Comments on: Le Tour – Stage 14

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:57:50 +0000

You should have called a motorcycle cop, Steve, they take something of a dim view of people who put tacks in the road. Somewhere around here I have a roofer’s magnet, a very strong magnet on a pole that roofers use to clean up after the job, because roofing nails are usually all over along the drip line and you don’t want the people who are going to sign the check to pay you stepping on them or driving over them. I’ve had to use it a couple of times for skirmishes between neighbors.

A talented cyclist is out of racing for an extended period with a broken collarbone – it isn’t a prank. That’s a mile-high steep mountain road, so someone could have been killed by this ‘sabotage’. I can’t imagine what someone would be protesting that would be connected to this act. If the French police have a suspect they should just hand them over to the Kazakhs and the matter will be settled … permanently.

In Florida with ‘Stand Your Ground’, there would be no need for bail. or a trial.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:50:30 +0000

It wasn't the Tour, but the bicycle path I rode daily to and from work along Brays Bayou. Several days running, I ended up with small bits of white glass in my tires and had to patch them. Finally, by the layout of the glass on the ground (when I was finally able to see it), I realized that someone was standing on the roof of an adjacent 12-story building and pitching fluorescent tubes over onto the cycle path, presumably to watch the sparkle when they crashed. On another occasion, a sociopath living just off Morningside Dr. was daily spreading tacks to prevent people from parking cars (legally) along the edge of his property facing Morningside. One day I stopped and picked up a couple hundred of the tacks. The man came home while I was doing that; he pushed just to the edge of threatening me, but I was POed and finished picking up the tacks. He must have followed me home either that day or another day, because about a week later, I awoke to find my own house driveway covered with tacks. I never caught him in the act. I don't know if people think that they are being clever or that cycling is dumb and its proponents deserve no better. But it's just too dangerous to be funny. If I had ever caught someone in the act of seeding a bike path with tacks or glass, someone would probably have had to come bail me out of jail on a charge of homicide. JUSTIFIABLE homicide!

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 04:16:03 +0000

Another thing – the official site is really not doing a good job this year. Not only are they not updating in a timely fashion, they mentioned Wiggins and Evans regarding the tacks, but didn’t mention Kiserlovski. I think injuries are important information. Initially I knew that someone failed to finish, but it was hours before they put up his name, and they didn’t say why in their coverage.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 04:05:56 +0000

I wondered about that withdrawal, because he was running 22nd and doing well climbing. The Kazakhs are no one to mess with, and Astana was making a very good showing on the Tour this year, and not just in the mountains.

There are obnoxious jerks in every sport, but tacks on the Mur could have easily been fatal.

Rolland didn’t do himself or his team any favors. Contador was the first to break with the tradition in2010 of waiting if someone in the top ten has mechanical trouble, and it didn’t go down well with other riders. There are traditions that you are supposed to follow, and those that don’t become decidedly unpopular.

By: jamsodonnell

jamsodonnell — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 18:18:36 +0000

I’m glad that Wiggins and the other leaders, Rolland apart, did the right thing and let Evans catch up.Very sporting of them. If the arsehole who threw the tacks is caught then he or she is going to be in big trouble if one of their tacks caused Kiserslowki’s broken collar bone.