Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Watched the first show of Discovery’s Lance week, the “Science of Lance”. The show details what Lance and his team dubbed “F-One” go through during the season to prepare for the Tour Day France. We get to see Lance in the wind tunnel with Steve Hed and Johan Bruyneel and many others.

What is interesting about the show is that there is more detail into the “Science” of the wind tunnel tests. We get a closerlook at the new Discovery skin suit and see that there is an intricate pattern that mimics the dimples on a golf ball. The theory is that the dimples help create smoother air flow around the arms and reduce the possible drag that would result from air whipping behind an arm. One other fact is that different material is used for different part of the suit. Some smooth, some rough to help draw the air around Lance and reduce the drag.

There is also a shot of Lance in the wind tunnel with what looks like a track bike setup. That must be some of the preliminary work that was done for an attempt for “The Hour Record” which I think Lance and crew have abandoned since the early spring rumors were floating around.

What makes this interesting, especially after reading snippets of a new book called “Lance Armstrong’s War” is the fact that Lance uses all of the technology as an advantage. It is not so much on the technical side. The tech advances do make a difference, but the mental edge give a larger advantage. When the competitors see his massive effort of spending time in the wind tunnel and using the latest gadgets they send a message that “Lance is prepared” and you are not. It is a sublte piece of psychological warfare that is much like setting a time bomb inside your competitor.