The London 2012 Olympic Thread
#226
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Triboy, what's the point of the Sprint? What's with the lets go as slowly as poss and then peddle like all ****? Can't they just go bloody fast to begin with?
And sailing, what's the go with having a boat that doesn't have a seat and a stubby holder, why have a boat that you spend all your time hanging over the edge of. All very strange.
And sailing, what's the go with having a boat that doesn't have a seat and a stubby holder, why have a boat that you spend all your time hanging over the edge of. All very strange.
#227
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Safely passed the halfway point with no hope of any egg on face it could be time to bring humour into Australia's poor performance:
Doctors in Australia have diagnosed a new condition which they are calling "Olympic finger". Symptoms are pain & blistering in the index finger caused by repeated scrolling all the way down to see Australia's medal tally.
Good news in the sailing:
GB have taken gold, USA silver & Somalia have taken a middle aged couple from Weymouth.
Doctors in Australia have diagnosed a new condition which they are calling "Olympic finger". Symptoms are pain & blistering in the index finger caused by repeated scrolling all the way down to see Australia's medal tally.
Good news in the sailing:
GB have taken gold, USA silver & Somalia have taken a middle aged couple from Weymouth.
#228
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Safely passed the halfway point with no hope of any egg on face it could be time to bring humour into Australia's poor performance:
Doctors in Australia have diagnosed a new condition which they are calling "Olympic finger". Symptoms are pain & blistering in the index finger caused by repeated scrolling all the way down to see Australia's medal tally.
Good news in the sailing:
GB have taken gold, USA silver & Somalia have taken a middle aged couple from Weymouth.
Doctors in Australia have diagnosed a new condition which they are calling "Olympic finger". Symptoms are pain & blistering in the index finger caused by repeated scrolling all the way down to see Australia's medal tally.
Good news in the sailing:
GB have taken gold, USA silver & Somalia have taken a middle aged couple from Weymouth.
#229
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Then throw in the fact that since reading 50 Shades Of Shite Aussie women are welcoming blokes that are not afraid to come second..................
#230
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Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Triboy, what's the point of the Sprint? What's with the lets go as slowly as poss and then peddle like all ****? Can't they just go bloody fast to begin with?
And sailing, what's the go with having a boat that doesn't have a seat and a stubby holder, why have a boat that you spend all your time hanging over the edge of. All very strange.
And sailing, what's the go with having a boat that doesn't have a seat and a stubby holder, why have a boat that you spend all your time hanging over the edge of. All very strange.
Track bikes have no (changeable) gears, no brakes and are 'fixed gear'. Which means you have to have enough strength to get them up to speed and then accelerate. (if you stop pedalling, you'll find out whether you have a future in rodeo riding).
A sprinter needs enough muscle to get the bike moving quickly from a virtual standstill, but not be so big that they it hinders momentum.
In the sprint, the idea is finish first (obviously), but the best way to do this is to have more momentum than your opponent. This can be achieved in two ways.
Go from the gun and hope you opponent cannot get onto your wheel, this rarely happens as rider in front will ride looking backwards to see when their foe will 'jump'.
Or get high on the track as the bikes are fixed gear, the faster you go 'downhill' the faster you will go. That's harder than it sounds, mainly because when the race is 'on' the front person can stay in the 'sprinters line' (the space between the black and red line) and any challenger must come around the outside, which obviously puts their nose is dirty air (think F1 slipstreaming).
So what they are doing when they are going so slowly for the first 1.5 laps is jostling for track position. The rider at the back will try to dive underneath the front rider to get the sprinters line, but the rider in front will 'shut the door' and hold them higher so they can get maintain position.
In terms of outright fitness, the sprint track racer is akin to the 100mtr runners, and they are just not built to sustain their high speed for very long. Full on sprint with the top guys are reaching 70/71kms nowadays.
They go 3 rounds, swap starting positions and draw for the third.
I hope that makes sense
#231
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Because it cannot be sustained. Even though the track looks small and non cyclists could be thinking that the bike does a lot of the work, that's far from the case.
Track bikes have no (changeable) gears, no brakes and are 'fixed gear'. Which means you have to have enough strength to get them up to speed and then accelerate. (if you stop pedalling, you'll find out whether you have a future in rodeo riding).
A sprinter needs enough muscle to get the bike moving quickly from a virtual standstill, but not be so big that they it hinders momentum.
In the sprint, the idea is finish first (obviously), but the best way to do this is to have more momentum than your opponent. This can be achieved in two ways.
Go from the gun and hope you opponent cannot get onto your wheel, this rarely happens as rider in front will ride looking backwards to see when their foe will 'jump'.
Or get high on the track as the bikes are fixed gear, the faster you go 'downhill' the faster you will go. That's harder than it sounds, mainly because when the race is 'on' the front person can stay in the 'sprinters line' (the space between the black and red line) and any challenger must come around the outside, which obviously puts their nose is dirty air (think F1 slipstreaming).
So what they are doing when they are going so slowly for the first 1.5 laps is jostling for track position. The rider at the back will try to dive underneath the front rider to get the sprinters line, but the rider in front will 'shut the door' and hold them higher so they can get maintain position.
In terms of outright fitness, the sprint track racer is akin to the 100mtr runners, and they are just not built to sustain their high speed for very long. Full on sprint with the top guys are reaching 70/71kms nowadays.
They go 3 rounds, swap starting positions and draw for the third.
I hope that makes sense
Track bikes have no (changeable) gears, no brakes and are 'fixed gear'. Which means you have to have enough strength to get them up to speed and then accelerate. (if you stop pedalling, you'll find out whether you have a future in rodeo riding).
A sprinter needs enough muscle to get the bike moving quickly from a virtual standstill, but not be so big that they it hinders momentum.
In the sprint, the idea is finish first (obviously), but the best way to do this is to have more momentum than your opponent. This can be achieved in two ways.
Go from the gun and hope you opponent cannot get onto your wheel, this rarely happens as rider in front will ride looking backwards to see when their foe will 'jump'.
Or get high on the track as the bikes are fixed gear, the faster you go 'downhill' the faster you will go. That's harder than it sounds, mainly because when the race is 'on' the front person can stay in the 'sprinters line' (the space between the black and red line) and any challenger must come around the outside, which obviously puts their nose is dirty air (think F1 slipstreaming).
So what they are doing when they are going so slowly for the first 1.5 laps is jostling for track position. The rider at the back will try to dive underneath the front rider to get the sprinters line, but the rider in front will 'shut the door' and hold them higher so they can get maintain position.
In terms of outright fitness, the sprint track racer is akin to the 100mtr runners, and they are just not built to sustain their high speed for very long. Full on sprint with the top guys are reaching 70/71kms nowadays.
They go 3 rounds, swap starting positions and draw for the third.
I hope that makes sense
#232
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
There's plenty of mileage left in suggesting that the swimmers aren't as fast as the rest of the world without their "go faster" cheat suits...... I've rattled a few cages onsite with that one.
Then throw in the fact that since reading 50 Shades Of Shite Aussie women are welcoming blokes that are not afraid to come second..................
Then throw in the fact that since reading 50 Shades Of Shite Aussie women are welcoming blokes that are not afraid to come second..................
#233
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Joined: Jul 2008
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Posts: 3,043
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
No worries I forgot one thing, being fixed gear bikes, the riders have choose a gear that they can get up to speed fairly quickly, but not so easy that they will 'spin out' at the end of the race (have energy to spare). It's tricky. I'm a (bad) road racer, good at time trials and a general all around 'roadie'. My average cadence (the rate at which your legs turn) is about 90-92 rpm, in a sprint I can reach about 115rpm max. The track guys will regularly hit 135-140rpm
#234
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Joined: Jun 2004
Location: Hills District
Posts: 1,399
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
There's plenty of mileage left in suggesting that the swimmers aren't as fast as the rest of the world without their "go faster" cheat suits...... I've rattled a few cages onsite with that one.
Then throw in the fact that since reading 50 Shades Of Shite Aussie women are welcoming blokes that are not afraid to come second..................
Then throw in the fact that since reading 50 Shades Of Shite Aussie women are welcoming blokes that are not afraid to come second..................
#235
Straw Man.
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: That, there, that's not my post count... nothing to see here, move along.
Posts: 46,302
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Good to see Dave Brailsford winding the French up by telling them the GB success was down to them making their wheels perfectly round and by constantly hiding their wheels from view.
#237
Straw Man.
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Posts: 46,302
#238
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Come on, be fair, everyman and his dog was wearing these suits not just Australian swimmers. The present swim team comprised people at the end of their careers and novices. Going in to the Olympics only Magnussen had time that was best in the world. The girls in the 100m relay swam above themselves to win gold and the silvers were more than anyone should have hoped for.
To say that only Magnussen had the world best time beggers the question: Why then did the pre Olympic forecast predict 17 swimming medals?
#239
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Posts: 3,043
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Triathlon starting soon, I desperately wanted to go to Hyde Park to watch this, but alas, I am on the floor in pain, so definitely not worth the risk
C'mon the Brownlees
C'mon the Brownlees
#240
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Joined: Jun 2004
Location: Hills District
Posts: 1,399
Re: The London 2012 Olympic Thread
Not quite true, many swimmers did not wear them. They either couldn't afford them or were sponsored by swimwear manufacturers that were not making their own bodysuits. Once records began to tumble they caught on like wildfire.
To say that only Magnussen had the world best time beggers the question: Why then did the pre Olympic forecast predict 17 swimming medals?
To say that only Magnussen had the world best time beggers the question: Why then did the pre Olympic forecast predict 17 swimming medals?
Forgot to say that the suits were worn by all of the main nations who were in competition for the medals. eg China, GB, USA, Australia etc etc.
Last edited by Gibbo; Aug 7th 2012 at 10:23 am.