Anatomy of a Photo: Thor Personifies The V

Luca Bettini photo

What more do you need to know that this picture doesn’t already say?

Marko

Marko lives and rides in the upper midwest of the States, Minnesota specifically. "Cycling territory" and "the midwest" don't usually end up in the same sentence unless the conversation turns to the roots of LeMond, Hampsten, Heiden and Ochowitz. While the pavé and bergs of Flanders are his preferred places to ride, you can usually find him harvesting gravel along forest and farm roads. He owes a lot to Cycling and his greatest contribution to cycling may forever be coining the term Rainbow Turd.

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  • @mcsqueak
    I'm with you on the water. I ride with guys that are good with two bottles for 4 or 5 hours and no food. It fascinates me. I just don't understand. I consume 225-300 calories/hour + 20-30oz of water/hour to keep going strong.

    @Jeff in PetroMetro
    Hammer is cool. No evil in their products. And clearly no Clenbuterol, else I'd have lost that extra kg I'm battling.

  • @Jeff in PetroMetro
    From a work related perspective, I think there are very legitimate grounds to be exceptionally afraid of plastic bottles"”this isn't a marketing ploy. That said, I do have a couple of plastic 500ml Cannondale bidons stuck on the bike. For anything less than 100k, one bottle will suffice, along with a power bar.

  • For anything less than 100k, one bottle will suffice, along with a power bar.

    Really, I can't make it 30k without finishing at least one bottle. My last 100k ride I carried two bottles, and refilled them during the ride. Do you just regularly take yourself into deep dehydration in order to harden up?

  • Steampunk :
    @Jeff in PetroMetroFrom a work related perspective, I think there are very legitimate grounds to be exceptionally afraid of plastic bottles"”this isn't a marketing ploy. That said, I do have a couple of plastic 500ml Cannondale bidons stuck on the bike. For anything less than 100k, one bottle will suffice, along with a power bar.

    Wow! I seem to always have a 750 ml bidon per 60-90 minutes of riding, and will take three on my longer rides. And I still feel dehydrated. I cannot imagine what I will do when I get to Texas this summer!

  • @razmaspaz
    Yeah, I usually take 2 big bottles with me, unless it's below about 12 C, when I often will just take one on a typical 45-60 kms ride. If it's over 24 C I'll need to refill somewhere. I generate a lot of heat and sweat like a pig if it's warm, and when I get back from the ride, I want to go straight to a cold beer, not a bunch of water.

  • It took 9 bidons to get up Haleakala. I drink 1-2 per 30-40K if i can. I'll regulate if i know i cant get more water somewhere, but i almost always can. I carry spare nuuns with me if i plan to refil.

    Small bottle only, though. Big ones are too ugly, but I'll use 'em if i have to. Ugly but alive is, however marginally, better than being dead but pretty. MARGINALLY.

  • @frank
    No. DIE PRETTY. It's too easy to die ugly.

    Comparatively speaking, I did a 3 hour ride today. 30 minutes of it was easy commuting to and from the course. About an hour of it was rolling moderate with a riding mate who is having some horrible procedure done to his bladder in the morning (he's 60 and starting to have "issues"), so he just wanted to roll and chat to get some anxiety out. The rest was near race-pace V. Good, consistent sufferfest with a few intervals to really turn up the pain.

    I use a V-meter, but I estimate I rode 80-85km.

    It's 22c today. I took one small bidon of water and a Cliff Bar (chocolate chip, AWESOME). I ate the bar with an hour to go. I didn't quite finish the bidon.

    Now, in fairness, I am a skinny fucker. I am 179cm tall, and I weigh 63.5kg. I can dissipate heat. (It's the cold that I have to contend with.)

    But it's not about survival. And it's only kind of about performance. However, it's always about looking PRO.

    Just remember, DIE PRETTY.

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