TdF on the radio

Do you remember the radio? As in AM/FM radio. Remember listening to the ball game on the radio when you were a little kid? How descriptive the announcer could be in detailing the game while really listening. My local baseball announcer was Hall-of Famer Vin Scully, but every town has one sort of like him. He would make you feel as if you were there, every moment, detail, & statistic at hand. You could almost smell the hot dogs, and taste the roasted peanuts (or vice versa).

Amazingly it would go too far when actually going to the game and seeing everybody with their transistor radios held up to their ear while watching the game. You're already there - do your own damn play-by-play. Why do you need anybody telling you what you're watching - you're right there!

In big time bike racing they still have - for the time being - radios in use at big events. These radios are not for you & I to listen in on, they are for private conversations between race director & racer(s). The race director is listening to race radio from the race officials & event organizers, and most recently live TV coverage via satellite or internet. In certain cases he's also getting updates from key personnel stationed roadside.

Though radios are slowly being phased out of racing; I think, until they are gone for good, somebody should make the communication between the race directors & the racer(s) public. And in real time so other race directors (and thus their racers) have the same information. No secrets. If you're going to use the radio for tactical purposes - everybody's going to know it. If a bike swap is coming, somebody has a flat, or indigestion - public knowledge.

If the resistance to the idea of competing without radios is racer safety - loss of awareness of problems such as poor road surfaces, hairpin turns, dangerous roundabouts near the finish, etc.; why don't we have everybody scripted to the same message. Maybe we could have the same monotone voice that has invaded every GPS equipped car, or better yet have Phil Liggett in their earpiece - "watch out boys for loose dog 200 meters", "g-stringers running up hillside on left", "devil w/pitchfork inside next hairpin, cover your arse."

That'd make the pre-race tactical discussions more important, letting the race unfold and having racers make their decisions on the fly as it does at every other level. Teamies would actually have to talk to each other during the race if a change of plans is required. They're right there - they don't need somebody telling them what they're already watching, or should be attentive to. Racer intuition would kick in, and actual inspired & unscripted racing may result.