Nah, I think I could qualify for Nice tomorrow based on what I have heard. Know a guy who finished mid-20’s in his AG at IMWI and he just got an e-mail invite to race Nice (5 months post-IMWI)
1 Like
How else they going to pay for it if us old guys don’t fork out big entry fees? 
3 Likes
You have never raced an 8 meter wide techinical course with 70 riders.
2 Likes
I just checked their rankings for CX/Gravel tires. Idk why they put the 32mm GP5000 in there. But they are 1 and 2. The diff in rolling resistance seems minimal and specially relative to expectations.
I don’t have a dedicated road bike. I put road wheels in my gravel bike. Currently using Schwalbe PRO One 30mm. But wondering if I could go wider without sacrificing RR. Aero considerations are also important, there must be an optimal intersect in the curve.
Triathlon unpopular opinion: I’d rather qualify for the Nice WC than Kona WC. Sorry, but Hawaii is just meh for me. I’d rather take a trip to France.
6 Likes
Re: the inclusive “spirit of gravel” - Run what you brung - it’s your bike, set it up however you feel like setting it up. 1x, 2x, mountain bike, 200mm stem - who flippin’ cares? Fly your freak flag high and proud!
5 Likes
[/quote]
Hearing how similar their experience had been to ours was super cool. They were exhausted. Had needed to think about nutrition on the bike. Had to consider hydration. Were concerned they wouldn’t have the fitness to get back. All the things that lifelong athletes think and feel when they go and do something epic and have stories of soft-pedaling home because the legs are just shot.
[/quote]
Agree that e-bikes have valid use cases. Allowing someone to enjoy cycling who otherwise couldn’t is awesome. Using an e-bike for transportation - awesome.
My issue is the use case of e-bikes so able bodied people can go faster. On bike paths, I see them going at ludicrous speeds and it’s obvious that many of these “riders” have limited skill and it’s an accident waiting to happen. As mentioned by someone else, there not much in the way of speed limits on these things in Canada.
For MTB’s, I see able bodied riders on e-bikes all the time. Which again is fine for certain use cases. If they have dedicated e-bike climb trails and flat trails, fine. But they don’t mix well with real Mtbs on singletrack, except downhills. It could work if emtb-ers are courteous and don’t try to pass mtbs on singletrack but I’ve never seen that happen. My experience has been that those riding emtb’s are in a hurry and have very little regard for others.
I’m sure there are exceptions, but I haven’t run into many. Again - this is only for those who could ride without a motor but choose not too.
I’m also sure emtbs are fun and can be a good workout, but when going at unnaturally fast speeds, they are just another form of motor biking. The fact that the throttle was moved to the pedals isn’t relevant. Motors and non motors don’t mix well on narrow trails.
Rant over. But at least it’s on topic. These opinions are very unpolpular with the emtb crowd.
7 Likes
Dirt is for 'taters, asphalt is for racing.
And
Swimming is for fish and running is for criminals.
10 Likes
Riding in traffic isn’t scary, it’s thrilling — particularly when you’re moving faster than the cars. 
6 Likes
You don’t need another bike.
2 Likes
Putting a lot of faith in the carbon steerer tube. That’s a long lever arm applying some serious torque.
4 Likes
But where you lose me is knowing that what he did, the drugs and sneaking and all, likely didn’t add that much to his capability. At least that’s what I read a few years ago. So if it didn’t ‘work’, then he’s got to be the stupidest a*hole in how he crapped all over his teams, his teammates, his friends, his family. He was ‘addicted’, and not a very nice addict. He burned anyone that he could, and didn’t care how bad it hurt others. Thinking that it was mostly ‘placebo effect’ just makes him out to be a sniveling little jerk off that couldn’t see past his own ego need. Sure others helped him get the drugs, but he seemed to be determined to get what his mind thought was what gave him ‘the edge’, and the collateral damage was pretty epic.
No. He was, ‘was’, a great athlete in that he got there mostly in spite of the drugs and doping, but he sure had little regard for others. Yeah, no, great athlete probably, but with a rotten brain/personality. The later has to account for something, right? He gave up the ‘best of his generation’ with the way he crapped on people.
2 Likes
That’s a lot of words to agree that it’s an unpopular opinion.
My unpopular opinion is that those that go on about Lance, either for or against, need to move on.
14 Likes
Nah, it’s fine. I learned all about it up the thread:
3 Likes
Agree. But I am so over non-cyclists who insist on asking my opinion on Armstrong. ‘Who’s the best cyclist, in your mind?’ Greg LeMonde! ‘Who? I thought you’d say Lance Armstrong! He did win…’ 
I mean Even Now! Just two weeks ago! (is there a gag emoji yet?)
See, this is just wrong. The performance enhancing drugs from the LA era (primarily EPO) are huge performance boosters especially if you are on the lower end of the VO2max spectrum. Turns a donkey into a race horse. Saying it was placebo or didn’t add much is saying that LA could have won the Tour de France drug free.
Watch the Icarus documentary - I seem to recall that all the drugs were worth a 10-15-20% improvement. I honestly can’t remember the exact number but it was quite large.
8 Likes
Armstrong also plays down the effect of drugs by reverse statements. Lately in Peter Attia’s podcast, claiming they took him from 450w ftp to 500w.
I am telling you meen, it is 10%. It is super effective!!
Really?
It ain’t 10%. It is much more.
You can train a lot more.
You can recover much faster.
You can repeat max efforts.
You can sustain them longer.
You can almost reset yourself during grand tours.
It is never “just 10%” at ftp. Much more than that.
5 Likes
Agree, not to turn this into a doping thread, (though there’s another idea for one of the pokers and prodders) but I think that’s why there should be basically no return to elite competition. If it’s enough to earn a two year suspension, it’s enough to earn a lifetime ban.
There’s absolutely no way to know how much of an athletes conditioning came as a direct result of doping, and more importantly, they are ever able to train at that higher starting point.
End rant.
3 Likes
Gravel bikes are just 90’s MTB’s and those that buy them have been sucked into the cycling advertising model rather than buying a modern MTB in the first place.
1 Like
Certainly true. I bought those RH 44mm EL tires based on a graph I’ve seen on WW forums for my allroad/gravelbike. They are certainly fast and ‘supple’ but I’m constantly 2-3kph slower on the same course compared to my roadbike at similar NP wattages. If you can run both the decision should come down to what you want to ride. If it’s fast paced allroad rides on nothing but hardpack surfaces I’d argue the 32mm GP5 TR will be quite a bit faster paired with an aero wheel whereas the RH 44 EL will be more comfortable over bumpier terrain.
1 Like