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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 23, 2018 - 11:54am PT
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Taylor is a hoot!
A total cut up for the public, carrying on as he does, unscripted, with a loose goofiness that is quite refreshing.
I dig it when they put him in front of the camera to talk about the back story at the tour.
He likes to dabble in abstract painting, and his mother, Connie, is also an artist.
Lisa's mom once stayed at Taylor's condo when he was out of town, and I got to check out his work, which is fresh and whimsical, sometimes primitivist like the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. A while back, he dropped by our house with a training partner, mid-ride, to fill up their water bottles, and he's so tall, that standing in our entryway, which has a low ceiling, it looked like he was in a doll house! He was sporting that endorphin-brain-dead countenance people get from repeatedly pushing the aerobic threshold, and he kept darting his eyes up to the low ceiling, giving us a look like he was worried it might just start pressing down on him. Even a deadpan Taylor Phinney is a comic event!
I first met him when he was 12 years old. Lisa was working as a massage therapist for one of the Carpenter Phinney bike camps, based out of Frisco, Colorado. A young, very focused Taylor Phinney was out in the front of his parent's condo, on his bike doing drills, pulling slaloms between traffic cones. Connie ran the camps with all the will and bearing of a seasoned general. She stepped out onto the porch, issuing orders for the people who were standing around: "Okay everybody ... time for a little tête-à-tête! And Taylor: that's enough, put your bike away and come on in for something to eat!"
I got the feeling he would've stayed out there well past dark if she'd have let him. And it was the middle of the day.
I like that Taylor is reflective, philosophical, and really looks at the root of his motivation to ride hard.
As competitive and successful as he's been, he also embodies the soul surfer approach to sports, and I appreciate that in him:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Taylor, his art, and his dad:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Davis and Connie:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
..........................................................
Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson's:
https://www.davisphinneyfoundation.org/
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 23, 2018 - 12:42pm PT
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Here is an interview I did with Davis Phinney in around 2003(the article appeared in 2010) about an incident that happened at the 1990 Tour. It was basically the same stage as 2018's stage 12 to l'Alpe d'Huez. I think Davis regards this, and not his two Tour stage wins, as his finest moment as a pro.
---------------------------------------------------------------
While Taylor Phinney's recent U23 World Time Trial Championship and
decision to turn professional is generating lots of ink, it is worth
remembering that his father, Davis, won two stages of the Tour de France
and an Olympic Bronze medal. But, when asked about the cycling
accomplishment he is most proud of during his 10 year pro career the
ace sprinter didn't choose one of his more 100 wins, but of an incident
that evolved from the most important of all familial obligations.
In 1990 Davis and his wife, Connie, were expecting their first child in
mid-July and because of that, Davis opted to skip the Tour de France.
However, Connie gave birth on June 27th, two weeks early. With only
a few days before the start of the Tour, Davis called up team manager
Jim Ochowicz and asked if he could be of service to the team. The
answer was yes; Jim wanted a sprinter for the first week because Davis's
potential high placings on the daily stages would be a moral boost for
his 7-Eleven squad.
As it turned out teammate Steve Bauer got in a four-man break on the
first stage and took the yellow jersey. If that wasn't enough to
raise the moral of the team, Davis finished fourth a couple of days
later in the finish at Mont Saint Michel.
However, because he wasn't supposed to be going to the Tour, Davis
hadn't been logging the training necessary for the three week race and
by the tenth day, his lack of proper racing miles finally caught up with
him. Davis takes up the call of the day he considers his finest
ride as a racer.
"I got to the Alpe d'Huez stage and I was about as tired as I could be.
There were four passes in total and I got dropped on the second pass,
about 200 feet into the Col de Madeleine. I was 100 meters up the hill
and I was dropped."
"I soldiered on but at the top I was 20 minutes behind. I was totally
by myself with nobody in sight. I figured 'I am done. My race is quits.'
So, I kind of enjoyed the roll down the Madeleine. I knew there was a
feed zone on the other side. I was looking at the scenery for the first
time and reflecting on that I gave it my best shot and it wasn't meant
to be and I would be with my newborn son the next day."
"When I got to the feed zone I couldn't find anybody who had waited with
the 7-Eleven team car. I was pissed. I was thinking 'they couldn't even
wait for me to quit.' I went through town and finally at the last car,
at the last possible moment this hand swings out with a bag on it and
it said 7-Eleven on it. I grabbed it and slung it over my shoulder
and kept going."
"I turned left and headed up the [Col du] Glandon. I drank a couple of
Coca Colas. Put a few Power Bars in my pocket. And then I was just kicking
myself. 'You are such an idiot. Why didn't you stop?'"
"I was having this discourse with myself and the fans were packing up their
cars and leaving. But, then I got a little ways up the Glandon and people
were up there and saw that somebody was coming who looks like they have
a jersey that is part of the race so they started cheering for you."
"The magical thing that happens sometimes in athletics is that you just
start to feel better and somehow my legs came back. I started to realize
that maybe the whole reason for my existence was to get inside the time
limit at Alpe d'Huez on this particular day. I was just going to ride the
last 100km flat out and every mile of training, every hour spent freezing
in cold rain and snow and everything I have ever done is going to be put
into this one ride and I am going to make that time limit."
"I just started hauling my butt up the Glandon. I started getting more
and more momentum the whole way up. Towards the top I caught a Spanish
rider. I was so psyched that I had an ally. Then a motorcycle gendarme
pulled up alongside us at the top and I said 'Yes! I got someone to
work with. I got a gendarme. I am good to go. I am going to make it.'
Just as I was thinking all this stuff I heard a 'bang' and the guy's tire
blows out, the gendarme stops and I never see either of them again."
"So, I am back to being by myself riding like a maniac down the Glandon
taking every imaginable risk from the School of Sean Yates Descending.
I topped out at 108km/hr down the Glandon which is a very rough road,
but there is one straight stretch, steep pitch where I kept telling
myself 'don't brake, don't brake, don't brake,' because if you are going
to make time up going up the hill you have to make time up going down
the hill as well. I took every risk and I just flew off that climb."
"I came down the valley to the Alpe and as far as I could see there
was nothing. Two years before, in 1988, I had ridden down that valley
in the main group just feeling like a king. Here I was last in the
race, by myself, with nobody in sight."
"I got onto the Alpe, but it is a harsh climb because you go from
53x13 to a 39x23 within a few meters and you just have to get going.
I was getting really tired, but the beauty of the race took over."
"You get to the upper slopes and the road is completely closed off
to people. Miraculously a gendarme had come up to me on his motorcycle
and I was riding right on his wheel because it was the only way I
could get through the crowd. The fans were pouring water on my
head. The were raging for me just like they were for LeMond and
Bugno who had gone up 45 minutes ahead of me."
"You just lose the sense of pain and time and space and just live in
that moment. It is a wonderful, wonderful, almost frightening place
because you can just push yourself beyond any limit that you would
have ever set."
"I got up to the town and went through the town and dropped down
and took that left hand corner with 400 meters to go and I looked
up the road and they were dismantling the scaffolding. The scaffolding
for the finish line was going down and I was like 'oh God.' I shifted
into my 14 and sprinted up the hill with everything I had left and
I crossed the line and went to a complete stop and would have fallen
right over, but for Jim Ochowicz the only guy who waited for me."
"I leaned into him and I just sort of dissolved because at that point
I could let go of all the torment I had put myself under. I was
completely spent. I have never been so tired. I sat there for several
minutes collecting myself and then when I stopped rasping Jim leaned in
and said, 'Two minutes. You made it by two minutes.'"
"To me, that was probably my greatest victory. Making the time limit
at the Alpe in 1990 was probably my greatest victory because I found
a place in myself that I could go to that was a well that was much
deeper than I had ever anticipated."
And the name of Davis and Connie's child whose birthday is June 27?
It's Taylor.
The next season, his final year racing in Europe, Phinney won the US
Professional Road Race Championships. He retired at the end of 1993 and
quickly became an accomplished cycling commentator working alongside the
likes of Phil Liggett during US TV broadcasts.
In 1999 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which forced him
to retire from his second career. But as Phinney points out, "being
at home allowed me to be there with my children while they were growing
up." He founded the non-profit Davis Phinney Foundation
(www.davisphinneyfoundation.org) in 2004 which is dedicated to
inspiring and informing those affected by Parkinson's Disease.
"I needed to define my own cure. I started thinking about all those bike
race victories - and how the feeling - the elation of winning, make all
the training, all the toil worth it. I realized that those victories could
still occur, I just needed to adjust my perspective on where the finish
lines were and what counted as a win," said Phinney on his foundation's website.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 23, 2018 - 01:58pm PT
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Good one, Bruce!
Davis describing his dig deep experience, striving to make the time cut for L'Alpe D'Huez :
"You just lose the sense of pain and time and space and just live in
that moment. It is a wonderful, wonderful, almost frightening place
because you can just push yourself beyond any limit that you would
have ever set."
"To me, that was probably my greatest victory. Making the time limit
at the Alpe in 1990 was probably my greatest victory because I found
a place in myself that I could go to that was a well that was much
deeper than I had ever anticipated."
I also just read your Peloton piece.
Now that's a story: a stillborn American team constructed specifically for the TDF. Crap!
In a few short months, Fraysse had found a sponsor, assembled a team of soon-to-be-pro amateurs and found a savvy and seasoned ex-pro to direct the team. But, just as unexpectedly as Lévitan had extended the invitation, a month before the Tour, the invitation was rescinded. No reason was given at that time…and 36 years later it remains a mystery.
https://pelotonmagazine.com/features/the-untold-story-americas-first-tour-de-france-team/
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 23, 2018 - 02:13pm PT
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Never did meet Davis but I did meet Connie, after she won gold in the 84 Olypics. I was a young 'jarhead', stationed at the MCAS El Toro. They had a few of us Marines go down to the course in San Juan Cap to be glorified water bottle filler-upers and misc gear haulers. It was then, I was helping the U.S. Cycling team collect up a few of their gear bags and I ran into Connie. She was dialed in yet relaxed enough to engage in a short convo with me. She timed her finish so well. "Bye bye Frenchie!"
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 23, 2018 - 02:40pm PT
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Loved it when Taylor "snuck" away during Stage 4 of 2014 Tour Of California after everyone was trying to recover from the ascent of San Marcos Pass. Clever!!! Even the combined efforts of Cannondale and UHC couldn't reel him back. Took that stage in classic fashion! Unfortunately, almost 2 weeks later, he had a terrible crash descending Lookout Mountain in Chattanoga, TN. Got a chance to check out his 'Frankenstein' as he called it. LOL! Amazing comback from such a horrific accident. Davis and Connie have to be super proud!
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 23, 2018 - 07:00pm PT
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I love seeing first time stage winners win!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 23, 2018 - 07:45pm PT
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No doubt. Nielsen. First stage win in a TDF: it's like a first big wall! Or first big wall FA!
Cripes: check out Taylor Phinney after his stage win in the Amgen, he takes a fully realized, formal theatrical bow!
Immaculate poise coupled with fullbore, tongue-in-cheek humor!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 23, 2018 - 09:20pm PT
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Here's my prediction on what's going to happen in the Pyrenees. There are really only two teams and three riders who are in a position to win the overall. Thomas and Froome of Team Sky and Dumoulin of Sunweb. Roglic is a dark horse because he can time trial very well, but after that, unless somebody goes early and long, it's really the first three.
The problem is that Dumoulin is only 11 seconds back of Froome which means that if Thomas has a melt down or even a partial meltdown it could come down to a battle in the final TT between Froome and Dumoulin. In 2018, Dumoulin is the better time trialist and he could easily erase an 11 second deficit. BTW, even if all the current time gaps held, it would also be close between Thomas and the other two in a TT.
So, Team Sky is going to have to attack Dumoulin. The problem is that on steady gradient climbs, Dumoulin has shown that he can match the two Team Sky riders. What Sky needs is a stair-stepped climb like the Mortirolo in Italy or the Angliru in Spain where the gradient varies greatly. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of the climbs in France, especially the ones used in the big races are very constant grade.
In looking at the three stages in the Pyrenees it is hard to find a climb with a stair-stepped grade. So, that means that Team Sky will probably have to resort to a one-two punch of having Froome then Thomas or Thomas then Froome attack Dumoulin in hopes that the relentless accelerations to cover the attacks simulate the stair-stepped nature of varying gradient climb and/or that Dumoulin finally just gets tired and can't even keep pace on the constant grade climbs.
Sure, we will probably see Bernal on the front riding tempo, but I don't think Dumoulin, given his demonstrated form so far, is going to falter in that scenario. Team Sky is going to have to attack and it will have to be either Froome or Thomas or most likely both. Those guys need to increase their time gaps over Turbo Tom.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jul 23, 2018 - 11:20pm PT
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^^^^ I woulda thought Le Blaireau would be a better puncher!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 24, 2018 - 12:28am PT
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I sent my prediction about the Pyrenees to Paul Sherwen. Here's his reply.
"I like it and pretty much agree with you - Roglic is the dark horse - no real reference points - the 65kms stage could be Dumoulin's undoing"
Here is what Phil Liggett had to say.
"Not bad an analysis - got it about right, I think!"
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 24, 2018 - 04:45am PT
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Couple of troubling events reported in the pre-race coverage this morning:
Protesters against local economic conditions blocked the road with hay bales at 20K, Gendarmes discharged pepper spray and the wind blew it back into rider's faces, including Sagan.
Also, stage #15, Sky rider Gianni Moscon took a swing at the guy in the white jersey (Latour) and was kicked out of the race.
G Leads Froome by 1:39 at the start of this 218 K stage, #16, first in the Pyrenees.
[So far, no mention of Hildenbrand's prediction (!)]
..................
[edit] There it is: live commentary (NBC) exactly as described by Bruce, though just this first part:
There are really only two teams and three riders who are in a position to win the overall. Thomas and Froome of Team Sky and Dumoulin of Sunweb. Roglic is a dark horse because he can time trial very well, but after that, unless somebody goes early and long, it's really the first three.
 All that other detail about stepped course configuration is interesting stuff.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2018 - 06:00am PT
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I love the “Phinney Diaries.” However, I still occasionally, like Phil, refer to Taylor as Davis. It might be early onset senility, me not Phil! LOL
I’m sure it’s a partial byproduct of having followed racing for so long.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 24, 2018 - 07:24am PT
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All he was lacking was a cape!
I was surprised his wheel didn't taco, then I remembered carbon fiber ...
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 24, 2018 - 09:11pm PT
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The finishing climb of tomorrow short, but very tough, stage is the Col du Portet. Actually, this climb shares it's start in Saint Lary Soulan with the more well known Pla d'Adet which has been used many times before and is where George Hincapie won a stage in 2005. The road splits about 8km(and 10% average grade)up the climb with Pla d'Adet heading up and left after a big hairpin.
Col du Portet goes right/straight and basically goes nowhere. It serves as access to the ski lifts and a few small farms. When I rode it in 2004, the portion after the split was mostly gravel with a few poorly paved sections. Hopefully, the road surface has been improved, but if not, it should add to the difficulty of the final climb.
Here's the start of the climb in Saint Lary Soulan.
At the split, here's the sign at the start of the actual Col du Portet.
Here's what the initial switchbacks look like from Pla d'Adet.
The road surface in 2004.
Switchbacks!
More switchbacks!
Tunnel!
Nearing the top!
A great climb!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Jul 24, 2018 - 09:19pm PT
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Holy crap...
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Mill Valley, Ca
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Jul 24, 2018 - 09:42pm PT
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Wed morning should be a good 'un. Setting the alarm for 5:30am (PST).
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 25, 2018 - 04:53am PT
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Here's the profile of the Col du Portet.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 25, 2018 - 05:57am PT
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Philippe Gilbert out with a fractured patella.
After he went over the wall, the man likely finished stage 16 on a cocktail of adrenaline, hope, and denial.
(Nevermind whatever pill the medics gave him on the scene.)
And Julian Alaphilippe's win really showed us how much bike racing, on an individual level, though relying on a foundation of talent, athleticism, riding skills, and training ...
At the end of the day (literally) it's all about patience, tactics, timing, and execution.
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