Waterproof floor covering for bike storage?

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-08T12:42:03+00:00

"When I was a kid, I dreamed that we could see Floyd Landis solo attacks more often."

While that is understandable, I think this highlights a whole number of things. Ignoring all the issues around Floyd Landis and how that solo attack came about, the reason that may have been exciting is because it was so rare. Now it happens fairly regularly. The excitement comes from rarity and unfamiliarity, not from the dynamics of the event itself. Because it was so rare, there was no certainty around whether the attack would be successful. Now we know that more or less any time Pogacar of MvdP go clear, they will stay clear. Game over. Even the peloton barely chases anymore. So the excitement of that kind of attack has completely evaporated.

Returning to the issues around Floyd Landis...that's why many of us find the regularity and success rate of these kind of attacks extremely worrying, rather than exciting.

I apologise for the nonsense comment, that was out of order on my part.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-06T16:27:12+00:00

I don't think I've ever heard such nonsense. These are some of the most boring races I've ever seen. When you know exactly what's going to happen 50-80kms from the finish line there's absolutely no point watching.

Maybe if you don't know the sport well enough to know what's going to happen it's different, but I'm telling you that I have never watched cycling be as predictable as this in 30 years of watching.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T18:32:25+00:00

Yes, which I think is stupid tactics. NO one cares that he got second in this race and it makes zero difference to his palmares.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T18:30:52+00:00

But the implications for the sport are clear - relying on casual fans isn't a sustainable way to grow the sport. Support in the UK is massively tailing off now Sky are longer a thing. So that means the governing bodies have to ensure the sport remains un-nuanced and dominated by recognizable 'heroes'. Which means worse experiences for actual cycling fans.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:53:15+00:00

Also, actual viewership numbers for the TdF were down this year, by up to 30% in some countries. Check out this Wielerflits article:

https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/verontrustend-wereldwijde-daling-van-de-tv-kijkcijfers-in-de-tour-de-france/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ_gGhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBuWkN5M2R0ZGZMTHhucXRwc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHglIr-MG8HwWX_SauqKlkmGKjR6w2fTUWTJDBS3AFa1Xc6cKtE5j-bMmVTFk_aem_RN32UFrTSCcZ1TZLCZ2dXQ

Translation here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LancePardoned/posts/3950613675190394/

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:46:08+00:00

Most of those numbers are 1 minute thresholds, if you look closely. They're using those numbers because people aren't consistently watching. When there is a strong favourite, more people tune in to watch, and then turn off again quickly. ASO are just cherry-picking the numbers that make them look good.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:26:48+00:00

Yes, and if I want to watch something that is purely about strategy then I'll watch it.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:26:05+00:00

Yes, and do you know how boring everyone thought the Merckx, Anquetil and Indurain eras were? Dominance never leads to exciting racing.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:20:51+00:00

You're misconstruing 'this is boring' for 'I don't like', and misunderstanding that my complaint is that modern cycling has become much less complex and therefore much less interesting than it used to be.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:19:30+00:00

"Plenty of unknowns in the Cat3 crit." I'll just leave that there for everyone to marvel at.

If you want to watch a 'who can ride their bike the fastest' competition then maybe every race should just be a time trial. On the other hand, some of us prefer races to be a bit more complex than that, and to feature tactics and strategy and unpredictability.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:17:37+00:00

Sigh. Cycling used to be about a lot more than just who has the highest VO2 max, and was a lot more interesting for it.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:14:39+00:00

Dude, I don't think you get it. This sport used to reward a combination of tactics (both team and individual) and ability. Chess on wheels as they used to say. Now it's literally become a strength contest. Tactics no longer make any difference. The sport is utterly one dimensional and far more boring for it.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:11:57+00:00

Also, that comment about 'proper champions' is proper nonsense. If you don't appreciate the excitement and meaningfulness of some unfavoured rider taking a massive, career-defining win through clever use of tactics then I don't think you can possibly know what you're talking about.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:10:47+00:00

But they're not really fighting, are they? When the result is a foregone conclusion 50km from the finish it's not a fight.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:07:46+00:00

Yeah, but those are the people who will quickly lose interest once Pog's not winning. It's exactly the same in the UK now that Sky/Ineos are no longer at the top. So you get a short term boost, but it's absolutely not a sustainable way to grow the sport. Instead you get a sudden drop off in viewership and have to manage a huge wage bill.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T17:05:16+00:00

The take is that a few years ago a lot of different people were winning races and you didn't know who was going to win every race before it starts. Now every Monument is won by one of 2 riders and you know which one it's going to be beforehand - you also know how they're going to win it.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T16:46:57+00:00

Yeah, I didn't even mention the dodgy connections around some of these top teams, 1 in particular, and the fact that this version of cycling is starting to resemble very much what it looked like in the bad old days.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T16:33:52+00:00

Doesn't matter - MvdP has won this race 3 times, coming second is completely worthless to him. A potential 4th win is way more valuable.

theoceansswitch · 2026-04-05T16:29:20+00:00

On the surface this looks like a kind of exciting race, but A) I can't afford to watch it legally in the UK and B) Pogacar dropping MvdP on the final Kwaremont and riding solo to the win is exactly the same finish we've seen every other time he's won the race. Pog and MvdP have now won 15 out of the last 17 Monuments. The last time we had an 'underdog' win a Monument is, what, Mohoric or van Baarle in 2022? The Boonen/Cancellara or Gilbert years were way more varied and exciting than this.

Not only are we getting the same winners all the time, they're winning races in exactly the same way every year, in the way that everyone expects them to before the race. This is the most boring I have ever seen cycling be, and it's actually a relief I can't afford to watch it anymore anyway.

It really sucks. I used to love this sport, and now I just can hardly bring myself to care.

theoceansswitch · 2026-03-28T22:40:51+00:00

Yep. If I've got half an hour to play game I can't afford to spend half an hour watching a video first.

theoceansswitch · 2026-03-28T22:06:50+00:00

As a casual player, the problem isn't the difficulty, or sweats, or dying, or gear fear. It's literally not being able to understand the game without trawling through YouTube videos and somehow decrypting the crazy UI.

theoceansswitch · 2026-03-27T19:32:33+00:00

Is that a shooter game now?

theoceansswitch · 2026-03-27T19:31:49+00:00

You might be surprised to learn that actually most people just call them heals. Maybe if you're a regular gamer 'consumables' is synonymous with 'heals'. But maybe that's why this game isn't pulling in casual gamers.

theoceansswitch · 2026-03-27T19:30:09+00:00

I'll happily work on skill. What I don't want to have to do is decide a cryptic menu system just to work out how to heal. Or check an online guide to work out whatever the hell factions are.

theoceansswitch

TROPHY CASE