Recognize FRAAM for what it is



K

Kurgan Gringioni

Guest
FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
autos, trucks and whatnot.

Dumbest thing ever.

AT LEAST HE WAS DOING WHAT HE LOVED! FALLING ASLEEP AND RUNNING HEAD ON
INTO A MOTORIZED VEHICLE.


(gag me)



K. Gringioni.
 
"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
> a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
> autos, trucks and whatnot.
>
> Dumbest thing ever.
>
> AT LEAST HE WAS DOING WHAT HE LOVED! FALLING ASLEEP AND RUNNING HEAD ON
> INTO A MOTORIZED VEHICLE.
>
>
> (gag me)
>
>
>
> K. Gringioni.
>

Henry, I usually think you're funny, but given the situation this is over
the top.
 
"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
> a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
> autos, trucks and whatnot.

Dumbass,

Check the rider roster before you label all of the RAAM competitors a
"Fred." Dr. Eric Heiden, winner of 5 gold medals in speed skating, is in
this year's RAAM and he's no Fred. I'm sure his wattage and VO2max is at
least twice yours.
 
Kurgan Gringioni says...

>FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
>a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
>autos, trucks and whatnot.

>Dumbest thing ever.

>AT LEAST HE WAS DOING WHAT HE LOVED! FALLING ASLEEP AND RUNNING HEAD ON
>INTO A MOTORIZED VEHICLE.

Your lack of respect is sad. I can only hope that your life is sufficiently
bland to meet your own lowly standards.
 
PanFan wrote:
> Check the rider roster before you label all of the RAAM competitors a
> "Fred." Dr. Eric Heiden, winner of 5 gold medals in speed skating, is in
> this year's RAAM and he's no Fred. I'm sure his wattage and VO2max is at
> least twice yours.

Fredliness has next to nothing to do with power output or VO2max,
except that you get a little more leeway if you're fast. Armstrong
rider in RAAM with his knee-highs would be a Fred.
 
"J.V." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
>> a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
>> autos, trucks and whatnot.
>>
>> Dumbest thing ever.
>>
>> AT LEAST HE WAS DOING WHAT HE LOVED! FALLING ASLEEP AND RUNNING HEAD ON
>> INTO A MOTORIZED VEHICLE.
>>
>>
>> (gag me)
>>
>>
>>
>> K. Gringioni.
>>
>
> Henry, I usually think you're funny, but given the situation this is over
> the top.
>

What's over the top about it? When I watched the broadcast of this event
last year I was stunned at the blatant displays of stupidity. Riders
pushing themselves WAY too far. Support teams pushing their riders WAY too
far.

Henry called it like he saw it ... and like a lot of others see it, too. If
you want political correctness, you don't have thick enough skin to hang out
in rbr.

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)
 
"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
> a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
> autos, trucks and whatnot.
>
> Dumbest thing ever.
>
> AT LEAST HE WAS DOING WHAT HE LOVED! FALLING ASLEEP AND RUNNING HEAD ON
> INTO A MOTORIZED VEHICLE.
>
>
> (gag me)
>
>
>
> K. Gringioni.

It strikes me that what RAAM really is ... for the individual participants
.... is a mass suicide attempt. Most participants fail. Dr. Breedlove
succeeded.

I wonder if Dr. Kevorkian is driving any of the support vehicles?

(If you think this is un-funny and in bad taste, you know how I feel about
RAAM.)
--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)
 
"psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> It strikes me that what RAAM really is ... for the individual participants
> ... is a mass suicide attempt. Most participants fail. Dr. Breedlove
> succeeded.
>
> I wonder if Dr. Kevorkian is driving any of the support vehicles?
>
> (If you think this is un-funny and in bad taste, you know how I feel about
> RAAM.)
> --
> Bob C.
>
> "Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
> T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)
>
>

There are plenty of sports and activities participated in by masses more
people that are much more life threatening than RAAM. To my knowledge two
people have died in recent years, this person and someone in 2003. The
reasons why can be speculated but not known. These people are intelligent
and highly motivated. They've spent far more energy, attention and
preparation in pursuit of their goals than the average person will ever
know. It's a disgrace to yourself to defend and participate in such
tasteless comments.
 
"J.V." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> It strikes me that what RAAM really is ... for the individual
>> participants
>> ... is a mass suicide attempt. Most participants fail. Dr. Breedlove
>> succeeded.
>>
>> I wonder if Dr. Kevorkian is driving any of the support vehicles?
>>
>> (If you think this is un-funny and in bad taste, you know how I feel
>> about
>> RAAM.)
>> --
>> Bob C.
>>
>> "Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
>> T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)
>>
>>
>
> There are plenty of sports and activities participated in by masses more
> people that are much more life threatening than RAAM. To my knowledge
> two
> people have died in recent years, this person and someone in 2003. The
> reasons why can be speculated but not known. These people are
> intelligent
> and highly motivated. They've spent far more energy, attention and
> preparation in pursuit of their goals than the average person will ever
> know. It's a disgrace to yourself to defend and participate in such
> tasteless comments.
>
>

Evidently I gored your ox. You see it your way. I'll see it mine. And
I'll call it like I see it. The enduring image I have from watching last
year's broadcast is of one sleep-deprived lunatic who could hardly turn the
pedals who pushed himself off a guard rail and veered a hard left into
traffic where he was nearly run down ... in the dead of night. It was
absolutely senseless. Senseless! Had that lunatic been hit, I'd have felt
sorry for both the rider and the driver ... but I'd have had more sympathy
for the driver.

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)
 
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> PanFan wrote:
>> Check the rider roster before you label all of the RAAM competitors a
>> "Fred." Dr. Eric Heiden, winner of 5 gold medals in speed skating, is in
>> this year's RAAM and he's no Fred. I'm sure his wattage and VO2max is at
>> least twice yours.
>
> Fredliness has next to nothing to do with power output or VO2max,
> except that you get a little more leeway if you're fast. Armstrong
> rider in RAAM with his knee-highs would be a Fred.

Sounds like circular reasoning to me. They're Freds _because_ they're in
RAAM.
 
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:17:10 -0400, "psycholist" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>"J.V." <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
>>> a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
>>> autos, trucks and whatnot.
>>>
>>> Dumbest thing ever.
>>>
>>> AT LEAST HE WAS DOING WHAT HE LOVED! FALLING ASLEEP AND RUNNING HEAD ON
>>> INTO A MOTORIZED VEHICLE.
>>>
>>>
>>> (gag me)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> K. Gringioni.
>>>
>>
>> Henry, I usually think you're funny, but given the situation this is over
>> the top.
>>
>
>What's over the top about it? When I watched the broadcast of this event
>last year I was stunned at the blatant displays of stupidity. Riders
>pushing themselves WAY too far. Support teams pushing their riders WAY too
>far.
>
>Henry called it like he saw it ... and like a lot of others see it, too. If
>you want political correctness, you don't have thick enough skin to hang out
>in rbr.

I think he's got a point. Even in 3 week grand tours they have rest
days. NOthing's wrong with endurance and pushing the limit. However,
they do this race on open roads that are not closed to traffic. I'm
surprised more disasters don't happen.

It's still sad of course. The guy didn't deserve it. It sounds like
maybe he had a heart attack or something.
 
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 16:44:33 GMT, "J.V." <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
>> a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
>> autos, trucks and whatnot.
>>
>> Dumbest thing ever.
>>
>> AT LEAST HE WAS DOING WHAT HE LOVED! FALLING ASLEEP AND RUNNING HEAD ON
>> INTO A MOTORIZED VEHICLE.
>>
>>
>> (gag me)
>>
>>
>>
>> K. Gringioni.
>>
>
>Henry, I usually think you're funny, but given the situation this is over
>the top.

It's over the top *and* funny.

JT


****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************
 
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 16:50:41 GMT, PanFan <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Check the rider roster before you label all of the RAAM competitors a
>"Fred." Dr. Eric Heiden, winner of 5 gold medals in speed skating, is in
>this year's RAAM and he's no Fred.

Solo? No way.

The relay RAAM is a different thing, unless they all stay up all night
just for the fun of it.

JT

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************
 
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 18:32:55 GMT, "J.V." <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> It strikes me that what RAAM really is ... for the individual participants
>> ... is a mass suicide attempt. Most participants fail. Dr. Breedlove
>> succeeded.
>>
>> I wonder if Dr. Kevorkian is driving any of the support vehicles?
>>
>> (If you think this is un-funny and in bad taste, you know how I feel about
>> RAAM.)
>> --
>> Bob C.
>>
>> "Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
>> T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)
>>
>>
>
>There are plenty of sports and activities participated in by masses more
>people that are much more life threatening than RAAM.

Like what? Smoking is one example, but it takes a long time to kill
the participants. What others?

JT

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************
 
You're insane. They died because this event is fundamentally unsafe. If
a proportional number of UCI racers were to die in the Tour as have
died in RAAM, there would be a massive shitstorm to improve safety.
 
> >
> >There are plenty of sports and activities participated in by masses more
> >people that are much more life threatening than RAAM.
>
> Like what? Smoking is one example, but it takes a long time to kill
> the participants. What others?
>
Hundreds of thousands a year die due to complications from sofa sitting,
and channel surfing, but there isn't a sh*t storm about it because it's
considered suicide by knife and fork.
 
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:17:10 -0400, "psycholist" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>What's over the top about it? When I watched the broadcast of this event
>last year I was stunned at the blatant displays of stupidity. Riders
>pushing themselves WAY too far. Support teams pushing their riders WAY too
>far.
>
>Henry called it like he saw it ... and like a lot of others see it, too. If
>you want political correctness, you don't have thick enough skin to hang out
>in rbr.

If you were to do it in a motor vehicle, you would be breaking the law
and there wouldn't be much sympathy when you turned left into a
barrier and killed yourself. If a motorist were to fall asleep at the
wheel after working 18 hours to feed his or her family and hit and
killed a bicyclist, they would get about zip in the sympathy
department on the bike lists, but more than a few calls to pull them
out of the jail and string them up without a trial.

I've read my share of stories of RAAM from the Haldeman and Shermer
days and the stupidity IMO was striking. Yeah, its empressive that
Shermer, the eternal second back then (and creator of shorter
distances to set 'firsts') could get on his bike and rip off 400 mile
days. He also got on the Baltimore beltway at rush hour and rode about
half of it, refusing the sagwagon (that would be me) to do what was a
patently illegal activity and causing a major ripple in the traffic.
Since slowing my Econoline to 30 or so wasn't any safer. I gave up
when the roads and exits got really nasty. No need for two traffic
hazards...

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...
 
John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
> "J.V." <[email protected]> wrote:
>> There are plenty of sports and activities participated in by masses
>> more people that are much more life threatening than RAAM.
>
> Like what? Smoking is one example, but it takes a long time to kill
> the participants. What others?

Well, let's estimate the RAAM solo rider fatality rate. 2 deaths in 23
years, roughly 20 solo riders per year, roughly 10 days average exposure
time: that's 2/(23*20*240) = 1.8 fatalities per 10000 person hours of
exposure time.

The TdF runs about 180 riders, and maybe 90 hours per rider of exposure
time, or about 16000 person hours of total exposure time. So if the TdF
had about the same fatality rate as the solo riders in RAAM, we'd be
seeing about 3 deaths per year in the TdF.
 
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:eek:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:17:10 -0400, "psycholist" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>"J.V." <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>> "Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>> FRed Across America has shown in the past 2 years how dumb it is to run
>>>> a Sleep Deprivation Contest on bicycles riding on public roads with
>>>> autos, trucks and whatnot.
>>>>
>>>> Dumbest thing ever.
>>>>
>>>> AT LEAST HE WAS DOING WHAT HE LOVED! FALLING ASLEEP AND RUNNING HEAD ON
>>>> INTO A MOTORIZED VEHICLE.
>>>
>>> Henry, I usually think you're funny, but given the situation this is
>>> over
>>> the top.
>>
>>What's over the top about it? When I watched the broadcast of this event
>>last year I was stunned at the blatant displays of stupidity. Riders
>>pushing themselves WAY too far. Support teams pushing their riders WAY
>>too
>>far.
>>
>>Henry called it like he saw it ... and like a lot of others see it, too.
>>If
>>you want political correctness, you don't have thick enough skin to hang
>>out
>>in rbr.
>
> I think he's got a point. Even in 3 week grand tours they have rest
> days. NOthing's wrong with endurance and pushing the limit. However,
> they do this race on open roads that are not closed to traffic. I'm
> surprised more disasters don't happen.
>
> It's still sad of course. The guy didn't deserve it. It sounds like
> maybe he had a heart attack or something.

Just out of curiosity, how does anyone know what the limits are? How many
years did the RAMM run without any accidents and with LOTS longer times
between sleeps?

It's unfortunate that a man has died. But a race designed to test limits
will find limits.

Like DUDE, is there anyone that believes that snow boarding half pipes is
anything sporty?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ForFlynLow
What are the symptoms of dehydration during a ride on a road bike, and how can I recognize them?
Replies
0
Views
13
Road Cycling
ForFlynLow
ForFlynLow
R
What are the symptoms of frostbite during a ride, and how can I recognize them?
Replies
6
Views
39
Road Cycling
ric11
R
Psychler
What are the symptoms of dehydration during a ride on a triathlon bike, and how can I recognize them?
Replies
11
Views
118
Road Cycling
specialized26
specialized26
R
What are the symptoms of dehydration during a ride with a lot of traffic, and how can I recognize them?
Replies
16
Views
121
Road Cycling
dommyk
dommyk
vuce
What are the symptoms of dehydration during a ride, and how can I recognize them?
Replies
8
Views
89
Road Cycling
BzY
BzY
Top Bottom Back