Even so, by simply subsequent current movements, and also paying for available postures using are binary options A
scam in direction of this tendency, the actual possibility of finding large income is unquestionably
on your behalf. Through desirable additional bonuses
to be able to strong dealing methods, are binary options A scam gives you greater
than any other on the internet dealer. Despite the fact that that is a remarkably assuming
purchase car or truck through which to make a standard residing,
you’ll be able to make a new full-time income frequently once you learn what what you are doing.

I think binary options are a scam.  Personally I prefer secondary and tertiary options…they taste better…but thanks for the tip!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/bugno-i-respect-armstrong-but-he-has-to-pay/250170

@Cyclops love that stupid grin on your face while the guy in the background is so deep in the pain cave he can’t imagine a way out.

Happy Birthday good sir.

Hey, that’s me back there!

But yes I was deep in the pain cave that day. It was the Whidbey island cogal last year, which was 130k of endless rollers. I was dying that day.

Commuting is so sweet. I think I’d go bonkers if I had to be in an automobile much these days. On a bike you are always going. My mind/body/spirit are just not prepared to handle sitting still, especially in traffic.

Anyway, long-time backpacker user, rack and panniers seem pretty sweet though. Then again…still coming around to having so much junk on my bike…fenders, rack, panniers, when I love me a sleek road bike.

@minion

Even ditching all the winter crap when the weather improves (Jackets, knee warmers, spares, lights) feels like it makes a difference. For some reason I think Ullrich was the example from the study of the heavier rider which isn’t exactly heartening  for people who might think losing weight will get you across that arbitrary line.

I commute to my office with my laptop and clothes in a backpack; it’s about 45km each way with significant enough climbing. I don’t know what that pack weighs, but it’s less than the amount of weight I’ve lost in the last few years.

Amazes me that I coils climb at all because riding with that pack seriously puts the brakes on and kills the lower back. No wonder I used to suffer from backaches.

But there’s a lot to the theory, without having read the article. None of this stuff is linear; what works for one weight class won’t for another, and it comes down to leg strength vs weight versus cardio versus mental.Complicated mess.

For example, spinning doesn’t work for me; I might spin up in the 90-110rpm range when riding a flat a bloc or casually spinning, but I climb in the 70-90 rpm range. Below that I overlook the guns, above it I overclock the HR. it might have to do with my naturally high hr, maybe (resting ~45, max 202) that if I raise it by spinning I redline too easily.

Do you still commute using a back pack or have you gone to the rack/pannier model? Started finally doing the commute (20-30k depending on location) on manageable days, found a decent pack, still working the “fit.” Its either side, lower back or neck depending on the day that gets tweaked. Haven’t decided whether to build up my broken cross frame that has the various braze-ons when I get it back or just keep working with the pack. None of my current rigs have the braze-ons for that shit. Not a word, @scaler, about n+1, not a word…

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12810/More-details-emerge-of-Marco-Pantani-cinema-documentary.aspx

I used a set of the standard GPs in 700×28 for Rouge-Roubaix and they worked well – the engine, not so much…

lots of good points as i read down the thread, it sucks being out of the loop for a couple of days, cause getting caught up is like getting spit off the back and clawing your way back into the group.

The kicker is on ‘out of the seat climbing’ or simply ‘nailing it’ is it is a completly different discipline as you well point out.  Some of us, me…, don’t hardly ever come out of the saddle.   in a group ride, in fact, it can be dangerous since most really don’t perform this with souplesse.  Thus, when climbing…my buddies will remark ‘why the hell don’t i get out of the saddle’, but my spin is good and i don’t necessarily see the need to.  Now, on days that we are out to break one anothers legs, then I do come out, most often when I am on a flat piece of road and need to pin my ears back and really drill it.

I agree, while the hoods are a safe place to grab, the evolution of the STi shifting has totally lead to the ruination of the beauty of the drops to some degree, in fact it may have confused our whole geometric concepts/thinking on the ideal positons, and the tradition of grabbing the drops out of the saddle and nailing it like an incindiary dog like Yates et al use to.  Not that I am a purist or anything, but it is as you mention a harmonious balance we find ourselve in when able to perform.

So, i far prefer the drops when coming out of the saddle.  There is no doubt a ton of power to be gained in it, but it also will tick you over into the redline much quicker, so be careful.  They say it takes ~25% more energy to perform the same workload from the seated position, to grabbing a handful of the drops and coming out of the saddle.

Nice stuff. The only thing missing (and alluded to elsewhere on the site) is making sure you don’t drop the bike back as you stand up. With or without company on your wheel, this is not cool.

Refer to a Disney Principle: “If you are going to do it (animation), then make sure the audience sees it.”

An intentional and clear move (standing) allows a rider behind to see that you are changing your position. Coming off the saddle smoothly, using the legs only to stand when in a tight bunch. No pulling on the bars. No push back.

@Flying Crowbar

Well, I contemplated, cogitated, and ruminated on my form while climbing with @sgt this morning, but I was so far into the red zone that I couldn’t do much about it.

Sounds like you need to think less. Just channel the V, contemplating, ruminating, and cogitating will only lead to one conclusion: you’re not in good enough form to do what you want to do.

You’ve got to be the perfect amount of dumb; something @’clops has mastered!

at 54kgs, I like to get out of the saddle in the drops on a climb.  I channel my own “farzani”

My VMH does the same thing. She isexactly Pantanis height and weight and rides exactly Like him uphill (well, slower…)

Even ditching all the winter crap when the weather improves (Jackets, knee warmers, spares, lights) feels like it makes a difference. For some reason I think Ullrich was the example from the study of the heavier rider which isn’t exactly heartening  for people who might think losing weight will get you across that arbitrary line.

I commute to my office with my laptop and clothes in a backpack; it’s about 45km each way with significant enough climbing. I don’t know what that pack weighs, but it’s less than the amount of weight I’ve lost in the last few years.

Amazes me that I coils climb at all because riding with that pack seriously puts the brakes on and kills the lower back. No wonder I used to suffer from backaches.

But there’s a lot to the theory, without having read the article. None of this stuff is linear; what works for one weight class won’t for another, and it comes down to leg strength vs weight versus cardio versus mental.Complicated mess.

For example, spinning doesn’t work for me; I might spin up in the 90-110rpm range when riding a flat a bloc or casually spinning, but I climb in the 70-90 rpm range. Below that I overlook the guns, above it I overclock the HR. it might have to do with my naturally high hr, maybe (resting ~45, max 202) that if I raise it by spinning I redline too easily.

Well, I contemplated, cogitated, and ruminated on my form while climbing with @sgt this morning, but I was so far into the red zone that I couldn’t do much about it. 

Happy B-day

Happy Birthday good sir.

Happy birthday young man

Happy birthday!

Today’s my burfday.

Happy burfday, One-Eyed Wonder…..Cyclist!

Today’s my burfday.

Happy Birthday! You are truly awesome on the bike as well.

 

That picture, right there, is the perfect example of how to Look Pro while standing. Elbows in, shoulders down and back, hips towards the V-Locus. Awesome!!

 

@frank

@Ron

I think Boonen’s Classics bike(s) this year was a fine example of keeping a modern bike totally classy & sharp. Simple black & white for the most part, but then the tan sidewalls with the carbon rims just looks boss. His hubs should have been black though. If you are going for carbon bits & a black/white theme, gotta keep the wheels black too.

No kidding – those tan sidewalls…I’m thinking that the only tire choice of the Velominatus should be natural. I’m so sick of all black and colored sidewalls.

That said – you are way off on the black hubs. Black hubs are an abomination for the same reason black sidewalls are. Gleaming metal bits, baby.

I love that Zipp still makes a beautiful, silver hub. Love it.

Does Continental make gum sidewalls?

Yup! They call the color “natural” I think.

@Ron

I think Boonen’s Classics bike(s) this year was a fine example of keeping a modern bike totally classy & sharp. Simple black & white for the most part, but then the tan sidewalls with the carbon rims just looks boss. His hubs should have been black though. If you are going for carbon bits & a black/white theme, gotta keep the wheels black too.

No kidding – those tan sidewalls…I’m thinking that the only tire choice of the Velominatus should be natural. I’m so sick of all black and colored sidewalls.

That said – you are way off on the black hubs. Black hubs are an abomination for the same reason black sidewalls are. Gleaming metal bits, baby.

I love that Zipp still makes a beautiful, silver hub. Love it.

Does Continental make gum sidewalls?

Women want to be with him, men want to be him.

@The Oracle

Great article, Frank.  Although, given you all were within a hair’s breadth of the man, I’m a bit surprised this article does not include a picture of Boonen conquering the classics this year:

Also, while not depicting a climb (I don’t think), check this out:

Found here:  http://paintingletour.blogspot.com/2012/04/tom-boonen.html

jesus T***y F******g Christ Boonen gives me the horn. In a non gay way

See, it can happen to anyone.

I’m guilty of both handlebar humping and a touch of the monster mash…. Got some work to do.

Don’t worry, as far as needing work, you’ve got plenty of company here!

Great article, Frank.  Although, given you all were within a hair’s breadth of the man, I’m a bit surprised this article does not include a picture of Boonen conquering the classics this year:

Also, while not depicting a climb (I don’t think), check this out:

Found here:  http://paintingletour.blogspot.com/2012/04/tom-boonen.html

jesus T***y F******g Christ Boonen gives me the horn. In a non gay way

Yeah, there is a lot to that. Finally losing some weight I noticed it is sort of painless to ride out of the saddle. In the heavier days it was ,”sit down now big fella, or you won’t make it up.” It’s not just the effort of getting out of the saddle that raises your HR if you are big, it’s having all that mass being supported by your legs instead of the saddle. It’s more efficient to stay seated.

Frank, maybe this helps me look better climbing but it’s not going to make me faster. And these days I’ll settle for that. I need a new engine and to lose many more kg to climb better. Neither of which are going to happen.

Anyone else recall the sports science paper from a few years back that looked at the best way to climb given your body weight? I think it related to the change in heart rate caused by getting out the saddle to climb – little guys, there wouldn’t be much change so climbing out of the saddle was beneficial. Guys over weight x, I think it was mid 70kgs, their heart rate would increase more from the effort of lifting themselves out of the saddle and climbing, meaning the exertion wouldn’t be worth the extra speed and they’d be better off sitting and climbing. I only remember this for confirming that a) I’m Too Fat To Climb and b) if you’re gonna come last in a hill climb, it’s much more nonchalant looking to do it in the saddle, spinning away than it is to be out of the saddle flailing away to come 34th out of 41.

never read the article, but can believe it. I often watch the lighter boys easily dance up the hill where as I gain 5-10 bpm if I have to stand. I have made the biggest gains by getting a large rear cassette and spinning up the hill and if I have to chase down the small boys simply upping the cadence.

@scaler911 I feel educated now. Personally I’ll stick to my baby oil and wintergreen mix on my legs, but if it works for you I don’t see why you shouldn’t use the bag balm…

@all

Bag balm was originallly designed to soften up cow udders.  Farmers, both my Illinois grandfathers included, determined this salve helped heal irritations, cuts and other farm-related skin issues.  I use it on my hands all the time, but never thought about using it as a chamois cream.  It might actually be worth trying .

As far as an embrocation use, I’m sure graham d.m. has his reasons.

@all and @oli;

For all you spending half your paycheck on some fancy boy embro know this; Bag Balm is the shit of you wanna run knee warmers on cold rainy days out. It’s thick, so its like a layer, but without clothing. Mix in a bit of Max strength Tiger Balm and your legs are toasty. Keeps the guns smooth. The new stuff is indeed hotter, but it’s always all oily like rubbing yourself with chain lube.Just don’t use it during summer I’d think. Too warm.

Now I play the same game but on the road bike.  However, now I do it merely for entertainment.  I got Hincapie’s, Ullrich’s (right down to the facial expression), and Vino’s stroke down.  I’m working on Tommy V’s now too.  Earlier in the season I was doing and awesome Andy Schleck by DNF’ing or going off the back of all my races that wasn’t quite as entertaining.

Bag balm was originallly designed to soften up cow udders.  Farmers, both my Illinois grandfathers included, determined this salve helped heal irritations, cuts and other farm-related skin issues.  I use it on my hands all the time, but never thought about using it as a chamois cream.  It might actually be worth trying .

As far as an embrocation use, I’m sure graham d.m. has his reasons.

Two brief stories about my oldest, now 17, who is a huge sports fan.

When he was probably five years old, we were over at a friend’s house to watch a mountain stage of the Tour. As different cyclists appeared on the screen, he would immediately identify them. Pantani, Virenque, Ullrich, Armstrong, etc. My friends were blown away that he could identify them on sight.

Second story:

At one of his first Little League practices when he was seven, he was asking all his teammates who their favorite pro cyclists were. I’m pretty sure at the time his favorite was Super Mario. The other boys were looking at him like he was from a different planet. 

Awesome! I love that!

When he was probably five years old, we were over at a friend’s house to watch a mountain stage of the Tour. As different cyclists appeared on the screen, he would immediately identify them. Pantani, Virenque, Ullrich, Armstrong, etc. My friends were blown away that he could identify them on sight.

Second story:

At one of his first Little League practices when he was seven, he was asking all his teammates who their favorite pro cyclists were. I’m pretty sure at the time his favorite was Super Mario. The other boys were looking at him like he was from a different planet. 

@graham d.m. There are so many good embrocations for the legs I’m surprised that you’d use a product designed to reduce chafing on your testicles instead! Seems an unusual choice to me when there are so many dedicated products around…

I think Boonen’s Classics bike(s) this year was a fine example of keeping a modern bike totally classy & sharp. Simple black & white for the most part, but then the tan sidewalls with the carbon rims just looks boss. His hubs should have been black though. If you are going for carbon bits & a black/white theme, gotta keep the wheels black too.

No kidding – those tan sidewalls…I’m thinking that the only tire choice of the Velominatus should be natural. I’m so sick of all black and colored sidewalls.

That said – you are way off on the black hubs. Black hubs are an abomination for the same reason black sidewalls are. Gleaming metal bits, baby.

I love that Zipp still makes a beautiful, silver hub. Love it.

Nice stuff. The only thing missing (and alluded to elsewhere on the site) is making sure you don’t drop the bike back as you stand up. With or without company on your wheel, this is not cool. But there’s nothing quite like the grim arrogance that comes with digging that bit further into the pain cave to climb out of the saddle on a particularly steep patch of a climb (weight distribution be damned) or opting for this over gearing down to get over a shorter pitch…

Yes, but a Keeper only divulges V points on any Look Pro article; the rest are to be discovered through the journey. But that is an important point. These are hard things to explain to people – you just do it. But I think @Oli described it best by saying you keep “pedaling over the top” of the stroke. Don’t throw your bike back as you get up (your bike is lighter than you are, and its on wheels, so if you suddenly move your mass forward by standing, your bike will slow down and effectively get thrown backwards, wreaking havoc on the riders behind you).

This comment of “grim arrogance” together with @Scaller911’s observation about standing/sitting concentration are key elements. Climbing well takes aggression, focus, calm. I suck at it, but I fucking love it.

Great article. Getting uphill and looking good doing it is no small feat. While sitting is the most efficient, it’s not always the most effective. Mixing it up so you’re at the front, but not cooked requires attention to the small details.

Trudat. Climbing takes 100% concentration. Focusing on keeping your cadence going and momentum positive; every inclination is to gradually slow down as you get higher, but if you focus you can keep your cadence tapping out. Focusing on when you stand and sit, and timing it as the pitch kicks up, you can really keep your speed up.

Awesome.

Fignon:

Coppi:

Gaul:

@Pedale.Forchetta

@Steampunk you are right! That kind of bad habit would be rectified with a short ride on a fixed bike…

Btw, Jan Ullrich was great to see on the mountains, like here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPabWyUrxTo

In some very small way, I miss the days when a small group of riders, all from different teams and  doped out of their minds, would relentlessly hammer each other on the climbs.  You felt dirty for being entertained by it, but it was fun to watch.

Sing it brother. It does feel dirty, but its true. And I preface that saying I wish the riders were clean. But the racing during the EPO era was the most consistently exciting.

But not to say that there wasn’t better racing before those days; the 1989 Tour predates EPO and that was certainly the best ever in terms of attacking racing.

I’ve been having a lot of daydreams lately of a new wheelset…Yes, yes I have.

@Steampunk you are right! That kind of bad habit would be rectified with a short ride on a fixed bike…

Btw, Jan Ullrich was great to see on the mountains, like here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPabWyUrxTo

In some very small way, I miss the days when a small group of riders, all from different teams and  doped out of their minds, would relentlessly hammer each other on the climbs.  You felt dirty for being entertained by it, but it was fun to watch.

And tonight I tried all of the above on my fave hilly ride with Lay Brother Simon and ended up with the most appalling cramp in my calves over the last mile which denied me a shoe-in PB/PR whatever you want to call it. Nearly dumped me of the bike – agony. Never cramped out my calves before – must be because for once I was really giving it The V on the climbs rather than just doing enough to get up.

That’s fantastic! I have to start doing this, too. I spend  alot of time surviving climbs vs kicking their teeth in with killshot of The V.  Must channel Il Pirata….

@graham d.m.

yep, if nothing else I haven’t failed them.

I wasn’t sure what to do the other day when my 3 y.o. son sat enraptured by synchronized diving (sorry Frank).  I have been trying my best to expose him to as much cycling as possible, but we are generally watching anything olympic we can find time for.  He cries when I turn off whitewater in the mornings.  I told my wife we were going to watch the individual time trial the other day, and my son squealed at me and said, “you mean the one wit the start house?”  Win!  I thought it was fantastic last weekend when I arrived home after breaking a chain, and told my son about it.  He thought for a second, and said in a very serious tone, “but you got a new bike from the support car right?”  “Right!”

This parenting thing is a drag on the riding, but is turning out to be a pretty good gig.

It keeps it interesting right? It’s cool though when you see little light bulbs like that come on! I’m jealous for my kids because I wasn’t really exposed to all this. I like that they’ll grow up with cyclling as the norm.  It does take a hit on ride time, but totally worth it! This morning I missed my ride because the little guy was up when I tried to leave and wanted to hang, I’m gonna take it all before he gets older thinks I’m no longer cool and grunts at me….hopefully we’ll always have cycling as that bridge over those times though.  I noticed on your profile you’re from Chicago!  I lived in Illinois from birth to age 23. We lived in Chicago to age 7 and then moved like 60 miles west to around Rockford, IL. 

yep, if nothing else I haven’t failed them.

I wasn’t sure what to do the other day when my 3 y.o. son sat enraptured by synchronized diving (sorry Frank).  I have been trying my best to expose him to as much cycling as possible, but we are generally watching anything olympic we can find time for.  He cries when I turn off whitewater in the mornings.  I told my wife we were going to watch the individual time trial the other day, and my son squealed at me and said, “you mean the one wit the start house?”  Win!  I thought it was fantastic last weekend when I arrived home after breaking a chain, and told my son about it.  He thought for a second, and said in a very serious tone, “but you got a new bike from the support car right?”  “Right!”

This parenting thing is a drag on the riding, but is turning out to be a pretty good gig.

Btw, Jan Ullrich was great to see on the mountains, like here: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPabWyUrxTo

Yes more Pantani love, just because.

This might sound weird, but one of the finest sights in cycling are wet, tanned legs.

@Steampunk

…and am I the only one looking forward to seeing Contador at the Vuelta?

No… a showdown between him and Froome will be something to relish.

True story! 

@JesperXT

Very nice rundown of climbing techniques. I’ve spent most of the mountainstages of this years Tour, shouting at the telly and Chris Anker Sørensen. The way that man sits on a bike should be a bannable offence…

No shit, dude! He makes riding a bike look more painful than Mancebo did! This is a hard sport, but he makes it look like torture!

Interesting that Go Gorilla comes up today. I was having a chat with the old man, a mechanical engineer, just last night about the likelihood that one would/could break their alloy/Al/metal bars. He reckons it could happen, but more likely than a snapping in two would be a bending of them. I wonder if anyone ’round here has actually snapped their bars in half?

Then again, the sit pillar from the KT suggests that anything is possible…

I snapped a Scott AT-4 handlebar once mountain biking. But I think breaking bars is pretty rare and I would assume I’d already weakened it crashing or whatever else you do to a mountain bike.

I would suggest Marko might have overtorqued his seatpin, but he assures me he didn’t. That was an oddity and anything can break. But if Greipel and Cav don’t regularly snap their bars, then you can be pretty sure that you won’t either, I’d say.

Also, while not depicting a climb (I don’t think), check this out:

Found here:  http://paintingletour.blogspot.com/2012/04/tom-boonen.html

And, I climb on the tops sometimes, but only when trying to get a laugh out of my riding pals by goofily bouncing and bobbing.

Climbing on the tops is fine, of course – I’m talking about STANDING while gripping the tops. Climbing on the tops while seated is ultra pro.

I think I read somewhere that Pantani’s handlebar were much higher than normal (by pro cyclist’s standards) so he could climb out of the saddle in the drops more easily, he had custom bikes made with taller headtubes than normal.

The rumors about Pantani’s bike are all over and contradictory. And awesome! Some people say his “compact” frame was really a standard frame with a raised headtube, not a standard headtube with a down-sloping top tube as is normally considered a compact.

Honestly, I don’t think those reports are correct, but as its incredibly hard to even find actual photos of his actual bike, its hard to validate.

CampyOnly is the only site I know of that has really, truly gotten close to his actual bike; to my eye, the bike is very clearly just a 53cm frame with a -17 degree slammed stem. If he wanted his bars higher, he could have used any number of tactics to get them up that wouldn’t involve having a special frame built. In line with “the simplest explanation is likely to be the right explanation” lines of thought, it seems to me he just rode a normal compact.

Granted, his position definitely had less drop than many other riders, but that’s a different matter than having a tall headtube made.

Also, if you look at the exposed seat post on his old carrera frame (pre-compact) you’ll see there’s loads less showing than on his compact Bianchi. That alone says to me the top tube is sloping down, not up, as otherwise he’d have the same post extension but no rise on the stem.

More Pantani love, just because.

Here’s an old piece we did on his ’98 bike.

…and am I the only one looking forward to seeing Contador at the Vuelta?

No… a showdown between him and Froome will be something to relish.

Interesting that Go Gorilla comes up today. I was having a chat with the old man, a mechanical engineer, just last night about the likelihood that one would/could break their alloy/Al/metal bars. He reckons it could happen, but more likely than a snapping in two would be a bending of them. I wonder if anyone ’round here has actually snapped their bars in half?

Then again, the sit pillar from the KT suggests that anything is possible…

And, I climb on the tops sometimes, but only when trying to get a laugh out of my riding pals by goofily bouncing and bobbing.