Measuring the time gap between groups in the Tour de France

[super slim]

Dear fellow Cruzbike Riders,
I know this is not about Cruzbikes, but on the SBS TV coverage of the Tour De France, there are very regular time gap updates. I have googled lots, and asked Diamond bike forums, all with no answers!I can think of three methods.
1 There are Official yellow bikes that fly past the break away group, stops, then times the gap to the Peloton, then ride back to the break away group(s) to tell then the time.
2 There is a helicopter, that flys to a stop , hovers in the air, then times the gap to the Peloton.
3 They use the yellow GPS transponders on the bikes, to work out the distance gap and general speed (of Breakaway OR Peloton) and work out the time gap.

Does anyone know?

Regards

Super Slim

 

[John Tolhurst]

I think its as simple as noting the time you see the leader pass a marking on the road, and subtracting the time that you see the peleton mass the mark. If the peleton is catching, the time difference will be understated, as the peleton will have closed some distance while we wait to take their reading, and vice versa.

I like watching how the riders use their whole back during every pedal stroke. It confirms for me that the cruzbike full body involvement is very very real.

 

[JonB]

johntolhurst wrote: I like watching how the riders use their whole back during every pedal stroke. It confirms for me that the cruzbike full body involvement is very very real.

Does this mean you will get a team and enter the Race Across AMeria? like RANS bilkes?

 

[trapdoor2]

It is both simple and very complex. Yes, each rider has a transponder on his bike. Each broadcasts a unique code keyed to the rider, etc. The timing company (it is a large computer company that specializes in timing races, etc.) goes forth before every race and lays pickup loops along the race course. As each rider passes over these loops (wires across the road), they are picked up and the data is recorded. Back in 2004, this system could discriminate between something like 60 riders running thru abreast. I'm sure todays system is more capable. Common loop spots are those big inflatable kilometer markers (5km, 2km, 1km, etc.) and spots where there might be sprint or climb points. These catch who wins the sprints/climbs and tells who wins what points and eventually which jersey.

The computer system does all the work and data is provided in real time to the teams as well as the broadcasters covering the race. There is other telemetry involved as well (such as real time speed readouts, etc.) but I'm not sure who gets what from where. No humans involved though...nobody's carried a stopwatch in years.

 

[John Tolhurst]

Yes for sure its not done by hand. Transponders eh? Would you do that with RFID? .. Anyhow.

JonB, a team cruzbike RAAM is not out of the question, but you know these things require a lot of organisation and planning. We at cruzbike are still needing to be very discriminating on where we put our efforts. Principally my focus is on design. I want to continue building the product line. Maria's result gives impetus to my plans for a fast bike. I intended the Silvio to be fast, yes, but to still have the qualities to make it a great daily ride, comfort, suspension, ride height, handling, none of this was to be compromised. A RAAM effort could be done on Silvio, but I think I have another design that is faster. Later, Maria will make another 12-hour ride and I hope I can have a new bike ready for her then. With Maria's ride at Saratoga it was a very standard Silvio, no disk wheel for example, and I always wanted to reset the handlebars to get them in a more aero position. But in the end we decided that comfort, confidence and familiarity with the bike was more important because the ride is stressful and all energies need to go into managing the unavoidable stress of riding, rather than the avoidable stress of having a slightly different setup, so we didn't make any last minute changes. The same priorities will apply next time, so any changes to the racing bike need to be dialled in at least a month ahead of time.

 

[trapdoor2]

Yes, RFID is possible but I'll bet that whatever system they are currently using is quite high tech. The "transponder" system I was talking about was circa 2004...guaranteed to be "old hat" today.

Re: racing Cruzbikes

It is always amazing to me that we expect "instant racebikes" to pop off of drawing board. So much work is involved with the tiny details of 'getting it right'...and then there's the frustration of hindsight telling us that, no, it wasn't really right this time... It is a huge load of work. Kudos to you, John, for everything you do.

OTOH, racing an "off the shelf" design like the Silvio is a time-honored tradition. I much prefer to see what people can do on a "stock" bike than on something custom. Knock off the fancy bits and go racing! Would also be fun to see racing components available for the Silvio...unsprung CF front ends, shock delete kits, aero-bars, aero-moulded clamp kits, kits for filling the frame with helium, etc...

 

[John Tolhurst]

trapdoor2 wrote: Re: racing Cruzbikes

It is always amazing to me that we expect "instant racebikes" to pop off of drawing board. So much work is involved with the tiny details of 'getting it right'...and then there's the frustration of hindsight telling us that, no, it wasn't really right this time... It is a huge load of work. Kudos to you, John, for everything you do.

OTOH, racing an "off the shelf" design like the Silvio is a time-honored tradition. I much prefer to see what people can do on a "stock" bike than on something custom. Knock off the fancy bits and go racing! Would also be fun to see racing components available for the Silvio...unsprung CF front ends, shock delete kits, aero-bars, aero-moulded clamp kits, kits for filling the frame with helium, etc...

Thanks for those comments, Trapdoor2. I made this post: http://www.cruzbike.com/content/starting-back

This new bike will be a stock product to cruzbike, once we get through the development of it. Should be a lotta fun.