Monday, November 08, 2004

Waking up this morning it seems that I made it through yesterday without injuring anything. No strange bumps or strains sprang up overnight. I seem to be getting injured in alternating weeks so next weekend something should happen.

Mike asked me if I could bring my Tour pictures to a cycling photography exhibit he will be having at the shop in December. That should be fun. It would be cool if someone actually wanted to buy a picture. I'd be a pro. Sorta... kinda... maybe... in a very amateur way. It doesn't seem right that my pictures will be displayed next to Phil's or Kim Morris' who does some real good work too.

Tomorrow I go to Spinning for the the first time this winter. Last week, was the first class but i could not make it because of prior commitment. That first class of the year usually hurts even if you are in shape.

Tim called me at work today. The rear wheel I had ordered for my fixed gear conversion has come in so I will probably pick that up tomorrow. I need to remember to get some smaller bolts to accommodate having only one chainring. New pedals are needed too. I'm thinking the low-end Speedplay X/5, formerly X/3, will do the job just fine. Oh yeah, a chain would be good too. With any luck I could take it for a spin on Wednesday or more likely Thursday.

I'm really looking forward to riding a fixed gear. Everything I read, makes it seem very fun at great training. Let's hope it is true.

News Item of the Day: German Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) has criticised the Tour de France organisation for reducing the number of individual time trials in next year's edition to just two: Stage 1 (19 km) and Stage 20 (55 km). "Of course I'm pleased that with Karlsruhe and Pforzheim, there are German towns [on the race] again," Ullrich told Berlin's Tageszeitung newspaper. "I'm less delighted with the fact that we are missing a time trial this year."

Ullrich's strength has always been the time trial, but he can take comfort from the fact that the overall time trialing kilometres have only been reduced by 2.6 km in 2005 compared to this year's race. In addition, there is no mountain time trial, and that should probably work in Ullrich's favour.

Ullrich also commented on the suggestions that his greatest rival, Lance Armstrong, may skip the 2005 Tour in favour of other goals. Armstrong and his team director Johan Bruyneel have both specified that Lance's Tour participation is up in the air at the moment. "It's all the same to me whether Armstrong comes or not," said Ullrich. "If you want to win a race, you still have to go quicker than all the rest. It doesn't concern me who is there or who isn't."

T-Mobile's manager Walter Godefroot believes that Armstrong will be on the start line of the Tour in Fromentine on July 2. "I'm not convinced that Lance Armstrong will miss the Tour in 2005," said Godefroot. "He doesn't want to put any pressure on himself now."

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