Plan B Forum

No, Lance is not back.

American cyclist Kristen Armstrong, one of America's older Olympians at age 42 (she turns 43 tomorrow) has pulled off the three-peat, winning gold for the third consecutive time in the women's individual time-trial event.  Armstrong covered the 29.8-kilometer rain-dampened course in 44 minutes and 26.42 seconds, beating second-place Russian cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya by a mere five and a half seconds.

For those of you who are not among the cognoscenti, the individual time-trial — often called "the race of truth" — is the ultimate test in cycling.  No teams, no tactics, no time bonuses, no drafting, no one but you and the bicycle against the course and the clock.

-"BB"-

Lance Armstrong is a notorious American bicyclist. He has left a trail of shame and dishonor in both his professional and personal life.

He married Kristen Richards and together they had three children. Kristen supported him in his professional career in every way. Lance dumped her for celebrity babes. After their divorce, Kristen Armstrong got into bicycle racing. and became a very respectable rationally ranked competitor

AND SHE IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON, WITH NO CONNECTION TO THE KRISTEN WHO WON THE ROAD TIME TRIAL.

That Kristen in Rio has no connection at all to Lance Armstrong beyond the spelling of her last name. She has a very nice collection of medals fro previous olympics as well.

snailgate

A huge achievement and all props to her for success in a difficult race. Riding in the rain is no fun.




Cycling, like baseball, grew up in the era of print journalism and both have inspired great writing. I cannot recall his name but a French cycling writer said that 'it is about suffering. They offer up to us their pain as a sacrifice'.

I don't recall the quote word for word but the meaning has stuck with me.

If you have followed cycling and seen the pictures of riders pushing through layer after layer of agony in the TdF, Paris-Roubaille, &c you will understand what I mean. If you have been a cyclist and pushed your self through oxygen debt on a miles-long uphill where you are in pain continually, and glycogen debt when you have exhausted all avail. glycogen and your body stops working and your muscles shake, you will 'get it'.

yrs,
rubato

rubato wrote:If you have been a cyclist and pushed your self through oxygen debt on a miles-long uphill where you are in pain continually and glycogen debt when you have exhausted all avail. glycogen and your body stops working and your muscles shake, you will 'get it'.

yrs,
rubato

Ohhh, yeah.  Been there; done that.
But you push on because in many cases there is no other option.  Unlike today where every rider in a competitive event seems to have his or her own personal support vehicle with replacement parts, food, and fluids at their beck and call, most of my cycling career was in the pre-cellphone days and involved rides that had minimal or no sag-wagon support.  You were on your own, and you couldn't just call for someone to come fetch if you crapped out.

-"BB"-

“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring” – Desmond Tutu

I have a hard time believing that Desmond Tutu actually said that...

“The race is won by the rider who can suffer the most” – Eddy Merckx

“When it’s hurting you, that’s when you can make a difference” – Eddy Merckx

“You can say that climbers suffer the same as the other riders, but they suffer in a different way. You feel the pain, but you’re glad to be there” – Richard Virenque

“Cycling is such a stupid sport. Next time you are in a car travelling at 40mph think about jumping out – naked. That’s what it’s like when we crash.”
–David Millar, cyclist.

“It’s a bollocks, this race! You’re working like an animal, you don’t have time to piss, you wet your pants. You’re riding in mud like this, you’re slipping… it’s a pile of shit.” (When then asked if he would start the race again, de Rooij replied:) “Sure, it’s the most beautiful race in the world!”
–Theo de Rooij, cyclist. After crashied out the Paris-Roubaix.

“Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live.”
–Mark Twain, author.

I was part of a 'recreational century' support with the local newark bike club many years ago. It was a fall ride we called the savage century. White Clay Bike Club still runs this ride. It is mostly routed through short steep hills in Pennsylvania near the Susquehanna River.
Typically there are wet leaves on the ground at the bottom of the hills and many start with a sharp turn. This particular year it was held during a cold rain. I was at the end and had to help one rider be lifted off his bike as he was exhausted and probably running a core temperature dangerously low. He was speaking, but not coherent and teeth chattering. He was a Cat 2 racer in our local racing club, First State Velosport. With a blanket around him and some hot chocolate in him he finally said, "It was really rough out there. But the last twelve miles, at the turn back on to Rt 272 in Maryland, my legs were completely numb, and then I could really go."

"Climbing hills is just like riding on the flats. You just do it in a lower gear." Lon Haldeman, first rider to go coast to coast in under 10 days. He beat John Boyer in the Race Across America. Boyer was the first American to complete the Tour de France.

snailgate