RR tracks

On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 23:47:31 -0600, Raptor <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Sorry, pressed for time, can't do my own searching/research.

Any hints in the cycling press that Johann knew about the RR tracks on
Friday's stage, and alerted the team?

--

I don't know about hints in the press but I recall during the race
watching Armstrong "step on it" hard right before the tracks and move
to the front. I remember thinking 'where is he going in such a hurry'.
And then the tracks came up and two groups of crashes occured, the
worst of which appeared to be right with the people he left behind.

Maybe he saw the sign in the distance, maybe Johann knew, either way
it was like 'this guy is just on a different plane'. That wasn't the
only group of tracks, by a long shot, as I saw a number of them
through the race. But those were the most angled ones I saw.

D

"David Ferguson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 23:47:31 -0600, Raptor <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Sorry, pressed for time, can't do my own searching/research.

Any hints in the cycling press that Johann knew about the RR tracks on
Friday's stage, and alerted the team?

--

I don't know about hints in the press but I recall during the race
watching Armstrong "step on it" hard right before the tracks and move
to the front. I remember thinking 'where is he going in such a hurry'.
And then the tracks came up and two groups of crashes occured, the
worst of which appeared to be right with the people he left behind.

Maybe he saw the sign in the distance, maybe Johann knew, either way
it was like 'this guy is just on a different plane'. That wasn't the
only group of tracks, by a long shot, as I saw a number of them
through the race. But those were the most angled ones I saw.

D

I busted a kneecap on a set of angled RR tracks several years ago. I
shudder at the recollection.

Race radio feeds info to all the team cars/managers about obstacles in the
road ahead. I guess it's up to the managers to get word to the riders and
then up to the riders how they decide to respond.

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

Raptor <[email hidden]> wrote in news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Sorry, pressed for time, can't do my own searching/research.

Any hints in the cycling press that Johann knew about the RR tracks on
Friday's stage, and alerted the team?

Yeah -- on OLN the next morning they showed LANCE bolting ahead of the
bunch so he could cross them without a crowd around

NS

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"David Ferguson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 23:47:31 -0600, Raptor <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Sorry, pressed for time, can't do my own searching/research.

Any hints in the cycling press that Johann knew about the RR tracks on
Friday's stage, and alerted the team?

--

I don't know about hints in the press but I recall during the race
watching Armstrong "step on it" hard right before the tracks and move
to the front. I remember thinking 'where is he going in such a hurry'.
And then the tracks came up and two groups of crashes occured, the
worst of which appeared to be right with the people he left behind.

Maybe he saw the sign in the distance, maybe Johann knew, either way
it was like 'this guy is just on a different plane'. That wasn't the
only group of tracks, by a long shot, as I saw a number of them
through the race. But those were the most angled ones I saw.

D

I busted a kneecap on a set of angled RR tracks several years ago. I
shudder at the recollection.

Race radio feeds info to all the team cars/managers about obstacles in the
road ahead. I guess it's up to the managers to get word to the riders and
then up to the riders how they decide to respond.

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

Of course we have to allow for Lance's knowledge of those tracks due to his
known meticulous pre-race preparations.

Laz

Laz said:

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"David Ferguson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 23:47:31 -0600, Raptor <[email hidden]>
wrote:

>Sorry, pressed for time, can't do my own searching/research.
>
>Any hints in the cycling press that Johann knew about the RR tracks on
>Friday's stage, and alerted the team?
>
>--

I don't know about hints in the press but I recall during the race
watching Armstrong "step on it" hard right before the tracks and move
to the front. I remember thinking 'where is he going in such a hurry'.
And then the tracks came up and two groups of crashes occured, the
worst of which appeared to be right with the people he left behind.

Maybe he saw the sign in the distance, maybe Johann knew, either way
it was like 'this guy is just on a different plane'. That wasn't the
only group of tracks, by a long shot, as I saw a number of them
through the race. But those were the most angled ones I saw.

D

I busted a kneecap on a set of angled RR tracks several years ago. I
shudder at the recollection.

Race radio feeds info to all the team cars/managers about obstacles in the
road ahead. I guess it's up to the managers to get word to the riders and
then up to the riders how they decide to respond.

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

Of course we have to allow for Lance's knowledge of those tracks due to his
known meticulous pre-race preparations.

Laz

Except that it was a stage that Lance/Discovery didn't scout - if I
heard correctly, can't remember where. I think this was in an
explanation of why the stage went badly for them.

Mark

Don't get me wrong, I like danger - expecially when it's someone else's
neck at risk - but why don't they put some rubber inserts or something
in the tracks to keep people from breaking their necks? It doesn't add
to the excitement, in my view, to watch pointless crashes. One guy
could put in the inserts 20 minutes before the leaders come through,
and take them out after the last rider. It's not like there are trains
coming through there in the middle of the race.

R

RicodJour said:

It's not like there are trains
coming through there in the middle of the race.

Yes there are.

--
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Thunderbird E-mail and Newsgroups - http://gettbird.com/

Ewoud Dronkert said:

RicodJour said:

It's not like there are trains
coming through there in the middle of the race.

Yes there are.

So there's a breakway, one minute up on the peloton, and a train comes
through between the two? Give me a break! They're not going to roll a
train through, separating riders, in the middle of the Tour de France.

Then again, considering the disorganization of that thrown together
last-minute bicycle race, maybe there was no warning...?

R

RicodJour said:

So there's a breakway, one minute up on the peloton, and a train comes
through between the two? Give me a break!

Yes, it could happen. That's why you don't see so many railroad crossings,
they're avoiding them where possible.

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"RicodJour" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:1121089007.976141.48610
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

So there's a breakway, one minute up on the peloton, and a train comes
through between the two? Give me a break! They're not going to roll a
train through, separating riders, in the middle of the Tour de France.

Dumbass,
It has happened. 2003, Stage 7 to Morzine. From the cyclingnews.com
live report:

15:39 CEST 171 km/59 km to go
Michael Blaudzun (CSC) has crashed on the descent, but he looks relatively
unhurt as he gets a bike change from his team car. He's on his way
again,through the caravan.

The peloton has to stop to wait for a train. That'll give the break another
30" or so. The bunch get going again, with yellow jersey Pena leading out.

www.cyclingnews.com/road/2003/tour03/?id=results/livecomp7

Tim Mullin said:

RicodJour said:

So there's a breakway, one minute up on the peloton, and a train comes
through between the two? Give me a break! They're not going to roll a
train through, separating riders, in the middle of the Tour de France.

Dumbass,
It has happened. 2003, Stage 7 to Morzine. From the cyclingnews.com
live report:

15:39 CEST 171 km/59 km to go
Michael Blaudzun (CSC) has crashed on the descent, but he looks relatively
unhurt as he gets a bike change from his team car. He's on his way
again,through the caravan.

The peloton has to stop to wait for a train. That'll give the break another
30" or so. The bunch get going again, with yellow jersey Pena leading out.

www.cyclingnews.com/road/2003/tour03/?id=results/livecomp7

I stand corrected. I had no idea. Thanks for posting that, Tim.

There are thousands or millions watching the race, clogging the roads,
etc. I figured they would have a holiday schedule and delay a train
for five or ten minutes if necessary. Then again, I was thinking of a
far less efficient train system on this side of the water.

My original point still stands, though. If you had some compressible
rubber inserts that would fit in the tracks that could give the riders
safe passage, and the train wheels could compress, it would seem like
cheap insurance for the racers.

That brings up another point for the historians. Have you ever seen a
non-race related ambulance go by the race?

R

"RicodJour" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

My original point still stands, though. If you had some compressible
rubber inserts that would fit in the tracks that could give the riders
safe passage, and the train wheels could compress, it would seem like
cheap insurance for the racers.

It's bike racing. It has risks. When wet, the lines painted on the road are
dangerous. Pave is dangerous. Mountian descents are dangerous. Being able to
handle your bike is part of the job, as is crashing. It's part of what makes
racing challenging and interesting.

Tim Mullin said:

"RicodJour" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

My original point still stands, though. If you had some compressible
rubber inserts that would fit in the tracks that could give the riders
safe passage, and the train wheels could compress, it would seem like
cheap insurance for the racers.

It's bike racing. It has risks. When wet, the lines painted on the road are
dangerous. Pave is dangerous. Mountian descents are dangerous. Being able to
handle your bike is part of the job, as is crashing. It's part of what makes
racing challenging and interesting.

Yes, that's true and part of what makes it such an exciting sport. It
just seems to me that RR tracks aren't an addition to the excitement.
They're always going to be in flatter areas and very few of them to
boot. If they cross the road perpendicularly, there's nothing that
needs to be done, but if they're at an angle... It's just ungainly and
makes good riders look like [censored] when they just go down and take
others with them. Wouldn't take much to "fix", whereas paint stripes
and pave can't be fixed as easily or temporarily.

Maybe they should ride _along_ the tracks to make it really exciting!

R

RicodJour said:

So there's a breakway, one minute up on the peloton, and a train comes
through between the two? Give me a break! They're not going to roll a
train through, separating riders, in the middle of the Tour de France.

No, that sort of conspiracy is reserved for the Vuelta. Ask Robert Millar.

On 11 Jul 2005 11:48:13 -0700, "Ron Ruff" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In a pack almost *everyone* is going to be in a bad position... or do
you propose that somehow everybody should be in the front?

Dangerous obsticals like that should be avoided if possible... they
don't add to racing. The fact that most riders made it through ok is
meaningless... mostly a matter of luck.

You really don't get it, do you?

JT

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Quoted message said:

My original point still stands, though. If you had some
compressible rubber inserts that would fit in the tracks
that could give the riders safe passage, and the train
wheels could compress, it would seem like cheap insurance
for the racers.

That brings up another point for the historians. Have you
ever seen a non-race related ambulance go by the race?

Does someone have a picture of this crossing?
I am missing something. I can not understand
how a railroad crossing is such a dangerous
intersection.

Bill

III said:

Quoted message said:

My original point still stands, though. If you had some
compressible rubber inserts that would fit in the tracks
that could give the riders safe passage, and the train
wheels could compress, it would seem like cheap insurance
for the racers.

That brings up another point for the historians. Have you
ever seen a non-race related ambulance go by the race?

Does someone have a picture of this crossing?
I am missing something. I can not understand
how a railroad crossing is such a dangerous
intersection.

Just a set of tracks at a bad angle to the road. The kind of angle that demands
you ride diagonal to the road to go less oblique across the tracks. Someone
didn't plan ahead and make room to do that and crashed. Looked like he just got
the front wheel caught.

I have too little competitive experience to know the dynamics of this, but
everything I do know tells me the pro peloton is pretty much used to dealing
with these things.

Ron