Tattoo



Eastway, I've read your reply and I'm tossin it around the headgear as we speak. Allow me time to weigh out and consider on this one. So, good sir, what's an Englishman doin in France? :cool: Thanku for the detailed input, it's what I needed to POSSIBLY slide on over to the light. Oh yea fella's...... input on the tat is appreciated, my ink dude is gettin glassy eye'd
 
ranger39000 said:
So, good sir, what's an Englishman doin in France?

Just ridin' my bike... :)

Been here 13 years on and off, but spent a lot of time here prior to that. Mainly attracted by the fact I could buy a five hundred year old stone farmhouse and barns and a couple of acres in the country, near the sea, for the price of a single garage in the south of England (and that's not an exaggeration...).
Add in the wine at 1-2 euros a bottle, good food, relaxed lifestyle, and a cycling-friendly culture, and for me it was a no-brainer. Fortunately I've got the sort of job that makes it possible (I'm a freelance magazine journalist/editor and can work from home most of the time), otherwise it would be tricky.
 
Well, Eastway, for just a minute I was transported to a little minni-mental vacation:cool: in the wine country of France. I feel like I owe ya money or something for traveling fee's. I bet you've even ridden on the Champs Elysees. Lucky *******:)
 
ranger39000 said:
Well, Eastway, for just a minute I was transported to a little minni-mental vacation:cool: in the wine country of France. I feel like I owe ya money or something for traveling fee's. I bet you've even ridden on the Champs Elysees. Lucky *******:)

Well, mostly round here it's cider country (I'm up in Normandy, just an hour or so away from the D-Day landing beaches), but I get your point!

Yes, I've ridden on the Champs Elysees many times, but always on something with an engine – when the tour comes through, they've got the roads closed, but the rest of the time, it's practically suicide on a bicycle, especially at the Place de l'Etoile/Charles de Gaulle round the Arc de Triomphe - the chaos there has to be seen to be believed, especially when the cobbles are wet.

I did make it down to the Alps for the tour this year though. Rode up the Joux Plane (an absolute ******* of a hill) and watched the stage, then down the other side to Morzine, playing at racers, 80km/h and cooking the brakes into the hairpins. Whatever the outcome re: Landis etc, it was a great day.
 
Well Eastway, I was actually IN the tour, just this mornin. And leading the pack in my "illusion of grandeur" :rolleyes:. I love Saturday morning rides! Hey, we need an Englishman to win the tour. Can't let the French have it yet. R they really ****** off at us 4 taking their race away from them, or is it just the arrogance in we Americans :cool: . I hear they truly liked Landis for his humble attitude, but an untruthful Menonite I believe him 2 B.
 
ranger39000 said:
Well Eastway, I was actually IN the tour, just this mornin. And leading the pack in my "illusion of grandeur" :rolleyes:. I love Saturday morning rides! Hey, we need an Englishman to win the tour. Can't let the French have it yet. R they really ****** off at us 4 taking their race away from them, or is it just the arrogance in we Americans :cool: . I hear they truly liked Landis for his humble attitude, but an untruthful Menonite I believe him 2 B.

I don't think there's any hope of an English winner for a while yet... But don't worry, the French aren't in much better shape!
I think what the French public (or, more likely, the editorial staff of L'Equipe) mostly weren't keen on in the Armstrong era was that a: it was pretty much racing by numbers, everything calculated, no perceived flair or obvious suffering, and b: he could win the tour every year because that's the only race he did. It's understandable: he was an American, racing for an American team, with American sponsors, and for 99.99% of Americans, the Tour de France is the only race they've ever heard of. So it was understandable, but not popular. I think there was a fairly universal hope that this year some other country would get the chance to win!
Having said that, I was rooting for Landis, and what he did on the Joux Plane was outstanding. Maybe we'll never know the truth of the matter, but I can't see how/why he'd test positive on that day and not the day before or the day after, especially as Testosterone's not the drug of choice for a one-day hit. Something smells there.
 
Hmmm.....somethin to roll around le ole' noggin 4 awhile. So, a possible conspiracy :eek: ? I've never been one to buy into that sort of thing but it sure seems feasable when ya look at it that way. I like to think of everyone as good and honest until some act proves them otherwise. Maybe the Mennonite really did win. And yea, Armstrong does appear a bit robotic. Americans, I feel, view that as a sort of stoicism and discipline but the French r an openly passionate people, r they not? So I could see where that would irk them a little.
 
I am one of the few people here that love tattoos.

I forgot the site I was looking at but it showcased a lot of cycling tattoos... some of them were incredible. I will try to find the link for you. Dont get a company name on you though, get something unique. If you go to a good tattoo shop and tell the artist what you have in mind, he will draw up pieces that will blow your mind.

I am currently working a Batman/Superman sleeve on my left leg... my next sitting is next week. Here are some pics, taken the day after my last sitting.

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and here are some pics after the first sitting... just getting started, and you can see where the Joker is covering up some homemade tats

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Though not cycling related, those r friggin awsome tat's dude. If u can remember that site, would greatly appreciate. No company logo's, promise. Did like the simplicity of the Campy one. Even so, don't run on Campy....CyclingPsycho
 
ranger39000 said:
. So, a possible conspiracy :eek: ? I've never been one to buy into that sort of thing but it sure seems feasable when ya look at it that way. I like to think of everyone as good and honest until some act proves them otherwise. Maybe the Mennonite really did win. And yea, Armstrong does appear a bit robotic. Americans, I feel, view that as a sort of stoicism and discipline but the French r an openly passionate people, r they not? So I could see where that would irk them a little.

I'm not into conspiracies either - I'd rather believe in an honest mistake...
Not sure whether it's to do with the French being 'passionate' - I just think they're a bunch of sadists (De Sade was French, remember...), who like to see people suffer!