Payson is a classic flip flopper. He called out Roberge about not stopping, then last year tried to hang onto Keegan’s wheel at SBT and didn’t stop towards the end preaching ‘why should we stop if we brought extra water.’ The guy has had a ton of setbacks and I genuinely hope he has a good season.
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Yup. Just cause a bunch of adults with real jobs want to pretend its a “classic-style” doesn’t make it true. Riding in cold but not snowy weather over less than pristine roads is not the same thing as riding a classic…
If you ask Strava, most rises and a few mounds have names. I think I even saw a segment named “two speed bumps” on a perfectly flat road.
The elevation profile you selected is apparently 36 miles long. I knew Barry Roubaix was short but not crit-short. So is it a classic-styled race of attrition ? It even appears they’re using US MTB categories, and not road? So is it even a road race? Oh, wait, the elites race 62miles… That’s a kermesse without the repeating laps.
Don’t get me wrong, any race that promotes more practical (everyday) race bikes, I’m happy to see, but. It. Is. Not. a. Classic.
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Was going to come into here to say the same. I really enjoy his podcast and love following him but he does just seem to follow/ride whatever wave he can. I remember at the original Rule of 3 he made the hole shot for the singletrack on his gravel bike but then wouldn’t let an MTB past because “they had made their choices” but later complained that said MTB had a hydration pack and rolled through aid stations instead of waiting. Both seem like tactics for racing, but only one is ok?
Same with SBT aid station drama and knocking Ivar last year for not pulling at Unbound but being congratulatory about how awesome his Unbound win was when he has him in his podcast.
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Can’t wait for droit du seigneur!
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When it comes to moving then drafting always helps. Yes on faster speeds the effect is bigger, but the fact that staying in a wake of another athlete helps you conserve your energy is still present.
I get this but I highly doubt drafting has any impact at my local 5K. Sure there might be a tiny benefit but no where near what it is in cycling.
When it comes to moving then drafting always helps. Yes on faster speeds the effect is bigger, but the fact that staying in a wake of another athlete helps you conserve your energy is still present.
You just need a sufficiently windy race. I drafted for a windy half marathon (probably, to the annoyance of people around me). It was pretty apparent when it was a head or cross wind; made for an interesting race bridging between groups on the crosswinds and trying to get there before the course turned again.
Or probably around decent to good XC level ability. It’s not going to be close to cycling drafting but it’s not zero.
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To build on this for nordic skiing - it’s sometimes about the wind but moreso the heated snow. Skiers in front of you (particularly when in the track set for classic, as opposed to groomed trail for skate) will heat up the snow and it will provide you with more glide. This is a much larger “drafting” effect than wind resistance.
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Exactly. The NBA and elementary school teams use the same court, similar ball, same basket.
That does NOT make them similar. The players, and the excitement around the sport is what sets one apart from the other.
If a spring classic is the NBA, american gravel is a high school jv team on it’s best day. The rest of the days it’s a 12 year old shooting hoops in his driveway by himself.
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Ugh. “European” as code for not skipping a pull?
“I was two and half minutes behind after the mud at Cattle Pens. But I was with Laurens [Ten Dam], Paul Voss, and Petr Vakoc, and just having that European experience we were just able to [push]. We didn’t even talk, it was synchronicity. We got back, everyone did it, no one shirked a pull. It was a pleasure racing with those guys today. It was a wild ride.”
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Amazing that after 10 hours of racing, it’s a 7 up sprint.
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Why am I not surprised that quote is from Stetina?
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That’s neat, it’s like if Crr was the main group benefit rather than the draft benefit being from wind (cda equivalent).
Them’s fightin’ words.
NBA vs G-League maybe.
Why participate in a gravel race discussion if you think so little of the sport? JV? Really? Pretty insulting.
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I don’t think so little of it. I love kids shooting hoops in the backyard. They just arent playing with the big boys.
All bike racing is good bike racing. Not trying to yuck anybodies yum…but to think the US has anything remotely in the same league as the classics is a bit silly IMO.
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I mean truly the spirit of gravel right… no one race til the end! 
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Never said they were in the same league. I said I find them intriguing because they offer a similar style of racing. Long races of attrition, usually just a handful of contenders in it late, key points of the races that break up the fields.
Yawn. This sort of thing convinces me I’m not missing anything by sticking to road.
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I’m being pedantic but elemetary age basketball uses a smaller ball and a much smaller court. The court for elementary is shorter and thinner by 20ft and 8ft respectively.
Elementary kids use a 27.5" ball weighing 17oz while the NBA uses a 29.5" ball weighing 22oz. But you’re right they’re similar in that they’re both round and orange and they bounce
The 3 point arc in High School basketball is about 4ft closer in to the basket than in the NBA.
Again, sorry for picking that nit and I do get your point. ALL amatuer racing is LARP’ing…we just take it more seriously (than your typical Medieval Knight LARP’ers) so it’s hard to accept criticism of it.
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