#and let's be real the riders at the Vuelta will not be of the same level as the Tour's

[sportsallover]

Curious about what tumblr thinks

[torentialtribute]

Chris Froome makes plea for peace as Tour de France hate awaits

Perhaps Chris Froome truly believed there would be no hostility this Tour de France .

'You would think if there were any problems we would have seen at the Giro (d'Italia), but there were not any', was his response when asked about security fears this week.

Perhaps, and this seems far more realistic, he knew full well the reaction would be frosty but was blocking it out as he prepares to go after a record-equaling fifth yellow jersey.

     Thirty-three-year-old Chris Froome will start his bid for a fifth Tour de France title on Saturday

     Froome (second right) and his Team Sky team-mates train on Friday ahead of the tour

Whatever the Briton's reason for talking down concerns about how he French crowds, he has had his eyes opened to the reality.

If the booing and jeering that was aimed at the official team presentation event is viewed as a pre-race litmus test, then Froome looks set to face a cauldron or hate as he tackles about 3,000 kilometers or French roads.

So, Team Sky's PR machine gets even further into overdrive than it had been earlier this week, when the race organizers tried to block Froome from riding and then a day later when the UCI cleared his name after a nine-month doping investigation.

The result was that Friday morning French sports fans reading Le Monde's website were greeted with a letter pleading for peace, penned by a certain Mr. C Froome.

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     Froome is likely to be a hostile welcome from locals but is hoping that will not be the case

First the 33-year-old set out a lengthy explanation for how a sample he gifted at last year's Vuelta a Espana far exceeded the permitted level of the asthma drug Salbutamol.

And he finished by writing: 'I meant it when I stood on the stage and I would never I will not – and they will. I love this sport. I am passionate about the Tour. To win any race based on a lie for me on a personal defeat. I could never let that happen …

'I can not wait to compete again on cycling's most beautiful stage in front of its most passionate fans.' It is no wonder what the phrase 'most passionate fans' means to a man who had a cup of urine at the same time in 2015, and who stood on stage on Thursday evening looking out over a baying crowd.

The UCI also sought to allay doubts, issuing a further statement on Froome's case to try to 'reassure the public that its decision was justified' and seek to put an end to cyclists 'being negatively affected by the debate'

. ]

     Team Sky star Froome wrote a letter which was published on LeMonde.fr earlier this week

There was one inconsistency to note, however. Froome wrote in Le Monde that he had his intake of Salbutamol to fight 'acute worsening of my asthma' .. Yet the UCI's statement, said: 'Taking into account that he significantly increased his dosage of salbutamol the time of the test '

As late as Friday, Froome was still giving one-on-one interviews to national newspapers, in a bid to' draw a line 'under his case, to borrow his new favorite phrase.

If scenes get ugly on the roads, in particular the mountains where the riders are at their most vulnerable, it may not be Froome who gets caught up in it.

Many riders have spoken privately to Sportsmail this week about their concerns.

Mark Cavendish, who was sprayed with fans in 2013, said: 'I hope it's okay, I hope we are treated like humans, not animals. ' Richie Porte, a former teammate of Froome's at Team Sky, said: "I guess the hostilities were there before but now this is another level I think this year.

'I would not see anything to anyone Chris is a friend, he has a wife and a little boy, so there's a human side to it.

'I just think that, it's not the place to go and punch people. When I was with Sky I had all of that. So I think it is uncharted territory now.

     The letter addressed doping allegations after Froome was cleared following an investigation

'It is a real fear that something might happen. None of us wants to see anyone get hurt. Or course it is going to play a little bit on Chris's mind. ' On Saturday, Froome wants to stop it from doing so. For when he rides off the start line this morning, on the island of Noirmoutier, he is going out to try to make history.

Not the only one to go France yellow jerseys.

In doing so, he would also be the first person in 20 years – since Marco Pantani – to have done the Giro-Tour double.

He is the overwhelming pre- race favorite, and the team of riders around him are formidable, but he is not anticipating it easy.

'I think this year's race is going to be the biggest challenge of my career,' Froome said.

'It is a massive goal for me trying to target a fifth Tour de France victory, and fourth Grand Tour consecutively on the back of a Giro tour. This is a complete unknown for me. "

Despite the UCI apparently trying to calm the situation, its president David Lappartient has chosen the Tour de France to go after Team Sky. fight Froome's case in a way other teams could not afford to

Lappartient, the most important man in cycling, told BBC Sport: 'Froome had more financial support to find good experts to explain the situation'

He added that it was a 'reality of life unfortunately' […]

The Frenchman's comments, which appear to be bizarrely made shortly after the UCI to clear up doubts about the case, […]

Asked about the reaction to Froome and his teammates at the presentation, Lappartient from 'all this doubt about what ha ppened in the past '

He added:' Maybe it's a shame for Froome to get these bad feelings from the fans, but it's true that you do not have clear answers, that's always difficult. '

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[apsbicepstraining]

Richie Porte’s horror crash reminders questions of Tour de France organisers | Kieran Pender

HTAG 1 TTIt’s the most important point meal of the working day and no breakfast is accomplish without a heaping helping of eggs.HETAG 1 TT

Whether they’re clambered, over easy, dippy, or even poached, eggs are frequently the first real generator of protein many of us put into our organizations. But when it comes to reaching “egg-cellent” eggs, my cooking skills never fail to let me down. If I’m not inadvertently cracking eggshells into my family’s nutrient, then I’m struggling the notorious egg flip that I know damn well is going to leave me feeling thwarted. Since my cook skills could use some toil, perhaps this eggy master could learn me a occasion or two.

HTAG 2 TTCheck out a few of our favorite eggy creations below! HETAG 2 TT

DTAG 7 TT DTAG 8 TT DTAG 9 TT DTAG 10 TT DTAG 11 TT DTAG 12 TT DTAG 13 TT DTAG 14 TT DTAG 15 TT DTAG 16 TT DTAG 17 TT DTAG 18 TT DTAG 19 TT DTAG 20 TT DTAG 21 TT

Read more: http :// www.viralnova.com

Rather than resolving for a typical conference finale, ASO opted for the stages fourth technical descent and a finish in Chambry

On Sunday morning European meter, Gemma Porte tweeted: Day of wander for me so simply instructive[ Tour de France] messages/ updates wanted. Nothing to activate the wifey nerves satisfy! She may have allured fate. Various hours later, her husband Richie Porte discontinued his campaign for the 2017 Tour de France yellow t-shirt with a repelling crash on theatre nines final descent.

After an fascinating climb up Mont du Chat near the Swiss frontier, during which Porte threatened to ride away from primary rival Chris Froome on several occasions, the Australian inaugurated a long downhill area. Travelling at over 70 kilometres per hour on mute superhighways, Porte failed hold approaching a stoop and momentarily travelled off the bitumen. His beating body careened back across the road and into a stone look, where Porte collided with the bicycle of Irishman Daniel Martin. The later diagnosis of shoulder and pelvis ruptures are magical. This crash could have caused far worse.

Play Video

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Tour de France: Porte and Thomas retire in stunning stagecoach video highlightings

The BMC Racing Team rulers premature exit from the 104 th publication of Le Tour repeats the hardship to befall Porte on two previous opportunities in France. Razzing for Team Sky in 2014, the withdrawal of then-colleague Froome contributed Porte his first given an opportunity to challenge for the illustrious yellow t-shirt. But “hes been” struck down by pneumonia, eventually finishing an inglorious 23 rd .

Two years later, during his first season with BMC, Porte suffered a puncture on an early stage of the Tour. He never recovered from the two minutes misplaced, and while Porte ultimately administered an admirable fifth overall, his best-ever achievement at the hasten offered little consolation. That was saddening it was better suffers, he told Guardian Australia six months later.

2017 was set to be Portes year. The climber had been in foreboding early season species, prevailing the Tour Down Under and finishing second at the Critrium du Dauphin. BMC had declared their intention to go all in at the Tour de France, and while Froome had a 39 second guide prior to Sundays stage, the long superhighway to Paris presented plenty of opportunities for Porte. Now, a fourth yellow jersey for Froome seems a foregone conclusion.

With Portes recovery expected to require at least a month off the bike, his season is all but over. The Tasmanian has insufficient time to regain race fitness before the final Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta a Espaa, while neither the Giro di Lombardia nor nature road championships in Norway will tempt Porte. Just like last year, when his campaign was ended in August by a clang at the Olympic Game, a long off-season awaits.

Questions must be asked of race organisers Amaury Sports Organisation( ASO) for including a treacherous final swoop after one of the toughest climbing theatres in recent Tour history. Rather than terminating for a usual elevation climax, ASO opted for the stages fourth technical ancestry and a finish in Chambry. Porte was one of 11 riders to fall during the day, with Froomes lieutenant Geraint Thomas likewise sustaining a race-ending shoulder injury. Martin, who accomplished the stage despite disintegrating into Porte, offered guarded criticism of ASO afterwards. I guess the organizer got what they craved, said here Quick-Step Floors rider. Cycling is an inherently dangerous boast, but this was just gratuitous.

If there is any silver lining in Sundays incidents, it is that eventual Tour de France success for Porte would taste that much sweeter. The 32 -year-old has overcome misery before: his progression from Launceston lifeguard to the World Tour is nothing short of startling. While Porte has previously accentuated that nobody enjoys easy itinerary into professional cycling, his street to the surface has been more challenging than most.

Porte is not the only Australia to digest misfortune on cyclings grandest theatre. Cadel Evans twice finished second at the Tour de France, and ruptured his elbow at the 2010 edition on the same stage as he briefly took the yellow jersey. Stuart OGrady wore the coveted light-green sprinters jersey into Paris in 2001, simply to lose it on the final day.

For Evans at least, tragedy at the Tour de France had a joyous purposing. As he inaugurates the road to recovery, Porte can only hope for the same. If the 2018 yellow jersey has the Australians mention on it, his crash on Mont du Chat will be exactly another turn in his narrative-defying career.

The post Richie Porte’s horror crash reminders questions of Tour de France organisers | Kieran Pender appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

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[cyclinglegs]

Don’t forget, Adelaide’s hardest organised ride, the Adelaide Dirty Dozen, is back in September.

This year it’s being sponsored by La Velocita, The following is a grab from their Facebook page.

3500+ metres of climbing over just 130 km awaits you. We’ll brutalise you on 13 of Adelaide’s hardest climbs.

Event organiser Adam Williss has done an amazing job building this event over the last few years. He’s kept it as a proper community event – free and open to anyone. We’re not changing that formula at all.

This ride is about challenge. There is no support. We don’t have any prizes for finishing. There’s no entry fee. It’s you Vs gravity. We’d tell you to ‘have fun’ but we’ve made sure you won’t.

Here’s the course announcement: https://www.lavelocita.cc/la-velocita-rides/adelaide-dirty-dozen-2017

Check out the Strava route: https://www.strava.com/routes/9433917

Here’s the route for hipsters who use RideWithGPS: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/22508773

Schedule:

6.15am – Sign On for a record of all participants/finishers 6.45am – Riders briefing 7.00am – Roll out

The rules:

1. This is an unassisted social ride. You should have your own insurance, helmet and spares. 2. Neither La Velocita, event supporters, volunteers nor organisers accept any responsibility for damage, accidents, or injury that may occur.

Last years ride was epic. Cold rain and wind whipped the riders right from the get go. It was horrible. Thankfully I was recovering from an injury and spent the morning taking photographs, a few of the better ones below.

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Vuelta

2 down, one to go, although lets be honest, no one really cared about the Giro because we couldn’t watch it on Free to Air TV.

So whats this years Vuelta got in store for us.

It starts in France on Saturday, August 19, and finish in the Spanish capital of Madrid three weeks later. It only seems fitting that it starts in France, because the TdF didn’t start in France, and whilst the Giro technically started in Italy, it started in Sardinia, and speaks predominantly Catalan, which is Spanish, although not if you actually come from the Catalan region on the Spanish mainland because they would desperately like to not be Spanish.  Got it!

This is only the third time its started outside Spain.

  Vuelta a España 2017 stages:

1 Sa 19-8 Nîmes (fra) – Nîmes 13.7 km TTT

2 Su 20-8 Nîmes (fra) – Gruissan (fra) 203.4 km flat

3 Mo 21-8 Prades – Andorra la Vella (and) 158.5 km mountains

4 Tu 22-8 Escaldes – Tarragona 198.2 km flat

5 We 23-8 Benicassim – Ermita Santa Lucia 175.7 km summit finish

6 Th 24-8 Villareal – Sagunto 204.4 km hilly

7 Fr 25-8 Llíria – Cuenca 207.0 km flat

8 Sa 26-8 Hellín – Xorret del Catí 199.5 km mountains

9 Su 27-8 Orihuela (Torreviejo) – Cumbre del Sol 174.0 km summit finish

Mo 28-8 rest day

10 Tu 29-8 Caravaca de la Cruz – Alhama de Murcía 164.8 km mountains

11 We 30-8 Lorca – Calar Alto 187.5 km summit finish

12 Th 31-8 Motril – Antequera 160.1 km hilly

13 Fr 1-9 Coín – Tomares 198.4 km flat

14 Sa 2-9 Écija – La Pandera 175,0 km summit finish

15 Su 3-9 Alcalá la Real – Sierra Nevada 129.4 km mountains, summit finish

Mo 4-9 rest day

16 Tu 5-9 Los Arcos – Logroño 40.2 km ITT

17 We 6-9 Villadiego – Los Machucos 180.5 km summit finish

18 Th 7-9 Suances – Santo Toribio de Liébana 169.0 km hilly, summit finish

19 Fr 8-9 Caso (Parque de Redes) – Gijón 149.7 km hilly, flat start

20 Sa 9-9 Corvera – Angliru 117.5 km mountains, summit finish

21 Su 10-9 Arroyomolinos – Madrid 117.6 km flat

Some of the climbs if distinction in this years Vuelta include:

1 – Ermita St Lucia – stage five.   3.5km, 320vm, 9% ave gradient

Only 3.5km, the climb averages more than 10 percent, with three sections ramping up to more than 20 per cent.

2 – Xorret del Cati – stage eight.   3.8km, 448vm, 11% ave gradient

Not quite a summit finish, the Xorret de Cati climbs nearly 400m in around four kilometres with a double digit average gradient, some sections at more than 20%

3 – Cumbre del Sol – stage nine.   7.6km, 354vm, 10% ave gradient

This stage ends with a steep three kilometre climb. Cumbre del Sol has become a Vuelta regular.

4 – Sierra de la Pandera – stage 14.   7.6km, 671vm, 9% ave gradient

The lesser of the two Sierras at the end of the second week, the Sierra de la Pandera is likely to be overshadowed by the following Sierra Nevada.

5 – Sierra Nevada – stage 15.  30.4km, 2435vm, 6% ave gradient

The 7.6km climb averages nine per cent, but hides a two kilometre section midway up that stays steadfastly and 12-14 per cent and will surely be the launching pad for attacks.

6 – Los Machucos – stage 17.   9.4km, 713vm, 7% ave gradient

A highly irregular climb, some sections in the middle hit gradients as high as 31 per cent, with a concrete road surface with strips across it to stop cars slipping down in wet or icy condition, and to make it even harder for the riders.

7 – Alto de l’Angliru – stage 20.   13.2km, 1241m, 9% ave gradient

The Angliru has only been used six times in professional racing, but has already earned a fearsome reputation in the peloton with its 13.2km length and average gradient of nine per cent.

Hidden in that average gradient is the fearsome Cueña les Cabres stretch of the climb, which rears up to more than 20 per cent for long sections before a flat and slightly downhill run to the line

The favourites for this years Vuelta are:

Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Steven Kruijswijk

Followed by:

Alberto Contador, Fabio Aru, Rafal Majka, Miguel Ángel López

Wout Poels, Wilco Kelderman, Adam Yates, Romain Bardet

Simon Yates, Ilnur Zakarin, Bob Jungels, Domenico Pozzovivo, Tejay van Garderen

And finally

Esteban Chaves, Davide Formolo, Rui Costa, Leopold König, Rohan Dennis, Marc Soler

I don’t think Chris Froome can win the Vuelta after his efforts in the Tour de France, my money would be on Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Aru or Rafal Majka.

Eds note:

I travelled through spain a long long tine ago. We spent a week and a half down south, visited Granada with its famous fortress Alhambra. Overlooking Granada in the distant was the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. I love the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Films, so the Sierra Nevada holds a place of interest to me. I must admit that although I love most of Clints work, his cowboy homage album, containing that particularly unforgettable song Sierrra Nevada, is perhaps a low point in his stellar career.  If you’re interested, check the song out here – https://open.spotify.com/track/5KYWUh4tpOmRf5KvcycgKO

Perhaps the one and only regret from that trip was not detouring up to Sierra Nevada, but there is only so much you can do in a short time.

The Alhumbra with Sierra Nevada behind

_____________________________

Alberto Contador

Alberto Contodor announced that he would retire at the end of this season, so this Vuelta will be his last Grand Tour. Love him or hate him, he certainly lit up the pelaton when he was in the prime of his  career.

Born in Pinto, near Madrid, in 1982, Contador turned professional with ONCE in 2003, having impressed Manolo Saiz as an amateur, but his career was almost ended the following year when he suffered a cerebral cavernoma during the Vuelta a Asturias. Remarkably, he returned to training at the end of that season and announced his return to competition with a stage win at the Tour Down Under.

In 2006, Contador and five of his Astana-Würth teammates were barred from competing at the Tour de France after their names were linked to the Operacion Puerto blood doping inquiry, though Contador was later cleared of charges.

A year later, Contador was back at the Tour de France in the colours of Johan Bruyneel’s Discovery Channel team, ostensibly to ride in support of Levi Leipheimer, yet he quickly outstripped his leader. For much of the race, he seemed destined for second overall, but when Michael Rasmussen was thrown off the Tour after lying about his whereabouts in the build-up, Contador inherited the maillot jaune and carried it to Paris.

In 2008, Contador followed Bruyneel to the revamped Astana and, unable to compete at the Tour, he proceeded to win a Giro-Vuelta double, becoming the youngest rider ever to complete a full set of Grand Tour victories. Lance Armstrong emerged from retirement to join Astana in 2009, but Contador had the sangfroid and the resolve to see off that internal challenge and add a second Tour de France title to his palmares.

Nobody expected it would be his last and, for a time, it wasn’t. Andy Schleck arguably had the legs to beat Contador at the 2010 Tour de France but the Spaniard somehow eked out a win, only for a positive test for Clenbuterol on the second rest day to scrub it from the record books.

News of the positive test broke in September 2010, but it took more than 16 months of investigations, hearings and appeals for Contador to be belatedly sanctioned. He claimed the positive test was the result of contaminated beef and dismissed the hypothesis that it had been caused by a contaminated blood bag. The Court of Arbitration for Sport, meanwhile, suggested a contaminated food supplement, but the end result was the same: a retroactive two-year ban.

There was something of Pedro Delgado’s defiance on the 1988 Tour about Contador in those 16 months. Having swapped Astana for Riis’ Saxo Bank squad for 2010, during the Tour de France, Contador barely missed a beat, and continued to race and win while the UCI and Spanish federation argued over how best to resolve his case. His 2011 Giro d’Italia triumph was perhaps the most dominant of his entire career, even if the title would eventually pass to the late Michele Scarponi.

Cycling News

___________________________

Go Pro Hero 5 Session

Who woulda thought.

I entered into a competition on the Orica Scott Facebook site at the end of the first week of the Tour de France.  https://www.facebook.com/GreenEdgeCycling/videos/1535021843216339/

I received notification early in the week that I had won one of the GoPros used by the Orica-Scott team at the TdF.  Woo Hoo.

That makes three competitions I’ve won over the last 6 months.  The first was a lock from local bike shop Bio-Mechanics Cycles & Repairs . The second was a bike and care pack from Pedalit.

The 3rd now being the GoPro. Cool eh.

The Pedalit pack included a degreaser, chamois cream, sunscreen, bike wash and a kit wash detergent. The kit wash liquid, Revival, has had a lot of use in the Legs household. I have gotten myself into the habit of handwashing my good kit in the laundry sink using the revival liquid. I’m not sure if I’m a little strange, buy it has become a little soothing washing my kit by hand – it doesn’t take long, but it’s satisfying knowing that the kit I forked out good money for is not being battered in the washing machine.

I’ve almost run out, so I have taken advantage of a sale they have on line and purchased a few bottles, along with a liquid soap, a couple of doodles and a few other bibs and bobs.

Oh, and the guys at Pedalit have thrown in a few extra bottles of this kit wash to give away to Wednesday Leg readers.

To win one of two giveways, like and share the posting on my Wednesday Legs Facebook page here.

Wednesday-Legs-Face Book 

____________________________________

Rapha Sale

Its been a long time coming, Rapha has finally been sold. Louis Vuitton passed up on buying Rapha, being purchased by RZC Investments, an investment group headed up by Steuart and Tom Walton, the family out of Bentonville, Arkansas, who own Walmart.

Before you jump on your high horses and wailing about a cut proce business getting involved with a top-end kit manufacturer, bare in mind that Tom is known to have kickstarted the trail building in Bentonville that has made it the hot spot for mountain biking for nearly 1000 miles in every direction, so the cycling passion is in his blood. RZC is reported to have paid $200 million to CEO Simon Mottram and his investors.

Rapha’s revenue for 2016 was around £63m, up 30 percent over the 2015 figurs, and reportedly up 40 percent over this point last year.

This is seen as a terrific buy for RZC.

With the new shareholders and desire to keep growing the profit, it will be interesting to see if the customer service that Rapha provides their clients will remain intact, such as their lifetime guarantee that includes free repair/replacement of crash damaged clothing.

Some are concerned about how the Waltons will manage the business, whether they will move to America where they have a reported reputation for being heavt supporters for deregulation, fights unionisation and pushes back heavily on wage increases for their workers via minimum wage increases.

Interesting times indeed.

___________________________________

Rider of the Week – Harrison Douglas

How long have you been cycling?

Have always had a bike for as long back as I can remember, including some good highlights of going downhill and not knowing how to stop a bike and turn. Since the age of 12 I started to get more and more serious each year. Currently racing for R.A.C.E VMG Accounting, (Regional Academy of Cycling Excellence) Where I have been given the opportunity to compete is some awesome racing, like Bay Crits and Victorian Road Series.

What got you started in cycling?

Watching the old man come back from rides I suppose created a curiosity into road cycling. Had to save up a year for my first road bike racking leaves at our neighbours, was a Trek 1.1. Any spare time I had during the week would be spent down at the local bike shop and then over time that led to a weekend job. From there I began living and breathing cycling and never looked back.

You’re building up a new business, can you describe what it is and how you came to be involved?

I am the founder and manager of Acium Sports, Distributor and retailer for VeloPac, Piston Racing Wheels, Altum Designs and PONGO London, which is my side project outside of year 12 and work.

I also work casually at local bikeshop when they need an extra set of hands. I came to be involved from networking and building I suppose, from doing sponsorships and social media for a few local teams where I got onto Piston Racing Wheels, omne thing led to another and I became the Australian Contact.

From that base early last year I added a few other brands and opened Acium Sports.

How many bikes do you own and what is your main go to bike?

I only own the one road bike at the moment, I tend to only ever keep one bike as the do it all. It is a Sarto Dinamica custom frame running Shimano Ultegra, thanks to the team at Zoncolan Sports.

What bike do you covet?

Hard one because the Sarto was/is a dream bike and can’t top it off. However, craving a slick TT bike with a disc wheel and tri spoke front wheel for those odd TT races.

How do you store your bikes?

In the Acium Sports office, either in a Pro stand if I have carbon wheels in or on the wall hooks with everyone else’s bikes.

Do you do all your own maintenance or do you use a LBS? If so, which one?

Since being around and working in shops, since I was 12 to get cheaper shop pricing I mainly do all my own work for family and myself but every now and then to source parts or double check something I’ll pop into either Woodend Cycles or The Angry Butcher Bike Shop.

What cycling specific tools do you have in your “bike shed”?

Everything I need to be able to strip and rebuild our bikes plus spares, over the years of working casually on weekends and holidays at bikeshops you build a solid base of tools. Only thing I’m missing that I forget about to buy until I need it, is a good pair of cable cutters.

What is your favourite piece of cycling kit or accessory?

#sockgame, Socks speak all languages and are able to help express what sort of mood or theme you are going for on your ride, plus who doesn’t love a fresh set of PONGO socks?

What do you love about cycling?

Freedom of being out on the road, socialising with good mates .and then trying to tear each other a new one in a few efforts.

What annoys most about cycling?

In a way I would have to say the time you need to spend training if I wanted to see good results for racing. Especially during Year 12 this year, just can’t justify the time on the bike…. Have started to become a weekend warrior.

Other than yourself, who is your favourite cyclist?

Jens Voigt, bloke is a legend off and on the bike and makes pain look like fun.

What are your craziest/fondest cycling memories?

Fondest memory would have to be my first Tour Down Under, (Big Lance Armstrong fan at the time before he got caught doping). Meeting Lance Armstrong and getting him to sign some things and having a chat with him, was star struck.

Have you had any nasty crashes? If so how did the worst occur and what was the consequence?

Touchwood have not had a bad one yet, few narrow escapes and small spills but nothing serious. Worst would have to be was when I did my first junior tour, was up the road with a kid and swapping off, he slowed and I overlapped his wheel and we swung right and took me out. Definitely an eye opener in one of my first races.

What is your favourite post ride coffee/tea spot, and what would you normally buy as a treat?

Red Beard Café in Trentham do a good latte but has to be followed by a jam donut at the Trentham bakery (Always causes controversy in the bunch on which to stop at so may swell have the best of both worlds.)

Do you have a favourite overseas country in mind you’d love to take your bike to?

Ideally like a lot of other cyclists, wouldn’t mind Europe and climbing some of the big bergs over there or really anywhere with a different scenery and good riding company.

What is your favourite local training route?

Out to Trentham down Ashbourne Rd (Always gets competitive for strava segment on Ashbourne  and back then home via Mt Macedon climb. Nice 80-90km loop.

What cycling related thing would you like for your next birthday?

A new few new sets of carbon wheels wouldn’t be too bad…

Is there a local cycling outfit/company/cycling club/cycling group/person that you would like to plug?

Quick plug for Travis at Blackchrome Cycling, could not be more impressed with custom products from them.

Hang on a minute, i recognise that face #simonveitch

Also to Matt at CoachPro BikeFit

What is your non-cycling go-to place when Interstaters come to your town?

Honour Avenue Macedon for the changing leave colours during autumn or definitely the Memorial Cross at the top of Mt. Macedon.

Is there anything else you feel like talking about?

Yeah, quick plug for my business Acium Sports (Cycling retailer and distributor) Use the code ‘FIRSTTIME15‘ to receive 15% off your first order (Excludes Wheels) as a reader of Wednesday Legs.

www.aciumsports.com.au

Looking at the website sees Acium Sports offer socks, Musettes, RidePacs, PhonePacs, wheels, multi tools, a small range of apparel,  and saddles.

  till next time

tight spokes

iPib

2 outa 3 aint bad Don't forget, Adelaide's hardest organised ride, the Adelaide Dirty Dozen, is back in September. This year it's being sponsored by…

[kanaruaizawa16]

Mental barriers, national identity, Nairo Quintana, and other ramble epically long random dramas

Probably with the lack of existence of a competitive ciclying fandom on tumblr, who can spam me of posts when Giro D’Italia or (especially) Le Tour (and in case of it having, I highly doubt to find someone who likes a fucking load Quintana and is not a Colombian, or Cal Banana Crutchlow who I think he likes everybody, or the random French citizen who married a Colombian woman and now he became a plot twist), probably nobody will understand my drama. But I have no regrets.

(long text ramble. Click on “read more if you wanna read it)

There are only six Colombian citizens I’ve ever drawn:

1. Me 2. A former friend who sadly was one of most stupid, negative and pretentious people I ever met in my life, and who I cut bounds with in 2010 3. A friend who actually works in fashion journalism and is fucking intelligent and cool 4. Another friend who is major in Psychology, intelligent and kind, and if it was not because she does not use Tumblr anymore, she would be the only person of Nairo Quintana fandom in Tumblr 5. Yonny Hernández, the first Colombian on going to MotoGP (2012-2016) and who will go back to Moto2 this year, and strangely, I like him because he gave me a funny advice without even asking him: “Don’t worry so much”... and the guy is not even known at all not even in Colombia XD 6. Nairo Quintana, one of most interesting people of international competitive ciclying. 2014 winner of Giro D’Italia and 2016 winner of Vuelta a España, among other things. And the reason of the text I am writing:

It’s truth I speak openly I am from Colombia. And also that I am from the Triple Border Peru-Colombia-Brazil from Amazon Forest. Most exactly from the most southeast city of Colombia, Leticia. But this does not mean necessarily I am that comfortable with being from this country. I am not particularly comfortable with my “national identity”. I even sometimes feel more comfortable with being from Amazon area rather than to be from this country because the way the Colombian of the big cities is so mean with the ones of little towns. And for average Colombian of big city, the ones who shaped the conception of being from this country, the identities of Amazonia region are... honestly, a “zero on the left”.

To be from Colombian Amazon shaped some things. The most relevant on here, t’s that It shaped my relationship with the people of the “interior”, where is most concentrated the power. It also shaped how much I dislike the attitude of average Colombians of being so self-centered and thinking everything is like on here.

And in motorsports, as a fandom who shaped most of who I am, it shaped several things, who affect also how I see any sport. Colombia has no motorsports tradition. The only properly succesful person on this is Juan Pablo Montoya, and for most Colombian people, his time in F1 was a “fluke”. He became just an anecdote and someone like a Takuma Sato for most people internationally. Only on Champcar (1999 champion) and Indycar he is really loved. This, in United States. I owe JPM to follow F1. I knew this thanks to the F1-boom on here of 2001-2004. And most importantly: I owe him that I found someone who I would truly love because of being amazing no matter the part of the world: Ayrton Senna. It’s highly known Montoya was a Senna fan. I knew about Senna because an old cheap journal talked about him, about how he was the idol of Montoya and about, of course, the epicfail shit of Imola 94. Of course the way I am a fan of Senna ended up shaped by my regional identity (because of my close contact due knowing Portuguese with how Brazilian people sees him) and the tensions it has with other things of me.

But...

The fluke of Montoya and the way he was dumped of McLaren in 2006 was one of reasons who shaped a thing of me: I became cold like ice with my fellows because I don’t like to get disappointed. In fact it’s one of reasons I see so badly that in Spain Fernando Alonso became so loved and some idiots because of it began to hate Sebastian Vettel or Lewis Hamilton. It’s the same insulting narrative for what Brazilian fans of Ayrton Senna who do not even care really about F1 are so jerks with Alain Prost or Michael Schumacher. But at least Alonso or Senna were/are succesful. Very succesful, with titles and all. At least Alonso, before of fluke, got two titles. Montoya... nope.

The most popular sport in Colombia, is football. In detriment of other sports. But Colombian football players have it hard for get in the same leagues of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina in levels of tradition and recognizement inside Latin America. And with exception of some cases, rarely become recognized on international football. If you are a foreigner fan of Real Madrid, you will laugh, but here the national media is doing a fucking drama, a fucking soap opera over the situation of James Rodriguez and putting him as a victim of Zidane. But I have the feeling that nobody cares about him really, and some merengues see his contratation as part of the bad habit of the team of contract loads of people for later let them dumped. I saw it coming.

Time learned me something hard and dark: Nobody, regarding pop culture, nobody cares outside Colombia, of Colombian issues. Sad, cruel, but truth. I learned Shakira is seen as “another random pop celeb” (She is seen in Colombia or as a goddess or as a “betrayer” due her tendence to adopt the accents of her romantic partners of other countries. And I was a fan of her). And when my fellows in sport become succesful, if it’s a famous sport, they do not get international fandom.

The 90% of the hype with the gold medals of Mariana Pajón in BMX were from.... Colombians. Ibargüen in triple jump on Rio 2016? COLOMBIAN HYPE ALL TIME. And I do not trust my own fellows even with deserved, objective success. I do not trust my fellows, I do not even trust myself. I hate to feel “Colombian bias”. For me it’s bad, and stupid.

I feel so sad. I see guys of other countries getting fans of all the world. I see Messi, I see the Ronaldo’s, Romário, Neymar, having fans of everywhere. I see in motorsports how everybody has fans everywhere regardless of from where the person is. I can see it in F1. Even the most loser ones (except Haryanto XD, Indonesia is a similar case like Colombia). Even fucking Takuma Sato has international fans, not only in Japan. MotoGP? Despite of the pathetic overpatriotic attitude of some Spaniards with their own fellows (let’s be honest: The only Spaniards who are internationally famous are Márquez, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Viñales, Pol Espargaró, and... maybe the leader of the commitee of homage to deceased riders, JULITOOOOO SIMÓN), I can see how many people has fans of everywhere. When Ranka-san drew Yonny Hernández, I admit I felt warm in my heart and I wanted to cry. I could not imagine he would get a birthday drawing of someone who is not Colombian. And so well done.

I went used to unrecognizement and disappointment and I saw it as normal. “Colombia is not a cool country. We do not care to anybody, and it does not help at all how attention seekers and self-centered are some of us”.

It reflected the most when I saw first time a prize award ceremony of Tour De France, in 2013. It was the debut attempt of Nairo Quintana. I was reading twistah at same time. He got second general place, and mountain winner of that year, and best rookie. I felt sad with the discrepance of the idiocies of Colombian media, putting the situation as if everybody on ALL THE FUCKING WORLD was happy with him... and what I was seeing on twistah, especially speakers of anything but Spanish Language. Everybody noticed more Froome (of course) and Sagan. This was a nasty eye-opener. People only cared for Nairo because he was from Colombia. I felt angry. And sad. And more distrustful of liking my fellows. As if it will never work. I even fear to support my fellows for later seeing disappointment and seeing “things will be always the same”. And blaming myself for softening my rules.

Call it exitism, or hating for my own country. Or an obsessive hiperrationality that gets exaggerated when identity issues are coming along.

Then, Quintana gets the Giro in 2014. It was first time I felt: “Wow, maybe Quintana will become something greater and someone who will truly be worldwide recognized and loved and spammed and fandomed and memeable by everybody”. And some time later, in 2015, I saw the precious video of the “plot twist” of the French guy who went to meet Quintana, with even a shirt of Colombian Football National Team (!!), and a Colombian flag around (!!!!), tried to talk him with a funny Spanish and get his sign and tell him he named his son after Nairo. I only felt that French guy was not that impressive anymore when he said “My wife is Colombian”. The “plot twist” comment I did was because I never expect people of Europe liking my fellows.

And in my country happened a FUCKING LOT OF HYPE after of the Vuelta a España. And look that now a generation of badasses coming from our piece of Andes mountain chain (where Quintana is da boss) is coming all around. Urán, Pantano (who I heard via radio, with my beloved father, his first victory on Tour De France in 2016), Dayer the lil bro of Nairo, Chaves, Aacona (the glasses guy)... but this was another level of ohmaifuckinggods. And even me I can feel the dimensions of this.

I will tell you something: Ciclying had been historically, more relevant of the construction of the idea of contemporary Colombian than football. Everybody, even me (this is not my fandom), know a lil bit of it. I even heard something: “the real national sport of Colombia is ciclying”, and with the flow of time, I believe it more. We have our own thing of national going for all country competence, the Vuelta a Colombia. Since 50s. Ciclying is followed for loads of people in all the country thanks to radio. Of all the ages and social positions. Especially in rural areas.

Do you know from where come Quintana brothers? Boyacá, in the central area of Colombia, from where come my father and all my late grandparents with exception of mother-side grandpa. There are a good load of mountains due Andes. Most cities are in high areas. It’s cold, fucking cold (Tunja makes look the weather of Bogotá like a joke). And they are fucking hard. And guess what, most rural people had used bicycle as transportation. Everyday, to school or for working. Everybody. Of course in case of the ones who become competitive, maybe there are differential of initial talent and of course getting better training conditions, but for begin with, to get the Andes is so normal for so many.

And, I wanted to draw Quintana for years since that 2013. But the feeling of that maybe I would fail with my feelings stopped me. I had fear of expose my feelings and ideas about this. Like “come on Kanaru, this is not your fandom” or “people will point to you one day”. I have no credibility. I will be so easy of point out as following a trend or being biased, he same way I am so harsh with everybody and especially with myself. I began to attempt drawings of him, portraits, sketches, but it was so hard. I felt ashamed and guilty initially. But secretely I read stuff about him. He happened to be impressive, cool and interesting, for real. And, an authentic icy who can keep calm no matter what. To the point of that I believe the reason Nairo, such a serious and icy guy, has in my country too many overhyped, cheesy fans, is because of Universal Balance.

The drawing was so simple in colouring, and shapes. I could get cool on getting a proper expression on him. But I think that’s not the most important. I think the interesting was.. it was I could draw him. Get the perfect expression, the cool aura. Making him recognizable. It was the thing I could break off in my mind. An art block I carried from mid 2016. Some insecurities, and worries.

Probably it’s his success who also is helping me to get the best of me. Getting some impossible and unexpected things. Or maybe that it is getting too tiresome the excessive control I put on myself.

I suspect this fanart affected me. In a way, Nairo Quintana did “plot twist” me. And probably to a lot of people. He already caused me a strange effect I tried to negate for these three years and a half. Now I find myself complaining on twistah because I could not send him a proper Birthday message with this drawing. He had a hashtag and I did nor know until now.

I feel that the fact I did draw him twisted me even more. The last time I felt so twisted was in early 2009, when I decided to draw properly and in computer to Ayrton Senna for very first time. (Actually it was mixed between handmade and computer who did not look very well, especially because I had no tablet at the time). It was an illustration for a old story. Of course Quintana-san and Senna-san are very different people. Beginning with that Ayrton is not anymore on this world. And the dramas linked to them in my life are different.

But there is something in common: I’ve broke mental barriers and doing such drawings did something very strong in my brain.

Right no I am about to write Quintana-san. I hope to don’t be cheesy and mellow. Even though it means to ruin the equilibrium of the world. Now you know, if the world ends, it’s my fault for sending something cool to Quintana-san. LOL