone won and also got the polka dot jersey as well.
Lance could get it I think but the yellow is worth far more to everyone.

But heck, doing nasty race day after day takes it's toll.
It's not like the single day race, that can be anybody's race.

The tour seems to be much more about who is the best overall rider in a variety of different races.

Lance is also one of the oldest riders.

Regards,
Tom Barr





Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[aquabillpers]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Ya got walk, errr....ride....a mile in his shoes, she might be whacky psycho, I've met my share....then again, he might be whacked . . ..

Sure, she might have been impossible to live with, or he might have been. I don't know. Sometimes divorce is the best thing to do.

But after he left conquered cancer, he left her to raise to raise the kids, (although with his financial support) and devoted himself to bike racing. So if she is a whacko there is no other parent for the kids to turn to.

I grow tired of athletic heroes, movie stars, and similar folk who are role models (whether they like it or not), who try to satisfy their parental obligations with but a monthly check, if in fact they do that.

But enough sermonizing from me. I hope Lance wins this thing. His big test will come in the mountains, where in past years he has won the race. Maybe that's why he is off to a faster start this year, to build up a lead just in case.


Bill

 

[derekparr]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

fun to watch, and I hope lance wins ... but who'd want to jinx it. He sure is doing really well. Stage 5 was pretty exciting when I watched last night.

But I don't think I could get into biking... I'd rather do an open swim any day.
Besides, I'd start getting pretty bored after swimming (or biking) for longer than an hour or so. Although I'd like to try a 10k one of these days.

As for the hills, I know a few people who prefer them over flat ground.

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Well in 2 days I'll swim the length of the Ichtucknee(6 miles) and then a lot more every day thereafter.

So I get the water in also

I think the director should have allowed the dude to take Lance's offer for the yellow. He does not care about it at this stage and does not ever wants to win a jersery that way.

No one does.
Crashes suck big time.
Road riding crashes are nasty. Seldom lethal with other riders, very lethal with cars involved. Even if you are the greatest, a crash can ruin it for you. The team does it's best to protect you from that and make life as easy as possible for the win.

Lance's team often stays out front just for that reason. The accidents often occur in the front/middle and work their way back.

Takes more energy and effoert, but it's worth it and you can run your own pace that way also.

3:49 time for 113 miles: average speed: 29.6 mph!!! for almost 4 hours.......
I can draft good No way would I be pulling much.

Try riding your bike that fast sometime on flat raods and see what it's like for 1-2 minutes, then try it for 5 minutes.
I'm done at that point, but drafting I can keep that up for awhile.

I'll be gone for the next 10 days at plant fest.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[PeterGwee]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Lance won the Tour de france again plus a stage win as well to go along with it...

Regards
Peter Gwee

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Well, till he gets across the finish line tomorrow.......
But it's pretty much a done deal.
A party ride to Paris pretty much.


He says he's going to do Mt bike racing next.......

I doubt any of those folks will be able to beat him Xcountry.
Most of the pros do 60% at least road riding for training and nothing even close to Tour de France training.

Lance would kill them on the climbs and flats. He'd need some work on the skills and techinque but in a little while he'd have that down.
Drafting does not apply much to Mt biking.

 

[turbomkt]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

I seem to recall he has already been doing a bit of MTB in his off time.

 

[JaSa]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

I'm not sure but someone won and also got the polka dot jersey as well.
Lance could get it I think but the yellow is worth far more to everyone.

Eddy Merckx from Belgium won all three (yellow, dot and green) at once in the seventies. Eddy is in many's opinion the greatest biker of all time, His career lasted only 6 years because of injury. He won the Tour 5 times (1969, 70, 71, 72 and 74. With 17 minutes at most. 34 single victories in Tour de France alone. Over 250 total during those six years. The main difference between him and Lance is that Eddy competed in all major races the entire season and won most of them at least once. Lance concentrates on the Tour only. It's no doubt at all that Lance is king of Tour de France though.

Regards
Jarle

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Is Lance going to win?

Well, I'm off for a 90 miler today to celebrate it being over.
I'd be nice to draft Lance

Regards,
Tom Barr