Morning after video update:
The NBC video stream worked flawlessly until about 15 kilometers from the finish, when it started buffering and never came back. I have no idea what happened — was it a problem on my end or their end? — but I was not pleased to have watched the road race video-stream off and on for some six hours and have it crap out on me in the final 20 minutes or so. A reboot didn't solve the problem.
What an odd sensation to be sitting here as the sun sets Friday evening and watching the Olympic cycling road race on my son's computer as it happens late Saturday morning in China.
The videocast from NBCOlympics.com began at 8 p.m. Pacific Time, so apparently NBC plans to show the 152-mile race from start to finish.
I'm using my son's computer because my 5-year-old laptop doesn't have enough power under the hood to run a smooth videostream using Microsoft's Silverlight application, but it's as smooth as newly laid blacktop on my son's desktop computer. The picture is clear enough to see the smog.
No commentators
Aside from the time difference, it's also weird to watch cycling with absolutely no verbal commentary. There are microphones on the motorbikes because you can hear the crowds cheer as they pass. You could barely hear Paolo Bettini talking to his team director and heard him slap a rider on the butt as he passed. (The butt slap heard around the world!)
What you don't hear, and I can't say that I miss it, is someone talking about Horacio Gallardo “literally turning himself inside out,” or Patricio Almonacid “dancing on the pedals.”
Getting the stream
If you haven't tuned in yet, here is what happens:
Go to NBCOlympics.com and check the right hand column, where you'll see a headline for “Exclusive Video.” Cycling will be marked “live” below that.
Click that and you'll be prompted to install Microsoft Silverlight. It's a fairly standard, quick installation. If you're watching on a Macintosh, check out this post: “How do you watch NBC Olympics streaming video on a Mac?” at the Ask Dave Taylor blog.
The Silverlight application provides “standard” and “enhanced” viewing. Apparently you can watch four events at once. There is a text commentary, as well as the live sound.
The live coverage opens with a 30-second commercial from GE, owner of NBC and one of the corporate sponsors of the Olympics. Another short one came on about 90 minutes later, then again 20 minutes later. (Oh crap. The 30-second spots are coming more frequently now. Oh well, there's no such thing as a free video stream.)
Amazing
It's simply amazing to watch this road race as it unfolds. There looks to be at least four motorcycles; one with the breakaway, two in front of the peloton, and one in back with the team cars. There's also a helicopter overhead.
The updates are written by Chris Cook, a former pro cyclist who writes the V-Tach about his challenges with ventricular tachycardia, a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia.
While the commentary with NBC is adequate, I'm checking the live updates at CyclingNews, which are a little more frequent and add more depth. I also have CyclingNews' men's and women's rosters on a tab.
The official Beijing Olympics website has intermediate road race results, which is essentially who's in the break and who's in the chase.
Comparisons
How do you think Silverlight compares to the Adobe Tour Tracker used to videostream the Tour of California and Tour of Georgia?
I'd say the picture on Silverlight is much sharper and the video coverage is more in-depth and flawless due to more motorbikes and the helicopter. I do like the GPS tracking on TourTracker, however, and enjoy the comments in the chat rooms, although they rarely add to the sum of human knowledge.
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