just Phuket...

Santa Claus doesn't exist, the Easter Bunny has gone by the wayside, the tooth fairy doesn't visit my pillow anymore, so who else is there left to believe in except Floyd?

Yes, I believe Floyd. I think the "B" will come back negative, and Floyd will rise like a phucking phonak phoenix...again.

postcard: Art Media no. 242, tel 4761470

not graham watson...

sometimes it's fun to take pictures
it's fun to send them out and see if they will show up some place
cool or
very cool

but, it's not so cool when you see your picture and it's copyrighted by someone other than yourself…

Congrats to Phloyd...

Cool t-shirts, check them out here.


...whew, it's over for now and only 344 more days to go until the next round. No more wee early morning wake ups and t.v. watching.





I'll go through a little Phil and Paul withdrawls and will probably throw on a vid tomorrow. Just for a quick fix. That is, if I can get the remote away from Daisy.

what if ???

Points classification as of 21 July 2006

1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 254 pts
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 175
3 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 160

...Robbie mises the time cut in the ITT and
Thor doesn't win in Paris?

don't jinx the man...

The quirky Boggs was one of the most superstitious players baseball has ever seen: he awoke at the same time every morning, ate chicken before every game (Jim Rice nicknamed him "Chicken Man"), and took exactly 150 ground balls during infield practice.

Wade Boggs won his third consecutive batting title in 1987(.363). That was right around the time I was playing a lot of softball: three teams and tournaments on the weekends. I tried the chicken diet since "chicken had hits". It didn't do a thing for my hitting. But, it did make me realize that I had some rituals. Twenty years on, I can't really remember them.

But, fast forward to the 90s and cycling. I have rituals now that I can quickly recall. When I started racing, I wouldn't: 1) wash my bike before a race and 2) I wouldn't eat pork. These superstitious rituals resulted from having bad races after the events. For obvious reason, I have never seen the cycling DVD "Crash". Sometimes if I feel like really don't want to ride, I won't. Who knows, something might happen, and I didn't really want to be out there anyway.

One time, we were on our way to a race. I always leave plenty of time to get to the race. This particular race, we had lots of time. As we drove to the race, my truck got a flat tire. As we waited for the AAA person to arrive, we both secretly thought of bagging the race; however, neither one of us said a thing to each other. The AAA person arrived, fixed the flat, and off we were to the Morgan Hill crit. To make a long story short, my crit ended a few laps early, and I got a ride in the ambulance to the hospital. Nothing serious, but still, I didn't really want to race that day.

ZsaZsa is often pretty amused at my superstitous ways. She will ask "are you supersitious", and I will say "no". Truly believing that I am not.

Anyway, I really want Floyd to win tomorrow and I want him in yellow on Sunday, but I don't want to do anything that might jinx him. I just cringe and get very anxious when Bob goes out on a limb with his predictions. I think of the jinx, but so far Floyd has been pretty immune. Oops...I hope I didn't screw things up.

in bad taste

This is not a sporting or good natured fantasy...but what if??

Floyd decides to try and get in a breakaway. Floyd succeeds and makes the break. Cammesso bridges up to the break along with Voeckler. For some reason, Oscar the yellow jersey, decides that he can give Floyd back a few of those 30 minutes. Since there are no T-Mobiles in the break, T-Mobile decides not to chase. Evans is watching Sastre and Sastre doesn't go. Levi is pooped so he just hangs out with the leaders. Meanwhile, the break is powering along, and they come to a railroad crossing. No barricades or trains, so Floyd's group passes through. Along come the leaders and well darn, the barricades come down, and the leaders make the bad choice to sneak underneath the barricades since there are no trains in sight. End result: Kloden, Sastre, Menchov, Evans, and Pereiro all get DQed. Floyd wins the Tour with Commesso 2nd, and Voeckler 3rd...

gimme back those 30 minutes

from cyclingnews:
José Miguel Echavarri: Pereiro won the jackpot
Q: Last week Pereiro was almost 30 minutes away in the GC. Today, it looks as he might win the Tour de France. That would be a major surprise, don't you think?

A: Yes, of course but that just the way it works this year. We lack teams, we lack patrons … they give opportunities to everybody. He bought a lottery ticket and won the jackpot.




Speaking of surprises. Who would have expected Floyd to lose as much time as he did today? Yesterday, he was seen a few times with his mouth open and looked a little like he was on the edge. However, he rode away from the group a couple of times also. Looking back, maybe that was a sign? Today, he looked tense and his gaping mouth was the only hint of his suffering. You have to feel his disappointment. I hope he can come back and do something special. Stranger things have happenened in this Tour and it's not over until...the skinny men sing.

upstaged

40 is the new 30, 2 is the new 8...Zsa Zsa is the new Trout...isn't he still in yellow?

Zsa Zsa's choice(2nd place) of winners today was somewhat better than mine(3rd-sort of), but then who's competing?

I feel a little half wheeling happening in our house. "Half-wheel - To ride hard enough to keep the front wheel just ahead of the wheel of the rider next to you.
--Very annoying habit when two riders are riding side by side. Normally both front wheels would be aligned on an imaginary line. Half wheeling consists of the annoying rider advancing his/her wheel halfway up the road, so his/her front hub will be aligned to the front of the annoyee rider's tire. Half wheeling comes from either bad riding form or just plain obnoxiousness."

At least, my choices were better than Minnie(Jan) and Daisy's(Barry Bonds).

Tomorrow, outta here: Dessel, Periero, and Mick Rogers. Zsa Zsa asked if Mick Jagger is really a Michael Jagger; I said "yes".

under pressure

Zsa Zsa has put the pressure on for some third week TdF predictions...

Stage 15
L'Alpe d' Huez: The mountain takes its own prisoners, and only the strong are left standing. I think the GC guys will let the terrain sort itself out by sticking together. The weaker guys will drop off Darwinian style, and the big guns will ride tempo to the top. No major attacks today. T-Moblie has possibly learned that they can ride hard, but it's the end that counts. The rider in the yellow jersey has a way of finding extra strength and toughess or was that the "juice"? I could see Periero hanging on, but I sort of doubt it...this year. Ok new GC, Landis in yellow with green frog legs, Menchov, Sastre, Evans, and Kloden. If a break is far enough out, it will stick. Look for a Spaniard. The ones left in the Tour have something to prove.

Stage 16
Galibier, Col du Telegraphe, Croix de Fer, Mollard, and La Toussuire. I love hearing those names, at least the first three, the last two are new to me. This will be an epic day. Today will be Open Water and the sharks will smell the blood in the water. The rider/s that were strong yesterday will show no mercy today. Hopes will be crushed and spirits will be broken. If someone is going to stamp their authority on this 2006 TdF, today will be the day. Look for the cards to be played, the racing to be hard, and a flurry of attacks on the last climb. Whatever time gains were made yesterday will be cemented today. Landis stays in yellow.

Stage 17
Col de Joux-Plane and Morzine. This climb has been cruel to some. Look for a break to go and stick. Landis stays in yellow.

Stage 19
57K ITT-Landis wins a stage.

I want my OLN...

The TdF starts at 4am tomorrow morning on OLN. Me and the Mrs. will be up watching it. How dorky is that? The next morning it will start at 3:30am, and we'll sleep in a bit, but but not that much.

We used to have DISH, but once we found out that they dropped OLN, we dropped them. We dropped them just in time too. We were able to catch all the Spring classics. When we stopped the DISH, they asked us "why? you've been such a good customer for the last five years". We told them, that we wanted (translation in bike dork language=NEEDED)OLN, and they didn't have it. I've noticed now that DISH has OLN. I wonder if many people had complained?

By the way, what's up with Versus = VS. Did we get a choice, was there a contest to pick the name of the station that will be formerly known as OLN? What a silly name. But ask me for a better name, and I couldn't tell you, right now.

I love these shirts. Friends Jason and Judy at Left Coast Cyclery custom made these for us. Cool.

money in the bank....

Today Michael showed a lot of class. Prior to this stage and this year's le Doyenne, Michael Boogerd seemed to me like an opportunistic rider. The 1999 Amstel Gold race was victory that seemed a bit weak. The inability to take a pull, as per team orders, didn't show me a brave rider. The year when Erik Dekker won there were shots of Erik arguing with his manager. He showed the class of someone who wanted to win while putting in his fair share of work.

In this year's Liege, Michael attacked and tried to win. Even though he didn't win, he still came out looking like a winner.

Today's win by Menchov was truly exciting. As I rooted for Denis to win, I knew it was really rooting for team Rabobank and Boogerd who had put in so much hard work for his team. Awesome pulls on the final climb and riders dropping off like flies. Each time a climber would drop off, my question was "who is at the front?". Each time the answer was "Boogerd". What a ride today.

Mention must also go to Denis for his aggressive riding. Often, Menchov will follow wheels and let the race sort itself out. Michael Rasmussen also showed a lot of class in today's stage. He gave up his GC hopes and probably KOM jersey hopes to ride tempo for Menchov.

With Rabobank's riding today, Menchov is definitely a contender for the podium. And, as they say, or as one of my former teammates used to say, today's work was definitely putting money in the raboBank.

fooled around and ...

missed the SIDI order...

I haven't read my third mailbox in many many months: 1200 messages tonight. Sort of thought the SIDI order wasn't happening and got caught up in doing the TdF thing on the blogger. Where does VeloBella heroine of managing electronic communication find the time? She can post daily with a lot of pictures, go to work, ride her bike, and she reads her email.

In my frustration, my beloved zsa zsa, got an earful for not reminding me to read my frickin' email. I hate that word frickin', but it's kind of fun to use. Anyway, I am a bad girl and after I apologize, I should go sit in a corner.

Vive le Tour

National pride.

What a cool thing to take the time to decorate one's balcony in honor of le Tour passing through?

And when the Tour of California passed through this year, there were quite a few signs and banners welcoming the racers. Not bad for a "fringe" sport in the USA.

Copy cat

Olaf posted a very cute picture on his site
vanderhoot wants a kitty

Here is our version with Daisy.

4th of July Italian style

I miss the razzle dazzle of Mario and his Tour de France wardrobe. I wonder how that ballroom dancing is going?

Erik

Thinking about the doping scandals and all that has happened the last few months, I wonder why I am still so interested in the professional part of the sport. This quote from Erk Zabel in cyclingnews.com is a pretty reasonable explanation. And you know what else? I really hope that Erik can win a stage this year.

"Cycling is perhaps the sport that is most like real life," the winner of six Tour de France Green jerseys continued. "Every guy can take part in it and be successful: Big, small, fat, thin - you see all of them in the field and depending on the circumstances, each group can put its own characteristics to use; for example, a lighter rider in the mountains or a heavier one in the sprint. And just like in real life, we have gangsters and honourable men, clever ones and dumb ones. Maybe that's why everyone loves our sport so much."

Brillance

Got to hand it to George and Bruyneel today. What an awesome move. But, it makes me wonder why George was so anxious to get the jersey this early in the Tour. Is this a lack of confidence with his overall GC aspirations? Ah...who cares, good move and enjoy the jersey.

Watch out for little green hands.

With a little help from my friends...

Today's random thoughts

1st thought....
Is "Baby Face" that guy you don't want your kid to hang out with. There's always the kid who seems to be the one that causes trouble. If there is a bad crowd, then this guy is there. Oscar and Tyler; Oscar and Jan? Ok, maybe I'm just bitter that Jan is not racing, and it's easier to blame it on the other kid...

2nd musing....from "Ask Tyler" on his website
What's weird about this "Dear Tyler answer" below is that Tyler Hamilton is actually thinking that USA Cycling will pick him for the World's team. What arrogance? There are plenty of really qualified athletes to choose a good American team.

From Tyler: Dear Byron: Thanks for your note. Per the CAS appeal, my two year suspension spans from September 22, 2004 – September 22, 2006. Ideally, I would like to sign with a team to finish out the 2006 season and ride with throughout 2007. Team negotiations generally don’t begin until June or July for the following year. So at the moment, I’m training and testing and speaking with teams about the possibility of a return. As for World’s, the team is based off selection by USA Cycling. I spoke with them right after the decision was handed down about returning at Worlds. Certainly, it would have been easier to train for a time trial but I’m going to miss that event by a day. The road race will be more of a challenge, but I think training for longer event will help me prepare for racing in October. Best Wishes, Tyler

3rd ditty of the day...
If Pat McQuaid has his way, then no World's for Tyler...

UCI President Pat McQuaid told VeloNews that if police evidence linking Hamilton to Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is proven, the 2004 Olympic time trial champion will be banned for life.

4th and final...
Talk about hanging out with the wrong crowd. Tyler Hamilton hires a laywer(Howard Jacobs) who defended a BALCO client? A little similarity in the story line: Tim Montgomery was not a superstar runner until "Project World Record" and BALCO came along. Currently, Montgomery is serving a two year ban and his world record is expunged.

Jacobs compared the current situation(Tyler Hamilton) to the treatment another client of his received. "I also represented (sprinter Tim) Montgomery in the BALCO case," he said. "That was another example of a non-analytical positive - no lab result, just implication by association - but at least in that case, USADA had the decency to sit down with us and go over the evidence they had. We haven't seen anything like that to this point." from Tylerhamilton.com