I found that when I moved to London about 40 years ago. There was no pleasure in it any more, and bundling the bike into the car and driving for an hour each way just ruined the fun for me. These days I'm back in Dorset and the roads are a little calmer. Mostly, drivers are respectful, and, ironically the closest I've come to a collision was with a cyclist who cut the corner of a junction and would have hit me full speed, head on if I'd not got out of his way...
But I look at the gradients on the climbs in the tour, compare them to those where I live (and many are comparable, though shorter) and think about how fast I go up them compared to the tour, how tired and out of breath I get, and I long for 30yr old legs and lungs. And a lighter bike. I see there are 750g carbon frames if you can afford them. The technology is just incredible, there's been mention of Fast Eddie M earlier, I wonder what he'd do with it...
Getting to cycling, McGill University has a weekly blog -- the topic of bike helmet protection came up: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/medical-technology/mips-helmet-technology-mimics-meninges
With respect to the Irish and Scots learning Dutch, hey Miss Netherlands is a dude!
With respect to the Irish and Scots learning Dutch, hey Miss Netherlands is a dude!
Don't like wearing one, but I do, and, obviously, a really stylish one. Thanks for the link to a really interesting article.
OK, but if you don't speak Catalan, then make sure the locals know that you're are NOT Castilian when in Catalunya. ;-)
Then you got France. Ay! They speak Anglais alright, but they will not acknowledge it. My old coworker, Scottish, who was working at CERN.... he, his boss (German) and another coworker (English) spent the weekend in Milan. Coming back to the office, they took an autoroute. My old coworker was driving his boss's big S class Benz with German plates.
So, there they were, doing 150 klicks when out of nowhere he noticed a Citroen on his ***. Annoyed, my coworker sped up, 160, 170, 180... eventually he started to pull away from the Citroen.. only to realize it was a Gendarme... Shoots.... lights go off, he gets pulled over.
Gendarme doesn't speak English, German.. nada, zilch.. starts to write him up for speeding. The English guy who had been sleeping on the back seat, wakes up, seizes the situation, and loudly claims "Damn frogs, you'd think they'd learn their lesson after Waterloo"...
Well, the Gendarme hears this.... closes off his ticket book, calls reinforcements, they all get taken out of the car, cars gets thoroughly searched, blah, blah... ticket is now more ( Francs, this is before he Euro ), payable on the spot with a credit card.
Or us, trying to find a place in Perpignan.... no one spoke English or Castilian and my Catalan is rusty. I eventually I found an old Basque guy who regaled us with his tales from the Civil War and evading Les Boches during WWII post Vichy, showed us the town, would not take any gifts from us -OK we did sit down to drink some wine together... I like Basques...
That is why professional cycling and doping go hand in hand and always did.
In the 1920s the preferred doping method was a mixture of arsenic, strychnine and cocaine.
Back in the late 60s when officials finally banned doping the racers went on strike saying that it is not possible to finish the TdF without it.
It was another 10 years before they actually attempted to enforce the ban.
Back in the days when I was still interested in cycling it was said that the TdF is the greatest race but the Giro is the toughest.
I've had a carbon bike for about 10 years now. It's approx. 7.5kg, so not as light and aero as the new bikes you see in the Tour, but still pretty decent.
This spring, I bought a new Giro helmet that uses the "Mips" tech. An added benefit, it's definitely more comfortable than my old Giro.
jeff
Are you implying these routes are for automobiles ONLY (like bicycle lanes are for bicycles ONLY)? It seems you misunderstood something very basic.
It took me a while to get my head around this in Spanish. I have mixed feelings. It's precise but in practical terms the precision isn't always needed and the 'english' way is good enough.
It doesn't help that in the UK we don't really get taught grammar so even the language of grammar is foreign 🙂
I like the precision of the language in regards to time and events. When you grow up with it, it's no big deal. If you're learning it you can usually get away with the simple tenses and folks will understand based on the context. Spaniards don't really mind if you butcher the language so long as they know you're a foreigner trying...
Knowing Spanish, French, Italian.... helps a lot when you start taking Latin.
I ought to note that the regularity of Latin based languages is awesome. Learning English was an exercise in frustration.
Oh, in my time they taught grammar.... The priests, brothers and lay teachers had the Might Of God with them... you Had To Learn or go to Purgatory for a million years, or so.
Knowing Spanish, French, Italian.... helps a lot when you start taking Latin.
I ought to note that the regularity of Latin based languages is awesome. Learning English was an exercise in frustration.
Oh, in my time they taught grammar.... The priests, brothers and lay teachers had the Might Of God with them... you Had To Learn or go to Purgatory for a million years, or so.
Having spend so much vacations in France (but now not possible anymore), I love to watch the course, the tragedies, the battles, the victories... and the landscape. Read the curves to where the road unfolds, mount the peaks, those views from there. As if I'm back again.
Merci mon amis!
Merci mon amis!
The sunflowers, the chateaux, the people setting up those displays on the fields, the landscape... awesome.
El Giro is similar but later in the season so it doesn't shine so nicely.
El Giro is similar but later in the season so it doesn't shine so nicely.
It would be most unwise to ride a bicycle on roads without any shoulder intended for automobiles in a “weave” zone and where the speeds are typically 45 MPH. Pretty sure you will get hit. The other vehicles (cars and trucks) a bit busy changing lanes with significant traffic at varying speeds around them.
BTW there have been a few deaths in that area including some recent ones. Many less serious accidents on a fairly regular basis.
Around here you quickly learn the laws of physics trump the laws of traffic. Driver's have taken intentional aim at me more than once. Being legally in the right is small consolation for broken bones.
Yup. The UK accident stats for cyclists are interesting though. Mostly at junctions and roundabouts, big peaks at rush hour. Responsibility fairly evenly distributed IIRC. Basic lesson for cyclists would be that right and dead are not mutually exclusive.
There used to be a proficiency test for cyclists in the UK. Had to have one to be allowed to cycle to school. Looking at road sense and bike handling skills of some cyclists (I want to cry because some can't even steer securely) some classes wouldn't go amiss.
My recommendation would be that anyone over 18 would has to have insurance and to get the insurance they have to pass a proficiency test.
When I was a kid and went out on my bike my mum's parting words were always "Remember, they're all out to get you"
Steven, I have to disagree about compulsory insurance and testing. The freedom of cycling is one of its great joys, in fact I believe the thrill of getting on a bike in the morning, swinging the leg over and getting balance is something that is remembered from the feeling I first got learning to ride at age 6 or whatever it was ("I'm free! I can do this! I'm independent! And it doesn't cost anything!").
Bringing tests and costs to cycling will only reduce its popularity "**** that, might as well just drive" and send a message that it's dangerous.
Would you argue for compulsory testing and insurance for pedestrians, who also suffer car/human accidents and even have been known to cause them?
The voluntary Cycling Proficiency test is a great institution though. It's still taught in schools. Myself and a couple of clubmates participated in an instructional video that was shown in local schools, including the one my daughter was attending, much to her surprise "that's my daddy!" "no it's not, it's a REAL cyclist"
Bringing tests and costs to cycling will only reduce its popularity "**** that, might as well just drive" and send a message that it's dangerous.
Would you argue for compulsory testing and insurance for pedestrians, who also suffer car/human accidents and even have been known to cause them?
The voluntary Cycling Proficiency test is a great institution though. It's still taught in schools. Myself and a couple of clubmates participated in an instructional video that was shown in local schools, including the one my daughter was attending, much to her surprise "that's my daddy!" "no it's not, it's a REAL cyclist"
Around here the only classes are the one day workshops put on by the local clubs, and that’s mostly to keep noobs from causing too many crashes in the peloton. I havent been back out with the clubs since my body simply stopped tolerating the abuse of “racing” at the rallies. Even back then, many of the amateur (but serious) racers quit going, and many stopped using the roads for training entirely, in favor of virtual competition using apps. And only going on the road at sanctioned races - citing that the traffic had just become too dangerous. I used to go out with them on their old training routes, but they are completely overrun with cars today. Can’t get a group of 15 through anymore, and all the freaking 4 way stops and lights make opening it up for more than a mile or so impractical. I have a 50 (extendable to 60 or more) mile almost-daily loop that is MOSTLY traffic free - except for the four and a half miles off hell on each end. That “hell“ is extending further and further out by the microsecond. I can’t get my new place built soon enough.
I wish I had the time to even plot a 50 mile route let alone ride it regularly. Ah well hopefully by the time the cubs are large enough to give me time I won't be too old to enjoy it any more.
Like most, I stopped cycling when I started work, took my driving test and got a car - but I returned to cycling and used my experience as a car driver to improve my cycling, which I consider it has; but I see a lot of cyclists that presumably have a driving licence, riding like they have no idea. I don't understand that. I ride in the country and in a quiet town, I don't think cycling lessons are relevant in such a situation, however in a big city I think they may be an idea. If I lived in a city, I think I'd walk a route first to suss it out before cycling it.
Nice to see the Yates brothers do well.
Nice to see the Yates brothers do well.