I'm making this something of a rest week. My motivation isn't very high and I'm taking tonight off but I still plan to ride Saturday and Sunday. The weather is not looking good so tomorrow will likely be a trainer day. Sunday's TTT is in doubt in my opinion. No word yet on cancellation, though. Personally, I think we'd be better served by delaying it a week or two but that's not my decision.
Here is a more detailed look at the first climb in this year's l'Etape, the Col d'Ichere. The road from the start up to this climb is a long, slight uphill that goes up ~270m in about 28 miles before reaching this first Col. It is short but looks fairly steep for those 3k in the middle. Not a killer climb but the legs will get a good workout. At the summit, 32 miles will be gone with 78 more to go. Online description of climb: Modest climb, somewhat harder from the east. Note: we climb from the west
Background: Sometime around '77 or '78 my parents bought me my first new bike. An actual 10-speed bike. It was surprise gift and was a department store special but I didn't know any different. The bike, an AMF Pro Tour, was cool to me. Looking at the bike I scoff a bit but it was on this bike that I finally went on "longer" rides to Suson Park and other spots beyond the immediate neighborhood and thought I was a big shot riding BIG miles. This bike served me well for 9 or 10 years until my cycling itch finally pushed toward another upgrade.
News Item of the Day: Graeme Brown got the Tour de Langkawi off to a perfect start on Thursday with an impressive victory in stage one, beating off the challenge of team-mate Guillermo Bongiorno. Brown completed the 106km opening test starting and finishing in Langkawi, Malaysia, in 2:19.32.
It was the Australian national champion's fifth Tour de Langkawi stage win, and came off the back of some lacklustre form. "I have performed well in the past here," said Brown. "I was very confident even though I have been struggling recently." "I got there pretty easily, so I was very happy with that."
Spanish Tour de France stalwart Joseba Beloki made a sluggish start to the race, trailing home nearly five minutes adrift.
Viewpoint: Beloki is probably using Langkawi as early season training but as a spectator you start to wonder if he will ever come back any type of good form after his broken hip in '03. I think Beloki needs some inspiration. He's struggled for so long that a little pick-me-up is needed to get him back on track.
Here is a more detailed look at the first climb in this year's l'Etape, the Col d'Ichere. The road from the start up to this climb is a long, slight uphill that goes up ~270m in about 28 miles before reaching this first Col. It is short but looks fairly steep for those 3k in the middle. Not a killer climb but the legs will get a good workout. At the summit, 32 miles will be gone with 78 more to go. Online description of climb: Modest climb, somewhat harder from the east. Note: we climb from the west
Background: Sometime around '77 or '78 my parents bought me my first new bike. An actual 10-speed bike. It was surprise gift and was a department store special but I didn't know any different. The bike, an AMF Pro Tour, was cool to me. Looking at the bike I scoff a bit but it was on this bike that I finally went on "longer" rides to Suson Park and other spots beyond the immediate neighborhood and thought I was a big shot riding BIG miles. This bike served me well for 9 or 10 years until my cycling itch finally pushed toward another upgrade.
News Item of the Day: Graeme Brown got the Tour de Langkawi off to a perfect start on Thursday with an impressive victory in stage one, beating off the challenge of team-mate Guillermo Bongiorno. Brown completed the 106km opening test starting and finishing in Langkawi, Malaysia, in 2:19.32.
It was the Australian national champion's fifth Tour de Langkawi stage win, and came off the back of some lacklustre form. "I have performed well in the past here," said Brown. "I was very confident even though I have been struggling recently." "I got there pretty easily, so I was very happy with that."
Spanish Tour de France stalwart Joseba Beloki made a sluggish start to the race, trailing home nearly five minutes adrift.
Viewpoint: Beloki is probably using Langkawi as early season training but as a spectator you start to wonder if he will ever come back any type of good form after his broken hip in '03. I think Beloki needs some inspiration. He's struggled for so long that a little pick-me-up is needed to get him back on track.
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