Lucky Luke.

OCD alert, invalid post!

The cork stuff is a nightmare, but +1 for Fi:zik - mine is still clean as a whistle after about 9 months, and that is saying something for a bike-slob like me.

Yes, actually Chris Boardman's 'Best Human Effort' - ie. less regulated category - hour record has stood since 1996, which is remarkable, not least because he has never been implicated in any kind of doping - not to say he didn't have the opportunity - pre-EPO test days - to do so, just that he has been quite outspoken about it and was never named or implicated as far as I know, except for one very marginal occasion involving hearsay. Admittedly 56km/h for an hour is a hell of a daunting bar to raise. The other more regulated record was bested as recently as 2009 or 10 I think by a dodgy Czech rider - previously Boardman had that as well. Boardman and Obree are really the only hour record guys who were clean - or seemingly clean at least - I would say in Boardman's case. The rest of the big-name hour record guys were pretty dodge - Big Mig, Rominger, Moser. Merckx was done for amphetamines but I don't think the gains from that are comparable to mucking about with your blood.

Very interesting, and I'd love for that type of law to exist here. To tell the whole story though, the Netherlands also educates it's cyclists from a very young age: http://www.yesmagazi...-from-the-dutch This harks back to my earlier point about SA cyclists coming from a 'car-first' perspective - ie. they learned to drive on the roads before they learned to bike on them, and this defines their approach to cyclists. I see it everywhere from on the road to on this forum. More on Dutch cycling law from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia....the_Netherlands

Yep, the UCI gave him a rough ride. I won't make comparisons with other cough*favoured*cough, cough*more professional*cough riders lest I incur the wrath of the part time moderators.

I am uplifted, why so glum?

http://road.cc/conte...-video-airships

Here's another one for Eldron: Obree went to Norway and got the job done - at sea level - with recycled scrap mental assembled in his kitchen for £70.

Happy to admit to long-term Obree fanboy-ism

Broke the hour record clean. Something LA and all his drugs never even attempted, despite making noises in that direction.

Frankly people who think the term 'cyclist' refers only to lycra-clad shaven-legged carbon fetishists are peasants with little to zero knowledge of 1st world culture and 3rd world necessities. In short, they need to get out more.

riding with your picnic blanket is contrary to rule 17A subsection 6. it may only be used for sitting on during the timed tea-break.

Any predictions for the post-race disqualifications / protests this year? I'm thinking at least one team will be in hot water for having their team van ferry them across the portage dirt. Timing of the half-hour stop is likely to be another hugely inflammatory bone of contention. In SA we cannot even time a regular time trial. It's hard to imagine that two time trials separated by a timed picnic will go off like clockwork.

intra-team - ie. within your own team. Although admittedly inter-team barnies are also commonplace. Maybe the compulsory tea-stop will serve to minimise on-road meltdowns. Aside : is anyone rolling with a team picnic blanket this year? Aerial TV footage of logo-sporting blankets could be the clincher that secures extra sponsor-dosh for next year's event.

Also intra-team riots. Keep those handbags holstered!

More to what?

The only problem with South African road cyclists is that nearly all them are also South African motorists. Naturally cyclists apply the same ethics and level of consideration to riding a bike as they do to piloting their motor cars. Ethics I hasten to add, that were nearly always learned behind the wheel, not sitting on top of a saddle*. When other motorists see fellow drivers on bicycles for a change, the 'f*ck you' instinct kicks in and it becomes a great opportunity to demonstrate that they have a bigger vehicle / cock / ego / sense of urgency or whatever. The spread of wrongdoing is more or less equal for both groups - although only if you remove alcohol from the equation - in which case the drivers are a far more culpable bunch. Obviously the noteworthy difference is that the potential for mortal injury always resides with the tool piloting the two ton hunk of metal. * more and more I think that this is the dividing line between a sane cyclist and a two-wheeled lemming / inconsiderate tool.

meh looks like a small. If it didn't fit him then it probably does today

Really? Sarkozy never struck me as a cheap date. Maybe he figured the PR would be good for him come election year. We know how that went.

LA washing more poo off his face today - the dirt just keeps on getting dirtier .. Every time a new story emerges it occurs to me that if Armstrong hadn't been such a vain tit and had just STFU when the occasion called for it, he might have gotten away with his 7 tour heist. Au revoir indeed http://www.cyclingne...ked-for-my-head

I agree, rather get to 80 if that is a healthy weight for you. I reckon you'll have a chance to get on to the podium. You'll ride hills > 6% at more than twice the speed you're riding them now.

I watched her win the Cape Cobra this January and later discovered she had won the Epic in '04. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Laws

Based on the content on the hub I'd say the drugs of choice were very far from performance enhancing.

I took EPO to help me get through the 32GI thread.

******* ride it bru!