Hardest ever Olympic road race in 2008?

[Artoi]

Just read the feed back from the Good Luck games in Beijing where they
staged a trial run on the intended road and TT course for next year. It
sounded real tough.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/aug07/aug19news

I was a little surprised what a strong team the Aussie put up vs what
others had.
--

 

[Marian]

On Aug 19, 4:49 pm, Artoi <[email protected]> wrote:
> Just read the feed back from the Good Luck games in Beijing where they
> staged a trial run on the intended road and TT course for next year. It
> sounded real tough.
>
> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/aug07/aug19news
>
> I was a little surprised what a strong team the Aussie put up vs what
> others had.
> --

Ahh... That explains the recent spate of phone calls I've been getting
from Beijing for the correct English translation of obscure Chinese
bike jargon that hasn't yet made it into the Dictionary of Sport.

I vaguely knew the Good Luck Games were going to be sometime soon and
that I had an iffy possibility of going. Since they conflicted with
an amateur race where I was a competitor I wonder what I would have
done if I'd actually gotten the invite.

-M

 

[Ewoud Dronkert]

Marian wrote:
> I wonder what I would have
> done if I'd actually gotten the invite.

Gone clubbing with Mick and Cadel.


--
E. Dronkert

 

[Marian]

On Aug 20, 7:56 pm, Marian <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Aug 19, 4:49 pm, Artoi <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Just read the feed back from the Good Luck games in Beijing where they
> > staged a trial run on the intended road and TT course for next year. It
> > sounded real tough.
>
> >http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/aug07/aug19news
>
> > I was a little surprised what a strong team the Aussie put up vs what
> > others had.
> > --
>
> Ahh... That explains the recent spate of phone calls I've been getting
> from Beijing for the correct English translation of obscure Chinese
> bike jargon that hasn't yet made it into the Dictionary of Sport.
>
> I vaguely knew the Good Luck Games were going to be sometime soon and
> that I had an iffy possibility of going. Since they conflicted with
> an amateur race where I was a competitor I wonder what I would have
> done if I'd actually gotten the invite.

On a further note, since it mentioned lots of climbing I'm surprised
to see that 5 of the 6 guys from China Team #2 were DNF and the one
who did finish did it last. I seem to recall being told that the
Qinghai Team's strong point is climbing.

China Team #3 must be Marco Polo Cycling since their four finishers
are clearly non-Chinese names and one of those is distinctly
Mongolian.

I recognize some of the names from Giant Asia (Chinese Taipei) from
Qinghai and a few of the Hong Kong Procycling names either from
Qinghai or the Hainan race but I don't think any of them are ones I've
met, unless Ghader Mizbani Iranagh (not even going to try to figure
out which end of that name is first and which is last) is the middle
eastern guy whose foot I stepped on at the disco the last night in
Qinghai.

Of the Chinese names I definitely do recognize I'm dismayed to see
that none of the ones I'm particularly fond of had especially good
results.

Like most sports fans my reasons for cheering on my favorites (at
least within China) have nothing at all to do with their actual skill
at the sport. Unlike most sports fans I have completely rational
reasons. They include but are not limited to remembering my name from
one event to the next, commenting favorably on my tattoo, loaning me a
cellphone when mine had low battery, and not merely owning the same
bike t-shirt as me but also wearing it at the same time.

-M

 

[Marian]

On Aug 20, 8:17 pm, Ewoud Dronkert <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Marian wrote:
> > I wonder what I would have
> > done if I'd actually gotten the invite.
>
> Gone clubbing with Mick and Cadel.



-M

 

[Stu Fleming]

Marian wrote:
> On Aug 19, 4:49 pm, Artoi <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Just read the feed back from the Good Luck games in Beijing where they
>> staged a trial run on the intended road and TT course for next year. It
>> sounded real tough.
>>
>> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/aug07/aug19news
>>
>> I was a little surprised what a strong team the Aussie put up vs what
>> others had.
>> --
>
> Ahh... That explains the recent spate of phone calls I've been getting
> from Beijing for the correct English translation of obscure Chinese
> bike jargon that hasn't yet made it into the Dictionary of Sport.

So, what is the correct idiom for "Pull...or get dropped"?

 

[[email protected]]

On Aug 19, 4:49 am, Artoi <[email protected]> wrote:
> Just read the feed back from the Good Luck games in Beijing where they
> staged a trial run on the intended road and TT course for next year. It
> sounded real tough.
>
> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/aug07/aug19news
>
> I was a little surprised what a strong team the Aussie put up vs what
> others had.
> --

Since I'm staying less than 1km from the 1976 Olympic road race
course, I have to take issue with the claim that the 2008 course will
be tougher.

-ilan

 

[Marian]

On Aug 21, 4:14 am, Stu Fleming <[email protected]> wrote:
> Marian wrote:
> > On Aug 19, 4:49 pm, Artoi <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> Just read the feed back from the Good Luck games in Beijing where they
> >> staged a trial run on the intended road and TT course for next year. It
> >> sounded real tough.
>
> >>http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/aug07/aug19news
>
> >> I was a little surprised what a strong team the Aussie put up vs what
> >> others had.
> >> --
>
> > Ahh... That explains the recent spate of phone calls I've been getting
> > from Beijing for the correct English translation of obscure Chinese
> > bike jargon that hasn't yet made it into the Dictionary of Sport.
>
> So, what is the correct idiom for "Pull...or get dropped"?

Hmm...

Paceline and drafting both are "genqi" which is with + ride
I am drafting him - "wo zuo tade genqi"
I am riding with him - "wo gen ta yiqi qi" (note: same 'gen'
and same 'qi')
We were in a paceline - "wo he ta shi zai zuo genqi" or
"women zai zuo genqi" with the first one having two definite people
mentioned and the second one merely being plural
Get on! - "shang wode genqi!" or "shanglai"
Dropped - "diudui" (literally lost team)
I was dropped - "wo diudui le"
Peloton - "dabu dui" (large part team/group)

The first rider in a paceline (at least for my local guys in Hainan)
is "lingqi" which is leader + ride. However, I know this usage
isn't universal even among Chinese bikers. "lingdui" (leader +
team) was being used in the written stuff at TdQL to refer to Team
Managers but I know it can also refer to star riders. like Armstrong.

So...having never actually had reason to personally use this phrase
and with my paceline position generally being desperately hanging on
to the back with no expectation from anyone that I will ever take lead
position ... I'm going to guess that "Pull or get dropped" would be:



ruguo ni meiyou zuo lingqi de hua women jiu rang ni diudui

-M

 

[Donald Munro]

Stu Fleming wrote:
>> So, what is the correct idiom for "Pull...or get dropped"?

Marian wrote:
> ruguo ni meiyou zuo lingqi de hua women jiu rang ni diudui

Sprinters have comprehension problems with long sentences.

 

[Ewoud Dronkert]

Marian wrote:
> By the way, are my Chinese characters showing up?

No. And with this in the header of your posts, they can't:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


--
E. Dronkert

 

[Marian]

On Aug 21, 10:36 pm, Ewoud Dronkert <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Marian wrote:
> > By the way, are my Chinese characters showing up?
>
> No. And with this in the header of your posts, they can't:
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Damn. It's been ages and ages since I last posted something with
characters in the message. I wonder when google groups decided to do
that to me and how to go about fixing it.

-M

 

[Michael Press]

In article
<[email protected]>,
Marian <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Aug 21, 10:36 pm, Ewoud Dronkert <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> > Marian wrote:
> > > By the way, are my Chinese characters showing up?
> >
> > No. And with this in the header of your posts, they can't:
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Damn. It's been ages and ages since I last posted something with
> characters in the message. I wonder when google groups decided to do
> that to me and how to go about fixing it.

Well, usenet is originally, and remains conventionally,
a 7-bit ascii medium; so it is best to keep it that
way. Anyway, thanks for the race reports and color
commentary.

--
Michael Press

 

[Mike Bruno]

On Aug 20, 2:46 pm, [email protected] wrote:
> On Aug 19, 4:49 am, Artoi <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Just read the feed back from the Good Luck games in Beijing where they
> > staged a trial run on the intended road and TT course for next year. It
> > sounded real tough.
>
> >http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/aug07/aug19news
>
> > I was a little surprised what a strong team the Aussie put up vs what
> > others had.
> > --
>
> Since I'm staying less than 1km from the 1976 Olympic road race
> course, I have to take issue with the claim that the 2008 course will
> be tougher.
>
> -ilan

Perhaps they're factoring the notorious Bejing smog into the climb
categories?

 

[MkTm]

[email protected] wrote:
> On Aug 19, 4:49 am, Artoi <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Just read the feed back from the Good Luck games in Beijing where they
>> staged a trial run on the intended road and TT course for next year. It
>> sounded real tough.
>>
>> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/aug07/aug19news
>>
>> I was a little surprised what a strong team the Aussie put up vs what
>> others had.
>> --
>
> Since I'm staying less than 1km from the 1976 Olympic road race
> course, I have to take issue with the claim that the 2008 course will
> be tougher.
>
> -ilan
>
I don't see how this is being figured without route profiles. Anyway,
for a glimpse of the '76 race see -

http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/269692/

I never biked over the Mount Royal road from Blvd Mont-Royal but I went
over Guy-Cote-des-Neiges many times, which is the same climb without the
dog leg turns - though once a day was enough for me. There was a much
steeper section on the route from (I think) Cote-Ste-Catherine to Blvd
Mont-Royal (McCulloch perhaps) but it was only a block or two long.
Incidentally, two years before the Olympics there was a pro race to test
the Montreal route. It was won by Eddy Merckx.

 

[Bob Schwartz]

Donald Munro wrote:
>> "Learn to swear in several different languages. Other riders
>> will appreciate your efforts to communicate." - Robert Millar
>
> Hopefully he wasn't wearing a frilly dress when he swore at them.

I've seen multiple versions of the quote, so I wouldn't assume he
said exactly that. Another says to learn to swear in several
different languages so other riders will know who you are talking
to.

Bob Schwartz

 

[Bob Schwartz]

Marian wrote:
> But, comparing myself to that amazing list in Dutch I'm not sure I can
> even begin to compete with my paltry offering of "bendan" (stupid
> egg)
>
> shamefully slinking back into my cave in linguistic misery,

Well, I asked my Chinese office mate for a mildly profane insult to
one's intelligence, and that's what she gave me. So you've got it
right.

Bob Schwartz