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Motorcycles in Pro Racing - Too Many ?

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Motorcycles in Pro Racing - Too Many ?

Old 07-28-18, 10:23 AM
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Homebrew01
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Motorcycles in Pro Racing - Too Many ?

What's with all the motorcycles ??
Cluttering up the road,
Pushing their way through the pack.
Kicking up extra dust on cobbles.
Providing wind break for leaders.
Caused Taylor Phinney's terrible crash a few years ago.

At least do something useful and run over annoying spectators on tight climbs.
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Old 07-28-18, 10:26 AM
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I was watching a MotoGP race the other day, and there were bikes just everywwere, all over the track. Way too many bikes.
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Old 07-28-18, 07:35 PM
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If the motorcycles weren't there wrecks would not be as readily attended to or noted (several of them have cameras I have noted). The incident with Phinney was very unfortunate but hey, weren't police and farmers fighting with tear fas the other day and the race was halted when the canisters were hurled into the race course?

Aren't there also support cars in that mix?

Tear gas! Not your average problem in the TdF!
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Old 07-28-18, 08:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Homebrew01
What's with all the motorcycles ??
At least do something useful and run over annoying spectators on tight climbs.

This
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Old 07-29-18, 07:05 PM
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THAT would be a Road Rally.
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Old 07-29-18, 07:22 PM
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agree, too many motos. team, medical, and sponsor cars are enough

on the flip side of that, whatever vehicles are filming the head of the peleton and breaks are phenomenal. if that's the motos then i would hate to do without those looks at the race
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Old 07-29-18, 07:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Rollfast
If the motorcycles weren't there wrecks would not be as readily attended to or noted (several of them have cameras I have noted). The incident with Phinney was very unfortunate but hey, weren't police and farmers fighting with tear fas the other day and the race was halted when the canisters were hurled into the race course?

Aren't there also support cars in that mix?

Tear gas! Not your average problem in the TdF!
I'm not suggesting they all be removed, but looks like twice as many as needed.
And they don't need to be giving riders drafts, and forcing their way through riders, making the riders accommodate them.
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Old 07-29-18, 10:05 PM
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Within a decade, many of the motorcycles may be replaced with drones.

An option might be to require any team support or neutral support vehicle also allow cameras, and perhaps an embedded reporter.

One could probably mount 4 high res cameras on the corners of the car, and have one person simply controlling camera zoom and angles, and get some good video.

This was from a couple of years ago.
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Old 07-30-18, 02:12 AM
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Originally Posted by Homebrew01
What's with all the motorcycles ??
Cluttering up the road,
Pushing their way through the pack.
Kicking up extra dust on cobbles.
Providing wind break for leaders.
Caused Taylor Phinney's terrible crash a few years ago.

At least do something useful and run over annoying spectators on tight climbs.
Motorcycles are indispensable to any professional bike race. There are the police motos, the TV camera motos covering breaks, pursuits, the front and back of the peloton, still camera motos, an official regulator moto (red) to control the motos and a medical moto. In addition there's neutral drinks motos and on tight mountain climbs neutral mechanical assistance motos.

Which motos would you cut?
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Old 07-30-18, 05:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Caretaker
Which motos would you cut?
The ones not propelled solely by pedaling.
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Old 07-30-18, 12:26 PM
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I remember that day when Johnny Hoogerland got punted into a barbed-wire by a french camera car.

i was sure that after that, the Tour would really crack down on stupid, unskilled, ignorant, unaware drivers and mot-pilots.

Hahahahaha.
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Old 07-30-18, 02:27 PM
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In the beginning of the TDF, cyclists had to do their own maintenance, and if their fork broke, had to re-weld their fork by themselves, or forfeit the race.

And, no live action cameras.

A lot has changed in the last century, but there are still races like the Trans America Bike Race that is supposed to be self supported. Not drawing the attention of the TDF.

Is there less vehicle traffic riding on an open course than riding on a closed course?
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Old 07-30-18, 04:16 PM
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They ride with much more traffic than I ever see. And they often aren't getting three feet. The need for support is understandable, but to the casual fan it seems the number of support vehicles is insane. However, as a casual fan I also have to assume that if the riders and the organizers seem to think this system works and they know a lot more about it than I do.
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