That was close.. (CG Spoiler)

[David Martin]

OK, we lost, but as the boys said at least it wasn't to the aussies..

So what do you get if you take a gold medal winning team, split it in
half and add a couple of other top riders in to the mix? The best
showdown of the games so far.

Each time they pass the start line there is a fraction of a fraction of
a second in it. nip and tuck and no clear leader at all, not even a
hint of a winner.

Watching the finish lines the first question was 'who won' - visually
it was impossible to tell, and then the times flashed up. 0.025s
between the two, or about the width of a wheel at 40mph.

And Scotland end up Commonwealth Team Sprint champions.

This must surely bode well for the world championships in a few weeks
time. The hardest decision is who should ride.

...d

 

[Mark Thompson]

> OK, we lost, but as the boys said at least it wasn't to the aussies..

At these times I think of myself not as English, but as a BRITON to the
core.

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, David
Martin ('[email protected]') wrote:

> OK, we lost, but as the boys said at least it wasn't to the aussies..
>
> So what do you get if you take a gold medal winning team, split it in
> half and add a couple of other top riders in to the mix? The best
> showdown of the games so far.
>
> Each time they pass the start line there is a fraction of a fraction of
> a second in it. nip and tuck and no clear leader at all, not even a
> hint of a winner.
>
> Watching the finish lines the first question was 'who won' - visually
> it was impossible to tell, and then the times flashed up. 0.025s
> between the two, or about the width of a wheel at 40mph.
>
> And Scotland end up Commonwealth Team Sprint champions.
>
> This must surely bode well for the world championships in a few weeks
> time. The hardest decision is who should ride.

Most excellent. I was impressed, too, with Rob Hayles leading out Mark
Cavendish at the end of the scratch race - very sporting of him. And I
saw my mate Gareth up in the crowd cheering Jamie McCallum's Bronze.

All in all, Scotland's cyclists have done us well proud so far. Just have
to see what Gareth can do for the club on Thursday!

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Human history becomes more and more a race between
;; education and catastrophe.
H.G. Wells, "The Outline of History"

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Mark
Thompson
('pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com') wrote:

>> OK, we lost, but as the boys said at least it wasn't to the aussies..
>
> At these times I think of myself not as English, but as a BRITON to the
> core.

You're Welsh?

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; MS Windows: A thirty-two bit extension ... to a sixteen bit
;; patch to an eight bit operating system originally coded for a
;; four bit microprocessor and sold by a two-bit company that
;; can't stand one bit of competition -- anonymous

 

[David Martin]

Simon Brooke wrote:

> Most excellent. I was impressed, too, with Rob Hayles leading out Mark
> Cavendish at the end of the scratch race - very sporting of him.

He wasn't leading him out because that's not allowed (collusion between
teams etc.)
He was trying to increase his own position with a tactically inept
attack ;-)
The commentators were pontificating on whether he would be disqualified
for it..
But Mark Cavendish did the business..

It has been an excellent track meet for UK as a whole.. The road race
and MTB should be interesting.

...d

 

[wafflycat]

"David Martin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> OK, we lost, but as the boys said at least it wasn't to the aussies..
>
> So what do you get if you take a gold medal winning team, split it in
> half and add a couple of other top riders in to the mix? The best
> showdown of the games so far.
>
> Each time they pass the start line there is a fraction of a fraction of
> a second in it. nip and tuck and no clear leader at all, not even a
> hint of a winner.
>
> Watching the finish lines the first question was 'who won' - visually
> it was impossible to tell, and then the times flashed up. 0.025s
> between the two, or about the width of a wheel at 40mph.
>
> And Scotland end up Commonwealth Team Sprint champions.
>
> This must surely bode well for the world championships in a few weeks
> time. The hardest decision is who should ride.
>
> ..d
>

It was indeed a good event, with England coming second and Scotland helped
out by Suffolk's finest son ;-)

Good games for all the home nations in the velodrome.

Cheers, helen s

 

[Sandy Morton]

In article <[email protected]>,
wafflycat <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote:
> Good games for all the home nations in the velodrome.

How long will it be until the pc peeps are demanding that we send out
a GBR team instead of our individual countries?

They want to do it for the footie :-(

--
T h e - e x t e n d e r ! ! ! !

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Sandy Morton
('[email protected]') wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> wafflycat <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote:
>> Good games for all the home nations in the velodrome.
>
> How long will it be until the pc peeps are demanding that we send out
> a GBR team instead of our individual countries?

Never. The UK is redundant, irrelevant and already dying; it won't last
long enough for the 'pc peeps' to have any effect. The current flurry
about the West Lothian question is just another symptom of that. We
don't need two layers of super-national unions; if we have the EU, we
don't need the UK (and vice-versa, of course, but those who'd prefer to
keep the UK and leave the EU, are scarcely a majority). The current
situation where one institution is both the union parliament and one of
the member state parliaments simply isn't tenable.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

<p>Schroedinger's cat is <blink><strong>NOT</strong></blink> dead.</p>

 

[Dan Gregory]

Simon Brooke wrote:

> Most excellent. I was impressed, too, with Rob Hayles leading out Mark
> Cavendish at the end of the scratch race - very sporting of him. And I
> saw my mate Gareth up in the crowd cheering Jamie McCallum's Bronze.
Very impressive lead out - but not sporting, that's why he was disqualified.

Dan Gregory

 

[David Martin]

Dan Gregory wrote:
> Simon Brooke wrote:
>
> > Most excellent. I was impressed, too, with Rob Hayles leading out Mark
> > Cavendish at the end of the scratch race - very sporting of him. And I
> > saw my mate Gareth up in the crowd cheering Jamie McCallum's Bronze.
> Very impressive lead out - but not sporting, that's why he was disqualified.
>

Was he actually disqualified? I had heard it mooted but not seen any
confirmation of that.

...d

> Dan Gregory

 

[David Martin]

David Martin wrote:
> Dan Gregory wrote:
> > Simon Brooke wrote:
> >
> > > Most excellent. I was impressed, too, with Rob Hayles leading out Mark
> > > Cavendish at the end of the scratch race - very sporting of him. And I
> > > saw my mate Gareth up in the crowd cheering Jamie McCallum's Bronze.
> > Very impressive lead out - but not sporting, that's why he was disqualified.
> >
>
> Was he actually disqualified? I had heard it mooted but not seen any
> confirmation of that.

Oh yes -
http://www.melbourne2006.com.au/Sch.../Result - CT001010000001?ScheduleItemID=30176
or http://tinyurl.com/mlstk

>
> ..d
>
> > Dan Gregory

 

[Tony W]

"Dan Gregory" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Simon Brooke wrote:
>
>> Most excellent. I was impressed, too, with Rob Hayles leading out Mark
>> Cavendish at the end of the scratch race - very sporting of him. And I
>> saw my mate Gareth up in the crowd cheering Jamie McCallum's Bronze.
> Very impressive lead out - but not sporting, that's why he was
> disqualified.
>
> Dan Gregory

Why?

Hayles puts the hammer down and goes. Cavendish latches on to his wheel and
follows. A bit later Hayles bonks and pulls out leaving Cavendish to go for
the line.

1. What did Hayles do wrong? How was he to know Cavendish would latch
onto his wheel?

2. Wasn't Cavendish wrong to take the tow? Why was he not punished?

3. Why was it OK for the Kiwi to drop a lap then give his team mate a
tow?

Seems to me there was a wheel to get a tow from, Cavendish took it. No
problem.

But then I don't understand the rules.

T

 

[David Martin]

Tony W wrote:
> "Dan Gregory" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Simon Brooke wrote:
> >
> >> Most excellent. I was impressed, too, with Rob Hayles leading out Mark
> >> Cavendish at the end of the scratch race - very sporting of him. And I
> >> saw my mate Gareth up in the crowd cheering Jamie McCallum's Bronze.
> > Very impressive lead out - but not sporting, that's why he was
> > disqualified.
> >
> > Dan Gregory
>
> Why?
>
> Hayles puts the hammer down and goes. Cavendish latches on to his wheel and
> follows. A bit later Hayles bonks and pulls out leaving Cavendish to go for
> the line.
>
> 1. What did Hayles do wrong? How was he to know Cavendish would latch
> onto his wheel?
>
> 2. Wasn't Cavendish wrong to take the tow? Why was he not punished?
>
> 3. Why was it OK for the Kiwi to drop a lap then give his team mate a
> tow?
>
> Seems to me there was a wheel to get a tow from, Cavendish took it. No
> problem.
>
> But then I don't understand the rules.

Neither do I but AIUI you can assist a team mate but not someone from
another team. As there was no way RH was racing for position (he was a
lap down with no chance of a medal) and being MC's madison team mate
ont he GB squad, it was a blatent lead out for another team and hence
entirely against the spirit of the sport... (now I need to remove my
tongue form my cheek).

I suppose the 'I forgot I was on a different team' or 'I am becoming a
tax exile in IoM' excuses didn't wash ;-)

...d

 

[Tony W]

"David Martin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

snip

>>
>> Why?
>>
snip

>>
>> Seems to me there was a wheel to get a tow from, Cavendish took it. No
>> problem.
>>
>> But then I don't understand the rules.
>
> Neither do I but AIUI you can assist a team mate but not someone from
> another team. As there was no way RH was racing for position

> (he was a lap down with no chance of a medal)

Ahh. Hadn't appreciated that.

> and being MC's madison team mate
> ont he GB squad, it was a blatent lead out for another team and hence
> entirely against the spirit of the sport... (now I need to remove my
> tongue form my cheek).

Could prove tricky

> I suppose the 'I forgot I was on a different team' or 'I am becoming a
> tax exile in IoM' excuses didn't wash ;-)

But wasn't Hayles at fault for utilising said blatent lead out?

T

 

[Tony W]

"Tony W" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> But wasn't Hayles at fault for utilising said blatent lead out?


Sorry I meant to say 'Cavendish' not Hayles.

 

[Steve]

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:06:17 +0000, Simon Brooke wrote:

> in message <[email protected]>, Sandy Morton
> ('[email protected]') wrote:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> wafflycat <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote:
>>> Good games for all the home nations in the velodrome.
>>
>> How long will it be until the pc peeps are demanding that we send out
>> a GBR team instead of our individual countries?
>
> Never. The UK is redundant, irrelevant and already dying; it won't last
> long enough for the 'pc peeps' to have any effect. The current flurry
> about the West Lothian question is just another symptom of that. We
> don't need two layers of super-national unions; if we have the EU, we
> don't need the UK (and vice-versa, of course, but those who'd prefer to
> keep the UK and leave the EU, are scarcely a majority). The current
> situation where one institution is both the union parliament and one of
> the member state parliaments simply isn't tenable.

Hey, we're talking about the 'Commonwealth' Games here! now see if you can
fit that into your second sentence???



Steve

 

[Ambrose Nankivell]

Simon Brooke wrote:
> in message <[email protected]>, Sandy Morton
> ('[email protected]') wrote:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> wafflycat <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote:
>>> Good games for all the home nations in the velodrome.
>>
>> How long will it be until the pc peeps are demanding that we send out
>> a GBR team instead of our individual countries?
>
> Never. The UK is redundant, irrelevant and already dying; it won't
> last long enough for the 'pc peeps' to have any effect.

Hopefully we'll be able to sort something out for Northern Ireland and go
back to being Great Britain before too long, you're quite right.
--
Ambrose