Well, this is the closest I'll ever get to participating in an Olympics event:
(https://japan-train-blog.infogogo.com/static/misc/olympic-stadium-2021-07-17_01.jpg)
Was doing a tour round Tokyo by bicycle (80km in 32 deg heat :thumbsup: ) and decided to pop by to take a gander at the entry checkpoint, which is cleverly designed to funnel the peoples of the world together in close contact :confused2: .
Anyway it's not even Friday and already Team Covid has a score of 58 :worried: .
No fans though, are there? So only a handful of people will probably ever go through there. The whole thing is pretty farcical.
Ironically, Australia has sent it's biggest team ever
Errr.... with the Queensland Premier in Tokyo, errr... Brisbane has secured the 2032 Olympics. ::)
Actually, I think it's great if I live to see it... I'll be bloody 80!! :uneasy:
Quote from: Bealman on July 20, 2021, 07:24:30 AM
Ironically, Australia has sent it's biggest team ever
Looks like one of them may be given his marching
powder orders (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/21/australian-olympic-showjumper-suspended-after-testing-positive-for-cocaine).
In other news, Team Covid has increased its score to 75, up from 58 on Monday. The eloped Ugandan team member has been detained and is heading to the airport. Traffic chaos in Tokyo due to the introduction of special "Olympics-only" lanes on major roads. Also Tokyo Is Insanely Deploying an Army of Half-Vaxxed Staffers to the Olympics (https://www.thedailybeast.com/tokyo-is-insanely-deploying-an-army-of-half-vaccinated-staffers-to-the-olympics). And today's cases in Tokyo are up 50% from a week ago.
:jawdropping:
Yeah, I had one eye on the telly tonight while I was making dinner and saw the cocaine guy. :thumbsdown:
Quote from: Bealman on July 21, 2021, 12:11:28 PM
Yeah, I had one eye on the telly tonight while I was making dinner
Was it next to the aerial? :-X
Well today's opening ceremony is probably the most disappointing moment of 2021 so far. I'm sorry but one silk kimono, a tambourine and two sparklers doesn't cut it these days. Danny Boyle must be laughing his head off
I'm still watching it, as I like to see the athletes come out. The Olympics have punctuated my life, so I just stuck with tradition.
To be fair, this is a different situation, and I think the ceremony was not at all bad given the circumstances.
The three dimensional globe made up from drones above the stadium was certainly impressive!
Just remember that the Torch ceremony ( and it's passage from Greece to the Olympics) was invented by Leni Riefenstahl & Goebbels for the the 1936 Berlin olympics!)
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160810-how-leni-riefenstahl-shaped-the-way-we-see-the-olympics (https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160810-how-leni-riefenstahl-shaped-the-way-we-see-the-olympics)
Yes, that was mentioned last night, and....?
Hope you're watching the cycling, @Newportnobby (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264) Mick! They're close to Mount Fuji as I type this.
Quote from: Bealman on July 21, 2021, 10:19:02 AM
Errr.... with the Queensland Premier in Tokyo, errr... Brisbane has secured the 2032 Olympics. ::)
Actually, I think it's great if I live to see it... I'll be bloody 80!! :uneasy:
It'll be my round the world retirement holiday, like my mum and I's visit to the Sydney Olympics in 2000, assuming international travel returns back to nomal by then!
Quote from: Bealman on July 24, 2021, 06:08:42 AM
Hope you're watching the cycling, @Newportnobby (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264) Mick! They're close to Mount Fuji as I type this.
@Bealman (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=255) I've been up since 03.30 local time to watch an awesome race in pretty grim conditions (33 degC and 80% humidity). I'll not say much more as many won't have seen it. It was, however, interrupted by some rather poor rowing by the British means and ladies 8s
Do we have an etiquette on results discussion? Personally I say it's up for discussion as soon as it's happened. Don't come onto an Olympic thread if you don't want to know results of things that have ended. Otherwise when is it ok to discuss? Given the global nature of the audience...
Yeah, well here's a result.... the Aussie ladies football team (The Matildas) just went down 4-2 to Sweden :(
No waltzing for them tonight, then :no:
Quote from: Newportnobby on July 24, 2021, 09:55:17 AM
Quote from: Bealman on July 24, 2021, 06:08:42 AM
Hope you're watching the cycling, @Newportnobby (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264) Mick! They're close to Mount Fuji as I type this.
@Bealman (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=255) I've been up since 03.30 local time to watch an awesome race in pretty grim conditions (33 degC and 80% humidity).
I hope they took lots of beverages with them. I pootled out for about 100km or so on the Squidcycle today and consumed about 6 or 7 litres, most of which I can only assume evaporated from the skin. At least it was partially cloudy, which made it a lot more bearable.
By mild coincidence I only found out this morning that my usual route partially overlapped with the start section of the Olympic one, so fortunately I was able to avoid the area completely otherwise you might have seen me, hah.
Quote from: Newportnobby on July 24, 2021, 09:55:17 AM
It was, however, interrupted by some rather poor rowing by the British means and ladies 8s
I imagine this would have been a bit of a surprise for the poor cyclists.
Quote from: railsquid on July 24, 2021, 11:59:02 AM
Quote from: Newportnobby on July 24, 2021, 09:55:17 AM
Quote from: Bealman on July 24, 2021, 06:08:42 AM
Hope you're watching the cycling, @Newportnobby (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264) Mick! They're close to Mount Fuji as I type this.
@Bealman (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=255) I've been up since 03.30 local time to watch an awesome race in pretty grim conditions (33 degC and 80% humidity).
I hope they took lots of beverages with them. I pootled out for about 100km or so on the Squidcycle today and consumed about 6 or 7 litres, most of which I can only assume evaporated from the skin. At least it was partially cloudy, which made it a lot more bearable.
By mild coincidence I only found out this morning that my usual route partially overlapped with the start section of the Olympic one, so fortunately I was able to avoid the area completely otherwise you might have seen me, hah.
Quote from: Newportnobby on July 24, 2021, 09:55:17 AM
It was, however, interrupted by some rather poor rowing by the British means and ladies 8s
I imagine this would have been a bit of a surprise for the poor cyclists.
They were rowing in what had evaporated from your skin, Squiddy ;)
The cycle race was well provisioned regarding drinks from both motorbikes and stewards at roadsides
How
Quote from: railsquid on July 24, 2021, 11:59:02 AM
I hope they took lots of beverages with them. I pootled out for about 100km or so on the Squidcycle today and consumed about 6 or 7 litres, most of which I can only assume evaporated from the skin. At least it was partially cloudy, which made it a lot more bearable.
That's 12+ bottles, how the hell did you manage that?!
Quote from: njee20 on July 24, 2021, 12:41:19 PM
How Quote from: railsquid on July 24, 2021, 11:59:02 AM
I hope they took lots of beverages with them. I pootled out for about 100km or so on the Squidcycle today and consumed about 6 or 7 litres, most of which I can only assume evaporated from the skin. At least it was partially cloudy, which made it a lot more bearable.
That's 12+ bottles, how the hell did you manage that?!
Fairly straightforward process:
- open bottle top
- open mouth, tip head backwards
- place bottle to mouth, imbibe
Repeat as often as necessary to avoid heat stroke. :thumbsup:
In other news, Typhoon Number 8 has been declared and is helpfully heading straight to the Tokyo area, scheduled to arrive around Tuesday.
(https://japan-train-blog.infogogo.com/static/misc/typhoon-2021-08.jpg)
Quote from: Newportnobby on July 24, 2021, 09:55:17 AM
I've been up since 03.30 local time to watch an awesome race in pretty grim conditions (33 degC and 80% humidity).
Is the new conservatory that good Mick? :)
Quote from: railsquid on July 24, 2021, 01:11:40 PM
Fairly straightforward process:
- open bottle top
- open mouth, tip head backwards
- place bottle to mouth, imbibe
Repeat as often as necessary to avoid heat stroke. :thumbsup:
::) Alright then... how are you carrying 7 litres of water?! That would surely necessitate 5-6 stops to refill. Unless you're using a monster hydration pack, which itself sounds hideous!
Typhoon hit mountain biking then potentially. Given the somewhat treacherous course it could be a very interesting race. Strong medal prospect for GB in Tom Pidcock.
Quote from: njee20 on July 24, 2021, 01:28:32 PM
Quote from: railsquid on July 24, 2021, 01:11:40 PM
Fairly straightforward process:
- open bottle top
- open mouth, tip head backwards
- place bottle to mouth, imbibe
Repeat as often as necessary to avoid heat stroke. :thumbsup:
::) Alright then... how are you carrying 7 litres of water?! That would surely necessitate 5-6 stops to refill. Unless you're using a monster hydration pack, which itself sounds hideous!
I started off with a 2L refillable bottle and a 0.5 litre insulated flask, and because this is Japan you are never far from a vending machine, here conveniently situated not far from the crest of the highest pass I wheezed up:
(https://japan-train-blog.infogogo.com/static/misc/oume-2021-07-24_vending-machines.jpg)
Very cool. Here you'd have to hope your bike didn't get nicked while you dashed into a petrol station :D
Quote from: njee20 on July 24, 2021, 02:04:59 PM
Very cool. Here you'd have to hope your bike didn't get nicked while you dashed into a petrol station :D
Probably unheard of in Japan as they have respect for each other.
Just checked the schedule and it's really cycling week next week (although womens road race tomorrow) with time trials and BMX races.
First week August all the track cycling races which is a must see for me :)
Track and field athletics (inc. marathon) :claphappy: 30th July-8th August
https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/olympic-schedule.htm
Just wondering if look-at-me-everyone Meghan Rapinoe has an opinion on why the women's road race is 100km shorter than the men's, but the medals are the same size? I'm sure she's got an opinion, she's got one for everything else.
Who's Meghan Rapinoe?
Megan, sorry, not Meghan.
Alright then, who's Megan Rapinoe? ???
Still in the dark about Megan, I just thought I'd show people who didn't see it or weren't interested, what the drone thing at the opening ceremony looked like. Mrs B took these couple of pics of BealTV on Friday night.
I don't know how many were drones were involved (although they did say), but it's a lot. Certainly impressed me!
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/112/255-250721092446-1120191070.jpeg)
After it moved into a globe - there's Australia!
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/112/255-250721092507-1120341076.jpeg)
I thought it was an amazing display.
Equally amazing, watching coverage this afternoon, now that surfing is included as an Olympic sport, I discovered Japan actually has surfable waves!
Quote from: Bealman on July 25, 2021, 09:40:50 AM
I don't know how many were drones were involved (although they did say), but it's a lot. Certainly impressed me!
I think I saw a figure around 1400. Actually missed that, was dealing with recalcitrant bedtime Squidlet.
Quote from: Bealman on July 25, 2021, 09:40:50 AM
Equally amazing, watching coverage this afternoon, now that surfing is included as an Olympic sport, I discovered Japan actually has surfable waves!
Yup, the Pacific coast seems very surfable, even if the waves get a little high sometimes (thinks back 10 years or so).
Quote from: Newportnobby on July 24, 2021, 05:35:42 PM
Quote from: njee20 on July 24, 2021, 02:04:59 PM
Very cool. Here you'd have to hope your bike didn't get nicked while you dashed into a petrol station :D
Probably unheard of in Japan as they have respect for each other.
Relatively speaking, yeah, though bicycle theft is enough of a risk I lock mine up when popping inside a shop etc. just in case. We actually had one stolen from our drive, best guess is probably someone stumbling home drunk from the station who thought it would be a wheeze to borrow a bicycle. (Happily it was a decrepit bicycle we were on the verge of disposing of, saved us a bit of money :D ). Statistically I suspect one is more likely to have a bicycle impounded by the roving bicycle parking enforcement teams - believe it or not, bicycle parking is a perennial social and political issue here...
I woke early this morning to watch the womens cycle road race and sat through nearly an hour of some :poop: called skateboarding before the Beeb informed me the race was on the Red Button rather than BBC1 :doh:
That race was the most bizarre I have ever watched. A breakaway went right from km1 but none of the 'super' racers seemed to be bothered. It then got to the stage where I think the peloton had forgotten the breakaway existed. Then it dawned on them, but by then the Austrian lass had a 5 minute lead with just 20km to go. The gold medal was hers. 'Chapeau' to her as she is not contracted to a team and is the first Austrian to win a cycling medal since 1896! And that one was a bloke in a 12hr race which doesn't exist any more.
Quote from: railsquid on July 25, 2021, 10:33:16 AM
believe it or not, bicycle parking is a perennial social and political issue here...
Not entirely unreasonable - we had similar issues when London introduced bike-hire schemes with bikes you could leave anywhere.
I confess I never carry a lock with me, but I try and avoid having to go into shops etc, having a short attention span I rarely ride for more than about 3 hours!
Quote from: Bealman on July 25, 2021, 09:40:50 AM
Still in the dark about Megan,
Megan Rapinoe is the former captain of the US football (soccer) team IIRC, including taking them to victory in Rio(?), sounds like she's a pundit in the US.
The amount of cringeworthy moments in Olympic commentary is always epic, with commentators or pundits taking on sports they know nothing about. On the road race our pundit was talking about the bronze medal going to Poj-a-car, rather than Pog-archer, admittedly a phonetic pronunciation of Pogačar.
That Austrian lass is Anna Kiesenhofer :claphappy:
Woohoo, thankfully her bike wasn't nicked or impounded.
Gold medals for Austria are a rare thing in the summer games, so this was a huge surprise for everyone here. :thumbsup:
And, it were 1,824 drones. I imagine 1,824 guys with their remote controls with one colliding with his neighbour's drone, and the whole Australia tumbling and falling. ;D
:laughabovepost:
Wouldn't that be a mess!
However I tend to think that there would be software running in some computer somewhere controlling that lot. ;)
Quote from: railsquid on July 25, 2021, 10:28:47 AM
Yup, the Pacific coast seems very surfable, even if the waves get a little high sometimes (thinks back 10 years or so).
Eeek yeah.... the tsunami :(
Bizarre about the road race; do they have team radio in the Olympics? It's possible they genuinely had forgotten/didn't know someone was up the road, or at least assumed she'd fade and come back to the bunch.
Shame for Van Vleuten, having lost out on Gold in Rio in horrendous circumstances, but amazing for Austria and Keisenhoffer.
Quote from: njee20 on July 25, 2021, 11:32:01 AM
Bizarre about the road race; do they have team radio in the Olympics?
That would be a 'No'
All those pesky motorbikes and yet not one giving out any info to competitors :no: ::)
Pretty interesting. I'll confess to having had to ask other riders in road races whether there's a break on many occasions - particularly when one goes early you don't necessarily count/see/know who's in it. Another peculiarity of the Olympic event versus the world tour I guess!
On the road race our pundit was talking about the bronze medal going to Poj-a-car, rather than Pog-archer, admittedly a phonetic pronunciation of Pogačar.
[/quote]
To be pedantic, the č diacritic is a "ch" sound (e.g Slobadan Milosovič )
Phil Liggett is not much better, always pronouncing Jens Voigt as "Voyt" rather than "Folkt"
That's what I'm saying. She was calling him poj-a-car, it should be a "ch" sound.
Quote from: njee20 on July 25, 2021, 11:32:01 AM
but amazing for Austria and Keisenhoffer.
I'll be watching the highlights later. I understand she isn't signed to a team, if she does get signed, you can bet your life the peleton will never let her get in a breakaway ever again.
I'd never heard of her (but don't follow women's cycling, I could name the 10 perennial performers and few others!) - she retired in 2017 apparently, and then came back a year later, but yes, hasn't had a pro contract since. It sounds like they simply didn't know she was up the road, rather than they had underestimated her. Van Vleuten obviously thought she'd won, and Lizzie Deignan thought so too!
BBC (in UK) has been the pre-eminent provider of TV coverage of the Olympics, highlighting the 2012 and 2016 games.
However, if you only have Freeview, your choices are limited, particularly if watching live action and if your favourite sport(s) aren't covered by what the BBC provides
"During the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, the BBC was able to offer dozens of free livestreams of different sports ...
This is no longer possible, however, after Olympics organisers decided to sell the European television rights for the games to the US company Discovery in a £920m deal. Discovery has in turn put the vast majority of the coverage behind a paywall, accessible only through their Eurosport channels or on the new £6.99-a-month streaming service Discovery+ ...
as part of this sub-licensing arrangement, the BBC can show a maximum of two live events at one time, through one television channel and a second feed provided through the red button service and online"
From the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jul/25/bbc-olympics-coverage-misses-events-after-selling-tv-rights (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jul/25/bbc-olympics-coverage-misses-events-after-selling-tv-rights)
That makes sense, I was wondering why the footage seemed pretty poor. Not sure I fancy my chances of finding the mountain biking tomorrow morning!
On the road race cycling subject, it's quite clear that a one-day "national team" event is in no way comparable with a grand tour stage race such as the TdF or the Giro as far as tactics are concerned.
There is absolutely no incentive for collaboration in the peleton or in a chase group to reel in a breakway when you're all racing for yourselves. Both the men's and the women's races featured a solo, grind-it-out effort in the last many kms - Carapaz and McNulty in the men's race, and Kiesenhofer in the women's while all the chasers were looking at each other and playing cat-and-mouse over the last 500m for the silver and bronze. It looked more like a track pursuit than a road race.
Add to the fact that very few countries can actually furnish a full team complement (even the UK only had four, the USA only two in the men's event) and the likelihood of watching an Enios or UAE-like team effort is zero.
The Dutch women's team had all four of their members leading the peleton and still couldn't get it together to put a concerted effort together to bring back the leaders. It took them about 20 minutes to catch Juliette Labous and she was only 20 seconds ahead of the entire peleton in the last 20 kms.
Add to the fact that there's no race radio from the team directors to the riders communicating splits and times, and you get the thrill of pure racing.
Chapeau to Ecuador and Austria. Delighted for both riders.
It was also great to see TV aerial coverage of the countryside outside Tokyo to give us non-Japanese some context of what the country looks like outside the major cities. From a US perspective, very sorry that Phil Liggett wasn't part of the NBC commentary team as he is during the TdF, but Bob Rolle and Steve Porino did an excellent job. From a different perspective, I watched the streamed replay of the finish that NBC had on their catch-up service and there were two completely different commentators, both Australian, and both quite terrible.
For you UK folks, I know it's a b*gg*r that the BBC can't have free-to-air coverage because of the Discovery deal, but maybe consider shelling out £6.99 for a trial month of Discovery+ and cancel after the Games. Mrs. Project Manager and I do this for ESPN+ and CBS Sports every year so we can watch the FA Cup and the Champions League soccer. Once the finals are done, we cancel until the competition kicks off again (or gets interesting) the next season. This season we even got a three-month-free incentive to "tempt us back" to ESPN+. Thank you very much!
Just my 2¢
Oh, and @Bealman (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=255) - George - Megan Rapinoe is a current member of the US Women's National Team for soccer. She has a soapboxing opinion about everything and anything, has loudly sued for equal pay for women soccer players in the US, sold the rights to her wedding to a tabloid magazine (who cares!) and is complicit in the sporting "bullying" of lesser countries. She was grandstanding right up to the finish of a quite embarrassing 13-0 victory over Thailand in the World Cup which set many, many people against the US women's team.
Now don't get me wrong, I will argue to the end for gender equality and opportunity, but sport is a commercial enterprise, and men's soccer tends to get more eyeballs, advertising dollars and paid admissions than the women's game, it's just a fact of life as we currently stand.
My quibble was that the women's road race was run over a course 100 kms shorter than the men's equivalent, and I would be interested to hear her views on why that is so. The women don't sprint 60m rather than 100m on the track, they don't run a 15-mile marathon, so why chop off three climbs and 70 miles in a cycling road race?
They do play two fewer sets in tennis for the same prize money though, so I suppose there's a precedent set there.
Thanks, Steve. :beers:
Currently one eye on this and the other on the swimming! ;D
The more I think about the cycling road race, the stranger it seems.
So countries can send a "team" of cyclists, up to five per country, but the winning rider is awarded the gold, and the rest of the "team", unless individually winning silver or bronze, get nowt?
No wonder no-one in the peleton has the slightest interest in helping anyone else out. You might as well call it a mass-start individual time-trial and have done with it.
Are there any other "team" sports in the Olympics where it's winner take all and the devil take the hindmost? The guy or girl who scores the winning goal in the Cup Final gets a gold, and the rest of the team are told to go and get in the bath? The other team captain gets the silver and the winner of the third-place game has a "most popular player" vote for the bronze?
It's quite bizarre, this Olympic thing.
Yeah, it is a bit strange. Just watched mens relay in the swimming. The whole team get medals.
The typhoon's predicted path has shifted northwards slightly, so the windy bit will probably only skim the Tokyo area (and it doesn't seemt to be a particularly strong one):
(https://japan-train-blog.infogogo.com/static/misc/typhoon-2021-08_02.jpg)
However with these things, the wind is usually less of an issue than the massive amount of rain they push in front of them, which will affect a much wider area, with all the attendant fun that brings (floods, bits of steep landscape attempting to become less steep, and other fun stuff like masses of sea spray being blown over electrical infrastructure).
Ah well, at least there's a roof on the swimming, but they're in the water anyway :)
Quote from: LASteve on July 26, 2021, 04:29:53 AM
The more I think about the cycling road race, the stranger it seems.
So countries can send a "team" of cyclists, up to five per country, but the winning rider is awarded the gold, and the rest of the "team", unless individually winning silver or bronze, get nowt?
No wonder no-one in the peleton has the slightest interest in helping anyone else out. You might as well call it a mass-start individual time-trial and have done with it.
Are there any other "team" sports in the Olympics where it's winner take all and the devil take the hindmost? The guy or girl who scores the winning goal in the Cup Final gets a gold, and the rest of the team are told to go and get in the bath? The other team captain gets the silver and the winner of the third-place game has a "most popular player" vote for the bronze?
It's quite bizarre, this Olympic thing.
Perhaps some of the long distance running events where runners will sometimes shelter/pace another runner going for a medal.
At the end of the day it's an individual event and I'd say it's more of a case of allowing team working rather than the race being a 'team' event like some of the track events.
Every sport can have multiple entrants from each country but the nature of the road race just makes it more obvious as there are no heats to thin the pack. Working as a team is quite beneficial in cycling so it's natural it would happen if you have a outstanding rider representing your nation and you knew you had little chance of winning despite making it that far. Not only that but the history of cycling has probably also played a part too as professional teams were often drawn from the same nations (even now look at Movistar or B&B Hotels) and those team allegiances perhaps carried over to the Olympics.
Now if you had two outstanding riders from the same country and they both had a chance of winning then all bets are off so in that sense it's no longer a team event.
It's not that much different to the World Cycling Championship road race, with teams drawn along national lines, that can/do work together but only individual rewards.
Interesting point though.
Quote from: LASteve on July 26, 2021, 02:55:34 AM
On the road race cycling subject, it's quite clear that a one-day "national team" event is in no way comparable with a grand tour stage race such as the TdF or the Giro as far as tactics are concerned.
There is absolutely no incentive for collaboration in the peleton or in a chase group to reel in a breakway when you're all racing for yourselves. Both the men's and the women's races featured a solo, grind-it-out effort in the last many kms - Carapaz and McNulty in the men's race, and Kiesenhofer in the women's while all the chasers were looking at each other and playing cat-and-mouse over the last 500m for the silver and bronze. It looked more like a track pursuit than a road race.
Add to the fact that very few countries can actually furnish a full team complement (even the UK only had four, the USA only two in the men's event) and the likelihood of watching an Enios or UAE-like team effort is zero.
The Dutch women's team had all four of their members leading the peleton and still couldn't get it together to put a concerted effort together to bring back the leaders. It took them about 20 minutes to catch Juliette Labous and she was only 20 seconds ahead of the entire peleton in the last 20 kms.
Add to the fact that there's no race radio from the team directors to the riders communicating splits and times, and you get the thrill of pure racing.
...
My quibble was that the women's road race was run over a course 100 kms shorter than the men's equivalent, and I would be interested to hear her views on why that is so. The women don't sprint 60m rather than 100m on the track, they don't run a 15-mile marathon, so why chop off three climbs and 70 miles in a cycling road race?
They do play two fewer sets in tennis for the same prize money though, so I suppose there's a precedent set there.
I think the lack of race radio or proper updates was more pivotal. They simply didn't know Keisenhofer was up the road. Van Vleuten was sure she was going for the win, as did others in the field. In terms of the motivation to chase down breakaways the collective motivation of the favourites should prevail. But yes, any of the events where people ride for their country will always be a bit weird - as NScaleNotes says you still get allegiences between trade team riders, and you lack the sort of firepower for 'leadouts' or anything because the team sizes are much smaller, tend to cover a wider range of disciplines and they simply don't have the experience to perform.
On the distance - it's always been the case, in virtually all cycling events I can think of, that women's races are shorter, from amateur to world tour. The mountain biking and TT are be the same (in the TT the women do 1 lap of 22km versus 2 for the men - so a big difference), and this is the first Olympics that the BMX tracks have been the same for both genders. The throwing sports are different - the shotput and hammer are lighter (7.26kg for the men and 4kg for the women) and the javelins are shorter. Tennis, as you identify. Away from the (summer) Olympics skiing is similar; the downhill courses aren't the same with men's courses being tougher. Sure there are others.
I just assume there are both team sports and individual sports in the Olympics. A bit pointless having 'teams' in an event where only the first 3 get medals. Lizzie Deignan was really the only hopeful in the GB team but each of the 4 Netherlands riders could have won if they'g got their act together. In comparison, the track cycling awards medals to each member of the team apart from, obviously, individual races.
It is an interesting observation though - I don't think there are any other sports which 'require' (in the loosest sense) a team contribution but only award individual performance. All the team sports, relays etc all award everyone. I don't think any other sports involve certain competitors throwing away their chance of victory to help another succeed, with no actual reward.
That said... Carapaz was the sole Ecuadorian entrant, I imagine Kiesenhofer was the only Austrian. Alexander Vinokourov was one of two Kazakhs in London men's race, ok Rio was won by a Belgian and a Dutch, who I imagine both fielded a full team, but still, you can clearly prevail without a team.
I like the road / public area based events - gives a chance to see the paraphernalia we normally just see on Kato Diotown or Tomytec bus system roads. In the women's triathlon this evening some nice views of metro trains and two lorries passing in the background carrying respectively Maersk and Evergreen containers 'at the other end of their journey'. Made me wonder if I've ever seen either of those exact containers on the A1M or WCML...
Quote from: njee20 on July 26, 2021, 01:34:24 PM
That said... Carapaz was the sole Ecuadorian entrant, I imagine Kiesenhofer was the only Austrian.
Funny you say that, Kiesenhofer was the only Austrian in the women's race, but there was another Ecuadorian in the men's. The NBC commentators kept saying that Carapaz was the sole representative from his country, even when the cameras at the back of the peleton were showing another Ecuadorian, Jhonatan Narvaez who finished the race tied with Richie Porte, so clearly no slouch.
The typhoon decided to head north up the coast away from the Tokyo are; dunno if any there are events up north which would be affected, but here it's merely a little windy with occasional showers.
Didn't they shift the marathon oop north in Sapporo to avoid the heat? Grand idea from my perspective, plenty of beer to hydrate the runners.
Hi Steve, sorry our Aussie Arianne Titmus took the gold from the American girl in the 400m freestyle yesterday.... not :D ;)
Don't worry, George. If Stacey Kerr and the Australian women's soccer team (sorry, I can't call them the "Matildas") come up against the grandstanding Rapinoe and crew, I know who I'm rooting for. My loyalties lie in sporting behavior. I think this picture of Ledecky and Titmus after the race nicely illustrates what I mean:
(https://ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2021/07/GTY-1330631492.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1)
Great pic, Steve. :thumbsup:
I don't think the Matildas is as bad as the Hockeyroos, though! ;D
I think the "Socceroos" started it. They should be punished. Transportation is too good for 'em! (oh, wait)
Wouldn't ave 'appened at 'ome. Guvment wud ave done summat.
Strangely enough, after my initial transportation, when I went back to the UK to bury me old man in 1990, I had a great of difficulty getting out and back to Aus!
However, that's another story. :offtopicsign:
I finally watch the highlights of the women's cycling roadrace, and couldn't help criticise the commentators (with the benefit of hindsight) for saying she had no chance, and it was a mistake going so early etc etc. How wrong they were, so much for (so called) expert analysis :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing:
Areet! Now wee snecked me tabs? Wor George has a tale to tellus, like. Ah need a smerk forst.
Quote from: TrevL on July 27, 2021, 07:18:21 AM
How wrong they were, so much for (so called) expert analysis :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing:
It's always fun to see the "experts" eat their words. My wife and I were calling out the commentators on the men's race (the rerun - two Australians, not the live feed) when they were awarding the gold/silver to Carapaz and McNulty with 20 k's to go. Carapaz, bless him, did get the gold, but I've no idea where McNulty finished. Nowhere close to the podium.
Willful ignorance on the women's race. We both knew something was odd at about 30k out when no-one seemed bothered about the Austrian. My wife said that they must have forgotten about her. We both laughed, but holy moley it was true. The commentators couldn't wrap their heads around that one.
Quote from: LASteve on July 27, 2021, 03:40:27 AM
Quote from: njee20 on July 26, 2021, 01:34:24 PM
That said... Carapaz was the sole Ecuadorian entrant, I imagine Kiesenhofer was the only Austrian.
Funny you say that, Kiesenhofer was the only Austrian in the women's race, but there was another Ecuadorian in the men's. The NBC commentators kept saying that Carapaz was the sole representative from his country, even when the cameras at the back of the peleton were showing another Ecuadorian, Jhonatan Narvaez who finished the race tied with Richie Porte, so clearly no slouch.
I take it back then, but you know what I mean - he was hardly a strong lead out man for Carapaz!
It's interesting how much flak there's been from a number of the riders, talking about making a mockery of the sport (to paraphrase). I do get why - you get to show women's cycling on the global stage, and there are some crazy amateur mistakes like that!
Huge crash for pre-race favourite Mathieu van der Poel (yes - the one who was in the TdF yellow jersey a few weeks ago) in the mountain biking yesterday. He's blaming it on their having removed a ramp from a rock drop which he didn't know about. Incredible to see GB get gold, given we only just got a spot. Great skills to avoid ploughing into VdP about 2 seconds after this too!
(https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UNxDzMSc4HXoE3Kgg9YFZW-1280-80.jpeg.webp)
In other news, Team Covid has had an impressive few days, breaking through the Sunday and Monday records for Tokyo, and today achieved a record high for any day with almost 3,000 new infections. Records have tumbled in other prefectures too. This is probably not directly connected to the Olympics, and is more likely due to spread of the "Delta" variant...
Eeek. And I thought we were doing badly with 179 in Sydney today. :thumbsdown:
Quote from: njee20 on July 27, 2021, 09:18:29 AM
Quote from: LASteve on July 27, 2021, 03:40:27 AM
Quote from: njee20 on July 26, 2021, 01:34:24 PM
That said... Carapaz was the sole Ecuadorian entrant, I imagine Kiesenhofer was the only Austrian.
It's interesting how much flak there's been from a number of the riders, talking about making a mockery of the sport (to paraphrase). I do get why - you get to show women's cycling on the global stage, and there are some crazy amateur mistakes like that!
Really... sigh, they can be angry at themselves for not doing more but it doesn't make a mockery of the sport. This is what used to happen when we didn't have radios and we actually got some surprises and drama and you know non-precessional events; I know not everyone agrees but I think it'd be good to dump the radios.
Someone took a chance, slogged their guts out to stay out front and won the race. You could say they got lucky, yes perhaps, but what's wrong with that, they still worked extremely hard to get there and win, so suck it up other riders and stop complaining, you should have paid more attention to what was going on.
I do get it. It made them look pretty stupid. The fact even the commentators couldn't get their head around it. Van Vleuten celebrating the win, other riders congratulating her, only for it to turn out she hadn't won at all.
I think if it had just been "oh no, they've left the chase too late" it would have been different, and as you say that would have been exciting, everyone likes a plucky underdog. The fact is the Olympics is basically the sole global showcase of women's cycling (ignoring the fact that's disappointing in itself), and they were made to look like amateurs. That isn't to detract from Kiesenhofer's result.
Quote from: TrevL on July 27, 2021, 07:18:21 AM
I finally watch the highlights of the women's cycling roadrace, and couldn't help criticise the commentators (with the benefit of hindsight) for saying she had no chance, and it was a mistake going so early etc etc. How wrong they were, so much for (so called) expert analysis :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing:
To be fair to the commentators, Trev, no one would have suspected the peloton could make such a dire error (medications are available for it) in not chasing her down and forgetting she was away in the distance. Under 'normal' circumstances she would have been dismissed as going too early but she made fools of everyone. What a ride!
Interesting. Apparently, Vos knew there was still a rider out front, I'm sure others did too: "There were still three riders ahead and we caught two, so I knew there was one more ahead," Saw that on MSN: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/news/5-conclusions-from-the-womens-road-race-at-the-olympics/ar-AAMzImj (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/news/5-conclusions-from-the-womens-road-race-at-the-olympics/ar-AAMzImj).
Maybe all is not well inside the Dutch team :confused1:
Quote from: njee20 on July 27, 2021, 09:18:29 AM
Huge crash for pre-race favourite Mathieu van der Poel (yes - the one who was in the TdF yellow jersey a few weeks ago) in the mountain biking yesterday. He's blaming it on their having removed a ramp from a rock drop ...
Another Dutch playing the blame game! It's always someone else's fault - why can't they just admit they goofed? VdP's rear wheel clipped the rock because he didn't jump far enough. No-one else mentioned a mysterious missing ramp.
Slightly unfair I think. He pumped into the drop, expecting there to be the ramp. He didn't clip the rock, he was riding off it! Separate point of why he didn't know it wouldn't be there. Both his team mates and coach said they didn't know why he'd have thought that. I didn't particularly read it as blaming someone else, merely explaining why it happened.
Interesting that the ramp was left in for the women, and nearly caused Jolanda Neff to crash, as she rode off it!
Fair enough. I was just going from what they said on the commentary on NBC. Good to know.
Nah, he definitely 'squashes' it, if the ramp had been there he'd have been fine. Perhaps shouldn't have been gallivanting around France; Pidcock had been in Tokyo for 2 weeks, VdP arrived on Saturday!
At least they let him in. One poor USA beach volleyball player tested positive for COVID when he arrived in Tokyo - they stuck him straight into quarantine in a hotel and they won't let him leave to go home again until he's served his ten days.
Talking of beach volleyball, I see some female team got fined for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms. Pop star Pink is going to pay their fines for them.
Maybe they'd better start playing in overalls. >:(
Quite right too. Wearing shorts is diminishing the attraction of the sport and should be stamped out. Says he with impunity, with two daughters and a wife who are never likely to read this thread.
Really though, the Finns and all the other ladies in the sport should be able to wear what makes them comfortable.
Webbo
It is insane that in the same week we had a Paralympic handball athlete told her shorts are too short, and the beach volleyball team told theirs are too long. Given that, in neither case, did it have any impact on performance they really should just let them be athletes and stop the absurdity.
@Webbo (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=4229) I was going to say something similar, but unfortunately my wife and three daughters have been known to stick their heads on here to see what I'm up to 8)
Quote from: njee20 on July 28, 2021, 09:37:37 AM
It is insane that in the same week we had a Paralympic handball athlete told her shorts are too short, and the beach volleyball team told theirs are too long. Given that, in neither case, did it have any impact on performance they really should just let them be athletes and stop the absurdity.
Well said, that man. Make him head honcho of the I.O.C. :)
Womens soccer/football:
Australia 4 Great Britain 3
UK missed a penalty and a couple of lucky goals for the Matildas. We'll take it!
Some awesome performances being put in by Team GB across (to mention just a few) swimming, triathlon, windsurfing, BMX and so forth, but there's a limit to how many re-runs I want to see and there are too many commentators who seem to think 'Olympics' begins with an 'A' ::)
I'm really looking forward to the track cycling next week as (a) it is usually thrilling to watch and (b) often results in a medalfest for GB.
It's interesting that there's been a bit of a 'changing of the guard' in our dominant sports. We're only projected two medals on the track, both bronze. Compare that to previous Olympics where we've been the ones to beat. Likewise rowing - first time since 1980 we've not got a single gold.
Quote from: njee20 on July 28, 2021, 09:37:37 AM
It is insane that in the same week we had a Paralympic handball athlete told her shorts are too short, and the beach volleyball team told theirs are too long. Given that, in neither case, did it have any impact on performance they really should just let them be athletes and stop the absurdity.
It would be much simpler if they just standardise the length of shorts across all Olympic sports. Something like this perhaps............
(https://imgix.bustle.com/rehost/2016/9/13/6922e9d1-ae13-497f-ac61-ec947e5305b1.JPG?w=800&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
EDIT: I should add that that's not me at one of our parties. Although in 2 weeks time, who knows.................
I like your new outfit.
Quote from: Trainfish on July 31, 2021, 12:36:41 PM
EDIT: I should add that that's not me at one of our parties. Although in 2 weeks time, who knows.................
Quote from: railsquid on July 31, 2021, 01:01:04 PM
I like your new outfit.
Just you wait, 14 days and counting .....................
Quote from: Trainfish on July 31, 2021, 01:36:08 PM
Quote from: Trainfish on July 31, 2021, 12:36:41 PM
EDIT: I should add that that's not me at one of our parties. Although in 2 weeks time, who knows.................
Quote from: railsquid on July 31, 2021, 01:01:04 PM
I like your new outfit.
Just you wait, 14 days and counting .....................
Thought I'd get the congratulations in early.
Meanwhile in Japanese domestic sporting news, Team Covid's crack Delta Squad is taking a spirited run up the steepening slope of an exponential curve, smashing daily records by substantial margins and causing so much excitement a "State of Emergency" is being declared in the prefectures surrounding Tokyo as well, and there are even murmurings about cancelling the Paralympics.
Mindbleach!
Sorry, @LASteve (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=6889) , just pipped you in the womens medley swimming relay... commiserations.... :-X
:thumbsup:
Just watched the men's BMX freestyle.
What these guys do on their bikes is absolutely incredible. :claphappy:
Nice to have the Olympics on at proper time here in Oz. :)
Webbo
Yep, it sure is good to have the games on at a decent hour.
And the first BMX Olympic gold goes to.... Australia! :headbang:
Great to see those little sailboats bobbing around in BLUE water.... I believe the location is just off Hiroshima, but might be wrong there.
Bobbing about??? The ones I've been watching are whipping along on hydrofoils. I hadn't realised that dinghy sailing had advanced so far.
Webbo
You must be watching a different channel. On 7 it's little one-man dinghy things. The Aussie bloke just got the gold, regardless. :thumbsup:
Another great gold medal day for Australia it seems 4 that I know of so far. BMX, 2 in ladies swimming, + the laser dinghy race. :claphappy:
Yeah, best day we've ever had, according to the telly. :thumbsup:
Quote from: Bealman on August 01, 2021, 05:05:31 AM
Yep, it sure is good to have the games on at a decent hour.
And the first BMX Olympic gold goes to.... Australia! :headbang:
First BMX Freestyle gold. The first BMX gold (of this games) went to the Netherlands, and BMX racing has been in for a good while, since Beijing?
Ah, this covid lockdown we're experiencing here has stuffed the satellite up ;)
I think Australia are doing really well, especially when you take into account the population level. Everyone else in the top eight have a far far greater pool of people to get a team from.
Quote from: Webbo on August 01, 2021, 07:40:51 AMthe laser dinghy race. :claphappy:
??? :goggleeyes: what, do they like zap each other with weaponised light rays? :goggleeyes: :goggleeyes: :goggleeyes:
Was weird enough catching a glimpse of the fencing chappies who seem to have some Star Wars-esque helmetry with colourful lights.
I look forward to Olympic 2025 Tiddlywinks.
Quote from: railsquid on August 01, 2021, 01:30:05 PM
Quote from: Webbo on August 01, 2021, 07:40:51 AMthe laser dinghy race. :claphappy:
??? :goggleeyes: what, do they like zap each other with weaponised light rays? :goggleeyes: :goggleeyes: :goggleeyes:
Was weird enough catching a glimpse of the fencing chappies who seem to have some Star Wars-esque helmetry with colourful lights.
The Laser is a small class of dinghy. One man (whoops! person) and a single sail.
Quote from: Railwaygun on August 01, 2021, 05:20:32 PM
I look forward to Olympic 2025 Tiddlywinks.
You'll have a job, given it's not even an Olympic year ::)
I've just looked at what they are proposing to introduce at Paris in 3 years; 'breaking' (ie break dancing), surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing. Surely the last 3 are new for Tokyo ???
Quote from: njee20 on August 01, 2021, 09:52:41 PM
Quote from: Railwaygun on August 01, 2021, 05:20:32 PM
I look forward to Olympic 2025 Tiddlywinks.
You'll have a job, given it's not even an Olympic year ::)
I've just looked at what they are proposing to introduce at Paris in 3 years; 'breaking' (ie break dancing), surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing. Surely the last 3 are new for Tokyo ???
Believe they maybe test events at Tokyo with them being official events from Paris.
Interesting! With 2 events for each gender in skateboarding it's hard to imagine them doing much more in Paris!
I hope the newly-minted Slovakian and new silver medal winner Rory Sabbatini spent any acceptance speech seconds he was granted apologising to his fellow competitors for the screeching, cheerleading antics of his caddie-wife.
Token caddies are fine, but let's keep them to the Par-3 tournament at Augusta where Jack's grandkids, Tiger's kids and others can play caddie for a day.
Lee Westwood's wife is a full-time caddie for him, and you never see her screeching, screaming and smooching him during a tournament. They go about their professional business as player-caddie, a lesson to be learned by Sabbatini and his banshee bag-carrier.
Rant over!
Watched the cycling qually this morning and was shocked to see one poor Aussie face plant the track when his 3D printed composite handlebars snapped at speed! :o
It must have scared the bejaysus out of him! At first I thought he'd touched the rear wheel of the chap in front.
Quote from: Webbo on August 01, 2021, 09:47:25 PM
The Laser is a small class of dinghy. One man (whoops! person) and a single sail.
At least you're getting some of the sailing to see. Here in the land of NBC, there was NO sailing broadcast. We got skateboarding, archery, surfing, you name it, but no sailing.
And after all the to-do about no political demonstrations allowed by Olympic rules, there were the GB rugby teams "taking a knee" in the name of racial injustice. Somewhat ironic when the Fijians won the men's gold with not a white guy in sight...
Jon
Quote from: Webbo on August 01, 2021, 09:47:25 PM
Quote from: railsquid on August 01, 2021, 01:30:05 PM
Quote from: Webbo on August 01, 2021, 07:40:51 AMthe laser dinghy race. :claphappy:
??? :goggleeyes: what, do they like zap each other with weaponised light rays? :goggleeyes: :goggleeyes: :goggleeyes:
Was weird enough catching a glimpse of the fencing chappies who seem to have some Star Wars-esque helmetry with colourful lights.
The Laser is a small class of dinghy. One man (whoops! person) and a single sail.
Ah, now you describe it, I'm pretty sure my father had one in the 1980s, which I had completely forgotten about until now :-[. (Before that he had a "mirror dinghy", never could work out why it was called that because it had absolutely no reflective surfaces, though I suppose if it did, they would be very helpful in any conflict with laser dinghies.
Staying on the subject of resolved Olympic mysteries, I have just found out that team "ROC" and their pseudo-flag is actually "Russian Olympic Committee", not "Republic of China" aka Taiwan, which had me confused as their physiques are not of a sort usually associated with Taiwan (aka TPE / "Chinese Taipei").
Quote from: railsquid on August 03, 2021, 04:08:06 AM
Before that he had a "mirror dinghy", never could work out why it was called that because it had absolutely no reflective surfaces, though I suppose if it did, they would be very helpful in any conflict with laser dinghies.
The Mirror Dinghy was a plywood design for home-building. I remember seeing diagrams of how to stitch together the hull components with epoxy and wire-ties. It was about an 8' boat with a pram bow and a mainsail on a mast that looked like it was a broom handle. I think the plans, such as they were, were published by the Daily Mirror back in the day.
I'd just finished reading "Swallows and Amazons" as a youngster and thought I'd have a better chance at getting my old Dad to build a Mirror dinghy than a clinker-built sailboat with a centreboard.
Neither came to pass, but I still remember the instructions to twist the wires together to hold the hull steady while the epoxy set.
Sheesh, I'm getting old.
Quote from: railsquid on August 03, 2021, 04:08:06 AM
Staying on the subject of resolved Olympic mysteries, I have just found out that team "ROC" and their pseudo-flag is actually "Russian Olympic Committee", not "Republic of China" aka Taiwan, which had me confused as their physiques are not of a sort usually associated with Taiwan (aka TPE / "Chinese Taipei").
Yes, Russia were banned from international competition for 4 years (later reduced to 2) for their systemic, state-endorsed doping programs. Russian athletes not implicated are allowed to compete as 'neutrals' under the ROC banner. There's no Russian flag, no team Russia, no national anthem. However their uniforms scream which country they're from, and they have a bigger delegation than at Rio. It makes an absolute mockery of any sort of ban.
There's also the EOR, which is the team for refugees, introduced in Rio. They had an entrant originally from Afghanistan in the ladies time trial, who averaged 18mph, significantly below even a mediocre club cyclist. Still, I applaud the sentiment!
Woke at 04.30 this morning so turned on the telly and watched Team GB's Sky Brown gain a bronze medal in the skateboarding at the tender age of 13. 13!!
Why wasn't she up a chimney somewhere? :confused2: :D
And there were some younger than she was!
At least they didn't have mobile phones in their hands whilst competing and there seemed to be great camaraderie between them all.
Track cycling is the usual medalfest although many countries have advanced more than Team GB it seems to me. The new style bike used in the men's pursuit has to be available to the public as from Jan 1st 2021 so if you have a spare £27000 and are prepared to wait you too can have one.
(It will probably still be quicker to arrive than a Farish/Dapol release, mind) :-X
Quote from: njee20 on August 03, 2021, 08:16:57 AM
Yes, Russia were banned from international competition for 4 years (later reduced to 2) for their systemic, state-endorsed doping programs. Russian athletes not implicated are allowed to compete as 'neutrals' under the ROC banner. There's no Russian flag, no team Russia, no national anthem. However their uniforms scream which country they're from, and they have a bigger delegation than at Rio. It makes an absolute mockery of any sort of ban.
Indeed - they shouldn't be allowed to enter at all while their country is banned.
Still, at least little old UK is ahead of them in the table at present :smiley-laughing:
Quote from: Newportnobby on August 04, 2021, 11:47:54 AM
Woke at 04.30 this morning so turned on the telly and watched Team GB's Sky Brown gain a bronze medal in the skateboarding at the tender age of 13. 13!!
She did well, although she was better in her heat round - although even her best score then wouldn't have taken her above bronze. She could probably have done better in the final if she hadn't fallen in her first two runs so couldn't take any risks in the third - well, no more than she was doing anyway with some of those jumps.
When I was her age I had enough trouble staying on one of those things on the flat, let alone trying any acrobatics.
When I was her age skateboards didn't even exist. We either had roller skates or a soapbox (embarrassingly I can't remember the English word for the latter :-[)
Quote from: Newportnobby on August 04, 2021, 12:32:06 PM
When I was her age skateboards didn't even exist. We either had roller skates or a soapbox (embarrassingly I can't remember the English word for the latter :-[)
In Hull, we called them bogeys, usually made from an old ironing board, and the wheels off a silver cross pram. :)
Quote from: TrevL on August 04, 2021, 12:50:55 PM
Quote from: Newportnobby on August 04, 2021, 12:32:06 PM
When I was her age skateboards didn't even exist. We either had roller skates or a soapbox (embarrassingly I can't remember the English word for the latter :-[)
In Hull, we called them bogeys,
In Southampton we called them go-carts.
Quoteusually made from an old ironing board, and the wheels off a silver cross pram. :)
There's posh, we had to make do with three planks to sit on the pram wheels :D
Quote from: joe cassidy on August 04, 2021, 01:11:23 PM
Quote from: Newportnobby on August 04, 2021, 11:47:54 AM
Woke at 04.30 this morning
the Newport Nobby blues?
Nightmares about model railway wiring :goggleeyes:
Waking up is a Brucie Bonus, anyway.
Quote from: Newportnobby on August 04, 2021, 12:32:06 PM
When I was her age skateboards didn't even exist. We either had roller skates or a soapbox (embarrassingly I can't remember the English word for the latter :-[)
When I was a kid, we called them billy carts. Yes, three planks of wood, a wooden box, pram wheels, a piece of rope for steering, and a wooden stick for a brake. Not sure if this is an Australian or a Canadian term as I was a boy in both countries.
Webbo
Quote from: Webbo on August 04, 2021, 09:38:44 PM
When I was a kid, we called them billy carts. Yes, three planks of wood, a wooden box, pram wheels, a piece of rope for steering, and a wooden stick for a brake. Not sure if this is an Australian or a Canadian term as I was a boy in both countries.
Webbo
One of the funniest things I ever read was in the first volume of Clive James' autobiography where he describes a bunch of kids in Sydney lashing their carts together into a train and descending a hill in his neighborhood. I'll try and find it.
"Billycart Hill", excerpt from Clive James' Biography "Unreliable Memoirs"
"For example, I could not build billycarts very well. Other children, most of them admittedly older than I, but some of them infuriatingly not, constructed billycarts of advanced design, with skeletal hard-wood frames and steel-jacketed ball-race wheels that screamed on the concrete footpaths like a diving Stuka. The best I could manage was a sawn-off fruit box mounted on a fence-paling spine frame, with drearily silent rubber wheels taken off an old pram. In such a creation I could go at a reasonable clip down our street and twice as fast down Sunbeam Avenue, which was much steeper at the top. But even going down Sunbeam my billycart was no great thrill compared with the ball-race models, which having a ground-clearance of about half an inch and being almost frictionless were able to attain tremendous velocities at low profile, so that to the onlooker their riders seemed to be travelling downhill sitting magically just above the ground, while to the riders themselves the sense of speed was breathtaking.
After school and at weekends boys came from all over the district to race on the Sunbeam Avenue footpaths. There would be twenty or thirty carts, two-thirds of them with ball-races. The noise was indescribable. It sounded like the Battle of Britain going on in somebody's bathroom. There would be about half an hour's racing before the police came. Residents often took the law into their own hands, hosing the grim-faced riders as they went shrieking by. Sunbeam Avenue ran parallel to Margaret Street but it started higher and lasted longer. Carts racing down the footpath on the far side had a straight run of about a quarter of a mile all the way to the park. Emitting Shockwaves of sound, the ball-race carts would attain such speeds that it was impossible for the rider to get off. All he could do was to crash reasonably gently when he got to the end. Carts racing down the footpath on the near side could go only half as far, although very nearly as fast, before being faced with a right-angle turn into Irene Street. Here a pram-wheeled cart like mine could demonstrate its sole advantage. The traction of the rubber tyres made it possible to negotiate the corner in some style. I developed a histrionic lean-over of the body and slide of the back wheels which got me around the corner unscathed, leaving black smoking trails of burnt rubber. Mastery of this trick saved me from being relegated to the ranks of the little kids, than which there was no worse fate. I had come to depend on being thought of as a big kid. Luckily only the outstanding ball-race drivers could match my fancy turn into Irene Street. Others slid straight on with a yelp of metal and a shower of sparks, braining themselves on the asphalt road. One driver scalped himself under a bread van.
The Irene Street corner was made doubly perilous by Mrs Branthwaite's poppies. Mrs Branthwaite inhabited the house on the corner. She was a known witch whom we often persecuted after dark by throwing gravel on her roof. It was widely believed she poisoned cats. Certainly she was a great ringer-up of the police. In retrospect I can see that she could hardly be blamed for this, but her behaviour seemed at the time like irrational hatred of children. She was a renowned gardener. Her front yard was like the cover of a seed catalogue. Extending her empire, she had flower beds even on her two front strips, one on the Sunbeam Avenue side and the other on the Irene Street side – i.e., on both outside edges of the famous corner. The flower beds held the area's best collection of poppies. She had been known to phone the police if even one of these was illicitly picked.
At the time I am talking about, Mrs Branthwaite's poppies were all in bloom. It was essential to make the turn without hurting a single hair of a poppy's head, otherwise the old lady would probably drop the telephone and come out shooting. Usually, when the poppies were in bloom, nobody dared make the turn. I did – not out of courage, but because in my ponderous cart there was no real danger of going wrong. The daredevil leanings-over and the dramatic skids were just icing on the cake.
I should have left it at that, but got ambitious. One Saturday afternoon when there was a particularly large turnout, I got sick of watching the ball-race carts howling to glory down the far side. I organized the slower carts like my own into a train. Every cart except mine was deprived of its front axle and loosely bolted to the cart in front. The whole assembly was about a dozen carts long, with a big box cart at the back. This back cart I dubbed the chuck wagon, using terminology I had picked up from the Hopalong Cassidy serial at the pictures. I was the only one alone on his cart. Behind me there were two or even three to every cart until you got to the chuck wagon, which was crammed full of little kids, some of them so small that they were holding toy koalas and sucking dummies.
From its very first run down the far side, my super-cart was a triumph. Even the adults who had been hosing us called their families out to marvel as we went steaming by. On the super-cart's next run there was still more to admire, since even the top-flight ball-race riders had demanded to have their vehicles built into it, thereby heightening its tone, swelling its passenger list and multiplying its already impressive output of decibels. Once again I should have left well alone. The thing was already famous. It had everything but a dining car. Why did I ever suggest that we should transfer it to the near side and try the Irene Street turn?
With so much inertia the super-cart started slowly, but it accelerated like a piano falling out of a window. Long before we reached the turn I realized that there had been a serious miscalculation. The miscalculation was all mine, of course. Sir Isaac Newton would have got it right. It was too late to do anything except pray. Leaning into the turn, I skidded my own cart safely around in the usual way. The next few segments followed me, but with each segment describing an arc of slightly larger radius than the one in front. First gradually, then with stunning finality, the monster lashed its enormous tail.
The air was full of flying ball-bearings, bits of wood, big kids, little kids, koalas and dummies. Most disastrously of all, it was also full of poppy petals. Not a bloom escaped the scythe. Those of us who could still run scattered to the winds, dragging our wounded with us. The police spent hours visiting all the parents in the district, warning them that the billycart era was definitely over. It was a police car that took Mrs Branthwaite away. There was no point waiting for the ambulance. She could walk all right. It was just that she couldn't talk. She stared straight ahead, her mouth slightly open."
Retrieved from www.freereadnovel.com (http://www.freereadnovel.com), 2021
Yeah, I watched the skateboarding live yesterday (Tokyo and Sydney being only an hour apart time wise).
I said to Mrs Bealman, "She's only a kid!" Mrs Bealman replied very much in terms of the schoolteacher she is, "Yeah, wonder if she's got any medals at school"
I simply said that she doesn't need em... she'll be pro soon and making a fortune from the likes of Red Bull.
Regarding bogeys, (yeah, we called them that in the NE too), I had the fastest in our neighbourhood. It didn't have sides, I didn't sit on it, I kneeled. That way, I didn't have to get off it to go up hills - I scooted up them. It was my transportation. No brake, either - that was me foot dragging along the ground.
I painted "Tempus Fugit" on it. :uneasy:
I put drawing pins in the rubber wheels, and when other kids asked how my bogey was fast, I'd point to the drawing pins and say, "Magnetic motors"
I was bogey king of the Burnside Estate :uneasy:
Kneeling on it played hell with my shins, though. I still carry those marks today.
Quote from: Bealman on August 05, 2021, 12:40:58 AM
Yeah, I watched the skateboarding live yesterday (Tokyo and Sydney being only an hour apart time wise).
I said to Mrs Bealman, "She's only a kid!" Mrs Bealman replied very much in terms of the schoolteacher she is, "Yeah, wonder if she's got any medals at school"
I simply said that she doesn't need em... she'll be pro soon and making a fortune from the likes of Red Bull.
If you mean Sky Brown, she turned professional when she was 10 !!!
She's considering trying for a place in the surfing category at the next Olympics as well as skateboarding.
QuoteHer father, Stu, revealed he dissuaded his daughter from trying to compete in surfing as well as skateboarding in Tokyo, but admits he may be powerless to stop her again.
"It'll be up to her by then. She'll be 16, and it's hard enough now," he joked.
There could be one issue making it challenging for Sky to realise her ambition - the surfing is due to be held in Tahiti, nearly 10,000 miles from the French capital where the skateboarding will take place.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/58084934 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/58084934)
Yes, the 10000 mile diff could put a spanner in the works
Quote from: Bealman on August 05, 2021, 06:50:25 AM
Yes, the 10000 mile diff could put a spanner in the works
Yeah, that is a bit of a long paddle to find the right wave :smiley-laughing:
I do find it amusing that Sky Brown is part of Team GB. She was born in Japan, to a Japanese mother and British father. She's lived her whole life in Japan and the US. She's spent no time in the UK whatsoever, but is eligible to represent GB as she's half-British, she opted to ride for Team GB as apparently our skateboard association is more chilled than the Japanese association. The cynic in me thinks it's probably easier to succeed as well, given Japan appear to have a lot of good skateboarders.
I find it a bit weird that the commentary said something about them (Brown and the 12 year old silver medalist) not being big and strong enough to achieve the biggest tricks. Does that not mean there are better athletes who can?! I've found the skateboarding grossly underwhelming frankly. The failure rate on tricks is really high, and even when they land them it's moderately underwhelming! Contrast with the BMX, which is mental!
At this point, I can say with a high degree of certainty that my days of even attempting that are well and truly over :(
It's been a bit heatwavy the last couple of days (37C+ in the Tokyo area, hitting 40 in some parts of Japan), the good news is it will cool down a bit in the next few days, the bad news is because Tropical Depression of Interest Beta has graduated into Typhoon Number 10, currently on track to arrive in the Tokyo area on Sunday:
(https://japan-train-blog.infogogo.com/static/misc/typhoon-number-10_01.jpg)
Not looking to be a strong one, but early days yet.
Also Team Covid has had another excellent day, smashing through the 5,000 barrier in Tokyo and breaking the record yet again.
That's not good. We've had our worst day in Sydney, too.
My 'soapbox' was my pride and joy. My Mum sent me to the Post Office and I carefully parked it like a car next to the kerb. When I came out I found some :censored: had reversed over it and smashed it to bits along with buckling every wheel :'( :'( :'(
Meanwhile........................
Huge congrats to Matthew Walls on his gold in the men's Omnium - a gruelling schedule of 4 races.
Huge commiserations to Katy Marchant who fell out of the women's Kierin through no fault of her own. I hope she's not too sore.
Quote from: njee20 on August 05, 2021, 08:06:31 AM
I do find it amusing that Sky Brown is part of Team GB. She was born in Japan, to a Japanese mother and British father. She's lived her whole life in Japan and the US. She's spent no time in the UK whatsoever, but is eligible to represent GB as she's half-British, she opted to ride for Team GB as apparently our skateboard association is more chilled than the Japanese association. The cynic in me thinks it's probably easier to succeed as well, given Japan appear to have a lot of good skateboarders.
I find it a bit weird that the commentary said something about them (Brown and the 12 year old silver medalist) not being big and strong enough to achieve the biggest tricks. Does that not mean there are better athletes who can?! I've found the skateboarding grossly underwhelming frankly. The failure rate on tricks is really high, and even when they land them it's moderately underwhelming! Contrast with the BMX, which is mental!
I agree that the skateboarding events are pretty underwhelming especially when compared with the BMX freestyle. Of the sports that are effectively showing off, the BMX freestyle came out tops for me for its scariness, athleticism, and skill followed by the 10m diving. Fabulous!!
Webbo
I don't mind the skateboarding - might be something to do with confiscating skateboards during my teaching career... bit of the culture may have rubbed off on me!
Agree that the high diving has been good. :thumbsup:
Your soapbox story brought tears, Mick - they're running down me legs ;)
Quote from: njee20 on August 05, 2021, 08:06:31 AM
I do find it amusing that Sky Brown is part of Team GB. She was born in Japan, to a Japanese mother and British father. She's lived her whole life in Japan and the US. She's spent no time in the UK whatsoever, but is eligible to represent GB as she's half-British, she opted to ride for Team GB as apparently our skateboard association is more chilled than the Japanese association.
I am amazed by her, quite simply...
...as someone whose father was born in North India
(and fought for King & Country - and Empire...) and whose mother was born in Scotland...
...making me
"the only Englishman in the family..." :o
For my Party Trick, I like to put on a 'fake' (or 'faux') Jamaican accent... :goggleeyes:
...and say
"Me born in Kingston...
...upon Thames..." :worried:
I had always thought that I was exotic... :(
...but clearly, I'm not. :no:
On a slightly more serious point, I have been very impressed with her, when she's been interviewed on BBC TV. She has shown a certain maturity, particularly about how (and why) the games had been postponed.
I was also impressed by her
Bronze winning routine: on the first two attempts she fell off on a critical manoeuvre... :( but succeeded on her third attempt. :thumbsup: She really epitomised the:
"If at first you don't succeed; try, try (try) again...!".
My day job is working in a Secondary school, which has
'Perseverance' as one of its school values. She really does embody that value - particularly how she came back from that horrific fall, while training (they keep showing the clip of how she went careering off during the training routine - but spare us how she landed...
Finally, my thanks to
railsquid, for all the weather forecasts... :D
...it makes me feel like I'm actually there... :worried:
Charles.
(International Man of Mystery?)
Quote from: LeftToMyOwnDevices on August 06, 2021, 12:42:08 AM
Finally, my thanks to railsquid, for all the weather forecasts... :D
...it makes me feel like I'm actually there... :worried:
A relatively cool 33deg in the early afternoon, some sporadic cloud cover building up which may take the edge off the blazing sun later on.
For tomorrow (Saturday), let's take a look at the rainfall forecast for 9pm in the evening:
(https://japan-train-blog.infogogo.com/static/misc/typhoon-10-rain-2021-08-07_01a.jpg)
with the eye of the tyhoon clearly visible and the band of heavy rain (the yellow blobs to the northeast) these things usually push ahead of them just brushing the Tokyo area.
The first Olympic women's Madison proved to be an awesome, bonkers event with a couple of nasty crashes but was won in the most emphatic style I have ever seen by Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny for Team GB. They won 10 of the 12 sprints. I have seen many Madisons over the years and remember a great one with Sir Bradley Wiggins partnered by Mark Cavendish, but Katie and Laura just obliterated everyone else to get gold.
Quote from: Webbo on August 05, 2021, 10:38:56 PM
I agree that the skateboarding events are pretty underwhelming especially when compared with the BMX freestyle. Of the sports that are effectively showing off, the BMX freestyle came out tops for me for its scariness, athleticism, and skill followed by the 10m diving. Fabulous!!
I missed the diving BMXs! ;)
I'm imaginging some sort of combo event, like the biathlon - BMX freestyle and 10m diving.
Great to see the Madison back on the billing, utterly bonkers event. Superb riding by Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny. Tickled me that Achibald looked like she was wearing a pair of £5 reading glasses under her super dooper aero helmet; but I guess if it works!
Stunning gold medal winning performance by Jason Kenny in the mens' kierin, especially as myself and many others had thought his back legs were gone in earlier races.
I was unsurprised his wife, Laura, failed in the omnium. She finished 6th but, after such emphatic riding in other events, the cruel and brutal regime of the omnium (4 events in a 3 hour period) was just too much. I bet they can't wait to get home now.
Quote from: Newportnobby on August 08, 2021, 09:42:02 AM
Stunning gold medal winning performance by Jason Kenny in the mens' kierin, especially as myself and many others had thought his back legs were gone in earlier races.
I was unsurprised his wife, Laura, failed in the omnium. She finished 6th but, after such emphatic riding in other events, the cruel and brutal regime of the omnium (4 events in a 3 hour period) was just too much. I bet they can't wait to get home now.
Don't think it helped she was involved in a big crash in the scratch race, otherwise think she may have at least won a medal.
That's all folks for at least another 3 years. It was great fun!!
And, I look forward to the BMX bikes running off the 10m diving platform being included in the next Olympics.
Webbo
Quote from: Newportnobby on August 08, 2021, 09:42:02 AM
Stunning gold medal winning performance by Jason Kenny in the mens' kierin, especially as myself and many others had thought his back legs were gone in earlier races.
I've never seen a centaur ride a bicycle before :goggleeyes:
Well, just sitting here this evening waiting for the closing ceremony.
Sportwise - and let's face it, that's what the Olympics are about, after all - I think it's been a successful games. The TV coverage here was excellent, and there were some great highlights in many different disciplines. Most entertaining.
Plus, the Aussies did very much alright for themselves. By the way, our swimming darling Emma McKeon doesn't live very far from Chez Bealman :thumbsup: