The Tour de France

This weekend the eventual Tour de France Winner could emerge

Ouch, the young Aussie got caught in a crash. He lost 1 position and about 1 minute over the leader.
He is now 4th, about 4 mins behind the race leader.

Sprintcyclist wrote:I've had bikes for about 50 years.

Had a VERY nice road racing bike - a Harry Quinn. English.
Beautiful to ride, responsive yet smooth.

Currently have a Canondale Quick (A commuter), with a basket and panniers and a lovely carbon fibre Canondale road bike.
The commuter I ride a few times a week, the carbon bike hardly ever !!

Having no way of carrying things, is a real handicap.

My own has no mounting holes for a rear rack. That means basically, whatever I carry, is on my back. That is NO good.

Lummy wrote:If someone owned a bike like that 40 years ago, it would have created a a trend, and nobody would have thought you a faggot. Myself, I credit my ex-wife with that garbage. She thought  so highly of herself, if someone didn't like her, that person was queer.

She had a very shallow psycho-social repertoire from which to draw.

I'd ride that bike ...

.. then I'd sell it and buy a few 70's Raleighs. Great, durable bikes. I'm old fashioned.

I don't know about that.

I'd pass on that paint job - and the SRAM gear cluster is a cheap American knockoff of Shimano - but the new aluminum and carbon-fiber frames are a REAL joy.

I remember the Raleigh of the 1970s. Ungodly expensive - I think, $500 or so in 1975 dollars - and lighter, but not that much lighter.

A friend of my brother's, who was into these things, was riding home long after dark. Sneaking around with a girl. He hit a tree branch on a bike path that wasn't paralleling a street - no lights - and broke the frame and his collarbone, going down.

I guess a neighbor - there were back yards facing the bike path (today, it wouldn't be safe for homeowners) - this neighbor was out with the dog, late-night potty call, and heard Jerry moaning. A flashlight showed a body prone. Otherwise he'd have been there until the next morning.

But, those lugged, brazed frames, weren't that strong. Schwinns were strong - but HEAVY. Forty pounds or more.

A friend of mine had a Concorde, a Japanese brand that was new then and didn't last long. High quality, it was about 28 pounds...I doubt it would have done much better in a crash, either, though.

A time trial bike

Carbon-fiber, hey?

Hope it does better under the rider, than the Titan did under the waves.

A few interesting points I saw about The Tour.

Every team has 8 cyclists. Every cyclist has 6 different bikes.
The organiser for every team transports 40 bikes around France !!

The Organiser also takes every cyclists own mattress. So the Cyclist sleeps on his 'own bed' every night. That would make a big difference.

A cruel stage now.  2'nd to last day of 3 weeks of racing.  
The last stage is usually a cautious stage into Paris, nothing happens.
So tonight it is.

Tonight, there are 5 rated climbs. The last 2 climbs are rated category 1 climbs. Hard to walk up.

Stunning scenery, race hardened worlds best Cyclists. Very attacking riding.
The Polka Dot Jersey (Best at hill climbs over the past 3 weeks) can be won or lost tonight.
There are races within races.

A Frenchman is leading this stage. This is special.
The course runs only 30 kms away from his home, so his local cheer squad is there.
ie - EVERY FRENCH PERSON who can make it !!!!!!!!!!!!

He won the grade 1 climb. He is Tibout Pinot.