tombeej

Re: the time trials. Stage 1 is the TTT. 12.6km of pancake-flat racing. Looks like quite a technical course though, with lots of corners - some of them tight. Then the two ITTs: Stage 10 is 36.7km long, but look at that stage profile! A little rise in the beginning and then downhill all the way home. A 55T ring is probably not even going to be enough for Martin Then the decider. Stage 21 is another billiard table (9.7km long):

If you take too much and become nauseous, the antidote is anything citrus - some lemon juice or a wedge of orange, etc. Takes it away almost immediately.

Quintana vs. Uran head to head: who is the better time trialist? TT's are going to play a big role in this Vuelta. Anyone who's not a good time trialist is going to have problems. Horner has no hope.

If I'm eating enough, but I'm still hungry because my brain is bored and wants something to snack on (dangerous territory for me), I take a large tablespoon of coconut oil chased by a very large glass of water (500ml +). The combination is deadly - it overrides your satiety sensors and makes you feel very full.

Pictures of it please... just so I know what to look out for?

Refer to rule #38

A related matter... Rule #38 // Don’t Play Leap Frog. Train Properly: if you get passed by someone, it is nothing personal, just accept that on the day/effort/ride they were stronger than you. If you can’t deal, work harder. But don’t go playing leap frog to get in front only to be taken over again (multiple times) because you can’t keep up the pace. Especially don’t do this just because the person overtaking you is a woman. Seriously. Get over it.

Same with just a single rider up the road. If you make it up to him, it's simple manners to let him know you're now on his wheel, say hello, and ask if you can sit on his wheel for a bit.

Nothing ruder than 'the silent joiner'. The group is likely a club or bunch of mates doing their thing. It's like walking up to a group of strangers at a pub or restaurant and just plonking yourself down in their midst. Would you do that? Really? Then why do it on the road, what's different?

Rule #19 // Introduce Yourself. If you deem it appropriate to join a group of riders who are not part of an open group ride and who are not your mates, it is customary and courteous to announce your presence. Introduce yourself and ask if you may join the group. If you have been passed by a group, wait for an invitation, introduce yourself, or let them go. The silent joiner is viewed as ill-mannered and Anti-V. Conversely, the joiner who can’t shut their cakehole is no better and should be dropped from the group at first opportunity.

I think Valverde will be off the pace this Vuelta. He had a hard TDF where he left everything out on the road, and at 34 I will be surprised if he's able to bounce back to peak form just like that. Also, I believe he's in the Vuelta to ride for Quintana and be lieutenant to him. If something happens to Quintana he becomes plan B for the team. Purito also went full gas in the 2nd half of the TDF while fighting for the KOM jersey. At 35 he's also no spring chicken and his best days are behind him. I don't think he went as deep as Valverde did last month, but he's still got to try and come back to peak fitness in just 1 month and I'm not seeing how he'll do that. Of course I may well be wrong. I often am But to be honest, if I see either of those riders at the top of their game, dictating the pace, then please forgive me for thinking that there's something 'not natural' about what I'm seeing...

Ja, definitely. I've been researching a good one for la Vuelta and came across Scorito. I like the way they do it: with your budget available you get to pick an expanded team of 16 - 20 riders. Then you have the freedom to switch your riders before each stage, depending on the profile. * Choose 3 team leaders that will be able to score double points. * Pick 9 cyclists and 1 team leader for each stage. It makes for a lot more strategic thinking - there's less exposure to 'bad luck or 'blind luck'. I've created a Hub league if anyone is interested. http://www.scorito.c...2014/the-hub-sa Attached are the league rules as well... Scorito rules.pdf

Amazing how it's been 10 years since Cunego won the Giro at the age of just 22. He won Giro del Trentino 3 times and Lombardy 3 times, but since 2008 what has he done? So how did he win a grand tour at 22, making Quintana look like an underachiever winning at 24? 'Rocket fuel' much? I'll be surprised if he makes top 50 30. Evans will struggle again to stay inside the top 15. IMHO Valverde and Purito had their last hurrah at the world champs last year. I don't see them going anywhere now except slowly backwards down the GC as each race passes. But this is the era of the lightys now: Aru (24) for podium again? Uran (27) will be right up there, and Kelderman (23) too. I'm not sure how Pinot's (24) legs will respond after a very hard TDF. Let's see... I'm looking forward to seeing how young Ozzie Rohan Dennis (24) shapes up in a grand tour. He ran Wiggo very close in the Tour of California to take 2nd overall, and he's a very very good time trialist (silver medal at the Commonwealth Games). I sincerely hope BMC do not waste his talents by having him drag Evans all over the place. Another one I'll be keeping an eye out for is Garmin Sharp's Nathan Brown (23) from the USA. He's another very good time trialist (3rd overall at the US National TT champs) and he can climb too. Lowly domestique for this tour, but let's see if he's one for the future. Of course I'm stoked to see my boy Arredondo (25) in action again . Lastly, Adam Yates (22) follows in the grand tour footsteps of his twin brother Simon. Also has bags of talent. OGE might have the same plan for him - no pressures this time round and pull him out by the end of week 2. Besides Dan Craven and our SA boys, who else do we need to keep an eye out for?

Thanks deanbean. So it's as I suspected (supply side forces), not as I hoped (demand side). But I'll continue to daydream about the day we have a 'Sweden moment' where we run out of butter due to very high demand. I wonder how long that will take.

Allow me to daydream, mayhem

I noted in today's Business Day that the price of butter in SA has risen 'a whopping 26.75% since April last year'. At the same time, 'global markets for grains and oil seeds have dropped more than 40% since earlier this year and domestic prices are following suit.' While I certainly understand there are many possible causes for the swings, the amateur economist in me can't help but imagine how much of it has to do with simple supply & demand theory and the steady awakening of the world to the new facts about nutrition. Butter is in high demand, while the world (hopefully) increasingly rejects oilseed products and grains. I also wonder how many grain farmers are right this minute planning to switch to paddocks of jersey cows... Interesting times we live in

If/when it happens in pro racing, it will have to be a forced wholesale move by all pro teams at the same time. Imagine coming down the back side of the Stelvio in snow/sleet and some riders are on rim brakes with others on discs. Huge difference in stopping power. People will be flying into each other and there'll be carnage in the peloton in general. All has to happen at once or not at all. And therein lies the rub. Not all will want to move.

Why just one? When I commute I have 2 on my seat post and 1 on the back of my helmet. Each one has a different flash pattern. I'm lit up like a christmas tree - cars see me before they see traffic lights.

Looking forward to seeing your pics from the inside

Back to 'things I've learnt from commuting': I learnt that my dangerous time is those long seconds immediately after the alarm clock goes off and shatters my peaceful sleep. That's the moment when my resolve is at its lowest. Very easy to pull the covers over my head and stay snug with the warm, soft female body lying next to me (if I cave, she'll drop me off at the office). So I keep my kit right at the spot next to my bed where I sit up. As the alarm goes off I sit up and start dressing. I don't look outside, I don't think about turning on lights first to start coffee. I must get into my kit asap - before my mind has a chance to start working. Once I'm in my kit, 90% of the job is done. From there, it's easy.

Ja, our mini monsoon season that we get in Natal is just around the corner. From September to late November. We can have rain for 4/5 days in a week regularly. And that comes with some proper wind too. But then, being commuters, makes us a special breed of nutters, and Rules #5 and #9 will always be our mantra. Rule #5 // Harden The **** Up. Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period. Fair-weather riding is a luxury reserved for Sunday afternoons and wide boulevards. Those who ride in foul weather – be it cold, wet, or inordinately hot – are members of a special club of riders who, on the morning of a big ride, pull back the curtain to check the weather and, upon seeing rain falling from the skies, allow a wry smile to spread across their face. This is a rider who loves the work. Ride on

I used to be a big supporter of Betancur. Not anymore. I honestly hope he doesn't get the slot. He doesn't deserve it. How many times now has he dropped his teammates and walked away from his team? The TDF wasn't the first time - it was just the most publicised of his 'episodes'. If he gets the slot it would be a slap in the face of the other reserves who've been busting their hump in races and training, living the team environment, etc.

I'm sure you're right. But you know how things go with grand tours. We'd never heard of Aru and then he gets podium in the Giro. Froome and Contador crashed out of the TDF, allowing Peraud and Pinot onto the podium. I doubt anyone would have put money on that happening. A GC rider is anyone with hopes of at least a top 10. After that, anything can happen. Nevertheless, Pozzo is a great rider and would have been somewhere on that leaderboard. A real shame he won't be there. I have a soft spot for AG2R - I think they're a great team.

The only reason for Pozzo not doing well in this Vuelta would have been because of all the TTs.

He's been a regular top 10 in the last couple of years, with three top 10's in the Giro and 5th in this year's Giro even after losing time due to bronchitis. He could have been on podium if he didn't get sick (only 1:28 behind Aru). Multiple podiums and GC wins in other multi-day stage races too (Giro del Trentino most notable). Every single stage race he entered in 2014 he finished inside the top 10 on GC. With a palmares like that, he should most certainly be considered one of the top grand tour GC riders in the peloton at the moment. I never made out he's expected to win the whole thing. But at full strength he would have been a reasonable outside bet for a vie at podium. And that should make him a 'GC hopeful' in anyones eyes.