Who caught their heads....
....In descending order of joy, in ascending order of disgust...
Emma Pooley - 2nd in TT
Hanka Kupfernagel - not too pleased
Stephan Schumacher - no hope
Spanish IOC officials after Moreno's doping - absolutely no hope...what a shame that cycling had to open the Olympic doping account...
What the Olympic track course looks like
Hmm... not seen this before. Riders pass a water spray cooling station in the Men's Road Race
Michael Friedman of the U.S. rides a China-made Flying Pigeon bicycle before track cycling practice during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 12, 2008
Check out Robert Fostermann's arms and legs... (think about the sharply contrasting emaciated road cyclists on the other end)
Pedal power, or..... air power? Watch out Coach!!
Hold on to your faith...
....skulls and crossbones....hell yyyyeah!!!
Rene Enders - Clipless pedals + Toe straps.. seems like feet overkill to me
Now don't you say Russia didn't ask for it...
Levi's new position - wind tunnel tests confirm aerodynamics
Posts
If you've ever pulled out of your clipless pedals on a fixedwheel bike, then you wouldn't think adding double straps were overkill. You'll notice that it's pretty standard for trackies (as seen in the other photos posted) to run this set up.
ReplyDeleteI bet the last 30-40 seconds of the Tour produces similar power outputs in riders as short duration track riders..and the road at that speed seems to me far more dangerous than a track. Why not supply them with clipless too? Lets disregard the minimal weight penalty..
ReplyDeleteI guess in big pack riding situations, you don't want to bother with bending down and taking care of toe straps.. although I see your point in redundancy being safer. Also, in the old days, they raced with straps...
ReplyDeleteIt's true that at the end of a stage the power output is prolly similar. The difference is that a road bike can coast, so if you pull the cleat out of the pedal, the bike will continue to move forward as your clipped foot will move to the bottom of the stroke under your weight and there is less (although it depends on the skill of the rider) of a chance of crashing.
ReplyDeleteOn a track bike with a fixedgear that cannot coast, when you pull a cleat out of the pedal, the bike wants to stop abruptly when the clipped in foot comes to a stop at the bottom of the stroke and throws the rider forward as his mass is attempting to continue movement. In this situation there is almost no chance that the rider will not crash.
Also historically road riders were slow to adopt new technologies. It took a while for riders to move to clipless. Many riders continued to use clip and straps for the ability to adjust the tension as the day progressed, leaving them loose and then tightening them when the need arises. Similar to riders adjusting the straps and buckles on today's shoes for comfort or firmness.