The 2012 Tour de France

(Originally published in the June 24 to 30, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

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

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

CONSIDERED to be the toughest sporting event and the most popular cycling competition on earth, the 2012 Tour de France hits the road this Saturday (June 30). It will be the 99th Tour de France since it was first held in 1903 (it was not staged from 1914 to 1918 and from 1940 to 1946, because of the First World War and the Second World War, respectively).

Running until July 22, this year’s 3,497-kilometer Tour de France will be 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. 

The entire tour involves 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.

All the 18 teams in the Union Cycliste Internationale or UCI (English: International Cycling Union) are entitled (obliged) to enter the race. Four UCI Professional Continental teams, one Dutch and three French-based teams have also signified participation.

2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans will defend his title against former Grand Tour winners like Dennis Menchov (2009 Giro d’Italia and the 2005and 2007 Vuelta a España), Alejandro Valverde (2009 Vuelta a España), Vincenzo Nibali (2010 Vuelta a España), Juan José Cobo (2011 Vuelta a España) and Ryder Hesjedal (2012 Giro d’Italia).

Cadel Lee Evans ( 14 February 14, 1977) is an Australian is a former champion mountain biker who won the World Cup in 1998 and 1999 and placed 7th in the men’s cross-country mountain bike race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Evans turned to full-time road cycling in 2001 and gradually progressed through ranks. He finished second in the 2007 and 2008 Tours de France. He became the first Australian to win the UCI ProTour in 2007 and the UCI Road World Championships in 2009. He finally won the Tour de France in 2011, riding for the US-based BMC Racing Team after two Tour de France riddled with bad luck. At 34, he is among the five oldest winners in the history of Tour de France.

But the top favorite, according to many critics, in this year’s Tour de France is British rider Bradley Wiggins. 

The number four in the 2009 Tour de France edition and 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 former track rider Wiggins is considered to be one of the better time-trialists in the peloton and the large amount of time trial kilometers in his favor.

2009, 2010 and 2011 Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck will not start in this year’s Tour due to fracture of the sacral bone of his pelvis at the Critérium du Dauphiné. 

It will be remembered that Schleck was “promoted” to champion status after 2010 Tour de France “winner” Alberto Contador was found guilty of doping. Incidentally, Andy is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck who also rides for RadioShack-Nissan-Trek. Their father Johnny Schleck rode the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974.

The third still-active former Tour de France winner, the Spanish Contador is currently serving suspension and will therefore not start in this year’s Tour. His suspension ends on August 5, 2012.

There are several classifications in this year’s Tour de France. 

The most important is the General Classification (calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage). The cyclist with the least accumulated time is the race leader who is identified by the Yellow Jersey. The winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour. There will also be no bonifications this year (time bonuses given to the first three riders crossing the finish line). 

There is also the Points Classification where cyclists get points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points leads the classification and is identified with a Green Jersey. 

There is also the Mountains Classification where climbs are categorized as either hors catégorie, first-, second-, third-, or fourth-category. Points for this classification are won by the first cyclists that reach the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The cyclist with the most points leads the classification and is identified with a Polka Dot Jersey.

The fourth individual classification is the Young Rider Classification which is marked by the White Jersey. This is decided in the same way as the General Classification but only riders under 26 years are eligible.

For the Team Classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage are added. The leading team is the team with the lowest total time. The riders in the team that lead this classification are identified with yellow numbers.

The Combativity Award (also named as the award for most aggressive rider) is selected by a jury after each stage.*

Chainless Bicycles

(Originally published in the June 17 to 23, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

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

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

A CHAINLESS or shaft-driven bicycle is a bicycle that uses a drive shaft instead of a chain to transmit power from the pedals to the wheel. 

Shaft-driven bicycles were introduced over a century ago but were mostly supplanted by chain-driven bicycles due to the gear ranges possible with sprockets and derailleurs. But due to advancements in internal gear technology, a small number of modern shaft-driven bicycles have been introduced.

Chainless bicycles use a drive shaft instead of a chain to smoothly and efficiently transfer power from the pedals to the rear wheel. The common chainless bicycle in the market today uses the Shimano 8-speed or 7-speed internal hubs where all the gearing is neatly tucked away inside the rear wheel, practically no visible moving parts. 

Accordingly, chainless bikes allow you to ride in any weather without worrying about salt or sand build-up on the chain components since all the moving parts are enclosed and protected, drastically reducing repair and maintenance time and cost. 

One manufacturer claims that their shaft drives and gearing are designed to last 3 to 4 times as long as chains and derailleur components. It claims further that their chainless bikes offer a versatile range of gearing for climbing tough hills “as gracefully as they accelerate to comfortably fast speed . . . plus, shifting gears is fast, smooth and easy and help you use your gearing more frequently, which will help reduce fatigue and increase your energy during your ride by helping you maintain a more consistent pedaling speed”.

Shaft-driven bikes have a large bevel gear where a conventional bike would have its chain ring. This meshes with another bevel gear mounted on the drive shaft. The use of bevel gears allows the axis of the drive torque from the pedals to be turned through 90 degrees. The drive shaft then has another bevel gear near the rear wheel hub which meshes with a bevel gear on the hub where the rear sprocket would be on a conventional bike, and canceling out the first drive torque change of axis.

The first shaft drives for bicycles appear to have been invented independently in 1890 in the United States and England. 

In 1890, A. Fearnhead of North London developed a prototype shaft was enclosed within a tube running along the top of the chainstay; later models were enclosed within the actual chainstay. He was granted a patent a year later. Almost at the same on December 10, 1890 in the United States, Walter Stillman filed for a patent for a shaft-driven bicycle which was granted on July 21, 1891.

The shaft drive was not well accepted in England, so in 1894 Fearnhead took it to the USA where Colonel Pope of the Columbia firm bought the exclusive American rights. 

Belatedly, the English makers took it up, with Humber in particular plunging heavily on the deal. Curiously enough, the greatest of all the Victorian cycle engineers, Professor Archibald Sharp, was against shaft drive.

In his classic 1896 book "Bicycles and Tricycles", Sharp contended that “the Fearnhead Gear . . . if bevel-wheels could be accurately and cheaply cut by machinery, it is possible that gears of this description might supplant, to a great extent, the chain-drive gear; but the fact that the teeth of the bevel-wheels cannot be accurately milled is a serious obstacle to their practical success”.

In the USA, they had been made by the League Cycle Company as early as 1893. Soon after, the French company Metropole marketed their Acatane. By 1897, Columbia began aggressively to market the chainless bicycle it had acquired from the League Cycle Company. 

Chainless bicycles were moderately popular in 1898 and 1899, although sales were still much smaller than regular bicycles, primarily due to the high cost. The bikes were also somewhat less efficient than regular bicycles: there was roughly an 8 percent loss in the gearing, in part due to limited manufacturing technology at the time. The rear wheel was also more difficult to remove to change flats. Many of these deficiencies have been overcome in the past century.

In 1902, The Hill-Climber Bicycle Mfg. Company sold a three-speed shaft-driven bicycle in which the shifting was implemented with three sets of bevel gears. While a small number of chainless bicycles were available, for the most part, shaft-driven bicycles disappeared from view for most of the 20th century. There is, however, still a niche market for chainless bikes, especially for commuters, and there are a number of manufacturers who offer them either as part of a larger range or as a primary specialization. 

Product reviews are near unanimous that shaft drives operate at a very consistent rate of efficiency and performance, without adjustments or maintenance, though lower than that of a properly adjusted and lubricated chain. Shaft drives are typically more complex to disassemble when repairing flat rear tires and the manufacturing cost is typically higher.

A fundamental issue with bicycle shaft-drive systems is the requirement to transmit the torque of the rider through bevel gears with much smaller radii than typical bicycle sprockets. This requires both high quality gears and heavier frame construction. 

Since shaft-drives require gear hubs for shifting, they gain the benefit that gears can be shifted while the bicycle is at a complete stop or moving in reverse, but internal hub geared bikes typically have a more restricted gear range than comparable derailleur-equipped bikes.

Most of the advantages claimed for a shaft drive can be realized by using a fully enclosed chain case. Some of the other issues addressed by the shaft drive, such as protection for clothing and from ingress of dirt, can be met through the use of chain guards. The reduced need for adjustment in shaft-drive bikes also applies to a similar extent to chain or belt-driven hub-geared bikes. Not all hub gear systems are shaft compatible.*

Ride on, Norly!

(Originally published in the June 10 to 16, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

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

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

THE local biking community and Self-Propelled mourn the untimely death of Norly Batnag following an accident during bike ride in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya to Mt. Ugo.

A leisure ride around Baguio “to remember her and her passion for biking” is scheduled on June 12 (Tuesday). Assembly time is at 7 o’clock in the morning at Burnham Park.*

6 Ways To Defuse Anti-Cyclist Road Rage

ROAD rage is an aggressive or angry behavior by a driver of an automobile or other motor vehicle. 

Such behavior might include generally aggressive driving, including sudden acceleration, braking, and close tailgating; cutting others off in a lane, or deliberately preventing someone from merging, chasing other motorists; flashing lights and/or sounding the horn excessively; yelling or exhibiting disruptive behavior at roadside establishments; rude gestures (such as “the finger”);  shouting verbal abuses, insults or threats; assaulting other motorists, their passengers, cyclists or pedestrians; exiting the car to attempt to start confrontations, including striking other vehicles with an object; threatening to use or using a firearm or other deadly weapon.

Anti-cycling road rage is just a big drag, perpetuating the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality between drivers and cyclists, and sometimes endangering lives. Some states have tried to legally protect cyclists from car drivers' abuse. 

But there are a number of things that a cyclist can and should do to promote street peace and the best, safest ride possible. 

Read on and add your tips.

1. DRIVE YOUR BIKE

The bike, after all, is a two-wheeled vehicle and must be treated as a vehicle. That's why considering yourself driving your bike instead of just riding, is probably a good idea.

2. OBEY THE LAW

Motorists bend and break traffic laws systematically. Should cyclists be held to a higher standard? Yes, and no. In order to not aggravate the us-versus-them mentality that bikes on the road create in motorists’ minds, it is important for cyclists to follow laws to the best of their ability. Salmon biking (driving your bike against the flow of traffic) and completely breezing through stop signs or red lights are the two offenses that most make motorists see red. The road is a limited resource --- if cyclists want to share it, they need to respect the rules of the road.

3. LOBBY FOR A VERSION OF THE IDAHO STOP LAW

The Idaho Stop Law in United States(in place since 1982) allows cyclists to yield instead of fully stop (i.e. with a foot down) when faced with an intersection or stop sign. Oregon tried unsuccessfully to pass a version of this law earlier this year. The University of California's School of Health in Berkeley crunched some data and UC researcher Jason Meggs studied the law's results and found that in the year following its implementation, bicycle injuries dropped 14.5 percent, presumably because cyclists had more control in intersections and were more visible. Such a law might increase motorists rage initially, but by now the Idaho Stop Law is just considered smart public policy. London is considering a similar provision.

4. ARM YOURSELF WITH A SMILE AND A WAVE

Sometimes car drivers can be pretty aggravating. They stupidly dart around slower traffic, they make sudden, unexpected moves, and they pretend not to notice when they've done something asinine to you. Well, guess what? Same thing with bikers. The best way to drive your bike is to drive defensively, but maintaining Zen-like serenity if at all possible. Would you rather be trapped in a steel-reinforced cage or on your bike experiencing your environment? See, you already feel happier. So choose style and safety over speed. And, of course, respect the pedestrians.

5. AND DON YOUR FINEST, BRIGHTEST PLUMAGE

Not only is it great to give other motorists a little eye-candy in addition to plenty of lights and reflectors on your bike, it's also best to be as visible to everybody as possible. This doesn't necessarily mean Day-Glo colors. But being on your bike is an opportunity to show your style and stand out in traffic. In addition, safety in numbers seems to be very true for cycling.

6. REMEMBER, BIKING HAS A BELL CURVE

Most of your bike experiences are statistically likely to be good ones, without road rage or other incidents. For every million hours of biking, the mortality rate is just 0.3 --- that's better than driving's 0.5. 

To put it another way, a Canadian study says the risk of dying in a bike crash are about the same as dying in an SUV crash. It seems then self-evident to do what you can --- arm yourself with a smile to deflect rage, the right amount of lighting, and yes, even a mirror. Female cyclists will likely be subject to a higher incidence of cat-calling and wolf-whistling. But does getting mad solve anything? To paraphrase Dori The Fish from Finding Nemo: just keep riding.*

Road Rage Against Cyclists

(Originally published in the June 3 to 9, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

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

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

MY random on-line reading around dawn last Friday brought me to a site with a screaming headline: Doctor gets 5 years for road rage against cyclists.

A former emergency room doctor who deliberately hit his brakes so that two bicyclists rammed into his car in a road rage incident was sentenced in 2010 by a Los Angeles court in a case that sparked international interest among cyclists, it said in chilling details.

One of the victims smashed through the back window, nearly severed his nose and shattered several teeth. The other crashed to the pavement, separating his shoulder.

Christopher Thomas Thompson, 60, was sentenced to five years in state prison and had been jailed since his conviction on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, reckless driving and mayhem.

The trial, which lasted three weeks and captivated the cycling community, revealed a particularly virulent form of road rage.

Thompson however claimed that he was merely trying to take a photograph of the cyclists as an evidence of the way cyclists flout the law. A Los Angeles Police Department traffic investigator who arrived on the scene shortly after the incident testified that Thompson told him he “stopped in front to teach them a lesson”.

At trial, Thompson said that he and other local residents were angry because some bicyclists were ignoring stop signs or riding abreast, impeding cars on a narrow road.

Thompson said several cyclists who were riding side by side had sworn at him and made a rude gesture after he told them to ride single file. The physician said he didn't intend to hurt anyone and only stopped to photograph the riders.

The case prompted a deluge of letters and e-mails from cyclists around the world to support Thompson while messages, including some from bicyclists and doctors as far away as China, urged a tough sentence.

“Here in the U.K., the cycling community has a saying that if you want to harm or kill someone, a motor vehicle is the weapon of choice,” wrote Tony Raven, of Cambridge, England.

The letters were submitted to the court by the prosecutor.

“It is time that motorists learn that they must share the road with people on bicycles and that the courts will view assaults on cyclists by motorists as seriously as other assaults with deadly weapons,” Deputy District Attorney Mary Hanlon Stone wrote in court papers.

Prosecutors had sought an eight-year term while Thompson’s attorney argued for probation.

Judge Scott T. Millington said he did not take into account the letters and e-mails from bicyclists when considering the sentence. However, the judge said he believed Thompson had not shown remorse during the case.

Two other cyclists testified that in March 2008, a motorist they believed to be Thompson made a similar maneuver, speeding ahead then slamming on his brakes. One of these cyclists told the court that the driver tried to hit them again and then sped off, noting that the car was an Infiniti sedan and the license plates matched those of Thompson's car.

-o0o-

I get off my bike and briefly pause this Sunday in remembrance of my father who passed away 34 years ago today, June 3.

I would like also to greet my second daughter, Pryce, a happy 21st birthday on June 8. I love you, anak!

-o0o-

Until then and have a safe ride all the time. Put on that cycling helmet each time you get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.*