Flanders is on OLN now



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Dave wrote:
> (west coast 4 p.m. to 5 pm.)

Though I usually hate such Usenet TV alerts, because they're nearly always ridiculously late and
therefore nothing but wasted bandwidth, I actually caught this one and am watching it now, just in
the middle of the Koppenberg. So thanks.

That Koppenberg... I've seen the Graham Watson poster, and am seeing on TV that it's 22% for a bit.
I've done a few mtb trails like that.

What's the climb like? Is the kicker right in the middle of a steep stretch that zaps your power, or
is it possible to pseudo-sprint up it? I can't tell by watching the racers because there are always
attacks designed to kill strength going on and "everyone's" in oxygen debt at such places. It looks
like I've joined the coverage too late for the education, and a quick google didn't bring up any
profiles or descriptions besides GW's photos, so TIA.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young
soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight in what
would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it could only plunge that part of the world into ever
greater instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"
 
Dave wrote:
>
> (west coast 4 p.m. to 5 pm.)

i taped it. and as i was rewinding to watch the tape, i noticed there's this show on oln called
something like "summer sportszone" that's kinda like a sports show for bike racing (recaps, goofy
interviews) today they're showing rvv, g-w (with the bottle throw), redlands. & bob roll is on there
doing his yoda impression. has this show been on all these years and i never noticed? cool not
having to wait for weeks for footage of some races. h
 
The dialog, or education, that you missed indicated that the trick is, you can't spend much time out
of the saddle 'cuz you can't control the bike on the steep cobbles unless you're seated and planting
your bike to the road. I've always heard that the trick to riding cobbles or any really rough
surface is to keep your butt in the saddle and roll a big gear. I guess this goes for the cobbled
climbs, too -- though it seems I saw a few folks out of the saddle in the Flanders coverage today.

Musseuw and Van Petegem are both noted for their ample "cottages of wattage" (Liggettism). That
attribute might seem to be a natural by-product of the sort of riding described above -- at which
they both excel!

I'm only telling you what I heard the talking heads say on this and other occasions. I certainly
have no personal experience on the pave.

Bob C.

"Raptor" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Dave wrote:
> > (west coast 4 p.m. to 5 pm.)
>
> Though I usually hate such Usenet TV alerts, because they're nearly always ridiculously late and
> therefore nothing but wasted bandwidth, I actually caught this one and am watching it now, just in
> the middle of the Koppenberg. So thanks.
>
> That Koppenberg... I've seen the Graham Watson poster, and am seeing on TV that it's 22% for a
> bit. I've done a few mtb trails like that.
>
> What's the climb like? Is the kicker right in the middle of a steep stretch that zaps your power,
> or is it possible to pseudo-sprint up it? I can't tell by watching the racers because there are
> always attacks designed to kill strength going on and "everyone's" in oxygen debt at such places.
> It looks like I've joined the coverage too late for the education, and a quick google didn't bring
> up any profiles or descriptions besides GW's photos, so TIA.
>
> --
> --
> Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning
> young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight
> in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it could only plunge that part of the world
> into ever greater instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"
 
In article <[email protected]>, heather halvorson <[email protected]> wrote:
>i taped it. and as i was rewinding to watch the tape, i noticed there's this show on oln called
>something like "summer sportszone" that's kinda like a sports show for bike racing (recaps, goofy
>interviews) today they're showing rvv, g-w (with the bottle throw), redlands. & bob roll is on
>there doing his yoda impression. has this show been on all these years and i never noticed? cool
>not having to wait for weeks for footage of some races. h

It's new this year.

--
Mike Iglesias Email: [email protected] University of California, Irvine phone: 949-824-6926
Network & Academic Computing Services FAX: 949-824-2069
 
"Raptor" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> That Koppenberg... I've seen the Graham Watson poster, and am seeing on TV that it's 22% for a
> bit. I've done a few mtb trails like that.
>
> What's the climb like? Is the kicker right in the middle of a steep stretch that zaps your power,
> or is it possible to pseudo-sprint up it? I can't tell by watching the racers because there are
> always attacks designed to kill strength going on and "everyone's" in oxygen debt at such places.
> It looks like I've joined the coverage too late for the education, and a quick google didn't bring
> up any profiles or descriptions besides GW's photos, so TIA.
>
There's a half decent profile on rvv.be, and other better ones on other sites that I don't know off
the top of my head. The steepest part is just before halfway, and given that the whole climb is
550m, you'd have a hard time sprinting up it for 2 minutes. You don't get any run into it because
there is a sharp right hander just before the climb starts, unless you're heading to it from the
Oudenaarde end, in which case it's a slight uphill. The bottom part of the climb is not too steep,
but the cobbles and the thought of what's in front of you tend to slow you down a bit.

You can certainly stand in the pedals if it's dry, but this would not be advisable in the wet. If it
is wet, then you'd need a pretty low gear and/or a lot of horsepower to get up it in the saddle.
I've done it in a 42x23, but preferred a 42x25. In the wielertoerist RVV I did it on foot, because
someone had thoughtfully parked their car inthe middle of the road, on the steepest part of the
climb. The guy was sitting calmly in his car and getting a lot of colourful language spat at him as
hundreds of wielertoerists walked by. The traffic jam was pretty bad, and it's a ******* getting
going again on the cobbles even when it flattens out towards the top. The Muur was a piece of cake
by comparison.

cheers, Jeff
 
http://www.geocities.com/owens6185/Belgium_Page_3.html -Mike "Raptor" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> Dave wrote:
> > (west coast 4 p.m. to 5 pm.)
>
> Though I usually hate such Usenet TV alerts, because they're nearly always ridiculously late and
> therefore nothing but wasted bandwidth, I actually caught this one and am watching it now, just in
> the middle of the Koppenberg. So thanks.
>
> That Koppenberg... I've seen the Graham Watson poster, and am seeing on TV that it's 22% for a
> bit. I've done a few mtb trails like that.
>
> What's the climb like? Is the kicker right in the middle of a steep stretch that zaps your power,
> or is it possible to pseudo-sprint up it? I can't tell by watching the racers because there are
> always attacks designed to kill strength going on and "everyone's" in oxygen debt at such places.
> It looks like I've joined the coverage too late for the education, and a quick google didn't bring
> up any profiles or descriptions besides GW's photos, so TIA.
>
> --
> --
> Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning
> young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight
> in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it could only plunge that part of the world
> into ever greater instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"
 
heather halvorson <[email protected]> writes:
> i taped it. and as i was rewinding to watch the tape, i noticed there's this show on oln called
> something like "summer sportszone" that's kinda like a sports show for bike racing (recaps, goofy
> interviews) today they're showing rvv, g-w (with the bottle throw), redlands. & bob roll is on
> there doing his yoda impression. has this show been on all these years and i never noticed? cool
> not having to wait for weeks for footage of some races.

My wife and I watched it last night. The guy on the left is sort of a doorknob, but it was a good
show. Bob is funny, the insights from him are good and yeah, the very current footage is great! I
kept expecting the next segment to break to another OLN "sport" (lumberjacking) but it was cycling
all the way through.

It was good. I'd recommend it.

Morgan
 
"Jeff Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

<snip>

>I've done it in a 42x23, but preferred a 42x25. In the wielertoerist RVV I did it on foot,

<snip>

Why are the riders in Europe not as pretentious as the ones here? There they call themselves
"wileretoerists". Here we are called "Masters".

Master of What?

I would be very happy if the category was changed to "Masters Fatties".

K. Gringioni masters fatty
 
> I've always heard that the trick to riding cobbles or any really rough surface is to keep your
> butt in the saddle and roll a big gear. I guess this goes for the cobbled climbs, too -- though it
> seems I saw a few folks out of the saddle in the Flanders coverage today.

In any case one should fly as fast as possible over the cobbles, that's always most economic, it's
less bumpy. The harder you go, the more you control the situation, otherwise the cobbles guide you.
Undergearing can be a problem as you don't always have sufficient traction.

On the climbs I stand up on the steeper parts, I find it essential to keep any momentum, and I can
afford that with my 90 kg. On the Molenberg that goes in style, powering by those skinny little
bouncers. On the Muur, its not always a pretty sight though. The pros mostly stay seated, but at the
end of the Paterberg or on the Muur's steepest turn they are standing too.

Cobbled descents are special, one has to anticipate the impact of lower traction when encountering a
turn. It can be scary when in exhaustion you forget about it.
 
what a duchebag................

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Tom Paterson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > >From: "Kurgan Gringioni"
> >
> > >
> > >Why are the riders in Europe not as pretentious as the ones here? There
> they
> > >call themselves "wileretoerists". Here we are called "Masters".
> > >
> > >Master of What?
> > >
> > >I would be very happy if the category was changed to "Masters Fatties".
> > >
> > >K. Gringioni masters fatty
> >
> > Hey Henry, was your mother frightened by a gray-haired man on a bicycle?
>
>
>
> Dear Masters Fattie -
>
> There is no bigger chain than those hanging off the ample love handles of the Masters Fattie.
>
>
> Yank
 
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