Has anyone been watching the Tour of California or following it? It has been pretty interesting. Lance Armstrong has been struggling unfortunately. Anyway, curious to hear what people think. ;)
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Has anyone been watching the Tour of California or following it? It has been pretty interesting. Lance Armstrong has been struggling unfortunately. Anyway, curious to hear what people think. ;)
In case you aren't following and want to check it out here is a good site I've been using to follow the action. Bruce Hildenbrand has a great blog featured on the site also.
Tour of California
Struggling? - finishing in the pack - the ToC is not his A race - his A race is the TdeFrance.
Yo, Betty! Very cool to see you here.
I keep wondering if people think that Lance is struggling because they don't understand that he's working in a domestique capacity for this race. He's publicly said that he's working for Levi to win. It's interesting to watch him in this new role. Just a few stages in, he seems to be handling it well.
Very good point. The whole "crashing into a motorbike" thing is also a factor, I think: http://cyclingnews.com/road/2009/feb...b09/feb17news3Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalidurga
He has said he is not quite in form which would not be expected. He is trying to peak for the Giro and ultimately the Tour de France. I was surprised to see he did something bone headed like hit his own motorbike, he had some mad bike handling skills which I witnessed when personally when he was mountain biking.
The race is Levi's to lose, he is a great form and is hungry. Unless he keeps falling over like yesterday he will be tough to beat. I am still hoping for the DZ upset, I just love the Argyle!
Overall the biggest loser in the ATOC is VS. The coverage sucks! And they keep cutting off for hockey, bull riding, basket weaving. :mad:
I agree about the coverage! I was really looking forward to the end last night, and then they did not even show it! AH!!!!:mad:
If you're following the race at the Amgen site, they keep explaining that their coverage issues are due to the weather. I assume that Vs. has the same situation, since it seems that Vs's TdF coverage is always borked when it rains.
I know about the rain, but yesterday was tough because they started late, so they didn't get to show the end :-(
I didn't think to go on the Amgen site. I see it is on now with sunny skies.
~ JoAnn
No I understand the weather, it is the cutting out to start a hockey game that stinks. :mad:
Is it bad if I leave the kiddo at daycare an extra 15-20 minutes tonight so I can watch ToC? I did bring her in 20 minutes later than normal this morning . . .
Hey there! I am lurking everywhere! He he he he:cool:
I may unfortunately have to give up on the Amgen coverage. The site just froze my computer for the second day in a row. Shame, I really like having the video feed right next to live coverage. Edit: Problem solved. I remote-connected to another computer in the office that's not being used and pulled the site up there. Where there's a will, there's a way :D
limewave, it's only bad if your child grows up to hate cycling because of being left at daycare ;)
. . . she never needs to know.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalidurga
Only if she hates daycare.
Even Lance twittered on Versus' poor coverage yesterday:
I heard from lots of folks that Versus cut off Tour of California coverage for hockey. Lame!
-about 19 hours ago from TwitterBerry
:D
Hey was I the only psyched to get to see the women's race from the day before when Stage 1 could not be seen?? Awesome!
Yesterday, I was really disappointed to tape 3 hours of versus only miss the end due to a hockey game. Grrr!
Today I have the live feed from the amgen sight. Liking that a lot.
So far, I am very impressed with Lance. He is doing a great job as a domestique with Levi on his wheel (sometimes too close- OUCH!) so much of the time.
For anyone who's followed the last few days, Fatty's liveblogging again today.
Try cycling tv - at least they show the whole thing! Usually they have no or very few interruptions, unless there is a problem with the weather like the other day. The only downside of ctv is that it's live streaming video on the web, so it's supposed to be watched on a computer. BUT - you can always connect the computer to your tv to see the race on a larger screen :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
It ran over again today, but Versus covered the entire thing. Yay! :)
Yes! They showed the finish. How exciting. I find myself getting all up and leaning forward at the finish. Hurray for VS today!
OMG I'm gonna cry! My baby was supposed to win! He worked soooo hard! I caved and put it on a computer at the store because I couldn't handle it!!! Some inconsiderate customer had the nerve to want to buy things and I missed the end! Ugh, most courageous jersey boo!!! Stage win, it was supposed to be a stage win!
Alex the owner of the store we merged with was laughing at me! I was swooning, cheering, screaming, jumping up and down in full fan girl bloom. She said I looked like I was about to, um, eh hem, have a rather happy time. :D What? If I was born in the 50s back when girls swooned so bad they squealed and passed out at concerts I'm sure I would have. Being a product of the 80s this is my makeup for missing out on that.
*sigh* He used to shop at our store but has gone MIA. Hope that doesn't mean he didn't keep his puppies, or that he's not cheating on us at another store.
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
I get back from lunch at 2 and with my work pretty much done for the day I enjoyed watching the Amgen coverage on my computer until 3:30 when I leave for home then resume watching it on tv.
I also caught the ladies race the other day. Despite the coverage mishaps, I am still finding the ATOC very exciting!!!!
~ JoAnn
Well, I ended up picking DD up from daycare on time. But, surprisingly, she watched ToC with me between playing. She kept pointing at the screen exclaiming proudly, "I do that. And I run too." That's my girl!
I'm so happy VS showed the finish!!!!
He needs a cooler kit. Brighter blue or something, looks too much like the rest of the team. Fire Michael Ball from designing the national champion, we had such high hopes for the kit! We were laughing at Phil and Paul commenting on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by smurfalicious
Nice of Tyler to share coke with the boys on climb #2. The Belgian didn't want any but I guess Jason needed a shot of Caffeine. :p
At least I could understand Cavendish today, normally I want subtitles for him and he is speaking English! When it came to a sprint I wanted Thor to SMASH again.
I love Freire, such a chipper little man and now out. And Kirchen he just looks nice, that was a big bummer. At least it wasn't big George.
Picked off RBR: "Overheard: "To have someone like him pulling in the wind for me at the end, there's no backing down, there's no excuses -- I have to come through." -- Levi Leipheimer on another personal motivator, teammate Lance Armstrong."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
I loved when they shared the coke too!
Craig Hummer must stop saying they are breaking wind.
Did anyone hear the other day when they said Horner went to get a double cheeseburger with onions? I was wondering if it was In and Out? Maybe he is breaking wind if he is eating like that. :p
Lance struggling? How do you figure? I haven't looked at today's stage but he finished yesterday in 4th overall and only 30 seconds behind the leader (Go Levi!). How is that struggling? I'd hate to think what the guys in 100+ positions think about that.
It was In and Out Burger. That's my hometown boy! Eating like a trucker! LOVE IT!!!! Pity they won't be at the Cascade Classic this year seeing as how they should be at the TdF again.
Does anyone know what went down? Like how Tyler and friends not only got caught but swallowed? Looking at the results from yesterday it looks like he was in after the main peloton? I know their lead wasn't great but then like I said some rude customer made me miss it. :D I tried finding clips but they didn't fill in the missing info.
And yeah, Tyler's kindness is legendary around here. Doesn't surprise me, bummed that I missed it though. Sounded kinda cute/sweet.
I feel asleep when they got in the flats but it seems like the got caught coming into the final town. I woke up to see the sprint. The peleton made up a lot of ground descending. As you know they had a nice lead but not huge so they got gobbled up. I didn't think they got spit off the back, but again I slept after the last climb until the sprint.
I remember back before his suspension he was one of the nice guys of the peleton. It was funny, he cracks open the coke, drinks some, then nudges Belgian who shakes his head, he pedals up to Jason who happily takes it. It always makes me laugh when they are drinking coke because I crave Coke like a mad woman on long rides and centuries. I wanna slap someone for a coke! Too bad I don't have a team car to hand one off.
And how the heck do those guys unclip and stretch descending? Jason McCartney was unlcipped stretching a quad when the motorbike showed they were going 40 mph. :eek:
YES! I laugh every time he says that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
Is Garmin Slipstream still sponsored by Chipotle? Last year the speculation was that they were "wind" powered thanks to all those burritos...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
I'm impressed by how they dress and undress on the bike. With a crosswind.
I can barely reach for my water bottle without falling over.
I think it is no longer a title sponsor but yes they are still powered by Chipotle. The burrito is in the back pocket of the jersey.Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
I wish we had thought to keep count of how many times he said it, that is what is getting more humorous. He is a guy he must know what he is saying.
Ditto!! I can drink okay, unless it is real windy. I get dehydrated because I am to scared to let go of the bars and they are pulling off leg warmers! Don't get me started on Mancebo urinating from the bike day before yesterday. :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
boys come slightly better equipped for the ease such acts than women do..... (and a good camera man/director should recognize the nature breaks and politely shoot something else/switch to a different camera....)Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
I don't think I've ever tried to remove leg warmers..., but as long as its not a sketchy road or really windy I don't have a problem with jacket/arm warmers on the go. I wouldn't try it in the peleton though... any risk of taking others down is enough to squash the desire..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eden
In the cameraman's defense it was the day he was in yellow and they quickly moved along. :eek:
Arm warmers and jackets, I can remove. I have never tried leg warmers but I have enough trouble unclipping. There is a reason I ride for the pure joy of it and don't attempt racing. ;)
Some of it is experience on the part of the camera guy... there often are some cues that a nature break is about to occur (if they are in a group one guy being pushed by another is a big tip off).... but I doubt the camera people here have the many years experience as the guy shooting the big tours around here.. and even the Euros don't catch, er miss, all of them... I know if it were me I'd be so freaked out by sitting backwards on a speeding motorcycle that I'd have a hard time concentrating on the shots...Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
http://velonews.com/photo/88231
http://velonews.com/photo/88229
Okay yeah hurray for him winning two but really? The check out my junk point? I mean it continued onward, there was no intention of raising those arms skyward. Come on boys, the podium hussies are bad enough. Sure it's good for the local strippers to get work in the struggling economy but ick ick ick!!! :p