UCI - save us!

 Dear UCI - save us from this, PLEASE!

What is this? A shark?

 

What is this? A spermatozoa?

What is this? A two-wheeled cockroach?

Do any of these things look useful for anything other than racing against the clock or the wind? Of course not, but Zio assumes they're great for what they're designed for..which is certainly NOT aesthetic beauty.

And of course they're pretty useless for anyone not paid to race on one while wearing the other. A person not familiar with bicycle racing would be forgiven for asking "why a shark appears to be riding something that looks like a cockroach turned on its side with two wheels attached? I thought this was a bicycle race."

Zio was reminded of this while watching the World Cycling Championship in Rwanda, the first time they've been held in Africa. It seems a lot of the big stars from the rich cycling countries didn't bother to show-up, leaving room for lots of cyclists one would only (maybe) see at the Olympic Games every four years. Cyclists from relatively poor countries who can't afford to provide their athletes with this kind of expensive (and ugly) overly specialized equipment.

Plenty of racers competed on more-or-less standard roadracing bicycles wearing more-or-less standard crash helmets. How refreshing! And how affordable!

It's past time for the UCI to step-in and ban these crazy helmets and almost useless bicycles. All riders should compete on a standard road bicycle. No full disc wheels, no crazy handlebars to let the rider be splayed out and barely in control of the thing while wearing a "helmet" that is more for streamlining than head protection. Perhaps a simple limit of 10 centimeters in any direction from the rider's head would be enough to rid us of these gawdawful helmets while it should be easy to specify standard roadracing machines for racing against the clock.

PLEASE UCI - Save us (and the competitors) from this!!