TdF commercials

Veloise said:

So I returned to my favorite cable-equipped downtown place (they
have Cinzano posters on the walls!) to watch yesterday's stage.
Highlights:

--Commercial showing downtown pedestrians suddenly becoming inspired to
exercise. Guy delivering water, abruptly starts pumping the jugs up and
down. Group at a crosswalk assume track racer starting positions, then
take off. The whole premise is kinda weird, and the taskmaster somewhat
resembles that TdF guy with the yellow wardrobe, except for one thing:
where's the bike?

--The bit where they're "trying to interview Levi Leipheimer" but he
won't slow down is pretty cute. Specialized spent the bucks on this
one.

--Best one: a teenage kid is out riding. No team kit, but a windbreaker
and jeans. And a helmet, but it doesn't appear to be the star of the
spot. He's out in pastoral country (riding to school?) and...passes
some motor homes and lawnchairs...and there are spectators ringing
cowbells and cheering him on!
Chopper shot: he rides over his name painted on the road!
MICHAEL
MICHAEL MICHAEL
MICHAEL MICHAEL
MICHAEL MICHAEL
He turns the corner, and there's...the Devil jumping up and down and
yelling at him! (All those years of freelance sidelining, and Didi
finally nailed him a paying gig.)
Ends in a small town, with the kid pulling up next to an adult
cyclist who collects his helmet back. "Giro: worn by the best riders in
the world."

--Someone very badly needs to create a TdF fantasy camp with teams,
chase cars, feeding stations, names painted on the road, the whole bit.
The Aquarel quadrupus. The Devil. (All those Santas sit around all
summer. Put 'em to work.) Podium ceremony. Spectators. Flag-waving
crazed spectators. Video'ed and voice-overed for a slight extra charge.

Maybe there's someone with some Tour experience who would have the
free time, and the name recognition, to implement this.

--I'd sign up in a minute. Even if it were held in Nebraska. Hell, I'd
show up to be a crazed flag-waving racer-chasing spectator!

--The stage was pretty boring except for the flashback to '03. They
showed: the impromptu cyclo-cross (went by real fast!), the Musette
Bag, the ITT dehydration, and finally the podium.

--I have got to get down to the local TREKlery to win me a LiveSTRONG
laptop.

--Karen M.

There are a group of amateurs who are now riding the Tour route and they
even got some sponsorship from, uh...I think Trek. It was highlighted in
last night's 8 pm show, iirc.

But, yeah it would be cool if someone could find some routes here in the
states that were like a mini-Tour, with like 50% of the difficulty for
recreational riders to do. ;-)

jj

I wrote:
....

Quoted message said:

--Best one: a teenage kid is out riding....

Look what I found!

http://www.giro.com/main.html

Click on the Videos link; you had better have high speed. Missed at the
bar last night: the Phil Liggett voice over, the team car (with MICHAEL
on the front of it), and the huge field of sunflowers.

Cool, cool, cool.

--Karen M.
looking for a town named "France" for which I wouldn't need a passport

jj said:

But, yeah it would be cool if someone could find some routes here in
the states that were like a mini-Tour, with like 50% of the
difficulty for recreational riders to do. ;-)

Pretty sure I saw something about a California bike tour taking place during
the Tour's 2-3 weeks. It was designed to loosely mimic the various stages
IIRC...

Bill "content to watch" S.

That is too cool! Thanks for the link Karen!

All we get to see for ads on my locally branded OLN is "Bowflex"...
seriously. They play the same ad with the same 41 year old "professional
beach volleyball player" EVERY BREAK. Grrrr...

The "Fat Tire" Beer Anthem ad is great too though I don't see it being
played during the tour. 😉 Now that I've started salvaging old bikes, that
one really speaks to me.
Oh, and it's beer.

Mmm... Fat Tire beer energy drink...

Chris

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

Quoted message said:

I wrote:
...

Quoted message said:

--Best one: a teenage kid is out riding....

Look what I found!

http://www.giro.com/main.html

Click on the Videos link; you had better have high speed. Missed at the
bar last night: the Phil Liggett voice over, the team car (with MICHAEL
on the front of it), and the huge field of sunflowers.

Cool, cool, cool.

--Karen M.
looking for a town named "France" for which I wouldn't need a passport

Quoted message said:

--Someone very badly needs to create a TdF fantasy camp with teams,
chase cars, feeding stations, names painted on the road, the whole bit.
The Aquarel quadrupus. The Devil. (All those Santas sit around all
summer. Put 'em to work.) Podium ceremony. Spectators. Flag-waving
crazed spectators. Video'ed and voice-overed for a slight extra charge.

This basically already exists for anyone who does a TdF-related cycling
trip.

My wife and I followed the Giro this Spring with Davis Phinney's and Connie
Carpenter's group (www.bikecamp.com) and had a great time climbing the Paso
Duran in front of thousands of crazed Italians, among other things.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

Chris wrote:
....

Quoted message said:

This basically already exists for anyone who does a TdF-related cycling
trip.

My wife and I followed the Giro this Spring with Davis Phinney's and Connie
Carpenter's group (www.bikecamp.com) and had a great time climbing the Paso
Duran in front of thousands of crazed Italians, among other things.

In Italy, presumably. I was thinking it'd be easier to avoid
passports, international flights, airport lobby disassembly, jet lag,
etc. etc.

HTH

--Karen M.
80 yellow jerseys!

I likje the Gyro with the kid too. The best by far though, at least the
classiest I've ever seen was the Nike commercials (last year, I think).
No words, just Lance riding various places (Including past a cancer
institute, nice touch!), ending with the Nike swish at the bottom of the
screen.

- -

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Quoted message said:

In Italy, presumably. I was thinking it'd be easier to avoid
passports, international flights, airport lobby disassembly, jet lag,
etc. etc.

Hell, all the things you mention are integral parts of the big-time racer
experience. They really *should* be a part of the fantasy camp.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"When I feel good, I attack.
When I don't feel so good, I attack."

- Alexandre Vinokourov

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

--Someone very badly needs to create a TdF fantasy camp with teams,
chase cars, feeding stations, names painted on the road, the whole bit.
The Aquarel quadrupus. The Devil. (All those Santas sit around all
summer. Put 'em to work.) Podium ceremony. Spectators. Flag-waving
crazed spectators. Video'ed and voice-overed for a slight extra charge.

There was something very similar to this, minus the Devil, and teeming
spectators. But they did have the team outfits, the bikes, the chase cars,
feeding stations, and maybe even the names painted on the road. It was in
Hawaii, I think on Maui. I don't think it's still around though.