After 3 weeks of nightly reports from OLN about the Giro, I tuned in last night at 7PM EDT and caught two 1/2 hour segments on Eddy Merckx and the Climbs of the Tour. The programs were called "Road to the Tour de France". The Eddy Merckx piece had some great footage with closeups of his bicycles and jerseys--I was very glad that Brett Horton had graciously shared some of Eddy's jerseys at Cirque. The footage of Luis Ocana's wreck in the Tour (70?) was spectacular. The next segment was about the famous climbs with some terrific footage of the Pyrenees when the roads were not much more than unpaved goat paths. How the riders survived is beyond me. And, of course, it included Tommy Simpson's death and showed closeups of him falling off the bike and though he laid on the ground, he clung to the handlebars as if he would arise any moment. Aldo Ross's 1949 Giro reports really helped me to understand better what I was watching. To me, while I don't collect from before 1970, it is part of our hobby and very much interests me to read, watch, and learn about the riders and their equipment. Knowing the history only makes the current races that much more enjoyable. I don't have a TV guide or OLN menu, but I suspect OLN will air more interesting articles leading up to the Tour. If anybody knows about these "retro" presentations and the schedule, pls share. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL
_______________________________________________
Classicrendezvous mailing list
Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
http://www.bikelist.org/