Originally Posted by munkyv22
I'm glad I could entertain you. I was only talking about time penalties. If I am riding with friends and one of them has to stop to change a flat, I stop the clock. I don't count it as "riding time". It is not time that I am pedaling and burning lots of calories. I don't have a wife to answer to, so the 3 hours DNE 5 hours doesn't apply to me. I am aware that during Le Tour they must slow way down to grab food or what have you, they do not however, have to sit outside 7-11 for fifteen minutes while everyone goes inside to buy Gatorade and Snickers. There is a difference between slowing down for a second to grab food from a car or feed station and taking a "meal break".
What time penalties? There are none in the TdF unless there is an infraction of the rules and a rider is relegated by the commissionaires. In most respects, the TdF is artificial in its racing for all sorts of reasons. Indeed, the field *has* stopped on occasions for an exended break, not for a meal, but for remembrance purposes and strike action. The clock certainly didn't stop when they did. The only "pure" form of racing in the TdF is the time trial where any form of stopping is disastrous.
Personally, I think that if a rider takes an extended break in the middle of a ride and doesn't count that in his/her elapsed time averages, then really that cyclist is on two rides. Otherwise, the rider is fooling him/herself in believing their average speeds are anything but artificially fast. But, if it makes a rider feel good about themselves, then who am I to argue.