Category: cycling

Bonus Friday link

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n2JnErCbJE]
Here’s a alleycat race through London, hitting Tottenham Court Road / Oxford St intersection, the Oxford St / Regent St intersection, Soho, Covent Garden, etc, with loads of zipping in and around black cabs, pedestrians, etc. Looks like lots of fun, but not for the faint hearted – even the camera man shows some mad skillz here.

This is kind of like what the Tour De France prologue will be like but without the traffic or combat shorts and that.

On the road again – The Vitus 979

Here’s my project of the last couple months – a Vitus 979 road bike.

The drivetrain is Campagnolo Triomphe, with Shimano Exage brakes. It’s got Tubular tires on Araya ‘Red’ rims, and Wellgo pedals. The handlebars are Cinelli.

This is a very light bike, Vitus are a French bicycle tubing company, and this one is unique in that the tubes are glued together rather than welded, as it usually the case. Here’s more info on this bike. The 979 was made famous by Irish Cyclist Sean Kelly – here he is in the San Remo – Milan race.

Links on Friday

– Riding the Tour De France prologue route – this would be cool. The Tour’s prologue section is in London this year, starting on the 7th of July, so set the alarms to see the riders caning it past Big Ben, the London Eye, that pub you spewed outside that time, etc. Typically, there will be a drug-related bans before it starts, including the cartoon villain-like blackshirts
– Boris Becker, 12 – a typically committed shot from the broom cupboard bandito
– Crappy movie corner – trailer for Kevin Costner’s The Postman – and an entertaining write up. Make no mistake, team, this is crap of the highest quality, and hard on the heels of Waterworld, too
– Dur – DAH-DAHHHHHHH! – the most sinister rodent you’re going to see on a second-rate sports blog today

Links on Friday (On Thursday)

– A Zombie fighting a Shark – You know team, I hadn’t used the ol’ Zombie tag for a while, and then I stumbled on this clip. Whoah. I might stop looking at the internets now, nothing’s going to top this. NOTHING. NSFW if your work isn’t into sub-aquatic re-animated corpses hungry for shark flesh and that
– Classy Tierry Henry goal – Henry plays for Arsenal and is a git. I don’t like him but this goal… it’s OK. I ‘spose
– Another very nice goal – by Totti, he of the amusing name
– Passive aggressive notes blog – I love it, although not as good as a shark fighting the undead, obviously
– Cyclocross gone wild – cyclocross looks like fun, and a cyclocross bike (a kind of road / MTB cross) looks like it’d be ideal for commuting
– Boogie Nights meets Star Wars – genius

Links on Friday

– Borat learns cricket – some great condescension from the old battler here. “Just watch. WATCH”
– Some guy skis down Angel tube station escalator – If you’ve been there, you’ll know this escalator is BIG
– Irish Cyclist Sean Kelly’s legendary downhill pursuit in 1992 – Insane. I’m in the process of getting a Vitus 979, Kelly’s bike, back on the road
– Unintentionally hilarious comic book panels – MORE innocent childhood memories destroyed. Thanks, Internet!
– William Spencer: freaky skateboarder – things have moved on since my day. Whatever happened to the Bones Brigade?
– HDTV FAQ – thinking of upgrading to High Def for the World Cup? You’ll want to read this. Did you know the ‘p’ in 1080p stands for ‘purchase’?
– Tarantino and Rodriguez’s favorite movie posters – Dawn of the Dead is on there, obviously

Links on Friday

– Four minutes of Glenn Hoddle – yes he might be a religious nutter these days and a not very good manager, but he could really play. Relive those Sunday mornings watching Big League Soccer with the English Platini
– ANOTHER stadium plan for Auckland – I like the cheeky Paris mention – but then Paris-style planning on a large scale would be a step in the right direction
– Graham Reid’s Auckland walk – very thoughtful piece lamenting the tumble-weed infested area the above lot want to stick a stadium on. And yes, Queen St is a hole at the moment
– Brial v Bunce – This little incident from way back when the Tri Nations was new and exciting always makes me laugh – “Hey! Frank! I’m hitting you! Pay attention!”
– Hell on Wheels – is a documentary on the Tour De France – highly recommended
– Competitive Horse Riding Rule Book – it’s funny ‘cos it’s true

Links on Friday

– PJ O’Rourke on the Bicycle Menace – There’s nothing stopping Auckland becoming an Amsterdam-like cycling haven. Apart from the hills, humidity, and the “OMYFARKINGOD GET OUT OF MY WAY I NEED TO HIT 70 KPH BEFORE THE NEXT RED LIGHT ARRRGHH ARRRGHH” attitude many motorists share
– Paul Gasgoine retrospective – You forget how good he was pre-knee injury
– Movies listed by ‘F’ word count – Tarantino scores highly here, of course. Bonus link – Pulp Fiction with everything but the swearing taken out
– Bob Mack vs The ‘Nuge – the greatest Rock and Roll interview ever (click the links further down)
– Thermonuclear Texas Chili – I add Chicken just to round it out to three meats, and don’t bother farking around with the Chilis like these guys. Just chuck them in and be done
– Ali Williams dumps George Gregan on his arse – Everyone can enjoy this. Only three weeks ’til Super 14 rugby, team. Sheee-yit, we’ve not even had SUMMER yet

Millar’s cautionary tale

There’s more talk of drugs in sport nowadays than on a Nandor Tanczos visit to his dealer. You just know that a big name athlete is going to be thrown out of the Olympics this year, if they haven’t been banned from going to the games at all. This is the story of David Millar, the Brit cyclist who was recently banned from Cycling for taking EPO. Millar has come clean and told his story, a refreshing attitude compared to some.

link

Lance Armstong vs The World

Lance Armstong attempts to beat the legends of Cycling and win a sixth Tour De France. Under pressure from the expectant public and drug rumours, not to mention Ullrich and Hamilton, it will require a superhuman effort. Again.

<a href=”http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/07/03/sotour03.xml&sSheet=/sport/2004/07/06/ixtour.html

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