Top Gear

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

I think Hammond has a lot to learn about cycling safely in traffic,
though. Perhaps he thought his plastic hat would protect him just as
the other one did when he smashed up the jet car.

Colin McKenzie

--
No-one has ever proved that cycle helmets make cycling any safer at
the population level, and anyway cycling is about as safe per mile as
walking.
Make an informed choice - visit www.cyclehelmets.org.

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

Quoted message said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

Obvious result - because they did not include a motorbike. I cycle and
motorcycle. A 125 would probably have won the day.

John

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

I was pleased to see that Top Gear's response was quite unlike that of
Fifth Gear (on which, IIRC, the bike won but was rubbished as making
people sweaty / dead / fit).

Cheers,
Luke

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

He'd have been even quicker if he'd jumped the red lights like all the
other cyclists!

Ekul Namsob said:

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

I was pleased to see that Top Gear's response was quite unlike that of
Fifth Gear (on which, IIRC, the bike won but was rubbished as making
people sweaty / dead / fit).

Cheers,
Luke

true though one has to rember that it's entertainment rather than a
factual program.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

Nice comment about the stupidly short cycle lane dropping him into the
path of a bus.

In article <1i7fqmt.1gz67vc18mu0foN%
[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

I was pleased to see that Top Gear's response was quite unlike that of
Fifth Gear (on which, IIRC, the bike won but was rubbished as making
people sweaty / dead / fit).

Ah, the closet fans of the WW and Fifth Gear are revealing themselves
;-) (I know, I know, you only watched it because you heard there was
going to be bicycle content ;-) )

--
Tony

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has
taken place"
George Bernard Shaw

Sir Jeremy said:

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

He'd have been even quicker if he'd jumped the red lights like all the
other cyclists!

He'd have been quicker if he had learnt to use the gears and had the
bike adjusted properly in the first place. He didn't use the big ring
once and in all the shots I saw of the rear set he was second from
bottom with his legs whirling like a plate on a stick. No wonder he
spent most of his time swearing.

Sniper8052

Colin McKenzie said:

I think Hammond has a lot to learn about cycling safely in traffic,
though. Perhaps he thought his plastic hat would protect him just as the
other one did when he smashed up the jet car.

If you're going to be as safe as possible in traffic then don't have a
race in it.

I've certainly done some dodgy things over the years when I was in a
hurry, hasn't everyone? Including having races?

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Quoted message said:

He'd have been quicker if he had learnt to use the gears and had the
bike adjusted properly in the first place. He didn't use the big ring
once and in all the shots I saw of the rear set he was second from
bottom with his legs whirling like a plate on a stick.

Some people run at higher cadences. His didn't look excessive to me,
and on a flat run like that was I'd only be on the big ring with a /big/
tailwind (my rings are 52/42/30). Only use the big one on downhills or
clear stretches with tailwinds, pretty much never in traffic.

Quoted message said:

No wonder he spent most of his time swearing.

That'll be being in a hurry when in traffic.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

Seemed to me to be probably the most positive thing I've seen on TV
about Bicycles that isn't a 'real' sporting event, like TdF or a
Triathlon. They did point out many of the inadequacies of cycle
transport infrastructure and showed a lot of the frustrations and
problems that cyclists get from other traffic.

Mind, it also showed that he was about the only cyclist in the film who
was actually stopping at red lights ... 😉

--
Paul - [censored]

'96/'97 Landrover Discovery 300 Tdi 'Big and Butch'
'98 Suzuki DR 200 Djebel 'Small but perfectly formed'

Quoted message said:

Sir Jeremy said:

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

He'd have been even quicker if he'd jumped the red lights like all
the other cyclists!

He'd have been quicker if he had learnt to use the gears and had the
bike adjusted properly in the first place. He didn't use the big ring
once and in all the shots I saw of the rear set he was second from
bottom with his legs whirling like a plate on a stick. No wonder he
spent most of his time swearing.

If he had been using higher gears then people would have complained that he
wasn't spinning enough. He went fast enough anyway.

I thought Hammond did pretty well except for his anger towards buses - as if
he'd never seen a bus before.

~PB, oops, revealing myself as a viewer of Plop Gear

Paul - censored said:

icogs said:

Ha Ha Ha!!!

Seemed to me to be probably the most positive thing I've seen on TV
about Bicycles that isn't a 'real' sporting event, like TdF or a
Triathlon. They did point out many of the inadequacies of cycle
transport infrastructure and showed a lot of the frustrations and
problems that cyclists get from other traffic.

Mind, it also showed that he was about the only cyclist in the film who
was actually stopping at red lights ... 😉

What did the woman who passed him say?

marc said:

What did the woman who passed him say?

Something like: "You'd be faster if you didn't have such bandy legs".

~PB

marc said the following on 12/11/2007 09:50:

Quoted message said:

What did the woman who passed him say?

Something about his bandy legs, I think!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

[email hidden] said the following on 12/11/2007 09:15:

Quoted message said:

He'd have been quicker if he had learnt to use the gears and had the
bike adjusted properly in the first place. He didn't use the big ring
once and in all the shots I saw of the rear set he was second from
bottom with his legs whirling like a plate on a stick. No wonder he
spent most of his time swearing.

His cadence looked OK to me. He seemed to be around 80-ish rpm, which
is fine.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd usenet.is.worse@plusnet said:

[email hidden] said the following on 12/11/2007 09:15:

Quoted message said:

He'd have been quicker if he had learnt to use the gears and had the
bike adjusted properly in the first place. He didn't use the big ring
once and in all the shots I saw of the rear set he was second from
bottom with his legs whirling like a plate on a stick. No wonder he
spent most of his time swearing.

His cadence looked OK to me. He seemed to be around 80-ish rpm, which
is fine.

--
Paul Boydhttp://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

IIRC, Hammond cycles regually, as does James May, and is the owner of
a quality machine.

If he was just doing 80 rpm on the small ring, he wasn't trying. As
this was a test of speed, he was hampered by having tyres that were
not exactly narrow, to say the least.

David Lloyd

Quoted message said:

once and in all the shots I saw of the rear set he was second from
bottom with his legs whirling like a plate on a stick. No wonder he
spent most of his time swearing.

I thought that was called 'spinning' and was the most efficient way to
ride a bike. I certainly try to keep around 90 rpm at the pedals instead
of mashing them slowly in high gear. It certainly seems easier on the
knees. Don't forget that Richard Hammond is pretty tiny as well!

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

David Lloyd said:

IIRC, Hammond cycles regually, as does James May, and is the owner of
a quality machine.

If he was just doing 80 rpm on the small ring, he wasn't trying. As
this was a test of speed, he was hampered by having tyres that were
not exactly narrow, to say the least.

Give the guy a break. He did far better than the average TV presenter on a
bike, as well as winning this race. Didn't look like he had the power to
push higher gears anyway. It's no good shifting up unless you have the
welly to go with it.

~PB