B
Brianb
Guest
Well the other day I said that LA should have tried to gain time on LU by going with Hamilton, and
that it was dangerous to try to sit on a one minute lead. Of course I was roundly condemned, with
one poster even calling me a troll!
I don't know much about cycling, obviously. But it seems for most of the time, there's no benefit to
try to gain on your competition. Most days nothing happens. I think this is b/c of the wind
advantage offered by the peloton. To escape you have to break away, do all the work yourself, and
then be able to hold that position until the end.
As a result of this, there's really very little "racing". The only real racing is in ITT, TTT, and
in stages that end in a climb (where wind resistance is of little advantage b/c of slow speeds).
So you have days like today, where LU and LA are in the peloton behind the breakaway team which is
20 minutes ahead. Why don't LA and LU follow them and try to gain time on each other. Make a "race"
of it, so to speak.
"No, no, no! you idiot!, they should stay with the peloton...don't waste energy trying to gain
advantage!".
OK, then, that's why people don't quite get cycling. Most of the time they're not really racing,
just going for a ride in the country. A fast ride, a long ride, at speeds I couldn't do
(obviously), but they're not really "racing" per se. The real racing is done in only a few stages
at only a few times.
that it was dangerous to try to sit on a one minute lead. Of course I was roundly condemned, with
one poster even calling me a troll!
I don't know much about cycling, obviously. But it seems for most of the time, there's no benefit to
try to gain on your competition. Most days nothing happens. I think this is b/c of the wind
advantage offered by the peloton. To escape you have to break away, do all the work yourself, and
then be able to hold that position until the end.
As a result of this, there's really very little "racing". The only real racing is in ITT, TTT, and
in stages that end in a climb (where wind resistance is of little advantage b/c of slow speeds).
So you have days like today, where LU and LA are in the peloton behind the breakaway team which is
20 minutes ahead. Why don't LA and LU follow them and try to gain time on each other. Make a "race"
of it, so to speak.
"No, no, no! you idiot!, they should stay with the peloton...don't waste energy trying to gain
advantage!".
OK, then, that's why people don't quite get cycling. Most of the time they're not really racing,
just going for a ride in the country. A fast ride, a long ride, at speeds I couldn't do
(obviously), but they're not really "racing" per se. The real racing is done in only a few stages
at only a few times.