We were just watching the final stage of The Tour of California. They announced that George Hincapie not only worked like a horse for Levi in stage 6, but completed the stage with a broken wrist. The break was bad enough that he had to have surgery on it this morning....
I was pretty impressed by that as well. I also couldn't believe some of the stats they were giving out. Hitting 50mph on the downhill, running pacelines in excess of 30mph; I don't care what anyone says, that's hardcore. I remember heading out in the Tour de Foothills in a bit of peloton at the front. We're going down Foothill Blvd. and I think we were pulling 28mph pretty consistently. But, that's at the beginning of the ride. I don't know how these dudes do that after 8 days of racing and 70+ miles. Amazing athletes!
Just remember...Our local guys are not even in the same league as these guys. They are something other then human.
Aye, no doubt about that! All I'm saying is that I thought that was fast! I think I'm doing good going 14-16mph up Cherry and then I see they're doing that and more up Cat. 3 hills.
i think the fastest i've ever been able to on my road bike has been like 45mph lol...and i was on one BIG and LONG hill...props to them
i wanna be able to pull 30mph some day. I was pulling 25-26 coming back from the beach today. Yeah, so I had a tail wind, who cares?
I finally hit 50 after two years of trying. We went to do a double century up in Davis. I was told the first part of the hill that we soon would be going down started off with a very steep downhill pitch and some people were known to have hit 70 mph on it. I wanted no part of going that fast, but my goal to hit 50 was maybe in reach. So I set off to give it a shot. Two of the guys I was with were exceptionally good bike riders,both up and down. We all took off together and in a very short period of time I was passed by both. After about 30 seconds I'd caught one of them. I looked down and I was hitting 48 mph. I went to the pedels as hard as I could, but it felt like I was spun out and I was pedeling air. I was bummed. It didn't look like I was going to make it. I looked down and I was still doing 48. I then thought I'd just go as hard as I could. I passed my other friend at this time and he shouted some encouragement to me. I lowered my head and cranked as hard as I ever had. I looked down and I was at 49. I was seriously thinking about screaming, but when I looked down again the speed had increased to 52.4 mph. I had beat my goal by 2.4 mph. This was and still is one of the most exciting times I've ever had on a bike. I can't even begin to imagine what 70 feels like. 50 will scare the crap out of most. Both my buds had got hit with cross winds and nearly got taken off their bikes. I think because of my low spoke count I was able to beat the winds.What a great day that was.
I'm pretty sure I *never* want to hit 50mph. Screw that noise. I think I went over 40mph once and that was pretty freaky. Going down at that speed is just too dangerous.
The speeds alone are impressive I agree. But achieving those speeds with a broken wrist is even more amazing. I remember a trip to emergency room a few years ago and seeing a guy pass out from the pain of a broken arm. To think that George held it together to complete a stage through that kind of pain is mind boggling. My hat goes off to him.
You're so right Shannon, these guys have to have such a high threshold for pain, it's unbelieveable!. Lance was quoted as saying "The only reason I win these races is because I can take more pain, not that I'm faster or stronger".
Not sure if this will work, but I got a nice pic of Levi...I think this was lap 2 or 3. I have a couple of pics that turned out, when I got to the finish line area, my camera shutter speed was a bit too slow...the only part of the sprint I have is a blur. Those guys are amazing!!!
I believe it's called "The Finishing Line", sounds weird,but that's how the announcers say it. Finishing Line...those crazy limeys! Pretty good pic. I won't miss it again next year.
Yeah, OK its 'finishing line' OK?! And another thing for you car racers out there - its not a straight-away its the straight. And its a pit lane not pit road! :lol:
I like that picture of Ivan Basso, er, I mean, Levi Leiphammer. Watch how dumb I look when we find out that's not Basso. I'm just guessing.
I had a good time with this. My son and I tooled around on our bikes Saturday around the arena, and the whole family went today. Parking/driving sucked a little, but wasn't too bad. This was an event that felt like it was a year or two from being huge. I hope it's in the OC and/or SD next year. We parked downtown and walked in today. Watched the BMXers for a while and spoke with my sister's boyfriend who is big into the recumbents. There were all kinds of booths. Everything from fittings to Jelly Belly sport beans. HealthNet gave me a 15 minute massage for free. Jump of seven Daniel-san Doublemint This guy got so high Throughout the day you could tell when the riders were coming by sound. The crowd, the peloton itself, the announcer and the helicopter shadowing the group all made noise that told you where they were. It's amazing how easy it is to get real close and like everyone has said, amazing how fast they can go. It wasn't great weather for picture taking. Team Disco and Levi There were a bunch of fixies hanging out on Saturday. Frankenbike Full album here: http://www.socaltrailriders.org/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/662
