Michael Barry on race radios

[fiamme red]

http://nyvelocity.com/content/2009/michael-barry-interview-and-podcast

Barry Bike racing in general is very formulaic. Stage races are the same. There’s a pattern to the races. With radios now, the races are far more formulaic and almost predictable.

schmalz Well, you're going to find out next year, maybe, without radios

Barry Maybe. You can see it already in the Under-23 races, in the World Championships, there’s a lot more attacking; the races come to pieces quicker; the way teams ride – they’re not nearly as organized as they were a few years ago with radios. The racing’s more interesting, for sure.

schmalz I think you’re more on the side of not having race radios, is that correct?

Barry Definitely.

schmalz Because you just want the racing to be less formulaic and you know what? The races with radios seem to come from the cars, instead the racers.

Barry Oh, definitely. Ninety percent of the way the teams react is coming from directions from the director.

schmalz To me, to have the director so involved with the radios takes away a big element from bike racing, which is that you have to be tactical and you have to be smart.

Barry Exactly. It’s interesting. Lance used this cliché: he said that cycling is similar to chess on wheels. Well, it is. This tactical element is a huge factor in cycling. It’s what makes it so interesting to the public, yet cycling now is a lot more like checkers: you know what’s going to happen.

schmalz Also, if you’re not a good tactical racer, you should be given the opportunity to lose the race. I don’t want some dumb strong guy winning every race. I want someone who’s a little cagey to get in there and win the race.

Barry For sure. I agree.

schmalz It makes it more exciting, it makes for more breaks, it makes for the type of racing that everyone loves. (Claudio) Chiapucci’s big long attack might not have happened in the age of radios.

Barry Definitely.

schmalz And that's what everyone talks about; that’s what they love about cycling and radios would take that away.

Barry Yeah. The Tour de France this year was boring and I think a lot of that was because you had two strong teams with one team dominating the flat stages and one team dominating the mountain stages, and the whole race was controlled by the directors.

[MattTuck]

Interesting.

I see the value in radios, especially for safety reasons.

Maybe they should do like the NFL and allow just the team captain to have communication with the director...

I dunno.

[rcnute]

I was watching Stars and Watercarriers last night. Lot more interesting than the Tours today.

[Elefantino]

In the old days, dropping back to the team car meant more than getting water bottles.

Safety, schmafety.

Ban radios. More breakaways. Better racing.

What are the teams going to do? Stay home?

[Richard]

"I see the value in radios, especially for safety reasons"

That's like arguing the radar and lidar detectors are used for safety reasons, IMHO.

[MattTuck]

That's like arguing the radar and lidar detectors are used for safety reasons, IMHO.

If there is a crash, especially on a fast descent, some altercation with fans or protesters, or some other hazard on the course such as a train crossing/animals in the road, terrorist threat, etc., I think radios serve a purpose of communicating critical and time sensitive information to the whole peloton that would be impossible otherwise.

It is frankly surprising to me that professional cycling hasn't suffered a major terrorist attack given the public nature of race routes and close proximity to the racers that the public is allowed.

I'm not sure how that use of radios is like a radar detector. In my view, these guys risk their safety on a regular basis for the entertainment of others, I would like to believe they deserve atleast some form of instantaneous communication of developing course hazards.

[bzbvh5]

I'm for getting rid of the race radios as long as they keep the directors from driving their cars into the peleton to give instructions which I fear would happen.

Radios won't prevent terrorist activity. Anyone remember the pelot gun boys. Radio didn't stop them.

[MattTuck]

Definitely didn't mean to suggest that radios would PREVENT terrorist activity, (If that is how it came across, my mistake)

I only meant that in the case of a scenario affecting rider safety, the riders could be informed via the radio. Such an attack was just one of a number of scenarios in which radio communication directly to riders would be important.

[thwart]

I see it now:

"Chance Legstrong found with wire and antenna installed in his bike and helmet in violation of UCI rules. Suspended for 90 days"

Radio-doping! :rolleyes:

[Marcusaurelius]

Well if radios are banned, I think carbon rims should also be banned. If you want to have some real racing, they should get rid of the pansy ergo and sti shifters and make everyone use friction down tube shifters on lugged steel frames and forks. That would be racing none of this silly modern stuff.

[stephenmarklay]

I see it both ways. I like the idea of no radio and I think it would make for more interesting racing and a lot more heroes and a lot less domination.

On the flip side it is a team sport and like any team sport a lot of it is won on the side lines.

[Steve in SLO]

...you need radio-equipped race martials at critical points on the course with yellow or red flags. If a crash or other problem arises along the road ahead, the martial is instructed to wave a flag to let riders know. Works on every race track I have ever driven on, why not in a bike race?

[false_Aest]

It is frankly surprising to me that professional cycling hasn't suffered a major terrorist attack given the public nature of race routes and close proximity to the racers that the public is allowed.



***

[r_mutt]

matttuck-

you sound a bit paranoid. live free or die!


:)