Comments on: Could You Hang?

By: William

William — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 20:21:33 +0000

Get serious and do some arithmetic my overweight brother. Take for example last year’s Stage Two:http://www.olntv.com/tdf/standings/standings.php?ss=standings&e=0200&t=ITGIt was 181.5 kilometers or about 112.77 miles.One hundred eighty nine cyclists finished the course with times ranging from 4 hours, 12 minutes and 27 seconds to 4 hours 17 minutes and 7 seconds.In other words, the slowest rider _averaged_ 26.3 miles an hour. I’d bet that many who read this blog don’t regularly ride that fast downhill.Nice dream, though.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:54:27 +0000

DEREK…YOU TOOK MY IDEA!! Well, not the fall down and get maimed idea…that’s all you buddy. Frankly, I’d like to keep as much of my original skin as God gave me. But it sounds like you and I are on the same page, at least for a little of the fame.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:51:16 +0000

Hang for a day…you better believe it! Maybe not up Alpe d’Huez or Col du Madeline or anything like that…but a nice flat stage? You betcha! You sit in the middle of the pack, and get sucked along in their wake. You’re practically sitting up and coasting. Ok, maybe not, but you’re not working as hard as some of them are. Besides…if you pick a nice flat stage mid-race…most of them are resting anyway…trying to take it easy…those would be the days to "hang". For a day, its not a problem. What makes these guys truely amazing is not what they do in a single day…its what they do day in and day out for 3 weeks! Anybody could ride a stage for a day…it’s the pro athletes who do it day after day after day. As "rookies", we just don’t know how to recover as fast as they do (and no…I’m not talking about EPO shots either!). But to give it your all for one day, yeah, I could do that. In fact…since I’m a nobody and the Yellow Jersey wouldn’t need to chase me down, you might even see me up front for a little while on one of those break aways. :) So what if the peleton catches me later on…at least for that little while all the cameras are on me. :)

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:00:04 +0000

Oh yeah, I could hang – but only in a "how the tortoise won the race" sort of way.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 17:07:15 +0000

Easy. But unfortunately I won’t have time to prove it – I spend way too much time talking a big game on the subject of cycling* to fit any (potentially humiliating) cycling in.* and my name isn’t even Gilberto or Jan

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:58:13 +0000

Could I hang? No effin way. I do, however, have a plan for 15 minutes of fame — a plan borrowed from many "runners" of the Boston Marathon, which I grew up watching every year. As the Peleton rolled out, I would ensure I was up near the front. I won’t be getting comfortable here though, because I’m leading the first break! Off the front I go, only 2 miles in. ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ!I’d hang out there as long as I possibly could. I’m sure Basso, Ulrich, Liepheimer, et. al wouldn’t be too threatened by my break. I’d hope to hang on past the first climb, but either way, I’m not letting myself get caught — while upright anyway. As the peleton began to close in, I’d dump my bike in some spectacular fashion. Ideally this would be in a downhill descent – something brave and honorable.Would it hurt? You betcha! But I’d have my 15 minutes of fame as the stage leader and possibly even more. Maybe a book deal where I could discuss what it was like to be leading the stage and then have it all taken away by a horrific downhill crash at 60mph — a crash that ended my promising professional cycling career…

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:53:17 +0000

Ah, how we love to dream! In 2001, I was living in Germany and bought a lovely book, "My Favorite Bike Tours," by noted author Jan Ullrich. I then headed off to the Black Forest and set off on Tour No. 1, "Decision on the Texas Pass." I rode through Merdingen, where Jan was living at the time (there was even a big sign), and began to get my rythm in the rolling hills. I could feel the hear rate begin to climb, O My Brothers. Then I saw a cyclist coming in the other direction. He was wearing a German National Champion’s jersey and I thought to myself how much I wanted to get one of those although I had never seen one in a store. The cyclist approached and waved to me. Then I saw the gold earring and realized that the reason he had the National Champion’s jersey was because he was the National Champion–Jan Ullrich himself. As I gawked, he passed me and I watched him closely. He looked completely relaxed as he went by but was turning the crank with such smoothness and power that at first I did not realize how fast he was going. He was spinning like a turbine and any dream I had of imagining I might ride once with the pros flew away down the road as he finished his 86 km, 4500 ft of climbing training ride at a pace higher than I was starting out on it. One year of training won’t do it, O My Brothers. You need strength, dedication, talent and some good genetic material. At least I could ride on the same roads as Jan, and eat the same cake. If the peloton is having a rest and taking the first half of a stage easy, you might stay with the group but once they put the hammer down, you’ll be looking for that cafe.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:42:59 +0000

Absolutely – I could hang. Of course, I’d start by building a strong team around me – people strong, experienced, and frankly better than me. Man, I used to be in shape. I could average 40 kph for long (3 hour) stretches so I’m sure I could do it. No, seriously!Step 1 – start training seriously again (hey I have a year). I’d get Chris Carmichael as a coach (who seems to know very little from what we see on TV of him, but hey, he coached some other successful Tour rider – I’d have Dr. Ferrari’s cell # in my jersey pocket though). Step 2 – create new team that gets invited to the Tour. I’d get some heavy-hitters (French of course – better shot of getting in) to buy my team an invite. I’d use old pros – I’m currently thinking Big Mig, Bjarne Riis, Bernard Hinault, and Andy Hampsten as the headliners. Yes – I’d need money but this is my fantasy so I have it. Most of these guys seem to still be in better than average shape (Andy at least I’ve ridden with a couple years ago and he just finished top 20 in the Colorado state CX race). I might throw in Eddy Merckx as well. These guys would have to be dedicated and start training now. Why these guys? Who in the peloton is going to mess with this team, if for nothing else, out of respect???? Who in the peloton is going to crash these guys out? I’ll be hiding safe in the center of them behind Big Mig. Step 3 – Use the leadership powers of my team to force a "tempo" day. Put Hinault on the front. If any one goes he can chase them down as he did when he was in the yellow jersey (remember that – made Lance chasing Simeoni seem downright passe’ – I think that’s French for "lame"). Step 4 – Choose a stage. Well someone already picked the prologue and it would be sad to pay all this money and assemble my personal Dream Team to just do the prologue. So say I make the time cut. Say the second day is a moderate mountain stage. I’m a good climber – always have been. The team will pace me to the front and I’ll set Hinault out to prevent any attacks. I’ll put Big Mig front and left of me, Riis front and right of me, and Andy will be at my left hand side. If for some reason I start to fade or bonk, Andy will push me up the climb. (I know he will as he did this for me on a tour when I bonked HARD and he got me up the hill to lunch – hey it was over 40C and I couldn’t eat anything). Step 5 – Cross the finish, collapse, and rip my number off and give to my directeur sportif. I’m done.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 12:47:47 +0000

Only on a motorbike, and even then I’d have trouble on the downhills.

By: BIg Mike In Oz

BIg Mike In Oz — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 11:14:03 +0000

Back when… back when… is there an echo in here? There are a dozen or more people who are in a mental zone where history meets denial meets dillusion.Now me on the other hand – I actually beat Robbie McEwen. Three times. Admittedly it was, dare I say, back when. 1989 in fact. In a head-to-head, nowhere to hide, exhibition race inside a shopping centre on rollers.But I’m realist. That was the ’80s, when I was 100 pounds lighter. I don’t think even a full year with Johan Bruyneel sitting on one shoulder and Dr Michele Ferrari sitting on the other could bring back the glory days.As for everyone else, you are all making this much harder than it needs to be. Don’t bother with the first week where they tour along at 25mph for 4 hours then go mental trying to shut down a breakaway at 30+mph. Don’t even consider the middle portion of the race where, if you don’t die going up the hills you are almost certain to die descending. Wait for the final stage. It’s invariably 30 miles shorter than most of the road stages. It’s also conducted at a more tolerable 20mph. But be ready for a world of speed and pain and more speed when the Eifel Tower comes into view.Rarely a day goes by that I don’t come here and go away thinking, I’ve gotta blog that story.