My wife and I went to spectate Waterloo CX at Trek HQ. We intended to go last year, but missed it because one website provided the wrong start time.

Fortunately, we didn't move too far away (in MKE now) and made the hour-long drive over. Left a tad late, and with parking at a premium (took 15 minutes to find a spot), we completely missed the women's race but caught the men's race. I'd say the atmosphere is a mix between a sporting event and a mini fair of sorts, with a lot of cycling enthusiasts (doesn't hurt that they scheduled a few amateur races in the morning).

I had no idea where some of the teams were parked, but Hongsinger's EF bus was parked pretty close to where the various exhibit tents were, and she was quite friendly, taking time to pose with fans and sign autographs while cooling down. I wish I brought a pen.

We spectated at numerous locations (if you see a dude with a half zipped or unzipped Castelli jacket that looks frayed, that's me), and got to walk around the course. Rang our cowbells at riders and generally had a decent time. It certainly helps that there's very little "down time" so to speak, as a ~7-8 minute lap with a leader-to-straggler spread of ~5 minutes meant that we didn't have to wait long to see people riding by. I can see how this format could be turned into an actual spectator sport, with a nominal gate fee charged (entry was free yesterday).

Overall an enjoyable trip.

Raul Banqueri has posted his (final?) update on the relegation battle. There's a week of racing yet to go, but it's all over. (Probably a sad reflection on me that I've enjoyed following the struggles of the bottom teams in 2022.). Lots of good info if you want to read the article and look over his charts and graphs. (Interesting discussion of the real world political implications if IPT had wanted/needed to race in Malaysia in the Tour de Langkawi that I wasn't aware of.) Bottom line(s).....

- Lotto and IPT will be relegated (but there's an asterisk that he discusses at the bottom of the article).

- Lotto (probably) isn't too unhappy. They'll get automatic wildcard invites to every WorldTour race next year (along with TotalEnergies), but they won't be required to spend money in order to go to races if they don't want to go. Their current riders are not planning to leave the team.

- The IPT riders didn't perform this year, and the future doesn't look good. Assuming the team doesn't simply fold, they'll be lucky to even get an invite to any of the GT races in 2023.

https://lanternerouge.com.au/2022/10/10/lotto-soudal-gives-up-and-will-be-relegated-with-israel-premier-tech-relegation-battle/

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

I think they should use the old Almanzo course for worlds. Pretty much all gravel, long sections to chase after/before climbs, it would be perfect.

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Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

The women's race was the exciting one (I watched streaming). Van Empel is cemented as a new top contender, and it looks like Alvarado is back.

Very "American" course conditions - fast with a lot of dust. :)

Off-season stuff. CN has an article covering the kerfuffle created by British Cycling announcing a partnership with Shell plc. There are some (valid?) complaints about greenwashing. I chuckled reading one of the comments criticizing British Cycling's claim that "the long-term partnership would 'accelerate British Cycling's path to net zero'."


"The idea of Shell helping British Cycling reach net zero is as absurd as beef farmers advising lettuce farmers on how to go vegan," said Greenpeace UK policy director Dr Doug Parr.


https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/so-out-of-touch-it-defies-belief-backlash-as-british-cycling-partners-with-shell/

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

Not entirely true. With some effective greenwashing (like Shell funding an EV car fleet for race support and putting money behind carbon offsets for transcontinental flights, etc), BC could legitimately reach "net zero" with Shell's help.

Greenwashing can still be green. It's just the unpoken ulterior motives may have more significant long-term effects than the near-term net zero goals.

I cynically do wonder if Ineos (a Shell business partner) had any role in this. As possibly overtight integration between BC and Skyneos has been a thing in the past.

Great 'gram from Brussels: https://www.instagram.com/p/CjQPBbtMLFi/ [Volume up ^^]

Is that is fantastic.

Movistar is doubling their budget next year thanks to a new oil sponsor announced yesterday too!

That gives them money to sign Godriguez in 2024....

Well dang if this is the new thing, I'm going to start asking all the local fill-up stations to sponsor my masters team.

Godriguez is C-Rod?

Linky? Other outlets seem to assert (panto voice) 'oh no it's not'!

Yes C-Rod.

C'mon, don't do thing half-arsed. You want to be able to shill for greenwashers and despots at the same time.

Saudi Public Investment Fund, Qatar Sports Investment, or perhaps Sinopec

Gotta think big

/s

Its hard to discern from the Spanish cycling sources. Originally Repsol was reported to be the sponsor and Abarca is partnered with Repsol in an energy endeavor, but not other sources are saying that Repsol will not be the co-sponsor.

I can't keep track. I'm inclined to think its not happening the more I read. It's easy to tell what is true in the Dutch and Belgian press because there are so many reliable sources plugged in to the teams.

With Movistar, its just bad drama all of the time.

1. Help me get 13th in a masters crit.
2. ?
3. Geopolitical domination!

That’s the spirit :)

Although for geopolitical dominance without the fossil fuel, there’s always Palantir, which did actually sponsor amateur racing cyclists (at least in the middle of the last decade). A friend had to point out to me that it was heavily involved with the intelligence community.

Looking back on it now, Rock Racing seems so benign as a sponsor.

What is the story behind that? The only thing in my memory about Rock Racing was a bunch of old guys doping (I think).

Also, Autumn in North America is just ridiculous. I have had brief tastes of it previously, but I was able to experience some of upper New York state these past few days and it is so beautiful it is impossible to exaggerate the explosion of colors. Things are close to midpoint back here at home now.

Rock Racing was full of bad boys and convicted dopers. Its problem was that it was a vanity project, and that it tried a bit too hard and was too edgy, resulting in a lot of scorn directed its way. For the latter, it should have taken a page out of the playbook of Astana or Caisse/ Movistar.

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Good to hear you are enjoying the autumn weather. It’s quite pretty along the Appalachians.

Case in Point: Season THREE of The Least Expected Day is up on Netflix

It was actually posted way back in MARCH --- how did I miss that?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjn_eA8oxeD/

"So Sunday was my last race for @quickstep_alphavinylteam.

It was some journey wasn’t it!

5 years of memories that will last a lifetime, with people that will always be family.

I’m forever grateful to the Wolfpack. Thank you all 💙"

So ... now what? Now where?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

B&B?

The other would be EF perhaps, but with Carapaz coming in for GC and no sprint lead out, that makes winning a Tour stage problematic.

The northeast is pretty ridiculous in terms of fall colors. September and October are pretty much my favorite months of the year.

I’ll bet a Diet Pepsi that he signs with B&B. They will just about be guaranteed a wildcard to the TdF, and that’s important to Cavendish. The team will be happy just to have some cameras on him with their Jersey. B&B won’t have any bigger ambitions at the TdF. Anything in the way of a stage win by Cavendish would be icing on the cake.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.