What is the yellow/black doodad hanging off Lance's fork?

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The doodad can be seen on the left side of Lance's fork in:

http://tinyurl.com/2oxh6
http://tinyurl.com/yvgxy

I don't think it is a sensor for a bike computer, because there is no
magnet on the spokes at that radius. He has does have a magnet
sensor, but it is far closer to the top of his fork, and its magnet is
obvious in the picture.

One theory is that it is a secondary bike computer that is receiving
data from a sensor somewhere else that wouldn't be a reliable
connection if he had it mounted on his bars.

Or maybe it is a secret laser that lance uses to burn out his
competitor's leg muscles. It has to be mounted low so that it can aim
up at the bottom of the competitor's thigh.

Dave

In article <m3wu4uhwfc.fsf@bfnet.com>,
David Wuertele <dave-gnus@bfnet.com> wrote:
>The doodad can be seen on the left side of Lance's fork in:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2oxh6
> http://tinyurl.com/yvgxy

Its the transponder for the race organizers to track the riders.

Eric

Eric> Its the transponder for the race organizers to track the riders.

Holy crap! The detectors must be very close to the bike for that to
work. I guess if the detectors are out on the road maybe you wouldn't
need much power. Do they just put the detectors at checkpoints or
something?

Dave

On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 17:15:13 -0700, David Wuertele <dave@rokulabs.com>
wrote:

>Eric> Its the transponder for the race organizers to track the riders.
>
>Holy crap! The detectors must be very close to the bike for that to
>work. I guess if the detectors are out on the road maybe you wouldn't
>need much power. Do they just put the detectors at checkpoints or
>something?
>
>Dave
The radio transponders they use at Sea Otter for all the amateur
events go on one's ankle. They have receivers embedded in carpet-like
pads at the start finish line.

On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 05:36:43 GMT, anonymous@yahoo.com (Anonymous) may
have said:

>On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 17:15:13 -0700, David Wuertele <dave@rokulabs.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Eric> Its the transponder for the race organizers to track the riders.
>>
>>Holy crap! The detectors must be very close to the bike for that to
>>work. I guess if the detectors are out on the road maybe you wouldn't
>>need much power. Do they just put the detectors at checkpoints or
>>something?
>>
>>Dave
>The radio transponders they use at Sea Otter for all the amateur
>events go on one's ankle. They have receivers embedded in carpet-like
>pads at the start finish line.

Active transponders as small as that can have a range of twenty meters
or more depending on the setup.

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Werehatrack wrote:
> On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 05:36:43 GMT, anonymous@yahoo.com (Anonymous) may
> have said:
> Active transponders as small as that can have a range of twenty meters
> or more depending on the setup.



Here I was all set to post a joke about it being his "pike pass" (car
windshield-mounted transponder for paying tolls), when that's actually
pretty close to the truth.

This kind of thing has been around for a few years in running road
races, see for example www.championchip.com.

JLS



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