Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

Bicycle Racing in the Bush: Tour de Faso

Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Bicycle Racing in the Bush: Tour de Faso

Old 12-12-08, 06:10 PM
  #1  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Bicycle Racing in the Bush: Tour de Faso

Did anyone catch this African stage race on Versus? Dirt roads, cheesy bicycles (some of them), the competitors sleeping each night in tents in makeshift campgrounds (and they complain about the Tour de France hotels). Man, that's amazing. Who goes to that race? There seemed to be a mix of Euro semi-pros and African teams from places like Libya and Cameroon. Paul Sherwin was the announcer, but I sort of wondered if he just did a voice over on the videotape.

Don't ask me why, but I really like that crazy race.
patentcad is offline  
Old 12-12-08, 06:18 PM
  #2  
Up on the Down Side
 
CyLowe97's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago(ish)
Posts: 6,334
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 4 Posts
I liked the race better when it was Vuelta de Upper Volta.
CyLowe97 is offline  
Old 12-12-08, 06:21 PM
  #3  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Originally Posted by CyLowe97
I liked the race better when it was Vuelta de Upper Volta.
If it returns to Upper Volta the race will be Re-Volta-ing.
patentcad is offline  
Old 12-12-08, 06:29 PM
  #4  
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 30
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I liked it last year when Paul made the comment about a rider who had been dropped due to a breakdown "At least there are no big cats in this area to worry about".
missing is offline  
Old 12-12-08, 06:37 PM
  #5  
No matches
 
Flatballer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 11,647

Bikes: two wheeled ones

Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1398 Post(s)
Liked 444 Times in 250 Posts
I caught one stage. It was pretty interesting to watch them racing on those dirt roads and crap.

Some guys had worse bikes than me.
Flatballer is offline  
Old 12-12-08, 07:06 PM
  #6  
slowest!
 
dsellinger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NW WA
Posts: 628

Bikes: Felt, Atala, Kona

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Not on my VS listing at all...
dsellinger is offline  
Old 12-12-08, 07:12 PM
  #7  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Originally Posted by Flatballer
I caught one stage. It was pretty interesting to watch them racing on those dirt roads and crap.

Some guys had worse bikes than me.
Some pro racer in one of the breakaways looked like he was riding on a lower line, 4-5 year old aluminum Trek. It was not the Giro boys. The gear level on the Nyack Ride is probably better than the @ Tour de Faso. That is hard core bicycle racing however. But flat. Very, very, very flat.
patentcad is offline  
Old 12-12-08, 07:18 PM
  #8  
Forum Moderator
 
cb400bill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Kalamazoo MI
Posts: 21,324

Bikes: Fuji SL2.1 Carbon Di2 Cannondale Synapse Alloy 4 Trek Checkpoint ALR-5 Viscount Aerospace Pro Colnago Classic Rabobank Schwinn Waterford PMount Raleigh C50 Cromoly Hybrid Legnano Tipo Roma Pista

Mentioned: 58 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3059 Post(s)
Liked 6,379 Times in 3,692 Posts
I caught it a few weeks ago. Fun to watch.

Those guys had lots of flats. Most of the non-Euros had little bike strategy but lots of enthusiasm. One guy tried to break away at the start of every leg.

It was either a Belgian or a Frenchman who won, right? Either way, IIRC he was quite emotional.
__________________












cb400bill is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 11:18 AM
  #9  
Ninja cyclist
 
Dago's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 269
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
This thread is worthless without pics.
Dago is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 11:55 AM
  #10  
Senior Member
 
furiousferret's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Redlands, CA
Posts: 6,313
Mentioned: 31 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 842 Post(s)
Liked 469 Times in 250 Posts
I enjoyed it as well, nice for the people of Africa to have some type of stepping stone into the ProTour.

Some of the crashes were pretty interesting, like the cyclist who crashed into the support car. That one just looked bad.
furiousferret is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 12:36 PM
  #11  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Originally Posted by Dago
This thread is worthless without pics.
They don't have photography in friggin Africa. Get serious.
patentcad is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 01:15 PM
  #12  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posts: 120

Bikes: 2008 Trek 2.3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I caught it a month or more ago. where were u?
flyguy676 is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 01:31 PM
  #13  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Originally Posted by flyguy676
I caught it a month or more ago. where were u?
Tivo. It's like a video time warp.
patentcad is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 01:36 PM
  #14  
Senior Member
 
Dubbayoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 7,681

Bikes: Pedal Force QS3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I've watched it 2-3 times. Almost all the race is on unpaved roads. The African teams are riding 10 year old sh*t. Flats are routine.
Dubbayoo is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 01:38 PM
  #15  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Originally Posted by Dubbayoo
I've watched it 2-3 times. Almost all the race is on unpaved roads. The African teams are riding 10 year old sh*t. Flats are routine.
Yeah, those old bikes were the bomb. That race is the anti-Schwag.
patentcad is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 01:40 PM
  #16  
Senior Member
 
Bontrager's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 2,339

Bikes: Road, MTB, Folding, Commuting bikes...

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
3 or 4 years ago it was some other announcer and it sucked really bad. I'm glad Paul Sherwin is announcing it. I wonder what would happen if the various African teams had access to the $ and training that Euro riders have. They seemed to be outclassed and outequipped by the few Euro teams that were there but it was definately different than watchine a Euro tour.
Bontrager is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 02:32 PM
  #17  
Banned.
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,363
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 15 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Half of one team did not evan make it to the start of the race. One of their team cars broke down so they put their best riders in the remaining car with a few bikes and thats what they raced with.

Team cars with roof racks were not in use, quick pop open the trunk and dig out a spare wheel. There there was the team wrench replacing the tube in a tire and pumping it up with a floor pump to get the rider back on the road.

No mavic support to be seen.

Alot of the race was on paved roads there was some dirt. Most notable of the dirt was the finishing circut on one of the stages.
Cyclist01012 is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 04:42 PM
  #18  
Young and unconcerned
 
Treefox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Merry Land
Posts: 4,123

Bikes: Yeah, I got a few.

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I've seen articles and photos of this in the past - awesome race.
Treefox is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 04:45 PM
  #19  
Young and unconcerned
 
Treefox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Merry Land
Posts: 4,123

Bikes: Yeah, I got a few.

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Found this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3bry...next=1&index=7
Treefox is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 05:57 PM
  #20  
Senior Member
 
vmajor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Posts: 74

Bikes: Velocite prototypes, Velocite Selene, Velocite Flux, Banshee Rune

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Treefox

Thank you for the link!

Really hardcore (raw) and very nice to see.

V.
vmajor is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 06:00 PM
  #21  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
It would be considerably more entertaining if a guy off the back would get picked off by a pride of lions and eaten for the Versus TV cameras. Then instead of looking for TV choppers in the sky you could tell where the competitor was by the vultures.
patentcad is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 06:27 PM
  #22  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 206
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Awesome!

Seriously, we needa have somebody finance those African teams. Something good can come out of that.
NeelsGap86 is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 06:30 PM
  #23  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Originally Posted by NeelsGap86
Something good can come out of that.
Cite something specific. Because all I can think of is road running where a bunch of toothpick faceless African dudes with names I can't pronounce dominate the sport. Oh, that sounds like Big Fun right there.
patentcad is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 06:47 PM
  #24  
Senior Member
 
Dubbayoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 7,681

Bikes: Pedal Force QS3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by patentcad
Cite something specific. Because all I can think of is road running where a bunch of toothpick faceless African dudes with names I can't pronounce dominate the sport. Oh, that sounds like Big Fun right there.
Because that would surely be much worse than a bunch of toothpick faceless European dudes with names we can't pronounce dominating the sport, wouldn't it?


Dubbayoo is offline  
Old 12-13-08, 06:51 PM
  #25  
Peloton Shelter Dog
Thread Starter
 
patentcad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Chester, NY
Posts: 90,508

Bikes: 2017 Scott Foil, 2016 Scott Addict SL, 2018 Santa Cruz Blur CC MTB

Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1142 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Originally Posted by Dubbayoo
Because that would surely be much worse than a bunch of toothpick faceless European dudes with names we can't pronounce dominating the sport, wouldn't it?


I can relate to toothpick Euro dudes from Italy and Belgium. I can't relate to African guys named Juma Ikangaa from Upper friggin Volta. Sorry. That's not racism. Those African guys strike me as being from another planet. I can relate to B. Obama. Maybe Barack can ride the Tour de France.
patentcad is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.