Olympic cycling

[Bob Schwartz]

Dave <[email protected]> wrote:
> One for sure will be the team pursuit as there are typically only 4 or 5 teams, They have
> threatened it at the world level, The kilo will stay. Fans like it, it doesn't take long, and is
> well represented. Women's 500TT maybe

If by only 4 or 5 teams you mean 4 or 5 teams that don't suck then you're right. Part of that has
been a result of the drive to reduce the number of athletes. To do the TP right you need 5 or 6 guys
and there is no way that can happen under the current athlete numbers without punting on everything
else. If you punt on the TP that frees up a lot of bodies to devote to other events. So that would
point to the TP getting whacked. That's why the TTT got whacked when they added mountain biking.

OTOH teams going under 4 minutes is more exciting than anything in the Kilo or 500. The trouble with
the Kilo is that it is difficult to see any difference between a great ride and a ride that sucks
without a stopwatch. When you put it on TV and show it to someone that is not an enthusiast, all
they see is a string of people riding the same two or four laps. And that's why they do them two up
now, to get them out of the way more quickly. I don't think they do that in the Olympics though. If
Kilos were great spectating they wouldn't do it anywhere.

But everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I like watching Kilos because they are one of the few
events where you can see lactic acid accumulation and people tend to really suffer noticably in the
last lap. So I watch Kilos because I like to watch people suffer. But I think most people find them
boring as hell.

But we found out in the "Hottest Babe Racer" thread that there are guys out there that really dig
chicks that look like young boys so maybe Rogge digs watching Kilos.

Bob Schwartz [email protected]

Digs Kilos and chicks that look like chicks.

 

[Carl Sundquist]

"Bob Schwartz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> The trouble with the Kilo is that it is difficult to see any difference between a great ride and a
> ride that sucks without a stopwatch. When you put it on TV and show it to someone that is not an
> enthusiast, all they see is a string of people riding the same two or four laps.

One could say the same thing for bobsled or luge.

 

[Bob Schwartz]

Carl Sundquist <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Bob Schwartz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> The trouble with the Kilo is that it is difficult to see any difference between a great ride and
>> a ride that sucks without a stopwatch. When you put it on TV and show it to someone that is not
>> an enthusiast, all they see is a string of people riding the same two or four laps.

> One could say the same thing for bobsled or luge.

Indeed one could. All three would be dead events were it not for the Olympics.

Bobsled and luge have an element of danger going for them which works in their favor. It's rare but
people do wipe out at high speed. Once I saw someone riding their first Kilo go over the bars after
trying to coast. but at high levels of competition there is no blood. That works against TV appeal
for the Kilo.

Bob Schwartz [email protected]

 

[Kurgan Gringion]

"Bob Schwartz" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Carl Sundquist <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > "Bob Schwartz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >> The trouble with the Kilo is that it is difficult to see any difference between a great ride
> >> and a ride that sucks without a stopwatch. When you put it on TV and show it to someone that is
> >> not an enthusiast, all they see is a string of people riding the same two or four laps.
>
> > One could say the same thing for bobsled or luge.
>
> Indeed one could. All three would be dead events were it not for the Olympics.

I knew a girl who was very impressed that her boyfriend was "world class" in the luge.

I was less so - how many people in the world are practitioners of that sport?

 

[Raptor]

Bob Schwartz wrote:
>>One could say the same thing for bobsled or luge.
>
>
> Indeed one could. All three would be dead events were it not for the Olympics.

There's a fairly healthy World Cup circuit for the sliding sports. They don't have near the fan
base, but all you need is a few facilities, a few serious competitors, and a few national organizing
bodies to keep it going.

> Bobsled and luge have an element of danger going for them which works in their favor. It's rare
> but people do wipe out at high speed. Once I saw someone riding their first Kilo go over the bars
> after trying to coast. but at high levels of competition there is no blood. That works against TV
> appeal for the Kilo.
>
> Bob Schwartz [email protected]

When you "touch" the wall going 80 mph, you DON'T "touch" the wall. Bobsled is one thing, but to get
the same feel as a luger, reach out your window on an Interstate or autobahn and "touch" the
guardrail.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

 

[David Ryan]

Raptor wrote:
>
> Bob Schwartz wrote:
> >>One could say the same thing for bobsled or luge.
> >
> >
> > Indeed one could. All three would be dead events were it not for the Olympics.
>
> There's a fairly healthy World Cup circuit for the sliding sports. They don't have near the fan
> base, but all you need is a few facilities, a few serious competitors, and a few national
> organizing bodies to keep it going.
>
> > Bobsled and luge have an element of danger going for them which works in their favor. It's rare
> > but people do wipe out at high speed. Once I saw someone riding their first Kilo go over the
> > bars after trying to coast. but at high levels of competition there is no blood. That works
> > against TV appeal for the Kilo.
> >
> > Bob Schwartz [email protected]
>
> When you "touch" the wall going 80 mph, you DON'T "touch" the wall. Bobsled is one thing, but to
> get the same feel as a luger, reach out your window on an Interstate or autobahn and "touch" the
> guardrail.

I can't say I'm enamored of any sport powered primarily by gasoline or gravity.

And while the kilo is fine and traditional, I just can't get into bike rides that are easy walking
distance ;-)

 

[Carl Sundquist]

"Raptor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> There's a fairly healthy World Cup circuit for the sliding sports. They don't have near the fan
> base, but all you need is a few facilities, a few serious competitors, and a few national
> organizing bodies to keep it going.
>

Are you agreeing or disagreeing that bobsled/luge are similar to timed track events, because your
description could easily fit track racing.

 

[David Ryan]

Robert Chung wrote:
>
> "warren" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:010720032207262788%[email protected]...
> >
> > Tiger looks alot more fit than any luger or dowhill skier.
>
> How do you think he'd do in the Prologue compared to the Herminator?

I think he cuts the dogleg through the Parc du Champs de Mars and sinks it in four.

 

[Raptor]

David Ryan wrote:
> Raptor wrote:
>
>>When you "touch" the wall going 80 mph, you DON'T "touch" the wall. Bobsled is one thing, but to
>>get the same feel as a luger, reach out your window on an Interstate or autobahn and "touch" the
>>guardrail.
>
>
> I can't say I'm enamored of any sport powered primarily by gasoline or gravity.
>
> And while the kilo is fine and traditional, I just can't get into bike rides that are easy walking
> distance ;-)

Any place is walking distance if you have the time. Steven Wright

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

 

[Raptor]

Carl Sundquist wrote:
> "Raptor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
>>There's a fairly healthy World Cup circuit for the sliding sports. They don't have near the fan
>>base, but all you need is a few facilities, a few serious competitors, and a few national
>>organizing bodies to keep it going.
>>
>
>
> Are you agreeing or disagreeing that bobsled/luge are similar to timed track events, because your
> description could easily fit track racing.

I don't know. I honestly don't know.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

 

[John Forrest To]

Personally, I've got little interest in the kilo (and women's 500m). I know the riders train with
sick dedication, are really good and the event is super painful, but it just doesn't do much for me.
I hope the team pursuit is not one of the events they get rid of though. That's super racing with so
much different action going on.

JT

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[Bob Schwartz]

Raptor <[email protected]> wrote:
> Bob Schwartz wrote:
>>>One could say the same thing for bobsled or luge.
>>
>>
>> Indeed one could. All three would be dead events were it not for the Olympics.

> There's a fairly healthy World Cup circuit for the sliding sports. They don't have near the fan
> base, but all you need is a few facilities, a few serious competitors, and a few national
> organizing bodies to keep it going.

On reflection I think this makes my point in that without the Olympics there would be no facilities
for sliding sports. That is certainly the case in North America. I will bet that most if not all
bobsled/luge runs in use today were constructed for a past Olympic games.

Bob Schwartz [email protected]

 

[Warren]

In article <[email protected]>, Bob Schwartz <[email protected]> wrote:

> Raptor <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Bob Schwartz wrote:
> >>>One could say the same thing for bobsled or luge.
> >>
> >>
> >> Indeed one could. All three would be dead events were it not for the Olympics.
>
> > There's a fairly healthy World Cup circuit for the sliding sports. They don't have near the fan
> > base, but all you need is a few facilities, a few serious competitors, and a few national
> > organizing bodies to keep it going.
>
> On reflection I think this makes my point in that without the Olympics there would be no
> facilities for sliding sports. That is certainly the case in North America. I will bet that most
> if not all bobsled/luge runs in use today were constructed for a past Olympic games.

The only two I know of are in near Salt Lake and Lake Placid.

-WG

 

[Kyle Legate]

warren wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, Bob Schwartz <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On reflection I think this makes my point in that without the Olympics there would be no
>> facilities for sliding sports. That is certainly the case in North America. I will bet that most
>> if not all bobsled/luge runs in use today were constructed for a past Olympic games.
>
> The only two I know of are in near Salt Lake and Lake Placid.
>
Calgary also has bobsled and luge runs, and Whistler will soon have them also.

 

[Bob Schwartz]

Bob Schwartz <[email protected]> wrote:
> On reflection I think this makes my point in that without the Olympics there would be no
> facilities for sliding sports. That is certainly the case in North America. I will bet that most
> if not all bobsled/luge runs in use today were constructed for a past Olympic games.

To answer my own question, there are no bobsled tracks in existance outside of Germany that were not
constructed for an Olympic games. You can look this up at http://www.bobsleigh.com/

With respect to luge this is also the case with the exception that it is also possible to use a
'natural' track which is not possible with the heavier sleds. So there are the Olympic tracks, the
German tracks, and artificial tracks in Latvia, Sweden, and Austria that are not associated with
any Olympics. The Lake Placid track was replaced in 2000 so I guess that one is not an Olympic
track either.

There are a boatload of artificial luge tracks, most of them are in Italy and Austria. None are
outside Europe. http://www.fil-luge.org

So I guess you could say that luge might exist as a fringe sport in Europe were it not for the
Olympics, but that bobsled would absolutely not.

Bob Schwartz [email protected]

 

[Warren]

In article <[email protected]>, Kyle Legate
<[email protected]> wrote:

> warren wrote:
> > In article <[email protected]>, Bob Schwartz <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> On reflection I think this makes my point in that without the Olympics there would be no
> >> facilities for sliding sports. That is certainly the case in North America. I will bet that
> >> most if not all bobsled/luge runs in use today were constructed for a past Olympic games.
> >
> > The only two I know of are in near Salt Lake and Lake Placid.
> >
> Calgary also has bobsled and luge runs, and Whistler will soon have them also.

Sorry, I didn't notice he said "North America".

-WG

 

[Dan]

Raptor <[email protected]> wrote in message news

> Any place is walking distance if you have the time. Steven Wright
>
> --

I'm an extra-medium.