Frosty

I never thought I’d be edging The Gunners on, to win the League, even on 12 May 🫣

While this may not be directly related to Stages, it would apply to the industry in general. And it's been discussed on another thread. Supply chains have been disrupted in the last 4 years due to Covid, the Russia/Ukraine war and tensions in the Middle East. Shipping lines are coming around the Southern tip of Africa instead of through the Suez Canal to avoid the tensions in the Middle East, Durban harbour isn't the greatest port, and many shipping lines are skipping Durban as a result. Container prices went up about 300% in the pandemic times, and while they've come down, they haven't returned to pre-covid levels. It doesn't justify these higher prices, but it's certainly worth knowing/understanding all the inputs to costing, many of which we assume we know. The terms greedflation and shrinkflation come to mind. Google it, if you don't know what it means. Perhaps some links in the supply chain have increased their price based on the last 4 years, and not reduced the prices since input costs have stabilised (like shipping).

Was curious to see what the (serious) answer was... The time of 2:59:21 is a shortish stage in today's racing. 1903 was the biggest margin; have a look at last place... 60 hours behind. And it was only a 6 stage Tour... the last being 18 hours long.

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Women's race was a little less predictable... FDJ get their 4th race win (excl. national champs) for 2024.

Into the top 15, today, and could be top 10 by year/season end.

Côte de la Redoute 💥

LBL and indieVelo today

Echoing some comments on being unsure of “investing” in a gravel bike, I bought a friend’s bike, for a bargain (last year). Give it’s an alu frame, has cable to disk brakes, and as heavy as 🤐, it serves its purpose. The TCX2 is a cross frame, and not gravel, so I’m guessing it’s not the ideal setup, but memories have been created while riding it.

Perfect conditions to ride today… cloudless, wind-free and mild temperatures.

If done in the doctor’s room, the medical aid would most likely cover it. Obviously it depends on the cover, but mine is covered for someone on a plan that is network-specific. The doc putting me to sleep might not be covered fully. I need to ask.

My colonoscopy is booked for the end of the month; prevention measure, not problematic. Can’t say I’m looking forward to having something inserted into the exhaust port. 😊

Quality comparable to ‘Dale

indieVelo syncs with 3rd party training apps, eg. Intervals.icu workout of the day, whereas Zwift only does TrainingPeak (as far as I know).

2006 was year before joining BH. 1970 still swimming in a sack