The 2016 VVish List
We made it to the new year! Bicycles have not been outlawed so things are looking up. Yet, the state of Cycling could always be much better and here are a few hopes.
Women’s Cycling- If anyone is racing on passion alone it’s women cyclists. God knows they are not doing it for the money as they don’t get any. Professional cyclists need to unite to get more of a share and women need to be there for the wrangling. The Women’s Cycling Association (WCA) is a great beginning. In Europe, another association, Strongher, is here to raise women’s cycling profile. I don’t know enough about women’s racing but I do know they are racing their asses off. They get little press, little money, little respect but anyone who watched the Women’s Worlds in Richmond knows how hardcore the racing is.
Men’s Cycling- The men are making good salaries, the prize money is impressive but the basic professional structure is teetering over a giant pot hole. Teams need more financial stability which will promote longevity and more sponsors. Can’t Gianni Bugno use his abundant Italian charm and good looks to fix all this, FFS? Frankly I’ll never have an informed opinion about this so I just hope someone gets it together. I’m calling for a strike damn it! See, I just said I no informed opinion.
Professional men’s cycling, like most professional sports where money is the driving force, is always going to be imperfect. And by imperfect I mean cheating by degrees will always be there and professional riders have always been negotiating the results while rolling down the road. There is no reason to think any of this will ever change so take your professional cycling with a small glass of skepticism.
UCI’s Technical Changes- It is likely the UCI will lower the weight limit for racing bikes in 2016. There maybe a trickle down effect for us civilians but I hope I can just lose some weight on me in 2016. It would be cheaper.
The disc brake experiments this year will be interesting. A soaking wet Amstel Gold or Roubaix would be a good litmus test. We all know soaking wet carbon rim brakes suck something awful; it’s the only time I fantasize about the discs. And speaking of soaking wet Roubaix, is that not on everyone’s list this year? This has to happen. And a snowy L-B-L while we are praying for miracles. Baby Jesus, make it so.
Velominati Goals- In 2016 I think we all hope for the time and health to train so as to crush our enemies and to hear the lamentation of the women (second part is optional). Getting older is no excuse when Rule #5 is on our crest, so Vive La Vie Velominatus, people. And yes, maybe finalize the V-crest this year too.
Okay, this is weird: at the top it says there are 50 posts in here yet I’m posting directly below post #32 from @RobSandy and I can’t see any of the latest posts shown in the sidebar. Tried on IE, Firefox and Chrome, cleaned my cache and cookies out and it’s still the same.
WTF?? Now it says this is post #19
@Oli
yeah there was a similar issue with the rules thread, @Frank managed to smooth that one out, but maybe it’s a little more widespread.
What the hell do we pay that guy for?
Everyone please stop pointing this out; I’m trying to sort out the bug. Thanks though…
@frank
Looks fixedish to me now…which means carte blanche for pointing it out again if you see it happening? Or PM me…
@Oli
Well if it’s factual accuracy, we’re probably getting fair value for how much we contribute…
@frank
Dude, I’m not psychic. When I pointed it out I wasn’t aware anyone else had. How are we supposed to know you’re on the case if nothing has been said?
@Mikael Liddy
True dat
@Oli
Now that the website seems to be working properly I’m going to apologise unreservedly for daring to spell Mr Kelly’s name wrong. Please don’t tell him. I’m sorry Sean…
@Barracuda
This may assist in your decision making – https://shop.strava.com/products/limited-edition-giro-synthe-mips-1
@Mikael Liddy
Not to mention the cheapest Ive seen also. Well spotted sir !
@Barracuda
careful, that may be US dollars…you could be in for a nasty shock come conversion time.
@Mikael Liddy
Yes, correct, $270 USD is like $68,000 AUD. Ill keep looking. Got my eye on the Synthe in black with red highlights to match kit and bike.
Giro offers their SYNTHE™ MIPS directly for 270 USD.