TdF Stage 16
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So it looks like
Pogacar is the TdF champion elect. Barring a major incident tomorrow, he’ll be rolling across the cobbles on the champs elysees.
I said before even if Cav can beat Mercxx record, I’m not sure I want him to.
Now he’s level, I’m starting to fall in the I want him to do it camp, purely because it’s such an amazing achievement.
In all likelihood he’s not going to ride another tour. So if it’s going to happen it’s now.
It takes nothing away from what has gone before with all the advances in training as well as the chemical restrictions. I think it would just be a good thing for the sport.
Come Saturday, I’m going to be glued to the TV shouting for the Manx Missile 
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I’ve been so distracted by flying that I haven’t followed the tdf at all. Not one bit. I am sorry to have missed it. Maybe I’ll do @BeachAV8R’s thing and watch it later when the weather is merde and I have nothing else to distract me from my bike. But news of Cavendish having a good Tour brings me joy. I’ve always liked him as a tough blue-collar rider. For the rest of my life I will alway associate green with him.
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Lovely afternoon ride, but far too hot, easyish out and back across the range with an extra bit at the end going back for my better half. Nice breeze up on top, but the climbs were airless, especially with the heat from the tarmac.
Ride profile.
I’m really hoping my riding mojo has started to return. 
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That’s a must-watch.
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So this was the first year in a long time that I was able to actually somewhat keep up with the TDF coverage since I was out here at training. I think I only got two days behind and wrapped up the replays a couple of days ago. Thoughts on this year’s TDF:
Pogacar - what a machine. It was funny because one of The Move podcasts a few days ago Lance was basically saying…Pogacar better be careful or the fans will turn on him (particularly the French ones). I got that sense after one of his (Pogacar’s) interviews where he was pretty dismissive of his competition. He is young, has exceptional skills, and a killer instinct that sometimes doesn’t fit with the traditional norms of the peloton. That stage where he went off the front (18?) and destroyed everyone on the climb was what Lance held up as the example. He’s already won the Tour, so chasing down a climber in the lead for no real strategic reason will probably not sit well with the peloton. But Lance was the first to admit that Lance 1.0 would have definitely done that…and did do it on a stage I remember. I think Johan even commented on the podcast that he had told Lance not to do it.
I chalk most of it up to the kid being only 22 years old. He probably doesn’t have the restraint yet. You could see the difference in the way Cavendish fawned all over his team (The Wolfpack) and gave them so much of the credit for his success…whereas Pogacar really didn’t talk about his team very much. I dunno…I liked the quiet terminator-like quality of Roglic a bit better. It was interesting listening to The Move guys talk about maybe there being some bad blood between Carapaz and Pogacar.
Anyway, I was rooting for Rigoberto the whole tour…but he just didn’t have it in him. It was interesting to see Ineos struggle…and the whole Quickstep team was just awesome. I hope Alaphilippe can contend for a Grand Tour at some point…I enjoy watching him ride.
I was very happy with the NBC coverage through Peacock. Bob Roll is fantastic…and I still think Phil is great even if he misspeaks on occasion (Bob is always there to get him back on course). It has also become somewhat enjoyable to watch how much Christian and Horner really don’t like each other…I don’t KNOW that is true…but it sure FEELS like it is true sometimes… Adam on the moto and Steve doing color pieces along the route is a nice combo too. A great production.
Looking forward to the Vuelta. I thought I heard he might be the GC guy for Jumbo-Visma? That would be fun to watch…
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FYI, the Vuelta a España stage 1 is on atm. Peacock in the US. Roglic is the GC contender for Jumbo-Visma. I guess whatever plan was mentioned for Kuss earlier in the season was thrown out when Primoz crashed out in the TdF. Their team is stacked, but so is Ineos. Should be a good fight.
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So, no laughing, but I bought myself an e-bike. It’s a Yamaha Wabash gravel bike. The idea being that I can ride a bit with my wife. She is a serious cyclist- (road, tri and mountain biking).
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Paul, that looks like the perfect ride for you to keep up with your wife 
. Kudos to you two for grasping that dynamic. My wife has been riding her road bike a lot lately, and while I can still keep up, due to our age differences, I know that there will be a day that I’ll have to accept the inevitable, break down and buy her an EBike so that she can hang with the old man.
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It is an interesting dynamic. Erika was an excellent athlete at school and always very active. While she isn’t doing Ironman anymore, she is still knocking out those distances on the bike. Being an athlete is as much mental strength as it is physical. Me, well I never was good at sports, and if my body tells me something hurts I tend to not do it . What she saw in me I’ll never know!
Hey, I hope that you detected a fair amount of sarcasm in my reply. I’ve got my ebike picked out for sure. Claudia could outclimb me on a bad day for her. Like you, I’ll be able to not only keep up, but carry on an intelligible conversation. And won’t puke in the parking lot
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Awesome…nice to have another grand event to watch. I will probably get behind on this one…heading to another week of training (Citation). Our schedule is just plain bonkers lately…a good problem to have.
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Longest ride of the last 10 years or so, at that ride (years ago) really hurt 
This ride was pretty good but I was out of gas as I hitting the last few kms before home. Not sure I can push it farther than that this year. The Garmin rated this one as a 5 on the Aerobic mystery rating that it has; which is in the ‘overreaching’ category. I need to dial it back and not spend the recommended 72 hours (!) recovering. I want to bike in to work tomorrow but now I am hesitant.
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For a long distance ride, you need to keep your heart rate way down, try to stay below the orange range on your Garmin (provided you set your max HR correctly). Also you need carbohydrates as your body can’t metabolize fat as quickly as you’re burning it on a long trip. As soon as you’re starting to feel hungry, you’re already heading for the world of hurt.
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Thanks @sobek. I have to learn to pay attention to that and how to ride long distances. I did have a protein bar (it has more but that is what I call it) with me and a ton of water. This ride was 100% better than the last where I didn’t eat much and didn’t drink enough water.
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Had my first puncture yesterday…which is quite incredible considering the amount I’ve ridden the past few years…and predominantly on gravel…! Puncture happened only three miles into my ride…ironically on the road even though I was on my gravel bike. Seems a county lawn mower/tractor had mowed the sides of the roads and spit a shard of a bottle onto the pavement. I did not see it, but heard the crunch and instant venting of air as the front wheel hit it. Argh…
I had my spare tube, pump, and my trusty Crank Bros speed lever (love that thing) but I took the puncture as an opportunity to go home and practice with my CO2 cartridge system. So I dialed up my wife to come get me and went home to practice changing the tire with the ProBike CO2 inflator. Good thing I practiced with it since I learned a few lessons. The Presta valve can easily unscrew as you are unscrewing the inflator because I guess it freezes and can grip the inside of the Presta valve…so when you go to unscrew the inflator, it can take the whole core out with it…which totally wastes a cylinder. So make sure you tighten the core down with a pair of pliers pretty good to prevent that from happening. The core has some flat edges for that very purpose without damaging the threads. So it was a good learning experience.
I took my gravel bike (Raleigh Willard 2) in for servicing last week. Came out with new bar tape, a new chain, and new shifting cables. The guy said my chain was 100% worn out… I don’t really know what that means…apparently there is a measuring caliper or something he can use to make that determination. All that grit, sand, and dust definitely does a number on that gravel bike.
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Had a great gravel ride today… 3 PR segments…I hate that I’ve been lured into trying to beat those section times…
A wet and soggy one…nice 73F day…
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I think you made a good choice practising with the inflator. I once was quite a way from home and only got a partial inflate with one co2 capsule so went for another. The sound of the inner tube exploding sounded like a gunshot and had some poor chap out of his house asking if I was ok.
Fortunately I always carry two tubes, so all was well. I could have exploded the tyre, again lucky.
It’s a chain gauge. Chains are consumables, like brake pads and cassettes. How long a chain lasts depends on how many miles you do and how you ride up hills. Shifting late whilst grinding up a hill out of the saddle puts a lot of stress on the chain.
You can get a core extractor for the price of a beer, which can help, a spoke key will also do the same job.
What you really need is a handy toolkit all in one, like this one that @Derbysieger made me so envious of. I ended up ordering the same kit and it’s great for your home bike repairs.
These tools are like extra planes for your favourite sim. They sit there until you need them, which isn’t very often, but when you do it makes the job more pleasurable. 
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Peet peeve time. It makes me sad that this myth about chains “stretching” is still being perpetuated, because it is complete and utter nonsense.
A chain does not stretch in any meaningful way. As such, how much peak force you put on it has no bearing on its wear (matter of fact, you put more force on the chain shifting earlier, because how much force is applied to the chain is mainly a function of what front chain ring you ride). What happens is that the roller plain bearings on the chain wear out. As they wear out, the chain becomes longer. This has nothing to do with the length of a single chain segment, it is the link between segments that wears out (if you don’t belive me, you can measure the length of a chain link on identical worn out and new chains, within the tolerances of your equipment i can pretty much guarantee that they will be the same). The reason that you should change it is that at some point as the chain elongates, it no longer fits the tolerances of the chainwheels and starts wearing out the teeth.
So if you cheap out on maintaining your chain, you significantly decrease the service life of all your chainwheels.
All this being said, we come to the culprit of chain wear
This is spot on. Proper maintenance (mainly lubrication) is paramount. Even then, in harsh conditions your chain will not last long.
I find it interesting that you’re not riding tubeless self sealing tires. I thought these are pretty much standard now on newer bikes, certainly gravel bikes.
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