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Post by RocDoc on May 17, 2004 19:47:19 GMT -5
Hey, what's with the pro cycling world? I just read about some people in Italy being convicted of supplying 'Tour de France winner Marco Pantani' with the cocaine that killed him...I'm like 'WhenTF did THIS happen?'....of course not knowing he won the Tour and the Giro both in 1998. Of course this interested me greatly as I followed the doping scandal which DQ'd a Lithuanian TOP rider, Raimundas Rumsa, from a 3rd place medal at the Tour, perhaps in 2002...with then his wife being stopped at a border crossing from France into Switzerland with a major shitload of 'performance enhancers', EPO n'shit... I googled Pantani and found this guy to be pretty bizarre but a great rider...'The Pirate'. Said that he'd had a feud with Armstrong and ol' Lance said he had 'Elephant Ears'....which he then 'fixed' less than a year before he died... ...this stuff among other scandals and 'suspicion of doping' which caused him to be suspended and which the accounts say sent him on this downward slide. ~ Also the day HE died, another rider 21 years old from Belgium also died in his sleep supposedly...  |
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Post by strawman on May 18, 2004 14:55:04 GMT -5
yeah...Pantani was a larger than life character, but a lot of the cycling world wondered if he could do it drug free...maybe he couldn't...
anyhow a friend of mine had a brother (Stephen Swartz), who rode the tour 3 times...he was in the Motorola team with Armstrong, and is in that famous photo where the peleton let the entire Motorola team cross the line together...Still back to the story...Stephen, when asked by his brother if he ever took drugs would not admit to it but said...I did what I had to do....and that really summed up pro cycling...probably still does...look at CSC this year. I think the cyclists are just one step ahead of the testers, after all it is a gruelling way to make a buck!!
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the*bear
Struggling Artist
"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
Posts: 95
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Post by the*bear on May 18, 2004 15:15:49 GMT -5
Yeah, my girlfriend rides a bit...tempted to learn, but I dunno where I'd do it. Not in public, that's for sure..."look at that guy in his 20s who can't ride a bike!" Would be a pleasant alternative to running sometimes. I tell everyone that will listen that the best thing you can do for your running is to ride a bike. Works different leg muscles (quads and glutes vs hammies and hip flexors) to give you balance around your joints while continuing to improve your cardiovascular system. If you ever want to learn to ride, or to ride more once you get started, let me know, I'll be glad to help. That is, if it ever stops raining. We're getting hammered again today. |
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Post by luke on May 18, 2004 15:23:56 GMT -5
Yeah, I was at Lourdes today when it started pouring. A part of me was relieved- working out with a hangover sucks, running is nearly as bad, and I was getting hungry- but yeah, I'm pissed that I didn't get to run today.
I used to run through rain, thunderstorms, whatever...but that was before I got addicted to running with headphones on. I just don't have the desire to do it anymore. Not to mention my car seat getting soaked for a week when I get in all wet.
Good call on the bicycling/running thing...this alone might lead me to consider...
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Post by strawman on May 18, 2004 15:43:06 GMT -5
If you ever want to learn to ride, or to ride more once you get started, let me know, I'll be glad to help
c'mon ekul...its as easy as riding a bike!!!!...I'm still trying to get some "real" pics of my bikes up here...including the crashed one....
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Post by strawman on May 18, 2004 16:52:20 GMT -5
 with a little luck this will be a picture of my Giant..... |
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Post by Kensterberg on May 18, 2004 16:56:06 GMT -5
Very nice shot of the Giant there Strawman! Beautiful bike indeed.
How do you like the "compact geometry" of that one? Notice any difference between it and classic frames?
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Post by strawman on May 18, 2004 16:57:08 GMT -5
 and one of my pride and joy...still makes me weep to see it in this state...yeah we had a lot of great races together..... |
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Post by strawman on May 18, 2004 17:03:52 GMT -5
How do you like the "compact geometry" of that one? Notice any difference between it and classic frames?
well I've had compacts for a little while now...that Giant replaced an alloy TCR Zero (the black and yellow colour). Initilly I noticed a little movement in the seatpost, but nothing really....honestly it feels pretty normal...and the new seatpost on this bike seems more rigid than on the last one...hardly any movement. I love descending on the compacts...dunno but they just seem to corner a bit better....still that busted bike used to climb like a mountaingoat!!...better than any Giant I've ridden....
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achn2b
Struggling Artist
Posts: 234
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Post by achn2b on May 18, 2004 17:05:23 GMT -5
holy christ, that's a lot of bar drop. are you one of the "small frame, lots of seatpost" school?
didn't steven swartz ride for crest back in the day? and i know he went on to the coors light team with davis phinney, right? back around 1990-91, they held a four day stage race here in New Hampshire that i volunteered at, had a lot of the top American teams like coors light, subaru-montgomery(who eventually morphed into US Postal, and a bunch of the lesser american squads. two of the stages were right here in my town, one a criterium around a mall parking lot, and the final stage was a seven lap circuit around the hills of Jackson, NH, and then up through the notch to the top of Mt. Washington.
i'm sure swartz was probably there, in fact i'm pretty certain he was, he may have even won the thing. i met a few guys like nate reiss and mike mccarthey, saw phinney and alexei grewal, cezary zemana, i can't remember who all else, met phinney's grandparents. i know i've got a program around here somewhere, and perhaps a list of riders.
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Post by strawman on May 18, 2004 17:09:38 GMT -5
 and while I'm at it...heres the training hack...60 000 km and still as good as the day it was made...bloody heavy beast, but it makes getting ion the race bikes just that much nicer!!! |
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Post by strawman on May 18, 2004 17:16:23 GMT -5
achn...I don't know steven swartz full pro career...in fact you probably know more about him than me...Still it'll be easy for me to find out cos I could e mail Grant (his brother), who I have a lot to do with...even though he's in London at the mo'....Yeah we're pretty good mates and toured through France together last year..
umm..yeah I like the slopers, but the Team Corsa which is bent was just a normal frame...honestly I have no real preference...if I get a Giant at cost from the sponsor, I ride the bugger!!!...I now have to get my "real" bike replaced...just have to see what insurance I get...
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Post by RocDoc on May 18, 2004 18:33:25 GMT -5
GOD that's a helluva drop on the distance of seat-to-bars! Um, have you had any children since riding bikes with THAT sort of a rake?
Just looking at that makes my perineum sore!
~
-just a html question here, since there seems to be a few people here reading(esp Bear since he used it w/his signature)how to do the old 'marquee scroll'?
I've tried <marquee behaviour=alternate and /marquee>...and it ain't doin' it here...
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the*bear
Struggling Artist
"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
Posts: 95
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Post by the*bear on May 18, 2004 19:33:18 GMT -5
Roc Doc
It's on the menu above the "reply box," the <-M looking button.
Using html, it's like this:
[move]TEXT[/move]
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the*bear
Struggling Artist
"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
Posts: 95
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Post by the*bear on May 18, 2004 19:35:38 GMT -5
Fix your picture, and congrats on your promotion to [glow=maroon,2,300]Junior Member![/glow]
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