Falco

Starting in AL, just coming back from injury, I'm gonna piss blood.

I don't think anyone is saying it's the riders fault, and it obviously isn't. It was a tragedy, he was the victim, no blame his side. The question is what will happen if, for example, the repair loosens and throws a big chunk of tar into the road, which is hit by another cyclist, maybe one of us reading this post? Would we be quite so understanding then? I don't think so.

May I ask what you would have done, under the same circumstances? Would you have hooted, ignored them, or stopped and taken your chances?

Fixing potholes on a public road is highly commendable, no doubt about that, but is it legal? Someone once told me that if you do something like this on a public road, and there is an accident resulting from your repair, you can be held liable. Apparently only the roads dept is allowed to do repairs, and despite the fact that we know they sit on their backsides while cyclists get injured and killed, I don't think that changes the liability issue. If what I heard is true, by posting this here, with photo's, you are providing proof of what you did to a very big audience. It could come back to bite you.

That would have probably earned him a big fat klap, and if he was in a car, a dent or two in the bodywork. The boneheads who ride like this generally have a huge attitude problem, and will in all likelihood resort to violence if confronted. Even more so if their buddies are with them. Hooting would have brought out the finger, stopping would have brought out the fists. They aren't worth it, rather let a taxi flatten them. Idiots.

Exactly. IMO he is a champion, and always will be. Screw what USADA has to say.

Flight hand cleaner. Smear it on thick, leave for half an hour, wipe off with a rag and then rinse with water. No damage to paint, easy, quick.

Maybe it's our sports minister disguised as a whitey. Doesn't he also cycle in traffic at 10kph with an armed escort?

As far as I recall, last year there was a diversion in the Cradle because of roadworks. Not sure if it shortened the overall distance.

Famous last words. When a cyclist is off the bike, good judgement and common sense prevails. Put him on the bike, strap on a helmet, show him another cylist and the finish line, and all that good judgement is gone.

Why not? Good training, and D2D is one of the best races on the calender imo. If you are really tired from Saturday, and ride A group with me, then at least I know I won't finish last...

Go out too hard in the first half, and you will pay the price in the second half. Save something in the legs for the last 15k's, and especially for the last 4.

Tour tactics is one thing, but boring viewing is boring viewing. Wiggins rode a boring tour, it was too easy to sit third wheel day after day while the team did the work. I'm sure in this tour, AC is spending more time pissing in a cup than in a toilet, so there will be no steak excuses in three weeks time. There are enough great riders in the Vuelta who can do it on their own, Froome is definitely one, but my man AC will end on top.

You will start near the back, and that's a good thing. It's no good you start in a batch that is too fast for you, and get dropped straight off the line, that's certainly no fun. Do a few races, get decent results, improve your bike skills as you go, and will steadily move up the ladder. Just like we all did.

It's still way to early to tell for sure, but watching yesterday's Vuelta finish I got the impression that Contador is stronger than ever, while Froome was looking a bit fragile at times. If the last 2k's weren't downhill, I reckon AC would have taken a few seconds out of Froome. Bring on the mountains, this is going to be a battle royal, unlike the boring Tour de Wiggins. The best part about this is even though the unofficial battle is between Contador and Froome, there are a couple of other riders who are quite capable of upsetting both their plans.

It's long, boring, not very challenging, and not many riders enter. This one's now on my "must miss" list.

It's great that nobody was injured and all is well. However, as nice a gesture as it may be, is giving him a new wheel not an admission of guilt? This could come back to bite you on the butt when he suddenly develops injuries at a later stage. It happens. Further, your insurance is definitely going to look for someone to blame, and if they feel that the kid was responsible, they will fix your car then go after the father for payment. It happened to me when an unlicenced kid smashed into my car. When the father gets a summons from the insurance company, things could go pear shaped in a hurry. My advice ~ don't give him anything, let the insurance deal with it.

93km, 1075m of climbing.

Did the Schleck sisters enter this race?

Do some work at the front, then wheelsuck for as long as you can afterwards, then if you still get dropped htfu and train harder so that it doesn't happen again.

It's easy. Just avoid the multiple potholes that don't get called out, dodge the cars that want to kill you from the front, get out of the way of the trucks that want to kill you from behind, hope that the marshals showing you which way to turn in the township are actually there, jump over the multiple uncovered railway lines, don't go over the narrow finish with more than one cyclist near you, and you will be fine.

True, but some races have more than others. This is one of them. Personally I prefer more challenging races that include hills to break up the groups, I don't need to prove how tough I am by losing skin from arse to elbow. Each to his own.

It doesn't matter where you position yourself in the group for this race, it is a dangerous event on a dodgy route. I will never to do it again. Far too many crashes for my liking.

I train with heavy crappy aluminium wheels (Mavic Aksiums) with rubbish tyres (Mavic something, came with the wheels) and a 23:11 cassette. I race with alu/carbon rims (Shimano RS80), with Continental GP4000S tyres and either a 25:11 or 27:11 cassette, depending on race profile. It makes a huge difference. The training setup strengthens the legs, the racing setup makes it possible to use those stronger legs and better equipment to go faster.

Rules of the hub: 1) Never post anything negative about asg 2) Never post anything negative about cwc 3) If in doubt, refer to rule 1 or 2 IMO You shouldn't need to apologise about taking on a supplier over bad service, no matter who the hell they are (unless of course the supplier in question is a protected species on the hub, see rule 1 and 2 above). The "protection" these two companies have on this forum is sickening.