An unseasonably warm day today in the mid-80's. While it was tempting to get outside for a short while after work I decided again for a trainer workout. Here is a quick snapshot of my me during my warmup.
Total ride time was about 50 minutes but I stamped out a pretty hard 40+ minutes while watching Lance do the Stage 20 TT of this years Tour. I stayed in the small ring again but worked in the 14 rear for all but the warmup and cool down. The legs were not taxed greatly by the ride but the lungs were feeling the strain a little. A good ride in preparation for Sunday's race.
A nice amount of sweat was left below me indicating a nice effort had been put forth.
Tomorrow a group of us will be doing an morning ride into northern Jeffco. The forecast looks nice with temps in the 50's or lower 60's. That will feel good after today. Mid 80's at this time of year feels unbearably warm to me.
News Item of the Day: MILAN, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Italy's former world champion Mario Cipollini ended speculation that he is to retire on Friday by announcing that he would ride next season for the Liquigas Sport team. The 37-year-old sprinter, who holds the record for the most number of Giro d'Italia stage wins with 42, has been plagued by injury over the past two years.
He pulled out of the Giro this year after crashing and then quit the Tour de France because of a thigh injury. However, the 2002 world road race champion, nicknamed 'Super Mario' and 'The Lion King', said he would line up for the first World Cup race next year from Milan to San Remo. "I've signed for one season because then I'll be 38 and that's not young," Cipollini said.
Cipollini said he had considered retiring since a fall in the 2003 Giro "stopped my sporting body clock". "I've never fallen so much in my entire life. In those difficult moments, the first thing you think is to call it a day, that you've raced well but now it's time to go," he said. "But then reality strikes. I've been on a bike for 31 years. It's my way of life, from what I eat to everything else. "I left the cycling world for a while to think about things and then I understood how much I wanted to keep going, to keep elbowing my way past other cyclists, to compete.
"I was very undecided about which team to race with because I'm not a kid, I need a team to support the ambitions I still have. I believe I can still win." Cipollini said the Liquigas deal had been signed quickly and that he was already looking forward to lining up for the Milan to San Remo race. "I'm happy to bring my experience to the table but will be totally humble. The team has been together for a while so I'm not going to come in and tell them to change things," he said.
Viewpoint: I almost went with this story as yesterday's News Item of the Day. I am glad I held off since the story at that time was that Cipo was going to retire. Nowhere did I see anyone talk of a signing. It will be good to see Mario battling for sprints for another year.
I'm unsure about his new team though. He has always seemed to have a team dedicated to setting up a big lead-out train for his sprint. Maybe I just don't recognize the names of those who will work for his wins because they do their job in relative obscurity but when I look at their current roster it looks to be a lot of climbers. For instance Dario Cioni who finished 4th in this years Giro, Stefano Garzelli - finished 6th and is a former winner, Pavel Tonkov - an old guy but former Giro winner, Danilo DiLuca - not quite one for the high mountains but intermediate mountains and hilly classics, Andrea Noe - usually a top 20 in the Giro, Franco Pelizotti - 11th in the last Giro and a mountain climber. I do recognize the name of big Magnus Backstedt as a man that could help lead out. Milesi, Sironi, Zanotti are names I think might fit that role too. We shall see how they do.
Total ride time was about 50 minutes but I stamped out a pretty hard 40+ minutes while watching Lance do the Stage 20 TT of this years Tour. I stayed in the small ring again but worked in the 14 rear for all but the warmup and cool down. The legs were not taxed greatly by the ride but the lungs were feeling the strain a little. A good ride in preparation for Sunday's race.
A nice amount of sweat was left below me indicating a nice effort had been put forth.
Tomorrow a group of us will be doing an morning ride into northern Jeffco. The forecast looks nice with temps in the 50's or lower 60's. That will feel good after today. Mid 80's at this time of year feels unbearably warm to me.
News Item of the Day: MILAN, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Italy's former world champion Mario Cipollini ended speculation that he is to retire on Friday by announcing that he would ride next season for the Liquigas Sport team. The 37-year-old sprinter, who holds the record for the most number of Giro d'Italia stage wins with 42, has been plagued by injury over the past two years.
He pulled out of the Giro this year after crashing and then quit the Tour de France because of a thigh injury. However, the 2002 world road race champion, nicknamed 'Super Mario' and 'The Lion King', said he would line up for the first World Cup race next year from Milan to San Remo. "I've signed for one season because then I'll be 38 and that's not young," Cipollini said.
Cipollini said he had considered retiring since a fall in the 2003 Giro "stopped my sporting body clock". "I've never fallen so much in my entire life. In those difficult moments, the first thing you think is to call it a day, that you've raced well but now it's time to go," he said. "But then reality strikes. I've been on a bike for 31 years. It's my way of life, from what I eat to everything else. "I left the cycling world for a while to think about things and then I understood how much I wanted to keep going, to keep elbowing my way past other cyclists, to compete.
"I was very undecided about which team to race with because I'm not a kid, I need a team to support the ambitions I still have. I believe I can still win." Cipollini said the Liquigas deal had been signed quickly and that he was already looking forward to lining up for the Milan to San Remo race. "I'm happy to bring my experience to the table but will be totally humble. The team has been together for a while so I'm not going to come in and tell them to change things," he said.
Viewpoint: I almost went with this story as yesterday's News Item of the Day. I am glad I held off since the story at that time was that Cipo was going to retire. Nowhere did I see anyone talk of a signing. It will be good to see Mario battling for sprints for another year.
I'm unsure about his new team though. He has always seemed to have a team dedicated to setting up a big lead-out train for his sprint. Maybe I just don't recognize the names of those who will work for his wins because they do their job in relative obscurity but when I look at their current roster it looks to be a lot of climbers. For instance Dario Cioni who finished 4th in this years Giro, Stefano Garzelli - finished 6th and is a former winner, Pavel Tonkov - an old guy but former Giro winner, Danilo DiLuca - not quite one for the high mountains but intermediate mountains and hilly classics, Andrea Noe - usually a top 20 in the Giro, Franco Pelizotti - 11th in the last Giro and a mountain climber. I do recognize the name of big Magnus Backstedt as a man that could help lead out. Milesi, Sironi, Zanotti are names I think might fit that role too. We shall see how they do.
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