lonefrontranger

oh lol also Ineos, Movistar and Lotto

they did better than Lidl-Trek, Alpecin and most of the other ProTour teams if I’m not mistaken

Following the Rockets feels like rooting for the ‘18-‘19 Lotto-Jumbo / Jumbo Visma team - scrappy underdogs with immaculate vibes (that said Jumbo were always a WT team and didn’t have to grind out promotion points iirc)

I can gleefully hatewatch UAE’s hapless fumbling and still hold compassion for Wellens and that poor domestique in the KBK heli shot getting a right shouting at by the UAE team car all while their leader was at the bottom of a ditch and they had 0 sprinters left at the front like wtf man

a pair of white nimbl Urano gravel shoes with white GripGrab socks because it’s been so warm and dry in Colorado we can pretend it’s summer even while mountain biking in late February (typically the start of mud season)

Specialized Epic 7 29er cross country bike leaning on the steel access gate to the Rocky Flats Arsenal Open Space which is a former nuclear development lab that has been permanently closed due to plutonium contamination, which is what the large yellow sign is banging on about the Front Range, specifically Bear Peak and Coal Creek Canyon are in the background

the alarming looking warning sign on the gate to the Rocky Flats open space. I’m not copying all the text, bless, however the general idea is you’re risking radiation exposure by recreating here… with the understanding that you would get about 10x the amount from a transcontinental flight as from riding or hiking here, just, like, don’t dig holes or drink the water.

the general vibe from today’s ride. Meme: it’s the old tumblr meme of fox standing in a blizzard with a caption that reads: “it fucken WIMDY”

proof and some more photos including the local lore on this particular trail system and a meme because yeah

(also I got to bond with a random other rider over how pro white shoes and socks look on the trail despite what a pain in the ass they are to keep clean)

a ruby red Specialized Epic 7 leaned against a fence panel adjacent to a semi broken gate on the High Plains singletrack in Superior, Colorado. The Flatirons are in the background with snow capped Rollins pass in the far back. A large wave cloud obscures the sun with a slice of blue sky between it and the mountain storm front. not pictured: a metric shitload of wind (35-40kph with higher gusts)

Update: it was 40km+ actually and I brought some fantastic snacks! my husband found blueberry fig bars and I had a little snack bag of goldbear Haribo. Plus I actually drank enough (mainly because it was omg windy!)

I’m about to leave on a 30km mtb ride because we basically haven’t had a winter this year so I’m making the best of this 18C weather and not thinking about the upcoming fire season or water rationing

yup and I’ve definitely seen as or more boneheaded decisions at amateur level masters racing here in colorado.

it’s why I would not touch masters coaching ever

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happy 18th birthday to a local legend: Blucifer the unhinged 10 meter tall blue horse sculpture that welcomes travelers to the Denver airport.

our demonic DIA mascot is now old enough to vote and buy lottery tickets.

www.instagram.com/p/DUn_UvakTQ...

gtfo with this nonsense it’s as cringe as changing stadium names to brown nose the latest moneybags sponsorship

that podium celebration was a whole vibe. Imagine some fairly random upstart handing their medal to eg Pog or MvdP and then doing a backflip off the podium. the expressions on the norwegians faces were priceless

sigh, everything’s been shit since Zeeman left

throwing shade at AJ August for winning a flat sprint against classics riders with 10 years more experience and 15 kg more muscle only after it was obvious Ben Turner wouldn’t catch is why I claim most cycling fans have got the brainworms

or they hate americans which, yea fair just say that

disclaimer I adore Thibau and have done since he was a squirming blob in his father’s arms on the World’s podium but he has demonstrated the greatest example of “junior brained decision making” since Pogi’s frontal lobe finally developed

best to make a poor choice early as opposed to eg thibau nys not taking a bike change when it started raining

I have managed enough U19/U23 riders to recognize Delano Heeren showed a lot of maturity to not let it break his focus as we’ve seen happen often for Thibau, cf his lokkeren tantrums

I forced my husband to watch the youth races and afterwards he was like “yeah you’re right they’re as entertaining as the elites” Heeren rode a very mature race to stay in touch and capitalize on errors by his competitors. Also he’s a first year U19 so even more impressive!

the Dutch team absolutely woke up and chose violence for Hulst WC CX weekend and that’s all I have to say about that

for TdG specifically he’s talked at length about his back trouble and says he “knows what he should do to fix it but doesn’t enjoy that” almost word for word 23yo MvdP’s attitude. and okay I get it I loathe gym work as well but just look how much Mathieu improved with a more mature philosophy

yes Niels stretches his back frequently and said he’s had some back pain that’s limited his power in the past. Tibor explicitly said that his back was giving him a lot of pain today and that was the “limiting factor” for keeping that gap, that is a direct quote from the post race interview

that’s the thing though, you’re not wrong however when he has clean racing room he seems to find a remarkable turn of speed.

apropos of not much I sincerely wish both TdG and NVdP would get Mathieu’s back pain solution worked into their program because come on guys it’s not worth racing in pain

I think comparing the Alpecin guys to the others in the field can make them seem passive or lazy except they’re so smooth, skilled and just elegant riders who corner on rails, ride where others run and close or open gaps effortlessly, that it can make others look a bit “flaily” in contrast

agreed, that’s been my main concern with Niels as well is that he’s always been a bit passive and today’s interview he frames it as not being as explosive as either TdG or Nys but he’s also shown little interest in defending himself in corners against eg the sauce boys in the past so 🤷‍♀️

let’s face it, florian lipowitz would look good in a burlap sack

fucking superdomestiques and their martyr syndromes. Yo Seppie you remember how this put you in a recovery hole that took you a solid two years to dig out of?!

I loves me some Uno-X!

(already a huge fan of Abrahamsen and stoked they picked up Torsten Træen)

a man in a green sweater is standing in front of a television with the words im in written on his chest . Alt: I’m in meme

🙋‍♀️

different fields admittedly yes but I think the Dutch men’s field was pretty solid this year

I mean… Toon Aerts was 9th so

Thibau Nys you chaotic little flop gremlin, you make this sport so entertaining