A big win for Wiggins

(Originally published in the July 29 to August 4, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

BRADLEY Wiggins made history last week by becoming the first British to win this year’s Tour de France --- considered to be the toughest sporting event and the most popular cycling competition on Earth.

Off the back of a phenomenal season which already included overall victories in Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné, cycling journalists are unanimous in saying that Wiggins “seemed destined for the win” this year’s 3,497-kilometer Tour de France made up of 1 Prologue, 9 flat stages, 4 medium-mountain stages (with one summit finishes), 5 mountain stages (with 2 summit finishes), two individual time trials and two rest days. 

In what was initially thought of as a two-man battle between Wiggins and defending champion Cadel Evans, Wiggins took the upper-hand from the prologue in and never looked back. Claiming his fifth Tour de France Prologue (a short individual time trial before a stage race to determine which rider wears the Yellow Jersey on the first stage) win, Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) turned out a highly-impressive 7:13 clocking through the 6.4-kilometer course over the determined Wiggins who finished second (7 seconds down). Defending Tour de France champion Cadel Evans finished in 13th place, nine seconds down on Cancellara.

If Wiggins had a true rival, it was his teammate Chris Froome who would finish second overall in his second Tour de France appearance, 3 minutes and 21 seconds in arrears. Liquigas-Cannondale’s Vincenzo Nibali, third overall, found it tough-going on the time-trial-friendly course but became the first Italian to step onto the podium since Ivan Basso in 2005.

Cancellara carried the overall leader’s Yellow Jersey well into the 6th stage after which Wiggins took over the leadership until the Tour reached Paris 14 days later --- the first time in 13 years when the Yellow Jersey shifted just once. The last time it happened was when American Lance Armstrong won his first of seven Tour de France titles in 1999.

Taking time from all of his general classification rivals early in the Tour, Wiggins finally took the Yellow Jersey by finishing third on the first mountain top finish in the 199-kilometer Stage 7, becoming the only the second British rider to have led all three Grand Tours. 

Wiggins won Stage 9 (an individual time trial) which ultimately helped him increase his lead over. On Stage 10, Wiggins and his team were able to stave off an attack by Vincenzo Nibali on the descent of the Grand Columbier, leading Nibali to accuse Wiggins of showing him a lack of respect.

Born on April 28, 1980, Bradley Marc Wiggins started his cycling career on the track where he specialized in the pursuit and Madison disciplines and eventually evolved towards road racing.sad

Wiggins won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, three further medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics and two golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Wiggins' haul of six Olympic medals, which include three gold medals, make him the sixth most successful British Olympian and is the most bemedalled British Olympian alongside rower Steve Redgrave with six medals. In road cycling, he turned professional in 2002, but his involvement was limited by his track cycling until 2007.

After the 2008 Olympics, Wiggins took a break from the track to focus on the road. Initially viewed as a time-trial specialist and a rouleur (a type of racing cyclist considered a good all-rounder), Wiggins showed his ability in stage races when he finished fourth at the 2009 Tour de France --- the joint highest placed finish by a British rider in Tour de France history. 

With his impressive 2009 Tour de France finish and a podium finisher in the 2011 Vuelta a España, Wiggins displayed excellent racing form the entire season by winning the overall title in the highly important stage races of the eight-stage 1,155.5-kilometer Paris-Nice (established in 1933 and is also known as The Race to the Sun) last March, the Tour de Romandie (5 stages, 1 prologue for a total 695.1 kilometers) the following month, and the 1,052-kilometer Critérium du Dauphiné (7 stages, one prologue) just last month. 

The son of an Australian professional cyclist Gary Wiggins, Bradley started racing at south London's Herne Hill Velodrome at age 12. In 2010 he was inducted in to the London Youth Games Hall of Fame. 

At 20, Wiggins won a bronze medal for Britain in the team pursuit at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals at one Games.

This year’s Tour de France general classifications final results are in the following order from first to tenth: Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome (also a British) who finished 3 minutes and 21 seconds behind, Vincenzo Nibali (Italy), Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium), Tejay van Garderen (USA), Haimar Zubeldia (Spaid), Cadel Evans (Australia), Pierre Rolland (France), Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia), and Thibaut Pinot (France).

Thomas Voekler (France) is this year’s the King of the Mountains while 24-year old Tejay van Garderen (USA) is the Best Young Rider.

The entire tour involved 25 climbs classified under Category 1 or (hors catégorie) and Category 2, four climbs of which are in the 197-kilometer Stage 16 (mountain stage). Hors catégorie is a French term used in cycle races to designate a climb that is “beyond categorization” --- an incredibly tough climb. Climbs in cycling are designated from Category 1 (hardest) to Category 4 (easiest), based on both steepness and length. A climb that is harder than Category 1 is designated ashors catégorie. The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass.*

Rusty and Broken Bicycle Chains

(Originally published in the July 22 to 28, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

WITH continuous use and wet conditions, the bicycle chains will have wear-and-tear and eventually get rusty and hinders bike performance and may hasten the degradation of the other parts of the bike that it comes into contact with.

Tools To Use

There is no easy way to clean bike chains and while industrial grade materials are effective, they are a bit expensive.

Oil or lubricant would the most readily available to use. Bicycle lubricants can be in liquid or wax form. The liquid type works better for cleaning.

Some experts discourage using WD-40, saying the chains will eventually lock up and also damages the drive train. Rust removers, unless specified to be used for your bike, are not good on moving parts. Some products will remove the lubricants in the chain links. This will eventually lock and freeze the chains.

Motor oil is not recommended. It attracts dirt and is very hard to clean out. There will also be a chance that it will slide your chain off the gears.

Steps

Position your bike upside down. The wheels should be at the top hanging in the air. The handlebars and seat must be touching the ground. This is the easiest position to the cleaning.

Apply the lubricant or oil in the chain. Apply in small amounts but make sure the each chain link is covered. Wait several minutes for the oil to soak in. Start pedaling the bike to move the chains. For the chains that are locked, apply on the affected area before starting to pedal.

Take care not to run your fingers into the gears while handling a moving chain.

Some areas in the chain may be locked or frozen. Apply the lubricant and try to move the affected links by using the pliers or a similar tool. Slightly bend or wiggle the links to move it. The lubricant will seep in and if all goes well it will move.

With your cloth or rag, start to wipe the oil. Do this by pedaling the bike and holding the chain inside the rag. Make sure you wipe the top to bottom and the sides.

Apply the lube and then wipe it once more.

If everything is done, ride your bike and test run. Check to see if there are still issues with the chain.

If the chain is really worn out, it may be better to buy a new chain rather than remedy the problem. 

How to Fix a Broken Bicycle Chain

Push the pin out by screwing the pin of your chain tool in just before the pin comes out. Be very careful to not push the pin all the way out, as it is extremely difficult to get back in.

Snap the two pieces apart.

Click the two links back in place with the pin facing you. This will make things a lot easier in step 4.

Hold the pin facing you (which is a lot easier), and push it back into both links until it comes out evenly on both sides.

Grab the chain on each side of your newly connected links and move it from side to side to loosen up the new connection. It also helps to move the chain tool to the other side of the joint just made, and push the pin very slightly to free the two outside plates of the link from the central section.

Until then and have a safe ride by putting on that cycling helmet each time. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EAGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.*

Zip-lines: Are they safe?

(Originally published in the July 15 to 21, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

A ZIP-line (also known as a “flying fox”, “foefie slide”, “zip wire”, “aerial runway”, “aerial ropeslide”, “death slide” or “Tyrolean crossing”) consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline. It is designed to enable a user, propelled by gravity, to travel from the top to the bottom of the inclined cable by holding onto, or attaching to, the freely-moving pulley. 

Zip-line tours are becoming popular vacation activities, found at outdoor adventure camps or upscale resorts. 

They are also used by forest rangers and researchers as a means of accessing remote areas, such as a rainforest canopy. In the Australian Outback, “flying foxes” are occasionally used for delivering food, cigarettes or tools to people working on the other side of an obstacle such as a gully or river. Australian troops have used them to deliver food, mail and even ammunition to forward positions in several conflicts.

The zip-line is not a recent invention. It has been used as a transportation method in some mountainous countries. In some remote areas in China since ancient times, zip-lines serve the purposes of bridges across rivers. Referred to as “an inclined strong”, one appears in The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, published in 1897, as part of a Whit-Monday fair.

Without proper knowledge and training on operations and maintenance on the part of the operators, zip-lines can be very unsafe and life-threatening. The safe operation of a zip-line requires knowledge and commitment from every person involved in its functioning, including the owner, the site manager, and the guides.  

It is therefore imperative that zip-lines are within universally-accepted safety standards and sound engineering theories, designs and practices such as tension test, anchors load test, and cable brake test. All these tests must be done by a competent engineer and not just the businessman.

The brake is undoubtedly the most important part of a safe zip-line design. Most accidents that occur on a zip-line are due to a poorly designed and inadequate braking system.  

An ACTIVE BRAKE is when the user slows down by personally applying brake to the zip-line. This includes a thick leather glove, or a triangular piece of wood, that zip-line riders will drag on the cable. By increasing the friction between the rider and the cable, the speed of the rider decreases until he comes to a complete stop. It requires the active intervention of the users, which increases the potential for danger due to mistakes or non-compliance of the rider. This is the cheapest type of braking system and is often resorted to by the profit-oriented operators. I discourage you from patronizing zip-line businesses of this kind. You are only courting danger, if not death.

The PASSIVE ACTION MAGNETIC BRAKE allows bringing a rider gently to a stop from speeds of up to 150 km/hour regardless of the rider’s weight. This revolutionary fully-redundant brake system will apply more brake force as the landing speed increases. Such brakes can be adapted to existing zip-lines, but due to the space needed for controlled braking, it will perform at its peak efficacy on a specially designed zip-line. This brake system is an extremely expensive investment and is avoided by the profit-oriented operators, sacrificing public safety.

The PASSIVE TRIANGULATION BRAKE is the most widely-used on “commercialized” zip-lines. It is composed of a series of pulleys, ropes and bungee cords. It is quite effective and seldom fails but it has limitations in terms of landing speed and does not easily accommodate the person's weight. 

The PASSIVE SPRING BRAKE was developed as an alternative to the rubber cap often used at the end of a triangulation bungee cord brake. This brake could work very well by itself and in conjunction with the anti-return system and a perfect alternative for most of the high-speed landings.

Also, is there a local ordinance regulating it? In the United States, zip-line regulations state that persons using a zip line should be in “good physical condition”. Pregnant women and individuals with injuries or recurring medical conditions such as seizures are not permitted to ride zip lines.

Another is the “responsibility waiver”. Before using the ride, most operators require all participants to sign a “waiver/release form”. If the rider is a minor, only parents and legal guardians over 18 years of age can sign the waiver. Friends and other relatives are not permitted to sign a waiver/release form for a minor.

“Responsibility waivers” are therefore designed more to shield the operator and its staff from legal culpability in the event of injury and not much to protect the paying “customer”. A “responsibility waivers” is a questionable moral value. I call it a “legal fire escape”. It is like telling a visitor before entering your house: I shall not be held responsible for any loss of your money and other valuables while you are inside my house.

Learn to spot responsible, courteous and competent staff thoroughly knowledgeable on the correct use of the equipment, e.g. harness and helmet adjustments, tying the safety lines, management of the pulley and carabiner, and attachment points, cable inspection and back-up system.

Are there contingency plans and a common sense way of avoiding them? Is there a criterion for cancellation of an activity and capability to recognize and avoid risky situations? 

Is the staff knowledgeable, trained and certified in rescue operations? Are they familiar with the rescue equipment and procedures (horizontal and vertical)? Are they knowledgeable, trained and certified in zip-line maintenance? How often is it inspected? How competent is the inspector? Remember that inspectors are corruptible. 

Is the staff trained to provide customers with sincere attention and kindness, always handled with responsibility and commitment?

Lastly, maybe it won’t hurt asking around on the credibility of the operators of zip-lines that suddenly sprout in our backyards from out of the blue. Have they been involved in unscrupulous or shadowy transactions? Do they have pending warrants or cases in court? Is the lot they are situated a subject of litigation? Let us not patronize and feed these “business ventures” disguised as “adventure attractions”. 

They’re nothing but TOURIST TRAPS!*

Opening a car door in the path of a cyclist

(Originally published in the July 8 to 14, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

IN more developed countries (of course, except the Philippines, Baguio to be more particular), opening a car door in the path of a cyclist is against the law. 

Under Rule 269 of the Victorian road rules states: Opening doors and getting out of a vehicle etc. (3) A person must not cause a hazard to any person or vehicle by opening a door of a vehicle, leaving a door of a vehicle open, or getting off, or out of, a vehicle. 

Bicycle Network Victoria (BNV) is a community-based non-profit, financially self-supporting and independent organization and one of the largest cycling membership organizations in the world (with 43,000 members as of 2009), whose mission is to get More People Cycling More Often. It 

The name was changed from Bicycle Victoria (BV) to Bicycle Network Victoria in July 2011, coinciding with a campaign --- bitterly opposed by the Australian Taxation Office --- to become a Health Promotion Charity. The campaign succeeded in getting BNV registered as charity, although not as a “health promotion charity” and so without the right to Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status. 

BNV currently employs about 60 permanent staff and has a number of additional staff on contract for events and special projects, as well as using the services of volunteers for events. Bicycle Network Victoria has two offices located in the CBD of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 

Someone opening a car door unexpectedly in front of you can have disastrous consequences. The tips for avoiding this type of crash are the same for avoiding crashes in general --- ride sensibly and conservatively to avoid dangerous or risky situations in the first place.

RIDE PREDICTABLY

Leave room to move. Ride in a consistent, straight line. Don't weave in and out of car spaces and traffic. Don't ride fast into narrow spaces where you have little room for error. Don't ride between two vehicles unless there is room to swerve or time to stop. Ride out from the door zone (a car door is about 1.5 meter wide). If you don't have enough room to ride outside the door zone, slow down to a speed where you could stop in time.

LOOK & THINK AHEAD

Anticipate other people's actions. Scan the interiors of parked vehicles for someone about to exit. If there is someone there, get ready to stop or look for a space to swerve out of the way. Be especially wary when passing cars to the left or curb side when they have stopped at intersections, as passengers may be about to exit them. Look for brake lights that are lit up (an indication that they've just pulled up). At night, look out for the interior light going on or off. Look ahead for drivers parking their cars. Listen for the telltale click of an opening door: if you can hear it, you're close enough. It’s also wise to select a route that other cyclists frequently use and one that avoids narrow roads with fast moving traffic and parked cars. Look for wide roads with slow moving traffic or narrow roads with slow moving traffic.

ASSUME THEY HAVEN'T SEEN YOU

Ride conservatively and give yourself time and room to avoid a crash or sticky situation. Wear bright clothes and flashing lights but remember that most drivers are looking primarily for cars. Assume they have not seen you until you have made eye contact, and even then, be wary.

RIDE ACCORDING TO THE CONDITIONS

If it's wet or dark, slow down (remember that a wet tire rim or disc requires longer stopping distance). If it's fine and bright, don't go too fast. 

WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU SEE A CAR DOOR 

ABOUT TO BE OPENED IN FRONT OF YOU?

Ring your bell. (Again, in more developed countries, bells are a requirement as part of the road rules for bikes). Sometimes this is enough to stop someone opening a door further. If you are really close, try a loud “Hey!” but only as a last resort. Failing that, just slow down and stop. The last point sounds simple, but so few people seem prepared to do it. Stop, smile at the driver. In most cases they have not realized what they have done and are apologetic. If they have not realized then politely point it out to them. Don't start an argument. Experience suggests that people rarely win arguments about another person's driving skills on the roadway. Just point out their mistake and ride on when the opportunity arises. The idea is to promote good behavior and you can start with your own. If you are courteous and calm then you are more likely to get a similar response.

WHAT TO DO IF THE WORST HAPPENS

If you are confronted by the unexpected car door, hit your brakes. Use the rear (left) brake slightly before the front to avoid going over the handlebars. Pick your line and stick to it.

Hitting a car door hurts a lot. If worst comes to worst, you may be better to brace yourself and hit the door rather than lose control and end up under a motor vehicle. One advantage of hitting a door (as opposed to a moving vehicle) is that they tend to funnel you in towards the car. If you can, “decide” how you are going to crash then you may be able to avoid the hardest part of the car door (the end, which is all metal), rather than the inside, which is upholstered.

IF YOU DO HAVE A CRASH

Try to stay calm and keep your wits about you. Write down the particulars of the crash as soon as possible, even if it is from the hospital bed. Record the name and license number of other parties, registration number of the vehicle, names and details of witness and whatever you can remember of the details of the crash. Sign and date the record. Get it witnessed, as it may be useful later if there is a dispute over the crash.

Report the crash to the police. Pray they are competent and interested enough to help you (but I doubt it, again, especially in Baguio).*

Lance Armstrong faces new doping allegations

(Originally published in the July 1 to 7, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

IN a move that could cost him his seven Tour de France titles, Lance Armstrong is now facing formal doping charges from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency or USADA --- the nation's governing body for sports doping.

In a 15-page letter dated June 12 to Armstrong and others, the USADA said that it had the cyclist's blood samples from 2009 and 2010 and that they were consistent with "blood manipulation."

Armstrong is accused of using the blood booster erythropoietin or EPO, blood transfusions, a human growth hormone, testosterone and steroids. Such doping would have made him a stronger and faster racer. He and his lawyer have vehemently denied that the seven-time Tour winner has ever participated in doping.

Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis or red blood cell production. It is a cytokine (protein signaling molecule) for erythrocyte (red blood cell) precursors in the bone marrow. Also called hematopoietin or hemopoietin, it is produced by interstitial fibroblasts in the kidney in close association with peritubular capillary and tubular epithelial cells. It is also produced in perisinusoidal cells in the liver. While liver production predominates in the fetal and perinatal period, renal production is predominant during adulthood. Erythropoietin is the hormone that regulates red blood cell production. It also has other known biological functions. For example, erythropoietin plays an important role in the brain's response to neuronal injury. EPO is also involved in the wound healing process. 

When exogenous EPO is used as a performance-enhancing drug, it is classified as an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA). Exogenous EPO can often be detected in blood, due to slight difference from the endogenous protein, for example in features of post-translational modification.

The letter also said Armstrong and five others --- including three doctors and a trainer --- had been involved in a team-wide doping program from 1998 to 2011 and that the USADA had "witnesses to the conduct."

USADA said the charges would come by the start of the Tour de France (which started last June 30) to beat an eight-year statute of limitations.

Sources also said that they believed they had extenuating circumstances that went back earlier than eight years. They also said that federal investigators, who ended a two-year criminal probe against the cyclist in February, had shared evidence with the USADA.

In a statement, Armstrong called the USADA's allegations “baseless” and “motivated by spite”.

“I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one,” Armstrong said as quoted by ABC News.

“This is the product of malice and an unhealthy obsession with Lance. The more tests that he passes the more they seem to believe he is guilty,” said Armstrong's lawyer Bob Luskin. 

“They've made a wicked bargain with other riders, telling them that they will not be charged if they implicate Lance and they will be banned if they don't. Nothing good or honest or fair or truthful can come out of this process. Lance hasn't ever doped and his innocence was supported by more than 600 successful drug tests,” Luskin added.

“The charges are new in the sense they have just been filed, but they are the same old charges from the same old people,” Luskin said.

Luskin said that while the USADA could not bring criminal charges, it had the authority to regulate sports that agree to be governed by it. The agency has the ability to strip Armstrong of his bike title and the right to ban him from participaton in triathlons.

In February, a federal investigation against the cyclist did not result in his indictment. Doping is not a crime, but investigators could have charged him with money laundering and conspiracy to hide any use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Sources said that while the investigation had proved that Armstrong had doped, the U.S. attorney did not believe there was enough evidence on the other allegations.

The investigation included several teammates --- including Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis --- who said that they'd seen Armstrong use a variety of performance-enhancing drugs when they raced.

“He took what we all took,” ABC News quoted Hamilton as telling CBS “60 Minutes” in 2011. “There's really no difference between Lance Armstrong and the rest; there was EPO, there was testosterone and I did see a blood transfusion.”

In October 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed as having testicular cancer with a tumor that had metastasized to his brain and lungs. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. 

He went on to win the Tour de France each year from 1999 to 2005 with a total 22 individual stage wins and is the only person to win it seven times having broken the previous record of five wins shared by Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil.

In 1999, he was named the ABC Wide World of Sports’ Athlete of the Year. In 2000 he won the Prince of Asturias Award in Sports. In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the years 2002 to 2005. He received ESPN’s ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. 

Armstrong announced his retirement from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France but returned to competitive cycling in January 2009 and finished third in the 2009 Tour de France. 

He confirmed he had retired from competitive cycling for good on February 16, 2011.*