Australia has a new national anthem!

When did it switch from “All Australians Born Illegitimate”?

@Apex Nadir

If you ate wondering I still think both Chris’ are carnts

So do I!

If you ate wondering I still think both Chris’ are carnts

If you paid a little more attention, I think you’d soon realise that the people here hold women’s racing in very high regard. I cannot remember any comment that has been intended as a put down, even in an attempt at humour. There may well have been arguments that women’s racing should not be treated/ rewarded on an equal basis but those would be tend to be on the basis of simple market economics.

Life is too short to feel ashamed about the use of a word, especially when it wasn’t you and you have no control over those using it. Don’t look at the word! Look at it’s context.

@Marcus

@Apex Nadir

You haven’t been around here much have you? And I take far more offence at being called humourless as opposed to a carnt.

Lighten up Francis

I’ve been reading for a while, but that was my first comment. This thread crossed the line from banter to outright vulgarity long ago. It appears some people feel threatened by a talented female rider.

Whilst it may have been childish and vulgar (I’ll concede the first but not the second), that had nothing to do with being threatened by female riders. It started with an assertion that if men’s racing included too many flat 116km stages a la TDU, it would be mens racing that lost sponsorship.

Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

Gold I say, gold.

@Apex Nadir

The stupid convo – of which I was a willing participant – had nothing to do with wonen’s racing. It was all about swapping shit about the TDU. The convo moved off onto that tangent ages ago.

Fair enough you don’t like the profanity but it had nothing to do with women’s racing.

@Apex Nadir You’re taking it way too seriously and out of context. if you really have been lurking for a while I can’t believe you think THIS thread is vulgar.

And I struggle to see any basis for the suggestions that people are somehow denigrating Nicole Cooke. The closest may have been my comments on the commercial aspects of women’s cycling but that’s not an attack on the people involved.

Even I agree with Marcus on this one…. cue the apocalypse.

The stupid convo – of which I was a willing participant – had nothing to do with wonen’s racing. It was all about swapping shit about the TDU. The convo moved off onto that tangent ages ago.

Fair enough you don’t like the profanity but it had nothing to do with women’s racing.

@Apex Nadir

You haven’t been around here much have you? And I take far more offence at being called humourless as opposed to a carnt.

Lighten up Francis

I’ve been reading for a while, but that was my first comment. This thread crossed the line from banter to outright vulgarity long ago. It appears some people feel threatened by a talented female rider.

You haven’t been around here much have you? And I take far more offence at being called humourless as opposed to a carnt.

Lighten up Francis

Wow, a good article about an inspirational cyclist quickly turned into a very unpleasant and decidedly humourless shouting match. There are a lot of really strong and talented women in my cycling club. I’d be ashamed to give any of them a link to this article now.

Give them a link to the speech then. Most definitely worth it.

Nicole Cooke’s gold at Beijing was the highlight for me of a great games. I thought she’d bottled it going in to that last corner, she seemed to back off but she was really just backing herself fornthe uphill finish. I’d been up all night with my new born son, finally got him to sleep with about 10k to go then undid my good work, woke the poor little guy up as a roared at my tv and Ms Cooke across the line. Brilliant

Dude, that’s very undude like.  Be careful, there might have been a drink there.  Now excuse me while I go find a cash machine.

My favourite thing that Australia has given the world…

sneaky nuts

http://youtu.be/-XGR3f4A3Mw

Damn, you know it must be bad when the country won’t allow it to be uploaded.  Never had that “unable to upload” message before.

sneaky nuts

http://youtu.be/-XGR3f4A3Mw

@Sauterelle a little too close to the bone.

On this Australia Day my on bike survey of my countrymen found interesting results. Over the space of 5.5 hours there was a 100% correlation between cars displaying Australian flags and drivers who acted like….. Farking Carnts.

Nah, fuck that.

Spot on in my opinion.

On this Australia Day my on bike survey of my countrymen found interesting results. Over the space of 5.5 hours there was a 100% correlation between cars displaying Australian flags and drivers who acted like….. Farking Carnts.

@Chris oh yes and if you object to races with multiple finishing circuits I guess you must despise every Workd Champs and Olympic parcours?

We didn’t teach you much in your time out here did we?

To be honest, I don’t find them to be the most exciting of races but at least the participants tend to be on form rather than try to work of their Christmas pudding. The prize makes them a bit more interesting as well.

@frank Totally get the whole weak mind thing, one just has to communicate on the level of the lowest common denominator. I’ll tone it down a bit though.

@Sauterelle

@strathlubnaig

@Chris

@Marcus

@Chris don’t try to be friends now you Pommy cunt

You lot use cunt in the same way that you use mate, without the benefit of pronunciation it can be hard to tell whether its a term of endearment or an insult.

Don’t worry though, I managed to make it through four years of living in Australia without making any friends so I don’t see why I should let my guard down now.

ha ha, yes, in Scotland they use the C word as an adjective too, as in “I got a cunting puncture today”

Is that like a gash in the tire?

Beautifully done. N i p p l e   L u b e.

@Chris

@Marcus

@Chris don’t try to be friends now you Pommy cunt

You lot use cunt in the same way that you use mate, without the benefit of pronunciation it can be hard to tell whether its a term of endearment or an insult.

Don’t worry though, I managed to make it through four years of living in Australia without making any friends so I don’t see why I should let my guard down now.

ha ha, yes, in Scotland they use the C word as an adjective too, as in “I got a cunting puncture today”

Is that like a gash in the tire?

@Marcus

@Chris don’t try to be friends now you Pommy cunt

You lot use cunt in the same way that you use mate, without the benefit of pronunciation it can be hard to tell whether its a term of endearment or an insult.

Don’t worry though, I managed to make it through four years of living in Australia without making any friends so I don’t see why I should let my guard down now.

Remember that profanity is the weak mind’s attempt to express itself forcefully.

Ah, who am I kidding? I’m weak, my mind’s weak… profanity as a first language is all I have going for me.

As long as its been brought up, though, we’d probably all do well to reduce the usage of that particular word just a hair. If you must use it, spell it Irish like koont or NZedish like kint, Strayan like cunzor.

We didn’t teach you much in your time out here did we?

@minion for once i agree with you.

@the Engine
that Tour de San Luis is just a shitty little 2.1 race. TDU is a World Tour race – which is what Minion meant when he said Protour (because he is simple).

Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

So far, the TDU has had one sprint finish (ok not that exciting, but they usually occur in stage races!), a stage with a devilish but short climb 6k from the finish and a wicked descent (oh yes, for you UK fucksticks, your boy Thomas raced out of his skin and there was a wickedly good crash to boot), and then a finish with pretty hard uphill sprint finish that saw a young gun (Slagter) get the jump on a couple of ok riders called Goss and Gilbert who came 2 and 3.

What the fuck more do you want from a fucking bike race in January you ungrateful cunts?

Maybe we should wait for that outstanding 2.1 race the Tour of Britain? Haven’t there been some fucking epic rides through drab scenery in the rain there? Or maybe we should wait for the Tour of Cali – which has a few interesting climbs but is most famous for the worst set of winners jerseys in the known world.

Maybe you wish you had a ride at 6am this morning in weather of 28 degrees celsius. I did.

Zamboni racing is fuckin ace, dont knock it.

And aye, we are all jealous of the warmth, at 6am here right now its still 2 hours till it gets light and there is a foot of snow on my car right now, so it’s really a moot point. Lucky sheep shagging bastards !

@Marcus

@Chris don’t try to be friends now you Pommy cunt

You lot use cunt in the same way that you use mate, without the benefit of pronunciation it can be hard to tell whether its a term of endearment or an insult.

Don’t worry though, I managed to make it through four years of living in Australia without making any friends so I don’t see why I should let my guard down now.

ha ha, yes, in Scotland they use the C word as an adjective too, as in “I got a cunting puncture today”

@Buck Rogers is that the sort of reaction you were after?

Fuck yeah!  Now that’s how we pass the time until the real foookin racing begins, not this loser amateur shit that they try to fool us with since we have been without a race for three months!

When’s MSR again?

@Chris don’t try to be friends now you Pommy cunt

You lot use cunt in the same way that you use mate, without the benefit of pronunciation it can be hard to tell whether its a term of endearment or an insult.

Don’t worry though, I managed to make it through four years of living in Australia without making any friends so I don’t see why I should let my guard down now.

@Marcus

@minion for once i agree with you.

@the Engine
that Tour de San Luis is just a shitty little 2.1 race. TDU is a World Tour race – which is what Minion meant when he said Protour (because he is simple).

Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

So far, the TDU has had one sprint finish (ok not that exciting, but they usually occur in stage races!), a stage with a devilish but short climb 6k from the finish and a wicked descent (oh yes, for you UK fucksticks, your boy Thomas raced out of his skin and there was a wickedly good crash to boot), and then a finish with pretty hard uphill sprint finish that saw a young gun (Slagter) get the jump on a couple of ok riders called Goss and Gilbert who came 2 and 3.

What the fuck more do you want from a fucking bike race in January you ungrateful cunts?

Maybe we should wait for that outstanding 2.1 race the Tour of Britain? Haven’t there been some fucking epic rides through drab scenery in the rain there? Or maybe we should wait for the Tour of Cali – which has a few interesting climbs but is most famous for the worst set of winners jerseys in the known world.

Maybe you wish you had a ride at 6am this morning in weather of 28 degrees celsius. I did.

You seem a bit tense man. All that heat and shit burning to the ground fuckin’ with the sheep supply? Don’t lump us all in one basket. The TDU isn’t The Ronde (or Tirreno) but it’s racing! About f’n time I might add.

Now that I’ve lived in Straya I’ve come to appreciate Marcus’ cuntbag eloquence a lot more. You meet people on the street all the time who talk like this (since I live in Canberra they’re called politicians) without the careful reasoning or the  citation of an occasional fact. While Marcus may have all the charm of a single, inbred  4 toed dingo farmer who last saw a woman in the 1960s, and a bar of soap in the 1950s, I have to concede that he may occasionally have a point.

@minion for once i agree with you.

Fuck! What next? Fat Pat admitting he took a massive bung from Lance and stepping down?

@Marcus

@Buck Rogers is that the sort of reaction you were after?

This was exactly what I was after with my earlier post, the Aussie chip on the shoulder coming to the fore and getting nationalistic about it.

@Marcus

@the Engine

Maybe we should wait for that outstanding 2.1 race the Tour of Britain? 

I quite like the TDU and it is improving over previous years when it could have been described as a collection of sprint races run on consecutive days but there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with stages as short as 116km or bulking a stage out to a massive 135km by making the riders do the same bit six times in a row. The other thing that has no place is the amount of time the spend cutting to the tourist board footage of artisan markets and other twee shit while Phil rambles on about how many romantic times he and Paul have had there.

Anyway, that’s all bye the bye as I’m just bitter about thought of anyone riding their bikes around in fine weather at the moment.

now max and ruby I know from my kids. but feel free to flash the Assos woman at any time. and we still aren’t surprised that you and @scaler911 are talking about males in tutus. Now don’t get him and mcsqueak started on the cute kitty and bunny pic thing. the site just mite crash…

Male cyclists are not Lulu-lemon’s target audience – I gather they are a women-specific sports clothing brand, so actually you probably don’t matter one bit to them unless part of their strategy is to target partners/husbands, but I doubt that.

And this is the problem. It’s all about reaching audiences. Frank is half-right about return on investment but one is the objective and the other is the measurement – like saying it’s about the distance not the kilometres. Target audience is one of the main ways to measure your ROI.

When Jonathan Vaughters says to Garmin “You will get ROI of $30 million by sponsoring this team” he is using ratings points to measure it. Obviously product sales are the ultimate strategic goal but targeting audiences is the tactical way to achieve this and they will perceive a causal link, otherwise how do they know what generated the sales.

The ratings are actually referred to as the currency in an advertising market. An advertiser (and agency) plans a campaign which says “To achieve sales of A I need ratings of B in the target audiences of C, F and Q.” They buy airtime (or print space, or outdoor etc) based on this. The media owner doesn’t (usually) sell 100 ad spots, they sell 100 target ratings points – if that comes in 20 spots or 200 spots isn’t the main issue.

The only difference is that sponsorship is earned not bought, but it is still measured the same way.

And so this brings us back to the problem for women’s cycling. If you are a company targeting male fans you get everything you need from male events. The same people, in smaller numbers, watch the female events. OK the sponsorship is cheaper but the Reach (the number of people exposed for minimum time) is Duplicated. Yes you increase the Frequency but that has limited value if you’ve already reached your target. To succeed, women’s cycling  needs to develop incremental Unduplicated Reach i.e. find women to watch or men to watch differently to male cycling.

That’s not impossible but we’re talking about a branding and marketing effort on a large and sophisticated scale here. Something like Formula 1. Even if the UCI wasn’t run by muppets it would be a tall order, and the doping scandals would have pulled the rug from under it anyway. They could  siphon off sponsor money by making women’s squads mandatory or re-allocating proxe moeny but then sponsors will complain they are not getting the ROI – vicious circle and I don’t see it changing anytime soon.

Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

(edited rants of a wanted sheep rapist)

Maybe you wish you had a ride at 6am this morning in weather of 28 degrees celsius. I did.

My snowcave was 27C today but had the advantage of being on the proper side of the equator and in a land that isn’t famous for animals that failed in every other climate.  Oh yeah, and large marsupials.

@minion for once i agree with you.

@the Engine
that Tour de San Luis is just a shitty little 2.1 race. TDU is a World Tour race – which is what Minion meant when he said Protour (because he is simple).

Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

So far, the TDU has had one sprint finish (ok not that exciting, but they usually occur in stage races!), a stage with a devilish but short climb 6k from the finish and a wicked descent (oh yes, for you UK fucksticks, your boy Thomas raced out of his skin and there was a wickedly good crash to boot), and then a finish with pretty hard uphill sprint finish that saw a young gun (Slagter) get the jump on a couple of ok riders called Goss and Gilbert who came 2 and 3.

What the fuck more do you want from a fucking bike race in January you ungrateful cunts?

Maybe we should wait for that outstanding 2.1 race the Tour of Britain? Haven’t there been some fucking epic rides through drab scenery in the rain there? Or maybe we should wait for the Tour of Cali – which has a few interesting climbs but is most famous for the worst set of winners jerseys in the known world.

Maybe you wish you had a ride at 6am this morning in weather of 28 degrees celsius. I did.

You seem a bit tense man. All that heat and shit burning to the ground fuckin’ with the sheep supply? Don’t lump us all in one basket. The TDU isn’t The Ronde (or Tirreno) but it’s racing! About f’n time I might add.

Read it and weep…have to say this is very rare especially the light winds…

@the Engine
that Tour de San Luis is just a shitty little 2.1 race. TDU is a World Tour race – which is what Minion meant when he said Protour (because he is simple).

Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

So far, the TDU has had one sprint finish (ok not that exciting, but they usually occur in stage races!), a stage with a devilish but short climb 6k from the finish and a wicked descent (oh yes, for you UK fucksticks, your boy Thomas raced out of his skin and there was a wickedly good crash to boot), and then a finish with pretty hard uphill sprint finish that saw a young gun (Slagter) get the jump on a couple of ok riders called Goss and Gilbert who came 2 and 3.

What the fuck more do you want from a fucking bike race in January you ungrateful cunts?

Maybe we should wait for that outstanding 2.1 race the Tour of Britain? Haven’t there been some fucking epic rides through drab scenery in the rain there? Or maybe we should wait for the Tour of Cali – which has a few interesting climbs but is most famous for the worst set of winners jerseys in the known world.

Maybe you wish you had a ride at 6am this morning in weather of 28 degrees celsius. I did.

@Tobin

I think I just channelled Jacob Two-Two…

Always funny to see other parents here. I’m sure there are quite a few around here that don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I do………..

IDK, but the two of y’all talking about a male figure in a tutu, well, kinda non-news…

I think I just channelled Jacob Two-Two…

Always funny to see other parents here.  I’m sure there are quite a few around here that don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I do………..

@itburns Scots, gotta love ’em…especially this one…

@itburns gotta love the Scots….like this one…

Fuck where are the hidden cameras that follow me round to make this shit?

@itburns gotta love the Scots….like this one…

Snow bound cabin fever suffering northern monkeys.

Good point!  Time for a XC ski!

@minion

Are you forgetting the Tour of Beijng? The only reason that race isn’t ‘boring’ is the comical amount of pollution the riders have to deal with. The TDU is pretty entertaining, and since it’s one of, what, 1 fucking pro tour race in the southern hemisphere, you all can get fucked. Snow bound cabin fever suffering northern monkeys.

Hest stroke?

make that, er, heat stroke. not sure what hest stroke is, albeit y’all i’m sure have some sheep related malady to give it life as a phrase…

Are you forgetting the Tour of Beijng? The only reason that race isn’t ‘boring’ is the comical amount of pollution the riders have to deal with. The TDU is pretty entertaining, and since it’s one of, what, 1 fucking pro tour race in the southern hemisphere, you all can get fucked. Snow bound cabin fever suffering northern monkeys.

Hest stroke?

Are you forgetting the Tour of Beijng? The only reason that race isn’t ‘boring’ is the comical amount of pollution the riders have to deal with. The TDU is pretty entertaining, and since it’s one of, what, 1 fucking pro tour race in the southern hemisphere, you all can get fucked. Snow bound cabin fever suffering northern monkeys.

There may be more than one pro tour race in the south but I can’t think of it.

There’s that one in Argentina that Cavendouche is doing…

There may be more than one pro tour race in the south but I can’t think of it.

@Buck Rogers really? The TDU got great value from Armstrong. He boosted the race both here and elsewhere.

Whilst the race certainly doesn’t have the cols or cobbles I think it has it’s place as a season opener with a bit of spark.

I think the TDU at least has the Tour of Qatar beat on the boredom front.

Ah yes, the Tour of Qatar.  Well if we are comparing the ugliest two races on the pro circuit, yeah, it’s a toss up between the two.  Both fuckin boring beyond belief.  And I have watched the Willunga Stage the past few years and it beats watching rerun WCP DVD’s, but not by much.

Actually I am just sooo bored at work right now I wondered how easy it would be to set anyone off.  Not too hard I guess.

watch the Willunga stage. You might enjoy it

Whilst the race certainly doesn’t have the cols or cobbles I think it has it’s place as a season opener with a bit of spark.

I think the TDU at least has the Tour of Qatar beat on the boredom front.

@Chris you clearly haven’t seen the TDU too often. That stage marked a departure from previous years where pretty much all but one stage was a sprint-fest.

So I guess by your thinking previous years have been even more anti-V?

Yeah but fortunately the organizers were smart enough to pay the COTHO gazillions of dollars over the past few years to try to add interest to the world’s most boring pro cycling race.  Money obviously well spent, eh? 

No wonder it is run in January when there is fuck-all other racing worth watching or else it would have been a one-off race.

Bring on MSR!

So I guess by your thinking previous years have been even more anti-V?

I know it’s a stage race rather than a one day classic but if I was preparing for the Milan San Remo, I’d want something with a bit more than 2 hours 44 minutes on the bike.

That’s what Tirreno-Adriatico is for.

So how do we (male cyclists specifically) show support besides watching (online in my case) and the VSP? Can you buy a Spesh-Lulu t-shirt? Something that shows up in the finances perhaps?

That’s a very good question. I have no clue. I suppose one thing would be to wander into a Lulu store and asking the clerks about the team and asking what we can do.

@the Engine

@Dan_R – We’re always talking single malt – plus steak and waffles of course

Presumably served together?

@Marcus

@PeakInTwoYears yeah yeah – wall street is a place. It doesn’t describe a type of banker – what was referred to in that sweeping generalization above seemed to describe some sort of make-believe trader who could pass losses onto clients.

Anyhoo, will stop – off topic and not very interesting.

You mean these guys?

That is gold.

Alright, completely sexist comment of the day but MAN, women cyclists are HOT!

Okay, I feel better, back to work.

@Buck Rogers

@Dan_R

Us

Canadians like Italy. The future Mrs. Richter number 3. Out front laying The V.

Alright, completely sexist comment of the day but MAN, women cyclists are HOT!

Okay, I feel better, back to work.

One of the reasons that Hell Hath No Fury is one of my favorite Sufferfest videos.

I do not have that.  I will have to get that one for when I am blessed by The Docs That Be to return to riding.  I wonder if I can trade any of my old WCP COTHO tdf DVD’sfor it?

@PeakInTwoYears yeah yeah – wall street is a place. It doesn’t describe a type of banker – what was referred to in that sweeping generalization above seemed to describe some sort of make-believe trader who could pass losses onto clients.

Anyhoo, will stop – off topic and not very interesting.

You mean these guys?

@Dan_R

Us

Canadians like Italy. The future Mrs. Richter number 3. Out front laying The V.

Alright, completely sexist comment of the day but MAN, women cyclists are HOT!

Okay, I feel better, back to work.

One of the reasons that Hell Hath No Fury is one of my favorite Sufferfest videos.

Us

Canadians like Italy. The future Mrs. Richter number 3. Out front laying The V.

Alright, completely sexist comment of the day but MAN, women cyclists are HOT!

Okay, I feel better, back to work.

I’m not expecting them to riding 250km stages, especially in that sort of heat but I’d like to sit down and watch something that moves me and resembles competition.

I know it’s a stage race rather than a one day classic but if I was preparing for the Milan San Remo, I’d want something with a bit more than 2 hours 44 minutes on the bike.

One thing you’ll notice is that the teams have brought their Classics squads out here as they are the ones that need actual race tuning to be ready in the next couple of months…why wouldn’t they organisers then produce stages that are suited to those racers?

@Yannersan

It’s sad that she felt the need to retire at such a relatively young age, I hope she doesn’t make a comeback when it is too late.

I remember watching the Beijing road race and the amount of ground she lost after loosing her line in the final bend, to lay down The V and win the sprint in horrendous conditions was just brilliant. A true hardwoman’s finish.

Her rivalry with Armistead probably hurt both of them; who would select either knowing that they may not work for the team and think primarily of themselves?

Didn’t she talk about that being a calculated risk? She hung back and went wide, giving anyone who crashed in front of her enough room to slide out without taking her down with them. She figured catching up from a crash would be harder than from leaving a gap.

Good plan when you have the guns to close it back down. Awesome, awesome race. Her win in the Worlds was similarly brilliant. She was on the wheel of the rider in front of her and as Vos came by, she was all over it. Brilliant riding.

She may have talked about it being a calculated risk but, with my own eyes, she didn’t mean to go that wide and give the opposition that much lead.

She, along with the other pro’s, remembers things differently to the way us normal folk remember them, they have selective amnesia inbuilt whereas we tend to recall the bad things, the pain, the near misses and the crashes.  I’m not saying this is a bad thing, it’s just different, after all we have a different reason for riding than they do.

Early bid for 2013 Anti-V Moment of the year from the TDU organisers.

So how do we (male cyclists specifically) show support besides watching (online in my case) and the VSP? Can you buy a Spesh-Lulu t-shirt? Something that shows up in the finances perhaps?

You hit on the head. I want that kit, WTF?

Canadians like Italy. The future Mrs. Richter number 3. Out front laying the V.

(Swimming? If you haven’t had your ship sunk by the enemy?)

@frank

Really? Those were the deciding factors? The reasons I never started on that sport was because it took me less than one second to realize it was less awesome than just Cycling.

In my defence our coach was the first person in Scotland to do the Imperial Century in less than four hours on a Kestrel with Campag discs circa 1986 and we started a tri-club because there were no cycling clubs in town.

Scots will do anything after a few wee drams.

Anyhoo, will stop – off topic and not very interesting.

@eightzero

“Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients””

Seems to me you dont have the faintest fucking idea of what you are talking about. What type of a banker are you describing with that massive generalization?

Sounds to me like you may have watched too many movies.

I think he said he was talking about Wall Street bankers.

I have no opinions on individual athletes or individual bankers–everybody’s got their story, and nobody has put me in charge of karma, as far as I know. But when–in the U.S.–you nullify a decades-old boundary between savings banks and investment banks and then tell all the banks that, whatever they decide to do in the pursuit of short-term profits, hey, no worries, the U.S. taxpayer has their well-padded asses covered, what do you think they’re going to get good at?

/politics off/

Sorry.

@the Engine

@eightzero

@frank

Speaking of sport, its so easy to rile you up on this, it nearly takes the fun out of it.

Nearly, but not quite.

If we didn’t have this on the interwebs, all we’d have is skateboarding cats. Since I can’t pedal a bike worth a Merckx damn, I have to find some place to turn a pedal in anger.

I’m not arguing whether to like her or not, I’m arguing your premise. I think its a misconception that everyone on wallstreet is so wealthy they can retire at 25 or whatever she is and not have to worry about money again.

In fact, my experience is that the more money you make, the more beholden you are to your job and the more you come to rely on have that level of income or more.

Where you see a spoiled kid, I see a girl who had a comfortable life and gave it up to go work a hell of a lot harder for a hell of a lot less money, with a hell of a lot less security – especially with the state of women’s cycling.

That isn’t how she markets hereself. When I read Nikki Cooke’s piece, I hear about how a kid sacrified the most important part of her life to compete. To that I say “wow.” When I read a recent piece about Evie, she said (a reasonable direct quote) “I don’t feel bad about coming in second in the TT to [Kristen Armstrong]. She’s had 4 years to prepare (yeah, by having a kid-ed) and 4 years ago I was behind a desk [on wall street].” To that I repeat: boo hoo. And all those people that came in 3rd and lower? Nice way to dismiss their effort, honey.

I admire that kind of risk-taking; it makes me like her all the more.

Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients.” Gordon Gekko would have fit right in the peloton. Screw ’em. So Evie has a truckload of bikes and gear paid for by the sale of Blue Star Airlines and Teldar Paper stock transactions. Good on them.

One of the reasons I gave up on the Cycling Shit Sandwich scene was if you had a job you’d always get humped by people who didn’t; had more time to train and could mysteriously afford better kit and travel.

Really? Those were the deciding factors? The reasons I never started on that sport was because it took me less than one second to realize it was less awesome than just Cycling.

In my defence our coach was the first person in Scotland to do the Imperial Century in less than four hours on a Kestrel with Campag discs circa 1986 and we started a tri-club because there were no cycling clubs in town.

“Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients””

Seems to me you dont have the faintest fucking idea of what you are talking about. What type of a banker are you describing with that massive generalization?

Sounds to me like you may have watched too many movies.

@eightzero

@frank

Speaking of sport, its so easy to rile you up on this, it nearly takes the fun out of it.

Nearly, but not quite.

If we didn’t have this on the interwebs, all we’d have is skateboarding cats. Since I can’t pedal a bike worth a Merckx damn, I have to find some place to turn a pedal in anger.

I’m not arguing whether to like her or not, I’m arguing your premise. I think its a misconception that everyone on wallstreet is so wealthy they can retire at 25 or whatever she is and not have to worry about money again.

In fact, my experience is that the more money you make, the more beholden you are to your job and the more you come to rely on have that level of income or more.

Where you see a spoiled kid, I see a girl who had a comfortable life and gave it up to go work a hell of a lot harder for a hell of a lot less money, with a hell of a lot less security – especially with the state of women’s cycling.

That isn’t how she markets hereself. When I read Nikki Cooke’s piece, I hear about how a kid sacrified the most important part of her life to compete. To that I say “wow.” When I read a recent piece about Evie, she said (a reasonable direct quote) “I don’t feel bad about coming in second in the TT to [Kristen Armstrong]. She’s had 4 years to prepare (yeah, by having a kid-ed) and 4 years ago I was behind a desk [on wall street].” To that I repeat: boo hoo. And all those people that came in 3rd and lower? Nice way to dismiss their effort, honey.

I admire that kind of risk-taking; it makes me like her all the more.

Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients.” Gordon Gekko would have fit right in the peloton. Screw ’em. So Evie has a truckload of bikes and gear paid for by the sale of Blue Star Airlines and Teldar Paper stock transactions. Good on them.

One of the reasons I gave up on the Cycling Shit Sandwich scene was if you had a job you’d always get humped by people who didn’t; had more time to train and could mysteriously afford better kit and travel.

Really? Those were the deciding factors? The reasons I never started on that sport was because it took me less than one second to realize it was less awesome than just Cycling.

@frank

Speaking of sport, its so easy to rile you up on this, it nearly takes the fun out of it.

Nearly, but not quite.

If we didn’t have this on the interwebs, all we’d have is skateboarding cats. Since I can’t pedal a bike worth a Merckx damn, I have to find some place to turn a pedal in anger.

I’m not arguing whether to like her or not, I’m arguing your premise. I think its a misconception that everyone on wallstreet is so wealthy they can retire at 25 or whatever she is and not have to worry about money again.

In fact, my experience is that the more money you make, the more beholden you are to your job and the more you come to rely on have that level of income or more.

Where you see a spoiled kid, I see a girl who had a comfortable life and gave it up to go work a hell of a lot harder for a hell of a lot less money, with a hell of a lot less security – especially with the state of women’s cycling.

That isn’t how she markets hereself. When I read Nikki Cooke’s piece, I hear about how a kid sacrified the most important part of her life to compete. To that I say “wow.” When I read a recent piece about Evie, she said (a reasonable direct quote) “I don’t feel bad about coming in second in the TT to [Kristen Armstrong]. She’s had 4 years to prepare (yeah, by having a kid-ed) and 4 years ago I was behind a desk [on wall street].” To that I repeat: boo hoo. And all those people that came in 3rd and lower? Nice way to dismiss their effort, honey.

I admire that kind of risk-taking; it makes me like her all the more.

Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients.” Gordon Gekko would have fit right in the peloton. Screw ’em. So Evie has a truckload of bikes and gear paid for by the sale of Blue Star Airlines and Teldar Paper stock transactions. Good on them.

One of the reasons I gave up on the cycling shit sandwich scene was if you had a job you’d always get humped by people who didn’t; had more time to train and could mysteriously afford better kit and travel.

@eightzero

No need for apologies! Call me crazy. Call me a bitch. But did you just call me fat?

Man, it would have been fun to see COTHO call DOPRAH a fat bitch. She’d have wasted him instantly.

Speaking of sport, its so easy to rile you up on this, it nearly takes the fun out of it.

Nearly, but not quite.

If we didn’t have this on the interwebs, all we’d have is skateboarding cats. Since I can’t pedal a bike worth a Merckx damn, I have to find some place to turn a pedal in anger.

I’m not arguing whether to like her or not, I’m arguing your premise. I think its a misconception that everyone on wallstreet is so wealthy they can retire at 25 or whatever she is and not have to worry about money again.

In fact, my experience is that the more money you make, the more beholden you are to your job and the more you come to rely on have that level of income or more.

Where you see a spoiled kid, I see a girl who had a comfortable life and gave it up to go work a hell of a lot harder for a hell of a lot less money, with a hell of a lot less security – especially with the state of women’s cycling.

That isn’t how she markets hereself. When I read Nikki Cooke’s piece, I hear about how a kid sacrified the most important part of her life to compete. To that I say “wow.” When I read a recent piece about Evie, she said (a reasonable direct quote) “I don’t feel bad about coming in second in the TT to [Kristen Armstrong]. She’s had 4 years to prepare (yeah, by having a kid-ed) and 4 years ago I was behind a desk [on wall street].” To that I repeat: boo hoo. And all those people that came in 3rd and lower? Nice way to dismiss their effort, honey.

I admire that kind of risk-taking; it makes me like her all the more.

Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money.  Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients.” Gordon Gekko would have fit right in the peloton. Screw ’em. So Evie has a truckload of bikes and gear paid for by the sale of Blue Star Airlines and Teldar Paper stock transactions. Good on them.

One need not look any further than Lululemon Athletica, ticker LULU on the NASDAQ. Phenomenal growth in a yes, i’ll say it, women specific line of athletic attire. But ask yourself, how many of the women doing yoga knew that LULU also sponsors a team with Specialized? How many of them knew yoga provides an amazing stepping stone to being a cyclist? How many knew that cycling can be as social as you want it, and also as reclusive as you make it?

Is your point that Lululemon should be doing more to promote their team, the racing, and the sport? Excellent point. We were just in one of those stores and there was absolutely no mention of it, no posters, no nothing. Excellent point that the sponsors themselves miss the opportunity to promote the sport.

As with all interesting topics, it is a very murky pond we’re swimming in. But the point stands that with how much energy the UCI puts into covering up its corruption, they should be doing much more to be uncorrupt and redirect their energy into promoting the women’s side of the sport.

@frank

@eightzero

@DerHoggz

@eightzero

What you got against Evie?

Spolied little rich girl. Not a fan. Hard worker? Sure. Time in the pain cave? Sure. Talented? Sure. Does she have lots and lots of time on her hands to go for training rides, put in pain cave time, and ride the best bikes money can afford? You betcha, because she made a wad of dough on wall street, and bought her way into the sport. To each their own; I just am not a fan. Others can feel differently, it’s just how I pick my faves.

Me and @frank have had this duscussion elsewhere on the site.

Yes, and you’re still wrong. You don’t buy your way to the top of the Mur de Huy, at least not when you’re competing agains Mary V for the win.

No? Hardworking dutch girl puts in her miles, sacrifices being a kid so she can compete against hardwomen everywhere, and rightfully wears the palmares that go with the work. She sacrificed. Didn’t say Evie didn’t work hard, never said she didn’t train…but her “sacrifice” only came after she had a sizable bank account. Boo hoo.

Not a fan of rich people that achieve because they have every advantage money can buy. That’s not sport. That’s just…business.I get that all day long, and I get paid to put up with it. Not how I spend my recreational moments.

Be a fan if you want. We’ve had this discussion, and I choose who I want to root for. It ain’t spoiled little rich girls. And I’m ok with you telling me I’m wrong, because that’s sport too.

Speaking of sport, its so easy to rile you up on this, it nearly takes the fun out of it.

Nearly, but not quite.

I’m not arguing whether to like her or not, I’m arguing your premise. I think its a misconception that everyone on wallstreet is so wealthy they can retire at 25 or whatever she is and not have to worry about money again.

In fact, my experience is that the more money you make, the more beholden you are to your job and the more you come to rely on have that level of income or more.

Where you see a spoiled kid, I see a girl who had a comfortable life and gave it up to go work a hell of a lot harder for a hell of a lot less money, with a hell of a lot less security – especially with the state of women’s cycling.

I admire that kind of risk-taking; it makes me like her all the more.

Speaking of Hard Men – you guys do realize that I have just as many Tours wins and twice as many balls as Lance Armstrong don’t you?

WOW!

@Deakus

However I stopped being impressed by University Professors simply because they have a doctorate a long time ago, history is riddled with academics who have been proven to be anything but. I prefer to judge by actions and deeds these days.

Speaking as one who in two days time will hand in his Master’s thesis, I thoroughly concur. I have learned why the term ‘academic’ also has a perjorative meaning.

As far as I can tell the whole thing was a box-ticking exercise of form over substance. It is no exaggeration to say that my adviser provided more comments about the length of my paragraphs and the alignment of my tables than about the content or discussion.

Oh my word! I thought I was the only one to have this feeling, as I work through my own thesis. Thanks, this gave me a good laugh & let some stress slip off my shoulders. Definitely dealt with advisers who seemed to be negative about all the wrong things just for the sake of saying something negative. No real comment on the work itself, the potential, the direction, just pissing on little “form” parts. Excellent, makes me feel like I’m not the only one who enjoys pursuing things academically but wants to slug most academics in the mouth.

 

No need for apologies! Call me crazy. Call me a bitch. But did you just call me fat?

I can see how it is disparaging for the female athletes.  For those that follow college hockey, women’s hockey suffers so horribly, there is no game admission charge, whereas the men’s tickets can fetch hundreds for the local Bean Pot tournament.  They’ve tried scheduling the women’s games straight after the men’s, thinking a few folks would stay and watch the women.  The seats cleared out and the usual local parents are all to be seen.

I don’t think the poor showing by the UCI to get female cycling out there is unique to that governing body.  There is a real disconnect with professional women’s sports, and I don’t necessarily believe it has anything to do with who’s running it.  The proof that women and athletics can NOT be a reliable source of revenue is complete BS.  One need not look any further than Lululemon Athletica, ticker LULU on the NASDAQ.  Phenomenal growth in a yes, i’ll say it, women specific line of athletic attire.  But ask yourself, how many of the women doing yoga knew that LULU also sponsors a team with Specialized?  How many of them knew yoga provides an amazing stepping stone to being a cyclist?  How many knew that cycling can be as social as you want it, and also as reclusive as you make it?

You know when times are exciting?  It’s when Rule #82 happens.  We close the gap, we make it relevant.  That’s a metaphor worth taking a 2nd look at.

end of delusional rant.

I’d sure like to be like them.

And have Evie’s bank account.

But then you would hate yourself.  Might get awkward on long rides.

@Deakus

However I stopped being impressed by University Professors simply because they have a doctorate a long time ago, history is riddled with academics who have been proven to be anything but. I prefer to judge by actions and deeds these days.

Speaking as one who in two days time will hand in his Master’s thesis, I thoroughly concur. I have learned why the term ‘academic’ also has a perjorative meaning.

As far as I can tell the whole thing was a box-ticking exercise of form over substance. It is no exaggeration to say that my adviser provided more comments about the length of my paragraphs and the alignment of my tables than about the content or discussion.

No kidding!  Don’t you hate that!  I remember doing presentations during residency and fellowship, work that took a ton of research and time, and the main comments would be about how you forgot to capitalize this or your margins were too narrow or something.  Makes you want to throw it all right in their face!

@eightzero poor, fat, unmotivated muppet who wins the Tour

‘Not a fan of rich people that achieve because they have every advantage money can buy. That’s not sport. That’s just…business.I get that all day long, and I get paid to put up with it. Not how I spend my recreational moments.’

Yeah, I hear you, brother. And it’s not just rich people. People born with big engines. They really fiuck me off. And then there’s the total cunts who have will power, determination and a killer instinct. Fuck them. The only reason they are better than me is that they have the required genetic inheritance, attitude and life circumstances to be so. Without those advantages they’d be nothing.

 

When a poor, fat, unmotivated, lazy muppet wins the Tour, I will be his / her biggest fan.

 

Oh, wait …

 

 

 

This ain’t about me – this about who I root for to be a champion. People born with Big Engines can be exciting to watch, and I can be inspired by them. I can’t be inspired by somone that gets to train more, but more tous (or dope?) than somone else becuase they have a wad of dough in the bank. I can sort of relate to that.

No need for apologies! Call me crazy. Call me a bitch. But did you just call me fat? Yeah, ok I’m fat too. :-(  Muppet? Sure – I look like a fucking g’rilla humping a tennis ball when I’m on a bike. Unmotivated? Yeah…I have to work all day because I don’t have a wad of dough in the bank, and when I get home I’m tired. So yeah, I suck. But I ain’t gonna root for spolied little rich girls. Doesn’t mean I don’t wanna date em, see em race, or admire what they look like – I just kinda grin when a beast like Nikki Cooke, or a hardwoman mother of 3, or a little girl that can only train on the weekend because she helps her family pay the rent beats her mano-a-mano. Money can’t buy everything. Speed, sure. My fandom? Nope.

Tired of this. I like watching women race bikes. It’s inspirational just seeing them risk everything. Pain? Sure. But they have bodies built to take childbirth of 10 pound baby boys…I’m guessing a Little V ain’t such a big deal to them. I’d sure like to be like them.

And have Evie’s bank account.