Tour Shocker June 30, 2006
Posted by Lorne in Bicycling, Cycling, Rant, Road Racing, Tour de France.add a comment
Well a real surprise tonight from the Tour de France. After watching a series of high-lites on OLN from 2001 to 2005 it was a shocker to hear 9 riders had been dismissed from the Tour on the 2006 preview show. In what I would say was a courageous decision by the directeaur sportifs, the riders who were named in documents obtained in the Spanish Operation Puerto were sent home from the Tour. Now the fact the riders included Basso, Ulrich and Mancebo means no top riders from last year will be competing. This really opens up the Tour.
Now, the riders sent home are innocent until proved guilty, but it’s nice to see the directeurs sportif are doing the right thing. Cycling has really got to clean up its act in the doping arena. There have been too many scandals over the past couple of years and this just another embarrassing moment, given we are on the eve of the greatest race event of the year it sure makes the sport look bad. We to give the legal process time to do its job as no charges have been laid. Until then we can only wait and watch as details are released.
It’s sad to see doping cropping up in any sport and personally I find it takes away from the accomplishments of those who participate in the sport in general. The public is all too quick to paint all the athletes with the same brush in some cases and the innocent get hurt just as badly as the guilty. Maybe I’m a bit naive in thinking there are still some athletes who make it on their own with out performance enhancing drugs. However I suppose there will always be people who do anything to get a edge in a competition, must be human nature. One hopes the cheaters get caught and the true champs rise to the occasion.
Overall it’s going to a really interesting few weeks in cycling this July.
Tour de France Geek Out June 29, 2006
Posted by Lorne in Bicycling, Road Racing.add a comment
This Saturday marks the start of the Tour de France and like a good geek I’ve found several tools to help one become a great directeur sportif de couch.
First off Google Earth. This link has a kml file for use with Google Earth. This is really cool as you’ll be able to see the race as it’s happening at least that’s the plan. Over at the official Tour web site there is a whole section with live updates from the race radio, elevation profiles, times and race positions. The graphics here are good and I’ve used this site over the past couple of years to keep track of the stages during the day. OLN which televises the Tour in Canada and the States has a decent site also, here you can catch video high-lites. And they thought World Cup fans would suck up bandwidth and productivity at work 
Other sites to check for the action include Velo News, Road Cycling and Cycling News. Of course there is also watching the race itself. So satellite TV with a DVR will ensure that I get all the televised action to watch at my leisure, after all one has to have time to get out and ride also. Lastly you also need to get official team to wear while your watching so check out Pro Cycle Gear or Pro Bike Kit.
So I’m looking forward to the Tour for this year. With Lance out of the picture it should shape up into an interesting race. i expect a good battle between Ivan and Jan, but I think Ivan will win.
Cheers!
Technorati Tags: Tour de France, Cycling, Road Racing
Bicycle Parts Woes June 22, 2006
Posted by Lorne in Bicycling, Cycling, Rant.add a comment
Well trying to fix a spoke on a bike seems to be next to impossible. Especially if your wheels need something exotic. In my case I've been trying to get a couple of replacement spokes to fix my wheel after last weekends race. Mavic builds a great wheel but man, nobody really carries stuff to fix them. Probably a case of demand for the local bike shops. but when it takes a week to get the stuff ordered in what a pain. Here in Canada there is one distributor for Mavic and I've heard their service can be not that great. In addition I've heard Mavic changes things from year to year, making it even harder to get what you need.
Expanding my search horizons I turned to net. I haven't had much success out on the info highway either. And after getting the part at a local bike shop, I'm reluctant to order over the net as returns are even harder. Of course this has caused me quite a bit of frustration over the past couple of days and I been trying to think of a solution to the situation.
I will be able to get back riding today as I had an older wheel at home I could use, after fixing a missing spoke on it. But I don't trust this wheel as I have problems with it, which why I bought the Mavic's in the first place. The first solution is purchasing a second wheel set. This solves a couple of things. Firstly I have set I can put into the wheel car or pit at races. Secondly it gives you something to use while your waiting for parts to be ordered etc. The solution is directed at wheel manufacturers. bundle a set of replacement spokes with the wheel sets, say 5 of the various lengths required for each wheel. This would only raise the cost for a wheel slightly. In my travels around town looking for a replacement I was talking with one shop that actually provides customers with spokes when they do special wheels, very thoughtful of them. I sure this appreciated by anyone who's my situation.
Prairie Steamer Road Race June 19, 2006
Posted by Lorne in Bicycling, Cycling, Road Racing, Roadies.add a comment
Well this past weekend was the Prairie Steamer Road Race hosted by Synergy Cycle Racing Club. The course is just north of Cochrane Alberta and consists of several out and back laps. The course is a bit narrow and the road desperately needs the potholes filled. "Hole" was the word for the day in the pack. Conditions were not bad either, partially cloudy with a crosswind from the west although there was rain during the race.
Personally I was ready for te race both mentally, physically and I was even organized on the morning. At the start line we had a bit of delay but overall the mood in the cat 5 group was good. I got into a good start position was holding my own in the pack riding nearer to the front than I ever had. Thing proceeded well for me as I had the lead going into the first turn around. Just after the turn around I heard the sound of riders hitting ground and the person next to me hit me fairly hard. I managed to keep upright though as my left leg popped out the pedal and smashed into my handle bar. I regained my composure, clipped in and kept on going. However as the hill approached I started losing speed and it became more difficult to pedal. Another rider passed me saying "lets go big guy, we're the last two" as he offered his wheel to catch the pack. Unable to keep up I pulled over to discover my rear wheel out of alignment rubbing against the frame and brakes, with no wheel car in sight. So I opened up the brakes as much as could and limped back to the start. So another disappointment, this time a DNF in the standings.
I must say that I'm impressed the spoke didn't break, a tribute of sorts to the quality of Mavic Kysrium wheel sets. I got a laugh from Pam when I told how I was commenting to someone the other day how bullet proof the wheels are and she said they may be bullet proof but not rider proof The incident now has me wondering about getting a second wheel set to toss in the wheel car.
Course map to be posted later.
Technorati Tags: Cycling, Roadies, Road Racing
Google Earth For Linux Arrives June 14, 2006
Posted by Lorne in Linux.add a comment
It's here, Google Earth for Linux, Google Earth – System Requirements.
I've just downloaded a copy and will install to see how it works. Impressions to come later.
Well I've had a chance to use the software and it looks good so far. Install is easy and straight forward, download the file from Google Labs, set permission to execute and run the installer. Once installed, Google Earth launches smoothly and quickly. The interface has changed a little bit as this is a beta version of release 4. A semi transparent compass and zoom controls are available in the upper right of the screen and these shrink when not in use. Mouse navigation response is fast and update of images is also fast.
The search dialog is a little bit weird with the lower selection box for the find business and directions tab is slightly obscured, making it a little difficult to use. Loading of a KML file form a web site also works very well.
Personally I like what I've seen so far and I find the functionality on par with the Windows version. Thus another reason for hanging onto a Windows machine has bit the dust.
