De Ronde is too hard
Kasper Asgreen beat Mathieu van der Poel in a mano-a-mano sprint to win De Ronde. Both had escaped on the penultimate climb, the Kwaremont, and stayed together on the Patersberg to barrel down to Oudenaarde for the sprint.
De Ronde is a very hard race, over 250km long, over many steep climbs with only a handful kilometers in between to catch your breath. And therein lies the problem. The current trajectory, “De Ronde New Look” as it is referred to, is too hard. While the strongest rider typically wins, the race is often too much a closed race, with little cat and mouse game throughout. After a brisk attack on one of those steep hills, you may see the strongest racers separate themselves from the rest. But that’s it.
I long for the days where a few riders would slip away on the Muur van Geraardsbergen, or de Bosberg and are being chased by a bunch. They get caught. Then another few riders break away, and so one. Think De Ronde 2011 with the opening shot from Chavanel early on, the counter-attack of Cancellara on de Leberg, the regrouping on de Muur, the escape of Chavanel, Cancellara and Nuyens on route to Meerbeek, and a final desperate move of Boonen. What a spectacle!
It is time to redraw the route and make it a bit easier. Bring back the unpredictability! Bring back the excitement.
April 4, 2021
We are ready, again
Every year I rewatch the video “De Ronde Van Vlaanderen, We zijn er klaar voor” (“We are ready”, in English). The video is over 13 years old but gets me every time.
The video depicts how people in Flanders are getting ready the morning of the most important cycling race of the year: De Ronde, De Ronde van Vlaanderen, The Tour of Flanders.
I start my preparation about an hour after the Gent-Wevelgem race has crosses the finish line the week prior. I rewatch previous editions. I watch behind the scenes coverage from previous years. I catch every talkshow throughout the week about the race or racers. I read interviews. I am ready for tomorrow!
Wout Van Aert is also ready. Mathieu Van der Poel is ready as well. Julian Alaphilippe likely will be ready, although he was struggling a bit in earlier races. Peter Sagan makes you think he is not ready, but make no mistake, he is ready.
I am looking forward to see the tactics to beat the top favorites. If AG2R wants to win, with Van Avermaet or Naessen, they will need to play it smarter. That is also the case for Lotto-Soudal. Even Trek with Jasper Stuyven will need a better plan than “let’s go mano a mano.” I predict that also Deceuninck-Elegance-Quickstep will not want to bet it all on Alaphilppe: they will send Yves Lampaert ahead. Lampi will be extra motivated now that Paris-Roubaix has been postponed to the fall. He is not strong enough by himself, but with a few willing riders, who knows how far they will get.
My only wish for tomorrow is that the riders do not wait until the last passage on the Patersberg to attack.
April 3, 2021
E3 Harelbeke
In the World Cup soccer, the half finals are always more exciting than the final game. Today, the same was true in cycling. The E3 Saxo Bank Classic (aka Harelbeke) provided lots of spectacle with many attacks and counter attacks.
Team Deceuninck-Quickstep masterfully controlled the race when they sent Danish champion Kasper Asgreen on the attack at the Boigneberg. Mathieu van der Poel (MVDP) was strong, but was quickly isolated. Wout Van Aert foolishly squandered his energy and had to let MVDP and others go. A flat before the Taaienberg didn’t help either. Zdenek Stybar was probably the strongest today. And the AG2R brothers, Naessens and Van Avermaet, contrary to popular commentary, played it smart at the end. Many believed that in the final 10km they should have countered an attack by Asgreen, when he went for a second time. I beg to differ: that would have served primarily MDVP. Let him or Langeveld solve it. It was also good to see US hopeful Quinn Simmons present again.
In the end, that second attack by Asgreen was the right one and ultimately a robot handed Kasper Asgreen the winner medal.
There was other cool new technology in this race: a new and safer type of pillar protection and shock absorbing sprint bumper.
Sunday: Gent-Wevelgem. No MVDP. Yes, Van Aert. But also Has Pedersen, Sam Bennett, Tim Merlier and many others.
March 26, 2021
Apple Fitness+ is for the pudgy anti-gym-rat
I joined Apple Fitness+ on a whim (read, great advertising by Apple). I lacked motivation to work out during the pandemic and missed my running group, the MVARCs, and the sweat of my fellow Orange-Theorists.
My first workout was a 10 minutes Core exercise, and a 5 minutes cool-down. After an outdoor run, I went again to Apple Fitness+ for a 5 minutes cool-down.
A month later, I still go back to Apple Fitness+ regularly. I especially enjoy the 20-30 minutes dance workouts. I put on my headphones and dance outdoors in the backyard. I pray my neighbors are not watching or sending in a video submission to America’s Funniest Videos. They are guaranteed a laugh. But I don’t care. I am having a lot of fun.
Apple Fitness+ is not for the gym rat. It is not for the serious runner nor the weekend sports fanatic. It is for the busy and somewhat overweight parent. It is for the person who wants to work out but may not be able to find the time or arrange childcare to make a trip to the gym. They also cater to a large group and provide a good beginner level of exercises.
It is also for the person who got suckered into an expensive gym membership before and doesn’t want to fall for the same trap. At $80/year, Apple Fitness+ is a much better deal.
It is for me: bite-sized, on my schedule and at my level. The Time to Walk series are a change of pace for the podcasts while I go on a walk.
I want to try different exercises: HITT, strength and yoga.
There are still a few things which need perfecting. Occasionally Apple Fitness+ does not connect with my Apple Watch, even though all fine Bluetooth-wise. The fact that Apple Fitness+ doesn’t integrate well with Roku Apple TV app is disappointing. I am limited to follow along on my small iPhone screen.
March 21, 2021
First crypto
Last night, I bought my first crypto: 500 ADA through the Voyager mobile app.
Many smart people I know have been investing in BitCoin or other cryptocurrency for years.
While I have a basic understanding of the blockchain technology, I never bought any cryptocurrency, as I didn’t understand the economics or how the market behaves.
Bitcoin may increase by 1000s of dollars in a week because of … speculators I presume? It is not because a company posted great sales results. And traditional currencies don’t see swings that big. So how this all really work economically?
The NFT or non-fungible token craze made me more wary of investing, as it is more stuff I do not understand. Why does one want to own “the original” of a digital asset, when that asset is never truly a one of a kind in the first place? In the physical world this is different: a Picasso is much different from a Picasso-reproduction. Jack Dorsey’s first tweet is no different on my computer than it is on your computer. Buying Jack Dorsey’s keyboard on which he typed his first tweet is different. Buying an NFT, doesn’t mean you own the asset completely. For example, as described in a great writeup by The Hustle, buying an NBA NFT of a videoclip of LeBron dunking does mean you get the broadcast rights to the clip.
On the other hand, I could understand how one wants to track ownership of physical art using smart contracts on a blockchain. But NFTs? They are complicated.
“On SuperWorld, you can buy NFTs in the form of virtual real estate. East 66th St. in NYC could be yours for just 500 ETH, or ~$822k!”
It is headlines like this that make me believe this is all a scam by some people hyping things up until they are rich and can cash out. Too bad for all the poor suckers who followed them. The crypto and NFT market appears to be a large cattle hall where everyone eggs each other on. Just type in a cryptocurrency into YouTube.
“Cardano will go to a thousand!”
“CARDANO BOTTOMED!! RALLY TO $20 IS STARTING!!!!! BITCOIN GOING TO $90,0000!!!
”The new Ethereal will be amazing!“
”How much ADA Do you need to be a MILLIONAIRE?
“Buy CryptoPunks art! @#$#@!!”
“CryptoKitties is going through the roof”
So if I am still such a skeptic about the crypto world, why did I buy my first cryptocurrency?
First of all, there are plenty of serious and smart people working on infrastructure and platforms underpinning this new world. Just as the first websites were silly - remember the Million Dollar Homepage - the first applications of a new revolutionary technology are often silly. Hello NFTs.
As I spent learning and reading about crypto technologies, scalable and distributed systems, it is a fascinating world with plenty of companies building great technology.
Cryto companies
Thus I decided to buy my raffle ticket at the church of crypto’s annual crabfest. I started with Cardano ADA, and am looking into buying another infrastructure, protocol or storage related crypto.
March 13, 2021
The need to improvise
I listened this morning to Pushkin’s industries’ Cautionary Tales podcast episode on the art of public speaking by Martin Luther King Jr. I recognize a bit of my own process. By no means am I an oratory marvel as Dr King was. However, just like during his early days preparing for a sermon, I prepare and over-prepare, and practice when I have to give a big presentation.
Several years ago, I was reading every post on Presentation Zen and elsewhere, of how to become a better presenter. I remember one which gave a behind the scenes look of how Steve Jobs prepares for a keynote. As simple and as authentic as his keynote looked, Steve Jobs would prepare a week long.
Steve Job made presentations look effortless because he put a lot of effort into making it great.
Thus I figured if I wanted to be any good on stage, I would need to follow a similar process: first focus on the story, then the slides, then the timing, and practice, practice, practice. I have seen good progress because this.
However, that leaves one important element out of it: the power and need to improvise as to connect better with your audience.
That’s what the I had a dream speech did. As the podcast episode covers, or as it has been described in a 2013 New York Times opinion piece one of the most famous lines happened because Dr. King improvised. It happened because he had both practiced it before, and because he improvised and adapted to the situation.
As King neared the end, he came to a sentence that wasn’t quite right. He had planned to introduce his conclusion with a call to “go back to our communities as members of the international association for the advancement of creative dissatisfaction.” He skipped that, read a few more lines, and then improvised: “Go back to Mississippi; go back to Alabama; go back to South Carolina; go back to Georgia; go back to Louisiana; go back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.”
Nearby, off to one side, Mahalia Jackson shouted: “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” King looked out over the crowd. As he later explained in an interview, “all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here.” He said, “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.” And he was off, delivering some of the most beloved lines in American history, a speech that he never intended to give and that some of the other civil rights leaders believed no one but the marchers would ever remember.
February 28, 2021
And at the end, Kuurne means a sprint
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne was an atypical race, with a familiar sprint finish.
MVDP attacked early and made it a long hard practice run. MDVP is getting ready for Strade Bianche. This made the race enjoyable to watch with multiple groups chasing each other. They only joined each other in the last few kilometers, setting us up for the typical Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne sprint.
Trek redeemed themselves with Stuyven leading out for Mads Pedersen’s win.
AG2R with Van Avermaet and Naessens disappointed. The Wolfpack took the day off.
Most steady and dangerous rider this weekend was the young crosser-now-roadracer Tom Pidcock. It could be a very interesting Strade Bianche with MDVP, Wout and Tom.
February 28, 2021
It will be another weird cycling season
It was 5:30am when my alarm woke me up to catch the first interesting race of the season: Omloop het Nieuwsblad. I was ready, and also ready to make a mountain of crepes while watching the race.
There had been lots of theories of how another weird corona season would commence. Would we see a more traditional season, although without supporters along the roads, or would it be another atypical season.
Today’s race proved the latter. It didn’t follow its traditional pattern and oddly enough ended in a group sprint. Davide Ballerini won with several lengths the sprint.
Thus far the conclusions are that many racers lack race form. For example, Trek with Jasper Stuyven wasn’t ready. The cyclocrossers are expected to be ready. Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Vanderpoel, and we already saw Tom Pidcock today in form. And Julian Alaphilippe is always ready. I was bit disappointed that AG2R with Greg Van Avermaet and Oliver Naeseen, and a number of teammates, weren’t able to put up anything against the Wolfpack of Deceuninck-Quickstep.
Tomorrow is Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, which ends traditionally in a group sprint. However, with Mathieu Vanderpoel starting, we may end up with a less traditional episode. My prediction: Alexander Kristoff in the sprint.
February 27, 2021
This is Jan and I am done speaking
After a week on the new audio-focussed social app Clubhouse, the most common phrase I heard was “and I am done speaking”. It sounds a little harsh, doesn’t it? The walkie-talkie “over” would have been a nicer way to pass the microphone.
After Clubhouse was mentioned regularly among my Twitter crowd, I was naturally curious. Was it just VCs yammering? What is Clubhouse?
“Part talkback radio, part conference call, part Houseparty, Clubhouse is a social networking app based on audio-chat. Users can listen in to conversations, interviews and discussions between interesting people on various topics — it is just like tuning in to a podcast, but live and with an added layer of exclusivity.” - Rafqa Touma, The Guardian
In my first week, my typical experience has been one where I join a room with over 200 people in listen mode, and about 20 people who have talk privileges. Just like at an in-person conference, you are invited to ask a question to the 20-people panel. It also reminded me of Talk Radio. Coming to the US in the 90s, I quickly became a huge fan of KGO810 talk radio in the Bay Area. Thus far, I’ve only been in lurker-mode.
I also joined a few rooms where the Premier League game of the day was being discussed. These rooms were smaller and a lot more chaotic, with everyone chiming in with their opinion. Those rooms lacked a real moderator, yet also came across more natural and fluid. Think Sunday-gameday or a passioned discussion in a sportsbar.
Although I originally heard about the app as a place where white-VC-bros meet, my experience has been much different. Perhaps many of the Silicon Valley venture capital discussion retreated to the closed rooms. Overall the audience is quite diverse.
We should not forget that Clubhouse is still a very young app. Just like Twitter, Facebook or Snapchat in the early days, important features are missing.
There is a lot of criticism about the lack of encryption, especially considering that the back-end infrastructure company, Agora, is in China. Fix this quickly, before a more-secure-Clubhouse pops up.. (If it is true that it took them a month or so to build the app, then others .. uhum … Facebook, Snapchat or Spotify won’t be far behind. Or a shark.)
Also privacy is an issue, as in order to invite people, you need to allow access to your contacts.
I had been invited to join Clubhouse, but my privacy wasn’t welcome.
Clubhouse Is Suggesting Users Invite Their Drug Dealers and Therapists
The Guardian only sees trouble with the app. I give it a few more months for the app to fix security and privacy. Let’s hope the investment and advice from Andreessen-Horowitz will steer them to do so.
February 21, 2021
Superbowl 2021
Today is the Superbowl or the summum of American football and of American advertising. People look forward to what the creative geniuses have concocted for commercials.
This year’s sportive battle is between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. It is between a team without a true soul and one which is conflicted with its native Americanness. It is between the old guard, Tom Brady, and the young buck, Patrick Mahomes.
Being a Niner fan, it is hard to admit that the true GOAT is Tom Brady. He undoubtedly is the greatest quarterback of the decade. He supersedes Joe Montana and, my favorite, Steve Young.
That’s why I am rooting for Tom Brady. I want him to do extremely well today. His team needs him to do extremely well, to be able to counter the explosiveness and virtuosity of Patrick Mahomes and team. And most of all, I want it to be an exciting game. I want it to be a game where teams go for it on fourth down, every single time. I want it to be a game where the teams play to win, and not play to avoid a big loss. When you make it this far, you should go for the win. Too often finals are reserved games, and the half-finals is where the action is. Thus I wish this game will be a half-final final.
Go Niners.
February 7, 2021