Team Discovery: Solvang photos
 

The Team Discovery web site has some cool photos of their training at Solvang.

http://team.discovery.com/slideshows...g/solvang.html

hummmm.....Lance with the Grand Tour group, not the Classics group****************************************???


tomcat

that is some great photography of a sharp bunch of cyclists!

is it just me or does Lance look a little chunky in pic #4 /

Cool pics.... i cant believe how many guys are riding without gloves...? dont you wear yours...?

The photog is out of NYC and is a really nice guy...I've met him a couple of times and he's always been super cool.

PJ

forget gloves...
why don't most wear helmets??

Kudos for lance, hincapie, danielson and a few others for setting a good example.

Wow amazing photos... I hope solvang looks that pretty in March... (but not that hilly) look at the first photo... amazing hill

You ride the 100miler you will get hills like shown in the photos I am told...My rides about Solvang were unorganized group rides..Tremendous country..
Great wine, great food, great cycling terrain...You get a taste of this country in the movie 'Sideways.'.

I better work on my hill work then to be ready for that...

Where in California is that? Northern? Southern? LA, SF?

I agree. I especially hate it when they let them ride without helmets in races. I know when they do that it's relatively reasonable, but come on. Kids are watching that stuff.

About an hour north of Santa Barbara.

I dont know about the helmets thing, but if you notice, its the big names that are wearing them. This leads me to think that those riders either know they are role models, or (probably more likely) there is some clause in their sponsorship contracts that requires them to do that.

Id be interested to really know though.

Not all cyclists are dare devils..I recall the Italian racer Petacchi bows out of races he feels not safe....Don't think he is just ditching a race he does not want to compete...His fear is genuine.? ......Did he not have some awful accident...Bet, Petacchi always wears a helmet...

They might figure that since they have to wear a helmet while racing, they might as well get used to them and wear them while training.

Wow ... that is some beautiful countryside. En mass, I think the Disco's outfits look kinda cool.

Thanks for posting; those are great pics.

It's their head. If they want to train without a helmet, let them. If they crash and die because of a preventable head injury, then that is the risk they took. Should "role models" not be allowed to smoke or eat junk because kids might do the same? If you want to wear your helmet all the time, that's great, but no one can tell someone else (save UCI or USCF) they must wear a helmet.

I suppose you think that it's ok for basketball playing roll models to jump into the stands and fight with the ticketholders, too!

There are helmet laws (for motorcycles) b/c some people are not smart enough to use a good thing when they see it.

I guess you're right. When these guys don't wear helmets it's almost like seeing a NASCAR driver hop into a car and not wear his seat belt. It just sends a bad message like "I wouldn't wear this helmet if I didn't have to." Pro athletes are role models, no matter what Charles Barkley thinks. Jordan was always dressed up in suits because he knew that someone could see him for just 5 seconds and have a lifelong impression of him based on a seemingly meaningless segment of his life. Helmets are a personal choice, and I don't really want to get into that argument, but pro athletes are role models and should try to set a good example.

It is their choice, especially on training rides. It just really irks me that they let the riders do that in races.

The UCI don't let them do it in races any more. Only in certain climbing finishes, 5km out or something like that from the line you can remove it.

First of all, there is a big difference between picking a fight in the stands and wearing a bike helmet. If Lance jumped off his bike and beat a spectator, then I would have a problem.

If the sport requires the equipment, ala MLB and batting helmets, that is one thing. A cyclist on a training ride is under no legal obligation to wear one, and it is his choice not to do so. If a parent can't sit their child down and tell them the importance of wearing a helmet, or that they shouldn't jump into the stands to fight if someone throws a drink on them, then it is a parenting problem, nothing more. Are we really so weak that we can't even look at people doing anything remotely dangerous, or something we don't agree with, without taking offense or thinking they should be somehow repremanded? What gives us the right to tell another person what they can or can't do, especially when what they're doing is perfectly legal?

Everything is dangerous to some degree. It is up to the individual to decide what risks they want to take, including "role models."

You do have a good point...

fair play to ya