whats up with the riders chucking hunreds of plastic water bottles into the bushes while they ride ? from what i have seen most of them are not picked up. i thought cyclists were holier than thou environmentalists who rage against machines that pollute. they arent looking very eco friendly right now

Whatever gave you the idea that the sport of cycling was environmentally friendly?
The bottles are usually thrown to clumps of spectators so they'll be picked up as souvenirs, but if they're done a bottle and they have no use for it or if they're coming to a climb, then it's bye bye bottle.

Same stupid post every single year.

Every single water bottle, musset and scrap will eventually be picked up by someone as a souvenir. If you watch racing for more than a week you'll see people knocking each other over for the honor or climbing down into a ditch to recover a tossed bottle.

also - as noted last year - it's much safer to throw it clear of the road so as not to endanger following riders.

Agreed. dumb post.

A while back I was watching a local race when someone tossed a water bottle near me. I figured, cool, a free water bottle, so I grabbed it. It was kinda seedy looking so I took it home and put it in the dishwasher. After all that, there was marginal improvement, so I recycled it.

Maybe if it had been Erik Zabel's bottle I'd have taken a chance with the cooties. :D

i thought cyclists were holier than thou environmentalists who rage against machines that pollute. they arent looking very eco friendly right now

what are you, 12? if you were tuning in that intently we could assume you've seen the team support cars, the team buses, the motorcycles filming the race, the banners for skoda (http://new.skoda-auto.com/COM/about/life/cycling/Pages/Cycling.aspx)... the planes that transported some of the riders to race. c'mon.

have you ever seen the waste produced by a large earth day celebration? :roflmao2:

Please don't take this thread to a P&R zone

whats up with the riders chucking hunreds of plastic water bottles into the bushes while they ride ? from what i have seen most of them are not picked up. i thought cyclists were holier than thou environmentalists who rage against machines that pollute. they arent looking very eco friendly right now

try using a bigger brush next time

This thread makes me LOL.

Ya,the bottles and food bags(mussets) are souvenirs for the roadside fans.

It's not like they're going to re-fill them at the next town's cafe.....it's not that kind of tour.

At least the volume is down in the Post Armstrong era, and now particularly without an American GC contender.


And by the way, when do you think Hincapie's going to make his big move? Is he just saving himself for the Alps?

This thread makes me LOL.

This thread makes me want to weep

i thought cyclists were holier than thou environmentalists who rage against machines that pollute. they arent looking very eco friendly right now

You haven't heard about people flying across the planet to ride a mountain in a middle of country most Americans can't find on a map? It just boggles your mind that people actually ride a bike for fun without environmentalist cause.

And by the way, when do you think Hincapie's going to make his big move? Is he just saving himself for the Alps?

That post just made my day. And to answer your question, he's definetly saving himself for a blistering escape on the final stage where he will make up all the time he lost in the mountains, plus an extra 10 minutes. ASO will be so impressed, that they will hand him the Roubaix crown at the same time.

I have Hincapie's bottle from last years TDF TT in Angouleme. He didn't win but he is big George.

I swiped it as he was being interviewed by Neal Rogers. Greatest day of my life.

At least the volume is down in the Post Armstrong era, and now particularly without an American GC contender.


And by the way, when do you think Hincapie's going to make his big move? Is he just saving himself for the Alps?

Careful, some people on this forum cannot detect sarcasm.

That post just made my day. And to answer your question, he's definetly saving himself for a blistering escape on the final stage where he will make up all the time he lost in the mountains, plus an extra 10 minutes. ASO will be so impressed, that they will hand him the Roubaix crown at the same time.

lol

That post just made my day. And to answer your question, he's definetly saving himself for a blistering escape on the final stage where he will make up all the time he lost in the mountains, plus an extra 10 minutes. ASO will be so impressed, that they will hand him the Roubaix crown at the same time.

:roflmao2::roflmao2::roflmao2:....seriously though, gotta love George

Whatever gave you the idea that the sport of cycling was environmentally friendly?

Yeah, there are more vehicles in front of and behind the peloton than you will find on the average major city interstate at rush hour. And that's for starters.

Then there's the number of semi's that haul all the stuff to the next stage...

Then there's the trucks that haul all the tv equipment.

Then there's the helicopters hovering over the race.

Then there's all the fans driving from stage to stage.

And on and on...

:twitchy:

You really need to get this forum section retitled Tour de France expert observations only :popcorn

There are other forums. They are for informed discussion. But this one is a lot more amusing.:roflmao2:

what are you, 12? if you were tuning in that intently we could assume you've seen the team support cars, the team buses, the motorcycles filming the race, the banners for skoda (http://new.skoda-auto.com/COM/about/life/cycling/Pages/Cycling.aspx)... the planes that transported some of the riders to race. c'mon.

have you ever seen the waste produced by a large earth day celebration? :roflmao2:

sounds like Al Gore on his global warming tour.:lol:

riders have been instructed to try and piff empty bidons "towards spectators".

Not sure of the ramifications if they don't...

As explained during today's Eurosport coverage: There is a clean-up team that follows the Tour after every stage to pick up EVERYTHING - not only the stuff tossed by the riders, but also the trash left behind by all the spectators.

Some of those bottles even end up in fleabay, so you too have the chance to own a true TDF souvenir.

You "veteran elite posters" sure are hard on the non veteran comments and questions. At first glance it seems kind of odd until you think of the safety issue of a bottle or something in the road causing a crash. Enjoy the tour. JMO

All the fat people that shop in Wal-Mart or the equivalent in Europe like to pick up the bottles and drink their favorite high calorie drink out of the discarded bottles and get fatter and fatter and fatter. Then they like to ride on the electric carts at Wal-Mart and run over those of us that are in good shape. One of these days I'm going to bludgeon to death one of those fat people with a frozen turkey. And take their souvenir water bottles for my own.

All the fat people that shop in Wal-Mart or the equivalent in Europe like to pick up the bottles and drink their favorite high calorie drink out of the discarded bottles and get fatter and fatter and fatter. Then they like to ride on the electric carts at Wal-Mart and run over those of us that are in good shape. One of these days I'm going to bludgeon to death one of those fat people with a frozen turkey. And take their souvenir water bottles for my own.

bizarre

As explained during today's Eurosport coverage: There is a clean-up team that follows the Tour after every stage to pick up EVERYTHING - not only the stuff tossed by the riders, but also the trash left behind by all the spectators.

Been done for decades I believe. I remember something being said on ABC Wide World of Sports back in the 80s when Lemond was contending for the the Tour. I've also had a closed head injury since then as well.