Ode to Covid-19, the Italian Classics and hand hygiene

Dear Rouleurs,

It seems that professional cycling in Europe and quite possibly the Olympics in Japan are about to take a massive ‘haircut’. Unless you have have been living a cave in the Tarkine wilderness in Tasmania, you would know that a global pandemic is taking place. The so-called coronavirus Covid-19 is cutting a swath through China, Iran, South Korea and weirdly Italy.

Of these, its Italy that MMT is most disheartened by. The classics season was just about to start in Italy and country’s government has hit the ‘panic’ button. It has started implementing drastic measures to slow the spread of the virus. According to cyclingnews.com, it appears almost certain that men’s and women’s Strade Bianche (March 7), Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17), Milan-San Remo (March 8) and the Tour of Sicily (April 1-4), will all be cancelled.

This would be an unmitigated disaster for the races’ organiser, RCS Sport. MMT wonders whether RCS will survive these loss of high profile events this year. Closer to home, Australia’s Mitchelton-Scott team have announced that they were withdrawing from all races until the 22 March. A number of teams are already quarantined in Abu Dhabi UAE after four riders tested positive for the virus.

Here in Melbourne, there have been 6 reported cases and, fortunately to this time, no fatalities. As MMT has cycled and driven about Melbourne it does seem to be significantly quieter than usual. Overall, Australia has been relatively unscathed with 52 confirmed cases and 2 deaths. Quite frankly this is becoming quite grim, lets hope that this virus doesn’t get completely off the chain like Swine flu did in 2009/10.

So with that in mind MMT was delighted to see a little levity about this horrible situation by Will Dyson in today’s Age. Whilst its amusing it has a serious message, that all Melburians need to take to heart.

So until next time, ride safe and exercise good hand hygiene

Marv

Happy Valentine’s Day

Dear Rouleurs

MMT is in the good books with his wife, aka Directeur Sportif of Team MMT. MMT arranged for a dozen long stemmed roses to be delivered at her workplace, so that all her colleagues could admire them. Score several hundred brownie points.

However, MMT saw this picture on a cycling related Facebook group and wondered if one dozen was enough.

MMT has just finished his investigations of what new bike he was planning to bike. Perhaps another a few dozen roses would soften the message.

Until next time, ride safe and Happy Valentine’s Day

MMT

And we are back in 2020…. with Hope HB-T

Dear Rouleurs,

Its been a while since MMT put fingers to keyboard on this blog. So much has happened since December 2019, that MMT doesn’t even know where to start. So MMT is starting with a tangent…track bikes. Yep, those two words have never, ever been been put together in an MMT blog before. To cut a long story short, MMT has been listening to the Cycling Podcast and heard about the radically different track bike that some (MMT will use the quaint English term) boffins at Lotus and Hope Technologies have developed for Team GB.

Its called the HB-T and it looks amazing.

Here’s a whole bunch of photos MMT stole…err…requisitioned off the web.

Its the front on photo that hints at what these wide forks and back stays are for, optimized drag. Effectively the rider’s leg is sitting in line with forks and stays. MMT is guessing that laminar flow across the side of the bike, is vastly reduced.

MMT wonders if this kind of bike might cross over into professional peloton for time trials? If Team GB clean up the gold medals on offer for the indoor track events and thrash competition, that might happen. MMT can’t wait to see this machine in action at the Tokyo Olympics this year.

Hopefully MMT will start churning blogs on a more regular basis in the coming months.

Until next time, ride safe.

MMT

Not a happy camper…Vale Pou Pou

Dear Rouleurs,

I’ve been neglecting this blog to the point of it also being defunct. The combination of juggling work, life, 2 kids and a crappy run with bronchitis and hayfever has reduced MMT’s output on the bike to a trickle in the last few weeks. This has been deeply frustrating hence the title of this blog.

However in the time since MMT’s last blog, besides a very interesting, weather impacted set of results in the World Championships in Yorkshire, only one important albeit sad event occurred. Vale Raymond Poulidor, cyclist and French folk hero, passed away on Nov. 13 in a hospital outside Limoges, France, aged 83.

Poulidor, who became universally known as the “eternal second,” was on the podium as a second- or third-place finisher for eight out of the 14 Tours he entered. Not only did he never win; he also never wore the Tour leader’s yellow jersey for even a single day, a feat achieved by numerous far less accomplished riders.

Anquetil and Poulidor going head to head on the Puy du Dome in the 1964 Tour de France

What some athletes might view as failure, however, only enhanced Poulidor’s status among French cycling fans, who have a soft spot for underdogs. For decades after Poulidor retired at the advanced age (for cyclists) of 41, “Poupoularité” remained strong. He became the unofficial patriarch of the Tour.

MMT’s favourite Poulidor story, was retold recently on the Rapha Cycling Podcast. Poulidor visited Jacques Anquetil, on his death bed back in 1987. Anquetil and Poulidor had bitter rivalry in the early 1960’s and had become good friends after both retired from professional cycling. Anquetil is said to have quipped to Poulidor, something like, ‘It looks like I’ve beaten you in this as well’. Somehow MMT thinks Poulidor wouldn’t have minded too much.

Hopefully MMT will resume proper cycling soon, in the mean time ride safe.

MMT