Cycling in 2012 - Part I: An Intro/Races

                                                           Some of the Protagonists of the 2012 season.

Been a long while since last post; however it is that time of year again the start of the cycling season proper (I don’t count anything before Paris-Nice as serious, just warm ups). It looks like it is going to be an excellent year. I will be covering most if not all of the UCI World Tour events this year with the obvious exception of the Tour Down Under which has come and gone. In addition I look to cover the Olympic road race, the national championships and other non UCI World Tour events such as the Tour of Britain.

The Grand Tours

First let’s start with La Grande Boucle, the Tour de France; the queen event of cycling. This promises to be one of the most exciting tours since 1986; with Alberto Contador out of the picture the race is wide open and the aggressive course which should lead to exciting racing. I will preview the race closer to the time; but I have the number of possible winners at 10+ riders! Will certainly be an event to look forward to, especially with the real chance of a first British podium or even win.

                                                 Can he repeat last years win of cyclings biggest event?

 The Giro D'Italia this year looks likely to be a 3^rd win for Ivan Basso, but with one of the easiest routes for years (not that it is an easy route) and the unpredictable nature of this race, promises to be as good as usual. Indeed on a tangent I am very impressed with the organisers RCS for their efforts to promote the race and to engage with the fans this year. I especially appreciate Michele Acquarone’s blog which is an excellent move that explains to the fans the choices made by the organisers of the route and of the four wild card teams chosen, in addition it provides an interesting insight into organising and running a grand tour.

                                       The Giro looks as awesome as ever, will Basso gain a 3rd title ?

The winner of the Vuelta this year has basically already been decided with Contador’s ban ending in August 2012 (backdated to start from July 2010). I do not think it is a case of whether Contador will win or not but by how much he will win by. I would estimate somewhere between 5-10 minutes, he has a point to prove and the motivation to crush all who stand before him. Will be still worth watching though as will be a sublime expression of cycling talent. 

The Monuments

                                                                      Can he repeat last years domination ?

Last was the year of the unexpected winner; with the favourites often too busy marking each other or underperforming, the only exception being Liege-Bastogne-Liege. I doubt this will be the case this year due to the number of “superteams” who will be contesting them and there will be extra vigilance of early breakaways. Alas I doubt we will see a repeat of a small group contesting the finish of Milan-Sanremo, which is a shame as last year’s race was awesome. As for winners the races are wide open with year; possibly with the exception of Liege if Gilbert’s form is anything like it was last year.

The 2012 Calender

17 Jan-22 Jan 2012 Tour Down Under Australia 04 Mar-11 Mar 2012 Paris - Nice France 07 Mar-13 Mar 2012 Tirreno-Adriatico Italy 17 Mar 2012 Milano-Sanremo Italy 19 Mar-25 Mar 2012 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Spain 23 Mar 2012 E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke Belgium 25 Mar 2012 Gent - Wevelgem Belgium 01 Apr 2012 Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres Belgium 02 Apr-07 Apr 2012 Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco Spain 08 Apr 2012 Paris - Roubaix France 15 Apr 2012 Amstel Gold Race Netherlands 18 Apr 2012 La Flèche Wallonne Belgium 22 Apr 2012 Liège - Bastogne - Liège Belgium 24 Apr-29 Apr 2012 Tour de Romandie Switzerland 05 May-27 May 2012 Giro d'Italia Italy 03 Jun-10 Jun 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné France 09 Jun-17 Jun 2012 Tour de Suisse Switzerland 30 Jun-22 Jul 2012 Tour de France France 10 Jul-16 Jul 2012 Tour de Pologne Poland 06 Aug-12 Aug 2012 Eneco Tour 14 Aug 2012 Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian Spain 18 Aug-09 Sep 2012 Vuelta a España Spain 19 Aug 2012 Vattenfall Cyclassics Germany 26 Aug 2012 GP Ouest France - Plouay France 07 Sep 2012 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec Canada 09 Sep 2012 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal Canada 29 Sep 2012 Il Lombardia Italy 10 Oct-14 Oct 2012 Tour of Beijing China

Music Thursday - First of the new year

I have been occupied with other matters recently, hence the lack of posts recently. This is the first Music Thursday for a while!

First up is a tribute to the late and great Ronnie James Dio.

Dio - Rainbow in the Dark (live)

This is a tune from the phenomenal album "Holy Diver", and one of the stalwart tunes in Dio's live performances. From the above video you can see why, as I think it sounds even better live.

Second up is another Ronnie James Dio tune, this time from his Black Sabbath days.

Black Sabbath - Turn up the Night.

This track is from 1981's Mob Rules and was released as a single at the time. It is a fast paced tune (for Black Sabbath) features Dio's characteristic powerful vocals and a soaring lead guitar line from the one and only Tommy Iommi.

Last, but not least, is something a bit different, 
  
Doc Watson, Rice, Skaggs, Douglas, Grisman, O'Conner - Riding That Midnight Train

 

This a live version of Doc Watson and Merle Watson's tune from 1986's album of the same name. If you are not moved by this song then you have a heart of stone.

 

Game review – Splinter Cell: Conviction

As I have stated in an earlier game review (Operation Flashpoint: Red River Rising), I am a fan of video games that require patience and thought. Hence, I have been a fan since of the Splinter Cell series since it started in 2003 and, with the exception of Pandora Tomorrow, have played (completed) all the titles in the series. I took a while to get started with this title, the latest one in the series, having started to play it over a year after it was released. 

So onto the meat of the review, this title features Sam Fisher, this time acting as a lone wolf against his previous employers, trying to simultaneously solve the mystery of his daughter’s death and save the world. The story is excellent, well presented and gripping, making the gaming experience engrossing. In fact I would say that the story was the best part of the game. 

The game play however, was somewhat disappointing considering previous titles in the series, with many of the stealth elements taken out. The game is still fun to play, but has been dumbed down so that a lot of the tension has been removed. In addition I found that the controls (for PC) were not well thought out and didn’t make use of much of the keyboard, with an overdependence on one “action” key (the space bar). The stealth indicator (the method of indicating when you are “hidden”) was also clumsy, with the screen turning to a greyscale monochrome, which did not allow the player to well survey the environment, a key part of the gaming experience in the Splinter Cell series. These aspects detracted from could have been an excellent game. 

The above said, the game was still fun to play and contained a reasonably stealthy aspect (similar to Assassins Creed II). The mark and execute feature was interesting, as was the layout of the various missions. In particular the ability to interact with the environment, especially in the interrogation sections, was excellent and impressive. However, for those of you looking for the more hardcore experience of the earlier titles, I would recommend Batman: Arkham City.

Positives – Good story, fun to play, good interaction with the environment 

Negatives – Controls poorly thought out, monochrome, dumbed down

7/10