Rondog

I'm looking for someone who would be willing to record the TDF for me. Anyone know who is carrying the Tour de France on cable/satellite this year? Is it Versus still?

Also, since I don't have cable or satellite myself does anyone have any info on where to grab some podcasts each night?

Ps. Who's your favorite pick for the win?

Dunbar

Yes, Versus is carrying the TDF but it's now called the NBC Sports Network.

generalkdi

www.vipbox.tv, just stream it.

gnome

217. This should be in that subforum. have a look there.

yochris 

steephill.tv

enjoy.

calgary_jim

I'll be there!

E.S.

9 days to go! Can't wait

patentcad

Oh relax.

Rondog

Lol! 8!

SpeshulEd 

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

cyclingtorrents.nl

Rondog

Interesting! I've never done torrents before. So I've sign up, now what? Will I find the podcasts in the forum section or are they going to be on the home page? Do I have to upload files to see files?

SpeshulEd 

All the torrent files are under "browse" - everything is sectioned by days, whatever is uploaded to the site for the day shows up there. I always grab the english ones, usually eurosport. I think they have a rule that you have to upload a certain amount before you can download the HD copies. However, I signed up and didn't download anything for a week, went back and had a 5gb upload credit, allowing me to download HD right away. However, if you're watching on your computer, you probably don't need HD. I get the HD files as I stream everything through a jailbroken apple tv running xbox media center. But that's a whole other topic.

Once you download the torrent file (tourdebikeracewhatever.torrent), you'll need a program to actually download the video. I've always used utorrent, it used to be a really small file, but as it's grown in popularity, so has the bloat. Still, its serves the purpose. When I install it, I'm just careful to only install the important part, not the internet toolbar crap or whatever else it wants to install.

1. So download the torrent file.
2. Double click it and open with utorrent.
3. utorrent will ask where you want to save the video file. This can be anywhere, I made a bike folder where I put all bike related things.
4. Hit ok, and you should start connecting to peers. (Unless you have firewalls or weird IP addresses...however, since you've never done bit torrent before, I'm guessing that you probably don't have your home network encrypted or anything crazy like that.)
5. Depending on your connection speed and how popular the file is kind of depends on how fast it will download. The more peers you connect to, usually the faster it goes.
6. Utorrent offers the option to begin streaming the file on your computer after a few minutes. I've never really done this before, not sure how well it works. Honestly, for files that were uploaded within the last day or two, I find I can usually download the file within 5-30 minutes, even the larger 3-4gb HD files.
7. It's nice to leave the video file where it is after you download it and keep utorrent open to keep sharing the file with others. Bit torrent is a sharing thing, you download from others and others download from you. If you download a ton of crap and don't upload, your share ratio goes to crap and you can no longer download other videos. I download a ton of crap, so I set up utorrent to share files at random times when I'm not around and don't need bandwidth. However, I'm also a little crazy and have a dedicated downloading/uploading server that works around the clock.

There's probably more help on their website or even just google how to use bit torrents and there should be tons of stuff. It's pretty easy after you do it once or twice.

The other thing to be careful of is viruses. I've never had a problem on the cycling site with any of their files, but when you start going to popular public sites to download the latest movie, you could get yourself into a lot of trouble. I would highly advise against that or get some awesome virus protection.

CbadRider

Moved from Road to Pro.

Rondog

Ok thanks Ed!

Zinger

Well my favorites probably aren't in contention for the GC.

So my pick is going to have to be Joaquim Rodriguez this year. I think it's his kind of race this year without a long TT and lots of climbing. I think Sky is hurt by Wiggins absence this year and Contador hasn't been on form just yet since his return.

Ken Brown

I am still hoping that Astana will enter Nibali because I think he would win. If not, it's hard to think that Froome wouldn't. I like Rodriguez but he always seems to find a way to avoid the top spot. Hoping for Hesjedal but I don't think he will be good enough for top spot.

Giacomo 1 

I have to believe it will be Froome, easily. Sky hasn't missed a beat without Wiggo as we saw in the Dauphine. That team is machine-like, and none of the other teams come close to their discipline and single-minded determination to get their guy, whoever it is, into the yellow jersey. I'm just hoping that somebody can at least make it more interesting than last years clinical, boring parade.

I think the sprints are going to be interesting though and the best part of the Tour. Watching Cav, Greipel and Sagan battle it out should be great, but I think there are some possibilities for upsets by Hushvod, Farrar, or Goss.

Cat4Lifer

I doubt he'd win, but I would also like to see Nibali there.

bikerjp

+1

I think I heard he was all about the Vuelta this year and the Tour (plus the Giro) would be too much so not expecting to see him there but who knows. Maybe he'll go for the tripple.

Cat4Lifer

Well, he won the Giro in May, and I read that his next stage race will be the Vuelta. So, even if he did show up in July, I think he'd probably make it into the top 5..maybe top three. But still, it would be nice to see him there.

diphthong

we get to see what the fuss is about with fuglsang for astana. i think he is the protected rider for the tdf. predicting a finish in the 9-13 range for him.

Cat4Lifer

^that will be a little interesting

diphthong

^i know, right? we'll see. it's always nice to see someone besides the usual suspects near the top of the respective classifications.

Zinger

Yeah my pick for Rodriguez assumes Nibali's absence. I'm hoping for underdog Americans to make the podium but wouldn't pick that way.

diphthong

let's go tejay!