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Mapping The Tour de France Riders From Space
Roland Piquepaille writes "It was just a matter of time before someone gets the idea of using satellite localization to map the positions of the cyclists of the Tour de France. In a first test on July 21 during the ascension to l'Alpe d'Huez, ten riders were equipped with receivers and tracked by the EGNOS European satellite positioning system, a preparatory programme for the Galileo system. The European Space Agency (ESA) reports about this first test in "The best view of the Tour is from space." It's highly possible that all riders can get receivers as soon as next year. And this data will be available on the Web, so you will know in real time the exact location of your favorite champion. Read this summary for more details and a computer-generated image showing the respective positions of Lance Armstrong and Richard Virenque, the top-ranked climber, while climbing to the top of l'Alpe d'Huez."
They are tracked with GPS receivers. EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System) is the European equivalent of WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System). These systems reduce the distortions introduced by atmospheric effects by measuring the distortions at a number of base stations with known locations and transmitting the distortion map via geostationary satellites.
Sometimes events inside the peloton go unwatched by commentators who are paying more attention to the leaders who have broken away from the main group. It would be nice to be able to see the jockeying that occurs between teams and individuals.
The data feed could also be used to help keep track of riders as they go after the green (points) jersey. This is a really exciting part of the Tour de France that never really gets as much attention as it deserves.
Let's hope this data gets put to good use. Kudos to the ESA!
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
This would be a good use of APRS (automatic position reporting system). The basic idea is that you plug a gps into a handheld HAM radio, and the radio transmits your position at periodic intervals.
-jim
Hey, slashdot, how about moving a little quicker on the submissions now and then. This info would have been nifty about 3 days ago. Seeing as I just watched Lance roll through Paris I suppose we're now just early for next year.
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I am a medical doctor and confirm that this is in fact TRUE, however, I have to keep my identity secret ala DEEP THROAT. We do indeed lace cancer drugs with undetectable performance enhancing drugs. contact me at frenchsnob@hatesamericans.com to set up a meeting.
Man, if Lance beat riders from space, I have even more respect for him. Those guys have, like, photon torpedos and shit on their bikes!
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
On that (Alpe D'Huez) stage Armstrongs bike was 2grams less than the permitted UCI minimum weight of 6kg. Not a large amount, but they actually had to add weight to his bike.
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This sig is inoffensive.
there we go again... Brandt was tested positive on Methadon, a substance that DOES NOT HELP cycling better. It's some sort of pain killer.
/. population that would make it up alpe d'huez... even with all the dope they wanted.
Additionally, the dose was miniscule. So small that it is impossible to have any advantage or even effect whatshowever. It is very likely that he's the victim of eating something which contained some Methadon without his knowledge. (did you know for instance that tap water in many cities contains high traces of Oestrogen ? Does that make you a transexual ?)
Those athletes work and live on the edge where NONE OF US HERE has ever been and will ever be. Cycling, especially the Tour de France is the most intense and demanding sport on earth. Those guys burn up to 12.000calories in one day (insert lame joke here) andthey have no choice but to nurse their bodies at perfection. That includes vitamins and food supplements that are on the edge of what's allowed. But ON THE EDGE is not equal to OVER THE EDGE. Each of these guys goes as far as his doctor tells him. The slightest mistake tests them positive.
Don't be one of those bystanders booing 'cycling is all about dope !'. The sport is insane, the competition is insane, the food is insane too. There are surely some dopeheads, as in every sport. But armstrong for instance, gets tested EVERY DAY. Also at home, at unexpected times. Outside racing season.
irst come to live in a racing country (I'm from Belgium) and experience cycling first handed. There's probably less than 1% of the
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
Having stood along with the crowds along the Champs-Elysee on the last day of the Tour, I don't know if I'd call it "riveting".
The last day is mostly for the cameras and the crowds. The winner is already known and has practically no chance of losing at that point. The leaders don't even bother trying to win the stage and come in waaaaay in the back of pack, often over 20 seconds behind the stage leader. 20 seconds doesn't seem like a lot, but that actually puts them at the back of the pack. Lance is known to drink champaigne and chat with reporters while "racing" on his last day.
This year, Lance came in 114th.
The last day of the Tour is a lot of fun with the crowds, the booths, the parades (lots of parades) and the music, but its not "riveting". However, I did get lots of great photos and movies as they passed me over 20 times!
The
On the flipside, every bit of rotating weight you shave off the wheels counts far more than relatively stationary weight on the frame or componentry. Those wheels Armstrong rode up Alpe d'Huez with were around 1000g for the set; compare with the Ksyrium Equipes on my road bike at 1670g. Truly use-once-and-throw-away event-specific stuff... anyone over 200lbs gets on those, they fold up like pringles.
The pain was excruciating and the scarring is likely permanent, but that just means it's working.
If they started using the helicopter cams for the sprints. They're always filming the sprints from ground-based cameras in front of the riders with ridiculous amounts of zoom. You have no chance to see who's in the lead or who's coming up fast or falling behind. Instead you have to rely on the commentator stuttering the name of whatever rider's in the lead. Hey, it's not radio, it's TV - I want to see it.
They've got the chopper hanging around all afternoon anyway, so what's the big deal?
Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.
If Armstrong comes back for another try next year, he'd have to worry about giving some of the spectators his exact coordinates. Today: spit, tomorrow: precision guided munitions.
Cite please?
It has been ages since a French cyclist dominated the tour like the non-French cyclists have been doing for the past editions. As far as I know, the French cycling public, like their like-minded counterparts in the rest of Europe having nothing but respect for Lance Armstrong (with the exception of some nagging doubt about him being dope-free, but that goes for every cyclist in the top-10 in the Tour).
Mart"I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
I think the point of testing for methadone in cycling is two-fold :
1. Methadone can be a painkiller, which means that perhaps a cyclist could push harder despite the pain and cramping from lactic acid buildup in the muscles.
2. As mentioned above, methadone is most commonly used to treat heroin addiction, so the presence on methadone NOW could possibly indicate the use of drugs previously in the year.
Regardless of how it got into his system, they have to follow the rules. Accidentally ingested methadone? That's a tad far-fetched, don't you think? What kind of team chef is this guy working with that allows drugs to fall into the pot of pasta? And what kind of team doctor wouldn't be on the lookout for the banned substances when keeping an athlete on a medical regimen?
While I don't agree with the comment in reference to Lance Armstrong, Greg LeMond was somewhat on target when he said, "In cycling, there are no miracles, only explanations." There's an explanation for the methadone in Brandt's blood and someday the truth will surface.
But, the result would be that athletes have very short life spans (including many that would die while competing), and people who care about their long term health would not be able to compete effectively.
you clearly have no idea what top athles eat. Do yo really think these guys eat sandwiches during the race ???
Please dude, inform yourself before making a joke. racing food is developed by laboratories that also work on food for astronauts and fighter-pilots : i.e. eating under extreme conditions.
As i said in my previous post : top-athletes like Armstrong & Ullrich burn up to 12.000 calories in 6 hours. That would be about 100 sandwiches i guess.... No way you can intake such amount of energy trhu ordinary food. They eat liquid food & powerbars during the race. Food that is made in proportion to what their body needs and can absorb. There are dozens of vitamin and mineral additions in it that we probably don't even know. They have a team of doctors and food specialists to balance the diet and add whatever the body seems to lack (they have blood taken before & after every race to balance the diet). Do you really think these racers have time or energy or interest to follow tat up ? They blindly trust their doctors and hope nobody messes it up. Armstrong will never take any drink from a spectator offering it, even during the heaviest climb when he badly wants to drink. The risk that there's something forbidden in it is just not worth it. Do you think that these guys would just go hupla and as you phrase it "have a methadon sandwich" ?
puhlease...
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
There's a low limit weight on the bikes. 6.8 kg I think. Lance's bike was under that, and they had to add stuff to make it heavier. They can easily add a 100g or so device, and stay at the 6.8kg mark.
It's now not so much a matter of making the bike lighter, as what part to make lighter.
They (Postal) use special lightweight clothes for the climbing stages. No joke.