GrumpyOldGuy

Still some of the best rock was in the 70's,.... when my parents asked me where I went wrong, I usually said it was somewhere between Golden Earring, Uriah Heep and Black Sabbath, I cant quite remember.... Pump up the volume......

Yeah maybe, I dunno, usually quite short stages, and many of the serious names are at the Giro. I may watch the Mt Baldy stage but as for the rest, I am not really a fan.

Not that fond of TOC but looking forward to the Giro, my favorite race of the year. Think it starts 05 May? Not too long now. Iam hoping Quintana doesn't kill it with his usual boring style, definitely not a fan, maybe he will fall off or something and leave the race to some of the other exciting guys....!

I dont really participate in this thread but a friend sent me this picture, I have no idea where it comes from so apologies if I dont name the photographer, but it just struck me as such a wonderful picture of perfect calm and innocence.

Yes, sad, I didn't know him but I saw him once or twice at the Motorcycle toy runs in JHB, he was a patched member of a motorbike club, cant remember which, big guy, both in physique and personality.

That looks darn Good Gummi, Just a question is that a draught beer or a can/bottle - it has just a perfect head of froth. I can almost smell it.

Double Post.

Valverde is a great champion on the bike, but the dedication to Scarponi and the generous offer shows a bigger side, one that means a lot more than a race win. Compassion and empathy. Magnifico Alejandro, Magnifico!.

- Ja, Ja, Swiss!

Yah, haven't seen it just the little bit I read, but he annihilated the bunch, you gotta give it to him, the guy is a racer through and through, I like him, like 'berto and a few others he will never be found dozing in the sun at the back, he is out to win or at least go down fighting.

I have been listening to some old 80's music lately, specifically one of my all time favorites Laura Branigan (and a gorgeous woman to boot),... turn up the volume and tap along,....you know you wanna.!

Yah, I agree, quite happy Quickstep didn't win, I am not a fan of their negative tactics, GVA did the lions share of the work with Stybar mostly sitting on, there was no way Boonen was coming back from over a minute behind with 10 odd kms to go so I cant see why they should be unhappy.

If he did 145 kms of the PR route on that I tip my hat to him, thats for sure.

I have stopped making predictions, but one would have had to be living under a (cycling) rock to not tip the hat to GvA, he has impeccable form and a strong team, I would love for Boonen to win, but realistically I dont see it.

I enjoy watching Sagan, perhaps I am not up there as a #1 fan, and I certainly dont follow him, (or any of them actually), out of races, I can however appreciate his racing style, its flamboyant and exciting, whats to dislike? Win or lose, sport is, after all, entertainment, if the fans get bored because everything is so serious and "focused" the sport will die, so sure, we need the likes of the Sagan's, the 'Berto's, the Gilbert's, the Voekler's, the Kwiatkowski's, the Valverde's and others who go out on a limb and make it interesting, if they all just sat in the peleton because they didn't want to risk losing, I for one certainly wouldn't be watching.

Interesting, its the first of his books I have read and I must say I have enjoyed them, he is definitely not to everyone's taste and some of his stories are seriously mocking, "PC" he is most certainly not!. I think he keeps the mailman pretty busy delivering all the hate mail and is probably quite happy when they go on strike, or his internet connection goes down, but you just have to accept it for what it is, Jeremy Clarkson, and brush it off.

I doubt it, but it would be a damn side more than he would have got 10 years or so ago, I am presently reading a book about the running career of Allen Robb, one of the all time greats of the Fordyce era, he chuckles when he recalls how in 2009 the second place winner in Two Oceans got 75k, when he came second in Comrades he got a Tog bag.! How times have changed.

I had a bit of a chuckle at Gilbert's walk across the line, very unorthodox in today's peleton, reminded me a bit of "Dancing Dave Wright" who always danced across the line at Comrades, too many modern athletes take themselves too seriously.

I may go download this one. Just like the book I suggested a few posts back "Into the lions mouth" which was also about world war two spies, MI5, MI6, the CIA etc we can see they played an enormous part in the events as they unfolded, I would go so far as to say without the spies who turned against Germany and started working for the allies, the outcome may have been very different.

My local bookstore had a clean out a week or two ago and I picked up a few Jeremy Clarkson books for a coupla dollars, I read the one "Born to be riled" and it was a hoot, dont expect any profound reading moments, its all light hearted nonsense but he has an amazing sense of humour and is somehow able to get it across very well on paper. I enjoyed it. I started "The World according to Clarkson" yesterday and in a similar vein I find it immensely humorous, if easy light reading is what you are looking for, I can recommend them.

Yah, agreed, but unlike Terpsta I didn't feel he raced negatively, he really tried, but I think he well knew his chances were slim, the numbers were definitely against him.

Yah, some (like Gary Player ) would say, you make your own luck,.....Terpstra wouldnt assist to catch the break but he was happy to chase Sagan down, no luck there, its a planned action, and just very negative racing from QS in my opinion. Maybe as you say they were hoping the break would get caught, but with around a minute to play with it was a long shot, had Terpstra contributed he may still have lost, but at least he would have had a chance, to me anyway thats a much better option than sitting 20 seconds back where you certainly dont have any chance.

Yah, I didnt watch the entire DDV but from the bits I saw Durbridge was also sitting on for a long time, so one assumes, by not contributing he saw the writing on the wall and knew they would play the old "one / two" so he didnt really have much chance, but I dont think he raced negatively he just hoped to stay a little fresher and did try and bridge over, so he put in the effort,... but by then it was a done deal.

Yah, for sure, I agree, QS have played some odd tactics lately, putting someone in the break then ostensibly telling him not to work is unfathomable to me.