Nevertheless things have progressed very well indeed and yesterday saw me out on the road for the first time in weeks. Having never sustained damage at that level its amazing how much one misses the mobility and freedom. Naturally the weather in these parts turned excellent two days after the crash and continued until the day the doc said you can do some flatland riding now. Note the kit in the photo.

Note also that while crutches are required for foot travel, the magic of wheels makes them disappear. It was so wonderful to actually be able to feel the wind created from pedaling in the face again. Turned out to be a great one hour flat zone ride, 70-76″ gear, no pain. Consider myself very lucky there was no head or spinal damage which it could have easily been.

I thought I had been extremely lucky with my bike damage too as all I noted was a ground bar end and scuffed tape. Sadly for my favourite bike (the one the pic) I noticed a tiny stress fracture near the BB. Further examination after the ride showed that the bike had indeed come down very hard on the opposite side as the outermost portion of the pedal was mushroomed over from the impact. Big bummer…took me nearly three days to paint that thing.

Again I feel very lucky it wasn’t worse because even beyond the health aspect, we have SO much bike work on the go and that’s just too much fun to miss out on.

Ride carefully, ride smart.

As the title infers, I again feel vindicated for my grumpy opinions with yesterday’s quote from Carlos Sastre:

“Whoever wants to start debating or raising controversy about this matter can do so freely.”  “I’ve fallen in this Tour, I fell in the Italian Giro d’Italia, I’ve had technical problems and no-one ever waited for me.

“I think we’re turning cycling into a sport for spoilt brats and that is what happens in these kinds of circumstances.”

Choice words by a great rider! I hope some of it sinks into those that would whine. Bike racing is the most beautifully elegant sport in the world, full of drama, action, suffering and emotion. Let us hope the hard edge comes back to “Le Club Brat Vitesse”….at least until I depart this earth and won’t have to hear/see it.

One more rant before I bolt. I saw yet another Cervelo ad today whist viewing today’s stage. This was one about how one size fits all. Wot a load of bollocks! Idiotic drivel of how “men and women are just the same shape and women’s only bikes are just marketing spin.” Tell that to my 5′8″ girlfriend with a 34″ inseam, 20″ femur as she’s looking at my 5′9″ statue supported by a 31″ inseam with 16.75″ thighs. Same seat angle huh?….and forget about the impossible top tube length difference.  Guess I should have learned more about marketing instead of wasting all that time learning a lifetime of fast, efficient biking. Oh well….too late now…..still, most times I do enjoy “bein’ a chicken hawk, see!”

Check out the Gallery for a few more images of these classic bikes.

I confess I do love any classic bike and I’ve always been a big steel fan (that’s why I love the Deda scandium so much…feels like steel on amphetamines).

Cycling is supposed to be a hard sport. Its a hard sport involving machines. Machines fail. Should he have also have slowed down and/or apologized if Schleck punctured too? Do GP drivers slow down when their competition has a mechanical?….no. Do sailors stop racing if the windward boat tears a sail…no. Did Thevenet stop when Merckx got punched in the stomach by some idiot French spectator during the 1975 Tour….no…..and this event had a very real effect on Eddy’s loss to Thevenet that year.

Even at my lower level of racing throughout the years I’ve been on both sides of fortune. Chasing down a fleeting group after being on the wrong side of a crash, or putting it in a bigger gear when one of the key riders flats. That’s bike riding. Guess what…not everybody is a winner.

Pro’s are paid to win races. Look at all the sit in sprint specialists who think nothing of never going to the front except during the last 200 metres of a race.

Sometimes makes me mental this wimpy world we seem to be living in.

Anyway, I still think this is the best Tour I’ve seen in years!!