Cycling thread

[Armel]

The Americans seem strong in terms of raw athleticism, but come over to Belgium and get lapped. They must lack the technique at the top level - seem to have a lot of hard dry courses over there that are easy to ride. Plus the Flandrian heritage of hardman cycling is unique to Belgium / Holland and no one else has that.

The U8s in our events are just a 10 min race round a small lap, no features although it can be muddy. The kids races are really popular, apparently there were over 100 kids racing U12 and down at our last event which is pretty impressive. Some of the equipment is a bit OTT - my son does a few races but finds it stressful, he said Dad - the kids who passed me had wheels just like you! ie deep section carbon tubulars in an U12 race. I think the league banned bike changes for these races as otherwise you'd have competitive parents jetwashing their kids' bikes in the U10s.
I'm nowhere near winning a race - come top half of the vets race and into the top third on a good day / suitable course. Hope to tickle the top 25% by the end of the season if I can race every weekend without getting ill. The top ten lads are properly strong in amateur terms, levels above me. I'd need to quit my job and get divorced to develop that level of fitness and even then probably couldn't.

I only started bike racing in my early 40s - like you played football when I was younger. Think that's the right way round to do it - football whilst you can still move.

Ah yes a lot of those over here. They have their own campers and very expensive bikes. Sometimes it's "understandable"; Nys his kid has a Trek & Dugast sponsor contract so it's quite logical. For the other ones I suppose their parents pay up...

Performance parenting. I don't think that's the right way.

Unrelated but recently there have been quite a few young riders dying, quite a few of them Belgians; The most recent one being Duquennoy (a week ago I think). Mostly talented riders, but not the the absolute top-level, the level just below (mostly early twenties). The present, compulsory, cardiological screening can discover 80 to 85 of the problems. Mind you there are also quite a few heart failure deaths in stop and go sports with a very variable heart rate like basketball etc... For cyclists the leading hypothesis, from the head of the Belgian cardiovascular commission for sports, seems to be that a too intensive strain (by making them train too hard) on the heart of a young cyclist changes the tissue of their heart resulting in an electric short circuit (and then most likely death). They are trying to proof that with a longitudinal study over multiple years, with a wide range of young cyclists. One of the participants was Goolaerts, but he died earlier this year during Paris-Roubaix. And there's the recent trend to make young riders ride more; the volume, the frequency, and the intensity. Not only in races, but also in training. Sometimes it just makes no sense. Like Turgis, the youngest rider to ever finish Paris-Roubaix since '62 - to me it just seems an idiotic idea to make a 19 year old ride Paris-Roubaix (that race is absolutely brutal for your body). The coach of Sven Nys said something similar just after the race; he thought it was completely inappropriate. Turgis has to permanently retire now, also for cardovascular issues, and possibly unrelated but still.

Mind you the numbers are small and tbh I'm pretty certain that a lot of them would have gladly embraced the risk if you'd told them beforehand.

Not really sure if a divorce would help you, your wife might troll you and give you full custody - even less time to train.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Ah yes a lot of those over here. They have their own campers and very expensive bikes. Sometimes it's "understandable"; Nys his kid has a Trek & Dugast sponsor contract so it's quite logical. For the other ones I suppose their parents pay up...

Performance parenting. I don't think that's the right way.

Unrelated but recently there have been quite a few young riders dying, quite a few of them Belgians; The most recent one being Duquennoy (a week ago I think). Mostly talented riders, but not the the absolute top-level, the level just below (mostly early twenties). The present, compulsory, cardiological screening can discover 80 to 85 of the problems. Mind you there are also quite a few heart failure deaths in stop and go sports with a very variable heart rate like basketball etc... For cyclists the leading hypothesis, from the head of the Belgian cardiovascular commission for sports, seems to be that a too intensive strain (by making them train too hard) on the heart of a young cyclist changes the tissue of their heart resulting in an electric short circuit (and then most likely death). They are trying to proof that with a longitudinal study over multiple years, with a wide range of young cyclists. One of the participants was Goolaerts, but he died earlier this year during Paris-Roubaix. And there's the recent trend to make young riders ride more; the volume, the frequency, and the intensity. Not only in races, but also in training. Sometimes it just makes no sense. Like Turgis, the youngest rider to ever finish Paris-Roubaix since '62 - to me it just seems an idiotic idea to make a 19 year old ride Paris-Roubaix (that race is absolutely brutal for your body). The coach of Sven Nys said something similar just after the race; he thought it was completely inappropriate. Turgis has to permanently retire now, also for cardovascular issues, and possibly unrelated but still.

Mind you the numbers are small and tbh I'm pretty certain that a lot of them would have gladly embraced the risk if you'd told them beforehand.

Not really sure if a divorce would help you, your wife might troll you and give you full custody - even less time to train.

Yes definitely seems like some pattern of behaviour is responsible for these deaths. There was a sad case here of the U16 national CX trophy winner Charlie Craig (son of a very well-liked and respected CX / MTB pro Nick Craig) dying in his sleep at 15yo, out of the blue heart attack with no symptoms. His Dad said he was acutely aware that the hardest thing to do as a junior is not to overtrain, as you feel invincible, and he never thought his son was doing that. But perhaps a small proportion of the population are just vulnerable to the massive stop start efforts you get in this sport like you say, so even with elite fitness they are in danger.

 

[Armel]

VDP possible ankle fracture

 

[Bruce Wayne]

 

[neil999]

Why are people who work in bike shops so condescending and/or strange?

 

[Armel]

They've found him:

 

[Bruce Wayne]

They've found him:

Good that they found him but doesn't sound like he's in a good way

 

[Armel]

Good that they found him but doesn't sound like he's in a good way

On Sporza they say that they think that he fell off his bike in the descent. Hopefully he's not too banged up.

Why are people who work in bike shops so condescending and/or strange?

I think you're frequenting weird bike shops.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Why are people who work in bike shops so condescending and/or strange?

I sacked them off years ago - margins are tight meaning mechanics are low paid, so it's hard to find a good workshop - ultimately it's easier and better just to do it yourself.
I do have space at home to work on my bikes, though - think if I was living in a flat I prob would pay for routine stuff like a brake bleed nowadays.

 

[Frang]

interesting that wiggo classes Armstrong as iconic... you kinda hope he would demonise him for ruining the sport.. but hey ho

 

[Bruce Wayne]

interesting that wiggo classes Armstrong as iconic... you kinda hope he would demonise him for ruining the sport.. but hey ho

I got into cycling because of Marco Pantani. He was, and to a large extent still is, iconic to me. I'm under no illusions as to his doping, but for a teenager watching him in the mountains was one of the most exciting things I've seen in any sport, and I make no excuse for going on many 'pilgrimages' to the various Pantani monuments and statues on climbs around Europe. Now of course, the irony is that his ride in 98 was branded as saving the sport in the wake of Festina. It's seldom black and white is it?

 

[Frang]

I got into cycling because of Marco Pantani. He was, and to a large extent still is, iconic to me. I'm under no illusions as to his doping, but for a teenager watching him in the mountains was one of the most exciting things I've seen in any sport, and I make no excuse for going on many 'pilgrimages' to the various Pantani monuments and statues on climbs around Europe. Now of course, the irony is that his ride in 98 was branded as saving the sport in the wake of Festina. It's seldom black and white is it?

I get your standpoint and to an extent lance Armstrong is still an icon of mine, watching him do what he did was, well, unbelievable..

however to have an Olympic , world and tour champion , not condone Armstrong is very very odd, don't you think??

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I get your standpoint and to an extent lance Armstrong is still an icon of mine, watching him do what he did was, well, unbelievable..

however to have an Olympic , world and tour champion , not condone Armstrong is very very odd, don't you think??

*shrug* I took his comments to be that he was inspired by him growing up and he didn't really know any better. He hasn't thrown him under the bus, but you'd imagine he had many colleagues during that team who he suspected as well. Remember he was at Cofidis only a few years after they were busted with Millar. I suspect he's a bit bored of talking about the period to be honest, and he's perhaps also mindful of the way the lives of victims of the time like Pantani, Vandenbrouke and Jimanez were ostracised from the sport, and the mental breakdown Ullrich appears to be going through at the moment. Whatever your views on his ethical behaviour either then or now, I doubt anyone would wish Ullrich to go down the tragic path of those three.

 

[Frang]

*shrug* I took his comments to be that he was inspired by him growing up and he didn't really know any better. He hasn't thrown him under the bus, but you'd imagine he had many colleagues during that team who he suspected as well. Remember he was at Cofidis only a few years after they were busted with Millar. I suspect he's a bit bored of talking about the period to be honest, and he's perhaps also mindful of the way the lives of victims of the time like Pantani, Vandenbrouke and Jimanez were ostracised from the sport, and the mental breakdown Ullrich appears to be going through at the moment. Whatever your views on his ethical behaviour either then or now, I doubt anyone would wish Ullrich to go down the tragic path of those three.

how many pro cylcist's careers did lance end tho ??! youd of thought this fact alone would be enough for wiggins to despise lance

 

[Bruce Wayne]

how many pro cylcist's careers did lance end tho ??! youd of thought this fact alone would be enough for wiggins to despise lance

Sure, I don't doubt that. I'm sure that many would take the view that he so raised the profile of the sport after Festina that he also helped make many cyclists much better off simply because the sport was richer. That's not to condone what he's done at all, merely to say that things aren't always black and white.