Author Archives: Marv

About Marv

A avid but amateur cyclist who regularly commutes to work, rides for exercise and completes the occasional long distance event. I also write a very poor blog marvmadethis.com about the joys of work/life/cycling balance with his long suffering wife and 2 little angels under the age of 5.

God damn it…where did the last 3 weeks go????

Dear Roulers,

The last 3 weeks have been a blur with my work life intruding into my quality time on on the bike and blog.  I can say that I have passed the 4,000 Km mark in goal to ride 5,000 Km this year.  However, I have been remiss in my coverage of the La Vuelta , all the interesting personnel movements between the UCI men’s teams and the World Championships in Richmond USA. In the order of most recent events first, means I should really say something about this guy….Michael Matthews.

2015-UCI-WC-Podium-1

Bugger…. second to Peter Sagan is an amazing effort, particularly when the rest of your team is riding for someone else.  Who was it…oh yeah… Simon Gerrans who finished 6th.

There doesn’t appear to be much love between these two and you have to wonder whether Michael Matthews might move on from Orica-GreenEdge at the end of his contract. Robbie McEwan seems to have hit the nail pretty much on the head, I  refer to Exhibit A your Honour – Robbie McEwen thinks a rift could form between Michael Matthews and Simon Gerrans by David Polkinghorne.  I hope that doesn’t eventuate, its kind of cool to see a mainly Australian team going round in the UCI.

Speaking of Orica-Greenedge and La Vuelta, how good is this guy going to be, Esteban Chaves, 5th in the La Vuelta with a couple of stage wins, is seriously good going.  How good is he going to be with a few more seasons experience.

2015-LaVuelta-Esteban-Chaves-1

So on to team movements…Is there going to be anybody left at Astana by the end of the year.  If the rumours are true that Team Sky have snared Mikel Landa and Michal Kwiatkowski, which adds some serious firepower to their team.  I can say is Richie who…..??

So I’m not sure when the next blog entry will be, as I’m on holidays in Europe for 4 weeks.  I have serious trips planned to some of the better bike shops in London and Madrid.

So until next time, ride well and stay safe.

Marv

 

Richmonditis, La Vuelta coverage and the flying bike

 

Dear Rouleurs,

I’m suffering from a severe case of Richmonditis.  Its symptoms include bouts of Tourette’s syndrome like swearing, depression, and a desperate need to curl up in the foetal position on the floor, spontaneous crying and occasional abdominal pain.  It strikes epidemic like levels in Melbourne in the first few weeks of September each year. Its symptoms subside in early October.  It is followed by amnesia and irrational optimism in the months leading up to March of the following year.  Unfortunately once contracted its incurable. Those of you, that are fellow Richmond supporters, will know exactly what I mean.

Also, my current disposition is not helped by being unable to follow the La Vuelta on SBS this year.  Thirty minutes on a few sequential Saturdays is hardly sufficient.  Yes there is that wonderful thing called the Internet…but still.  It is almost enough for me to sign up for Foxtel cable tv. I’ve deliberately avoided doing this in the past for fear of further exceeding the maximum level of “pearshaped”-ness that my 45 year body is allowed to have. I digress.

Oh that's going to hurt Matthew......

Oh that’s going to hurt Matthew……

So the main reason for this particular blog entry was the spectacular crash captured in today’s Sun Herald on page 3. See above.  Dear God, I hope this kid Matthew Rice is ok.  What a horrible crash.  It’s a minor miracle that no-one else was injured. Likewise,  a big “hope you’re ok” to the rider who had a heart attack at Amy’s Grand Fondo.

It’s amazing photo by Stephen Harman and unfortunately I can’t include a link to the online equivalent.  Hopefully this newspaper’s or photographer’s lawyers are too litigious 😉

Until next time,

Marv

Woo woo, here comes the Sky Train…

Dear Rouleurs,

In lieu of a proper blog about the shenanigans at 2015 edition of La Vuelta, for example various members of the Tinkoff-Saxo squad, most notably Peter Sagan, being struck by motorcycles and Chris Froome breaking his ankle, I thought I would provide another infographic.  Its been liberated from the rather wonderful RCUK’s Infographic Guide to Cycling .  I’ve provided the link to Amazon as shameless plug, hopefully, to ward off legal action for a blatant breach of copyright.

Woo...woo...here comes the Skytrain...

Woo…woo…here comes the Skytrain…

Here at marvmadethis.com, we’ve long identified that infographics are the preferred communication media of the attention/literacy challenged Gen Y.  For those of us not in that underachieving demographic, infographics occasionally capture something useful or entertaining.

The illustration above  does both, showing how Team Sky propel their GC rider, Chris Froome, along in a mountain stage. By keeping the tempo high, they attempt to prevent attacks from less well supported climbers, for example Alberto Contador.

I’m not sure which one of these was meant to Richie Porte 😉

Until next time

Marv

Oh Vincenzo what were you thinking….???

Dear Roulers,

There should be a former Tour de France, La Veulta and Giro winner, smacking his forehead and saying ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid’ or in the Sicilian dialect ‘Stunatu, stunatu, stunatu, stunatu’. Mr Nibali and Mr Shefer of Team Astana – what were you thinking? You both have been thrown out of La Vuelta 2015 for a flagrant ‘sticky bottle’ work with your team car.

This weeks loser - Vincenzo Nibali

Loser – Vincenzo Nibali

And yes, MMT had a recent blog on this very issue. And yes the author cheerfully pointed out that hanging on to a motor bike or car is just plain cheating. You can read the full story here – at SBS Cycling –  Nibali thrown out of Vuelta a Espana.   Looks like the French and the Spanish have decided to give their respective countrymen a better chance at the overall GC title by disqualifying Nibali 😉

Speaking of people that should be kicking themselves, WTF was going on with Stage 1 of the 2015 version of Vuelta. Compacted sand and rubber matting on a TT course that was barely 2 metres wide for its 7km length?? What were the race organisers thinking?? I think Chris Froome’s twitter photos give you a pretty good idea why the Peloton were so unhappy. Notwithstanding, BMC Racing won the event with Orica GreenEdge finishing third.

Loser - Stage 1 La Vuelta TT course

Loser – Stage 1 La Vuelta TT course

Finally, a big ‘Chapeau’ to BMC Racing’s resident Aussie Rohan Dennis who has just won USA Pro Challenge. He finished 40 seconds ahead of his American team-mate Brent Bookwalter.

Winner - BMC's Rohan Dennis

Winner – BMC’s Rohan Dennis

There you have it two winners and 2 losers in the wonderful world of UCI.

Until next time,

Marv