All week I had been wavering whether to do the Apple Pie race. All week the forecast had looked like rain for today so that was a convenient excuse to not race but as the week wore on it became more apparent that the weather would be good.

Ultimately, I didn't have a strong desire to race. I'm grateful for any race venue we can get and the folks at the apple farm are very generous in letting us take over their place. A few things kept me from racing today. One, I goofed off most of the week and didn't ride much. Two, I'm not crazy about a 1/2/3 that scores 3's separately. Instead of a 3's race it becomes a which 3 can hang with the 1/2's longest race and you're left trying to determine who's a 3 and who isn't. Third, the race course doesn't really get me excited. It's a big rectangle with some rollers. Like I said, I'm grateful for any course but this one doesn't get my juices flowing enough to make me want to go.

I did ride for an hour and a half today in preparation for Sunday's race. Damn it was windy which makes me even happier that I did not race today. I don't care for the wind. It is not my friend. It can be a good training tool and I face it enough over in Columbia. Racing against the wind in a race that will likely blow apart into tiny fragments makes for a long, unpleasant day in the saddle. In the end, the wind turned out to be the best reason to not race. Choose your fights wisely. Tomorrow, hopefully, was the wise choice. Still I wonder how I would have done. Twelve deep is a decent payout.

News Item of the Day: Discovery Channel's Viatcheslav Ekimov was injured Friday during a crash while riding with Lance Armstrong, and the Russian's Tour de France may be in jeopardy. Armstrong escaped injury in the Austin mishap, but the 39-year-old Ekimov was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken sternum.

According to www.thepaceline.com, Armstrong's fan-club website, Ekimov hit a hole in the road, lost control of his bike, hit the stem with his chest and landed on his back. Ekimov hopes to be transported back home to St. Petersburg, Russia, for rehabilitation, according to his friend Dirk Baert. Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, Baert said: "He must wear a corset for six weeks. By that time, we'll already be halfway through June. The chance that he will ride with Armstrong in the Tour is very small."

This evening was a chilly night, somewhere in the 50's, for the Tues Nite Training Race. For whatever reason I didn't have a lot of motivation to race tonight and almost bagged it when I could not find my race number as I was about to leave. At the last moment it magically appeared and I rushed off to the park. Two slow laps and it was time to race. Maybe it was the lack of warmup but the race seemed really quick for the first 5 or so laps before settling down a little. Once I settled in I rode okay as I mainly just marked others. A couple times I went to the front and tried to close down a gap and it hurt. I seemed to do so into the wind so maybe thats why it hurt but I was disappointed in how I felt when the effort was made. That kind of effort is something I need to work on, along with the subsequent recovery for another effort. In the end there was a group of 3 or 5 (opinions vary) then a about 3 others in between and then I got 3rd or 4th after that. Not a bad not for not being very motivated.

News Item of the Day: King Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini, 38, has decided to retire after clinching 189 victories in 17 seasons. "To announce the retire to less than a week from the start of the Giro is an hard but honest decision. I should be at the start of Reggio Calabria: look for a victory, a new rose shirt." But, maybe, for and "old man" like me, who give a lot to cycling and a lot received, now is more important to choice the right moment to say stop. I want to thanks the Liquigas-Bianchi, that give me confidence. I'm proud to close my career with that team".

The 2002 world champion has been the sport's leading sprinter for the last 16 years and holds the Giro d'Italia record for the most stage wins, having crossed the line first 42 times. He has won 12 stages in the Tour de France.

Main victories

Giro d'Italia: 42 stages (record)
Tour de France: 12 stages
World champion in 2002
Ghent-Wevelgem: 1992, 1993, 2002
Milan-San Remo: 2002

Viewpoint: My little tribute to Mario is this picture I took at the '04 Tour of Georgia. The legs of a champion...

People surprise you sometimes. Just after the Women's race Sunday one of the competitors embraced one of the other riders and began to cry. Not just a little tear, either. A full on cry. The other rider helped console her and after about 5 minutes she seemed better. It all seemed unusual because there were no accidents and I think the cryer had a good race.

As the afternoon wore on I watched the 1/2's race and I had completely forgotten about the incident. Then came the surprise. The final race had just ended and it was time for me to help with the cleanup. I began to walk across the street to gather some traffic cones when I felt a hand on my back and a woman say something like "Thank you." I do not recall her exact words because I was startled. I asked what she was thanking me for and, to paraphrase, she mentioned her crying earlier and that she saw me smiling and it helped cheer her up. She caught me completely off guard with that comment. The way she was at the time I didn't think she noticed much of anything except for the tears in her eyes. I put my hand on her shoulder and asked if everything was okay. She said it was and continued on her way. That was it. Since then, I've replayed that moment in my mind several times and am still surprised by her comment.

Anyway, I was sufficiently tired this morning and really didn't want to roll out of bed. About 11am my body finally decided to wake up and not work at 75%. Today is my usual rest day. I did cut the grass right after getting home and before the rain settled in. My props to Accuweather.com and their hourly forecast. They nailed a forecast for a bike ride a couple months ago and today they predicted the rain reaching my zip code in the 6 o'clock hour. The rain started at about 5:15 but thats pretty good in my book

News Item of the Day: TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Gord Fraser sprinted to victory in the final stage of the Tour de Georgia Sunday, ending a six-day race that is likely to provide a wake-up call for six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.

Overall victory went to Armstrong's Discovery Channel team mate Tom Danielson who took over the leader's jersey on Saturday and had little trouble defending it on the 201-km final stage, to finish four seconds ahead of fellow American Levi Leipheimer. Phonak rider Floyd Landis, a former-team mate of Armstrong's on the U.S. Postal team, was eight seconds adrift in third.

The defending champion in Georgia, Armstrong failed to win a stage in what was likely his last professional race in the United States, eventually finishing fifth at one minute and 42 seconds behind the winner. The Texan was never a major factor in the race and poor performances in Thursday's time-trial and then in the mountains, have raised serious concerns about his fitness as he bids for an unprecedented seventh Tour de France crown this July. Last week, the 34-year-old announced that this year's tour would be his last.

Armstrong openly admitted that he was not satisfied with his preparations thus far but was encouraged by some of his performances. "I think I'm on track," Armstrong told the New York Times.

Italy's Andrea Tafi triggered the only significant break on the flat run in to Atlanta, pulling clear with three other riders halfway through the final stage and building a lead of more than three minutes. However, the peloton easily reeled in the break, setting up a sprint finish won by Fraser ahead of New Zealand's Greg Henderson and Switzerland's Aurelien Clerc.

Viewpoint: As a sidenote, St Louisan Mike Lange finished a rather nice 33rd place in the overall standings. One of my few claims to fame is that I have beaten Mike several times. He was just a youngster then and could now ride me off his wheel whenever he wanted but that part does not need to be divulged.

Today brought stage 3 of the Tour of St Louis in Forest Park. Everything was a half hour behind schedule which was good because my schedule was a little tighter than I like. The extra warmup was good. My legs felt only average with minor stiffness and thus my ambition going into the race was not great. The legs loosened some by race time. Again I started slowly but the first lap was pretty hot and when turned into the headwind I immediately had to hustle to catch a wheel for fear of getting stuck in a headwind alone for too long. The race settled down and I moved up and covered a few attacks. About 25 mins in I covered on of the attacks by a CowTown and a Mack. As I caught on, a big ol' fast train came roaring up the right side of the road. This hurt and the legs tightened. Please legs, dont fail me. They didn't fail and the rest of the race I let the pack tow me around. On occasion I would move up but there wasn't a lot of contribution. Aaron worked a lot and got in a number of small breaks. Justin went on a long solo. Nate was going for a high overall finish and put in some good breaks and eventually stuck one with a Clubber(?) with about 5 laps to go. The two of them did a real nice job staying away and Nate got the win. Very impressive. He will be upgrading in a few weeks. By the last lap I moved to mid-pack and let it all hand out coming through the final turn. Again today I had a lot to give and passed a bunch of riders and snagged 10th place, the last paying position. I'm really happy with the way my sprint is going. A little better positioning and I'll be cracking some top 5's.

Today were the first two stages of the Tour of St Louis. I volunteered to help set up the crit course. I woke up a little after 5 and walked outside to get the paper and the roads were wet. All the rain was supposed to move late last night so this was a unwelcome sight. Add on the 40 degree temperature and strong winds and comfort was an issue. Conditions got worse as heavier rain began to fall as I drove to the park. Thankfully it stopped just before I arrived. Setup went okay until I had to zip-tie some snow fencing. Wearing gloves didn't work well and my hands immediately got very cold. I was so glad to finish that job up and get my hands back in the gloves, even though they were wet and did not warm much. After setup I hopped in the car, tuned on the heat for a half hour and warmed up.

The sun decided to shine about 20 minutes before I race. Maybe it was a good omen. I started slowly and eased my way up toward the front. About 27 minutes in, I needed to test my legs a little. We moved out of the headwind and I jumped. Nobody followed, unfortunately, so I settled in to a TT mode. The effort hurt but I purposely stayed below level that would blow me up. I rode steady and stayed away for three laps. Longer than I wanted, but the pack was kind and didn't go flying by so I tucked myself in and recovered until my legs felt better. The rest of the race I yo-yo'd back and forth, getting a feel for the finish while an 8-man break snuck away. Carondelet has only sweeping turns but main turn is maybe 250 meters from the finish. Mainly I swung wide and would get pinched at the next gentle right hand bend. With a lap to Joe mentioned that we were always getting pinched. We were thinking the same. The attacks seemed come from the left of the road. I drifted too far back on the last lap but I wanted to setup a position that would allow me to stay tighter on the main finishing turn. Drifting back was the only way for me to get that spot. Through that turn I was probably in the 30's but the tactic worked beautiful. Others didn't seem to have a lot of gas for the slight uphill finish and I began flying by people. At the line I was 4th in the field sprint and gaining quickly on those just ahead. A little better spot beforehand and the sprint was mind. I'm happy, though. Thats the best timed sprint I've had as a three and finished in 12th place overall.

The afternoon was the TT at Greensfelder. I've never ridden this road and got there in time to do a pre-lap. I wasnt fond of the gravelly downhill and then we hit the uphill that others have mentioned. Ouch! It started gradually enough, then around a right hand bend it slaps you in the face. After grunting through the main portion it eases but still goes up at a good percent. After that the road had a couple good rollers. The officials arrived late so we started about 25 minutes late. When my time came I set out downhill better than the warmup. Knowing the turns helped my confidence. When I started the lower slopes of the hill I suddenly saw my minute man just ahead. How did that happen? When the hill kicked I powered by him and left him. Catching the guy so early was a confidence boost. He was a younger rider buy maybe I was having a good ride. I finished in 6:48 which I didnt think was great but Justin had only a 6:39. He's strong so 6:48 seemed not so bad. Six minutes later Ted finished and I could tell by my watch he was in the low 6's. Thats not good for me. Chris, who started early, came back to the line. He had the same time as me. No offense to Chris but I normally kick his ass on climbs so I was disappointed. Then a Mack guy came through saying his time was 5:40. After that, my time was obviously not good enough, and I went back to the car. I never did leave the small ring, even up top and that must have cost me more than I thought. Joe finished a while later and got 6:45. Joe rarely climbs better than me. He said he used the big ring up top so I guess that was the difference. Oh well, I'll see how bad it really was tomorrow morning when I get to the race.

I've decided to just relax this evening and let the weekend bring what it will. I have to be at Carondelet early in the morning to help with race setup. If need be I could always take a little spin in the morning in preparation for the races later in the afternoon.

I swapped the rear cluster on my lighter Am Classics. I took off the 12x23 and put on a 12x27. Since I'm not familiar with the hill on the TT course I want to be prepared. In the past, others have mentioned how tough the climb is but I've never gone out there to investigate. Thats not my nature. Usually I like to check out the tough climbs around town. Anyway, I may not need the extra gearing but it can't hurt to have it in reserve just in case.

The mention of hills brings to mind that I've often wanted to catalog many of the local climbs sometime and put them up on a website. List things like distance and gradient. Maybe have accompanying photos. Stuff like that.

News Item of the Day: Lance managed to have a solid day today in Georgia. He finished seventh, part of a smallish lead group that survived some nasty rain and five categorized climbs. I rode two of the climbs last year, Neel's Gap and Wolfpen Gap. They are nice climbs. Tougher than anything around here but not absolute killers.

Mother Nature was aced out by me today. After eating I changed clothes and hopped on the bike before the rain moved in to town from the west. I soft pedaled for a half mile or so and once I turned up Sefton I began to lift the pace to a good level and kept it fairly high along the hilly subdivision roads toward Suson and down to Meramec Bottom.

I gave a little below TT effort along the Bottoms until the turnaround at Hwy 21. The effort hurt some but I needed that kind of work. On the way back I chilled out until the hills and gave a few good pushes up the hills. Since Saturdays TT now features a nasty climb I needed some uphill efforts.

On the way back the dark clouds came rolling in and thunder began to rumble but I made it back dry.

In the last week I have encountered quite a few mini-swarms of gnatty type bugs around town. I guess its a normal result of spring rains but they seem more prevalent this year.

News Item of the Day: Lance got his butt handed to him in the Tour of Georgia's TT today. Based on today's ride his fitness right now is way behind where it was at this time last year. His performance at Flanders was reasonably encouraging and yesterdays 3rd place was nice but this effort today is disturbing. Maybe it was just a bad day with the rain but you can't win a TdF with TT's like this one. Tomorrow's mountainous stage is pretty tough so we will see how he recovers.

Damn you Mother Nature! I played a game of chicken with the weather this evening and I lost as the rain poured down at 5pm. I probably should ride the trainer but that takes motivation. I'll take my chances again tomorrow on sneaking in a few good efforts before the weekend.

News Item of the Day: Lance Armstrong may have indirectly contributed to the two-year suspension of fellow American Tyler Hamilton. The six-time Tour de France winner admitted to Eurosport that he'd anonymously contributed a fair "amount of money" to the world cycling body UCI for research into improving dope testing.

It was UCI President Hein Verbruggen who first told us of Armstrong's contribution a few years ago: "He gave money for the research against doping, to discover new anti-doping methods," Verbruggen told us. "He gave money from his private funds, cash. He didn't want this to be known but he did it".

When we quizzed Armstrong, he confirmed Verbruggen's story. "This is not my position or my modus operandi to advertise what I do," the 33-year old Texan told us. "So, if I've done money to the UCI to combat doping, step up controls and to fund research, it is not my job to issue a press release. That's a secret thing, because it's the right thing to do."

Armstrong announced his retirement at the end of this year on Monday, the same day that Hamilton's two-year sentence was confirmed for homologous blood doping, i.e. illegal blood transfusions.

The popular rider from Marblehead, Massachusetts, was the first professional cyclist ever to test positive under a new detection method that the UCI helped fund and a part of this money came from Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong told us of his pain when he saw the sport's name tainted in the 1998 Tour de France doping scandal. "Doping has existed for ever. It did not start in 1998. It has existed since the first Olympics and probably even before. There was always a way to go faster. And doping will never go away. So this is an ongoing process and an ongoing fight. I think we all have to be involved, either trough our words or actions or funding. "I am not the type of person that likes to get up and say in the newspaper: 'Our sport is dirty, everybody is cheating.' This is the sport that I love more than anything, the sport that feeds my children. Why would I stand up and say that? "There are other avenues to combat doping, versus trashing the sport and its players, and sponsors and spectators. It's been the road that I chose. Maybe I'm right, Maybe I'm wrong, but... "

Both the UCI and Armstrong remain tight-lipped over the amount given by the Texan: "(Laughter) It was a fair amount. It wasn't.. It wasn't a small amount of money".

After skipping last week's races because of rain I made a grand return to the Tuesday Nite Worlds. My warmup was lacking tonight so the few laps served as my warmup as I lingered near the back to start and slowly worked my up front each lap. Just as I got near the front, Joe and about 4 other top riders established the break hat would again lap the field. From then on I played an aggressively passive race trying to mark as many moves as I could but not pulling through with any gusto. Not that I had a lot to give to be perfectly honest. I was hanging on wheels.

This was a good workout and after 25 minutes of this I drifted back to the relative comfort of the pack and regained some composure before moving back up a few laps later. With 4 laps to go I gave what I had to bridge up to an attack. Afterward I was pretty gassed and the pack reeled us back in. In the end I figure I was somewhere in the mid-teens.

In the B race I just sat back and got in some miles. I look at this race as being more for the 4/5's so I let them do their thing and try not to interfere too much. If the opportunity arises I may give a go, but that didn't happen tonight. All in all, it was a good evening.

Sunday was the traditional IL ride. Five of us went to Fults and back. 70 or so miles. Warm day and I was kind of crampy at the end and still a little stiff today. I just finished massaging the legs tonight so maybe that will help some.

Saturday my bike was making some odd noises. We couldnt quite tell if it was coming from the bottom bracket or the rear wheel. I had switched out my Mavic because it had a flat so I rode the Am Classic. I had convinced myself the noise was in the bottom bracket but on Sunday the more I listened the more my mind changed to the wheel. I've read a lot of peoples complaints about Am Classic hubs and maybe thats the problem. Or maybe a spoke pinging under stress. I need to do more investigation. While in Maeystown though I noticed the wheel had some side to side sloppy movement. Doesn't seem like it was normal.

After spending the whole week off the bike for various reasons, we headed toward the Covered Bridge today. Joe needed to be getting back around noon so we only went as far as Antonia. I didn't ride badly considering the layoff. Not that I rode great. Actual ride distance was 52 miles. Tack on the to and from ride and I was up around 65 miles. Not a bad day.

Sunday, we did our usual Sunday in Columbia. It was a smallish group of five and we were all a little tuckered out from the previous day's racing. My intention was to only go to Maeystown we rolled a little further down the road and made it to Fults before turning back. I'm glad we left when we did. There was a headwind but it was not bad but on the way back the winds kicked up considerably. Even with the nice tailwind we all hurt, despite the good speed because of the wind. That last few miles where we had to fight a crosswind and headwind to get back to the parking lot most unpleasant. Seventy two miles. I'm really happy with that effort the day after Hillsboro. Four hours of riding but that includes stop in Maeystown for some refueling. Not a blistering pace, but good enough.

News Item of the Day: Winning an incredible triple this spring season with E3 Prijs Harelbeke, Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) is currently revealing his real talents as a true Flandrian puncher. Last season, the cycling world hailed the 24 year-old as the next big sprinter alongside Alessandro Petacchi, but the Belgian has proven that his talent is much more versatile after the first part of this season. In a post-race press conference after the "Hell of the North", a rather satisfied Boonen explained the decisive moments of the race from his point of view.

"I think it was best for me to get rid of Michaelsen and Bäckstedt," he said. "The race is perfectly controllable with two guys, but with four guys attacking you it's hard. I knew I had to do everything I could at Carrefour de l'Arbre, and it was perfect: Flecha did the first effort, Michaelsen got dropped, afterwards Bäckstedt was 15 metres behind. My director sportif told me 'Bäckstedt is at 20 metres' and that's when I went à bloc. I knew if I got rid of him, Flecha and Hincapie would ride for sure. These guys were working for the podium all day. But I was a little bit afraid, I wasn't feeling so super anymore. I just kept up the pace at 45, 47 km/h for everybody to feel tired. Nobody wanted to attack, and in the finale I was super concentrated and I did a good sprint I think."

With this memorable victory achieved, Boonen will now take some time off to be able to concentrate on the next goals of his racing calendar. "I'm going on holidays now," he replied when asked where he would find the motivation for the rest of the season after achieving the rare Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix double. "That's how I'll find the motivation back for the Tour. But it's not only that [meaning the double] - I won Harelbeke, I won Flanders and Roubaix and those are the three races I wanted to win most. But I'm confident for the rest of the season, I have one objective left, or two: The Green jersey at the Tour and then maybe the World Championships."

Another road race, another crappy performance. How very frustrating. I've put in some really good long miles and I come to a 66 mile race and I'm out after 44 because of cramps. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I should have drank more on the first lap. That's the only explanation I have.

The first lap went well but 1/3 way thru the second, the legs started feeling heavier and I knew I had to drink more. Even approaching town, I was doing okay and trying to hide as much as possible in the hope that I could re-hydrate along the way. On the feed zone hill I got behind a Proctor rider that was really laboring. He was hanging onto the pack but thats about it. I was scared to move off the shoulder of the road though because I really needed my other bottle and wasn't positive where Patrick was in the feed zone. At the top, Proctor guy cracked and the gap opened. I got my bottle and went around but 60-70 ft had opened up. Not a lot of distance but with my heavy legs it hurt. Just before the second hill I caught on but the legs were burning and the gap began to open again. That was the race right there on that hill. The pack powered on while my legs burned with desperation. I rolled through start/finish, hoping that the pack would slow some and maybe catch on but it wasn't happening. Down the hill, out of town I went and then up the next hill keeping a steady pace. I got out of the saddle and the legs locked up with cramps. The white flag went up. No way I could finish the lap in my condition and I turned around.

Positives: I rode well before the legs started to go.
Neatives: Hydrate, dumbass.

I woke up this morning with the slight feeling of a cold setting in. What great timing. My throat was scratchy all day. I took some aspirins and tonight took some Zicam to help out. I couldn't find the darn bottle this morning or I would have taken some then. If I can just make it through tomorrow, I wont care too much.

Just under an hour of trainer time tonight. The whole was spent in the small ring and turning at a rather high cadence. I'm not real happy with the knee pain in my right leg but maybe it will be fine for tomorrow.

Im riding my lighter wheels tomorrow and still am not sure thats the right decision with the bricks and rough roads. However, with some good fortune everything will be fine. For some flat protection I pulled the Mr Tuffy out of my heavier wheel and put that in my rear tire. I wish I knew where the other Tuffy was, for the front tire.

Viewpoint: My Paris-Roubaix pics
It wont be an Euskaltel, Iles Baleares, or Liberty
Faves: Van Petegem, Boonen, Backstedt Near Misses: Hincapie, Knaven, Van Bon, Mattan, Flecha, Cancellara, Wesemann, Gusev Outsiders: Dierckxens, Guesdon, Eisel, Michaelsen, Hoj and Franzoi because of his CX background and the predicted bad weather but he likely will not be accustomed to the long race distance.

The weather today was unpleasant enough to keep me on the trainer tonight. I did a little over an hour with 5x5min intervals before getting a phone call. After the call I warmed up for a few minutes I did 18 minutes at an above average pace. Right now, my legs feel as though have been worked hard but not so hard as to be very fatigued. This should have bee a good warmup for Saturday.

My weight is good now too. I spent a good portion of the winter 5-7 lbs above normal. After visiting the doctor a while back and finding out about the highish cholesterol, I have cut out quite a bit of the fats and cholesterol in food. I was not extremely heavy too start but since then my weight has slowly dropped to near mid-season levels. At present I'm at about 152 and will surely drop more with the warmer weather and more sunlight.

The plan is to just chill out today in preparation for Hillsboro on Saturday. I have a little score to settle with that course. As a 4, three years ago, I did okay but just got split off the winning break in a vicious crosswind and headwind. Two years ago my wheel slipped out from under me in a turn on the first lap. I chased valiantly to catch back on but quit after one lap and got some first aid for my road rash. Last year, I was coming back from the Tour of Georgia and missed the race. I have hopes for a pretty good finish if I ride well and smart. The team has a few people capable of doing well in my opinion.

News Item of the Day: Nick Mattan won Gent-Wevelgem today after making a big, last kilometer charge to catch John Anthony Flecha. Flecha's team Fassa Bortolo protested saying Mattan drafted of some vehicles in order catch Flecha. The race jury turned down the protest but fined the driver of a Shimano neutral support car and warning other motorbikes

Viewpoint: Danilo Hondo tested positive for the stimulant Carphedon. A substance that is not in any drug available on the market. Apparently it is effective in increasing physical endurance and cold resistance. It's also used for amnesia treatment. Hondo is quoted as saying "I know that this may sound ridiculous, but I don't know how the stuff got into my body." I guess Carphedon isn't any good at treating selective amnesia.

Tonight was the kickoff of this years local Tuesday Night World Championship crit series at Carondelet Park. It was an interesting night. While taking some warmup laps my bike felt bumpy on the sweeping downhill. Several times I was going to stop and check the tire but the rest of the time the ride felt smoother. Seven minutes before the race start the rear tube exploded like a gunshot. I hustled back to the car to make a fix. Thankfully, only the tube exploded and the tire was still good and I made it to the start with a few minutes to spare.

Once the race started a four man break went virtually from the gun. I was aggressive in covering an bridging attempts and was pleased with my efforts. After tiring a bit, I dropped back into the pack to gather myself for a couple laps. Half a lap later, there was a distinct PSSSSTTTTTT!!!! I looked around and then down at my rear again. At first I didnt feel it was me because I couldn't feel the harsh ride of rim on pavement but sure enough my brand new tube was history.

I haven't spent the time to thoroughly investigate but I suppose there is something in the tire that is not very obvious. Figuring I had enough bad luck for the night I helped Buddy out for the rest of the race and with the final scoring. I'm just glad I rode aggressively for the time that I was in the race otherwise it would have been a wasted night.

Another 80 or so miles down to Prairie du Rocher. The ride started chilly in the 40s but it warmed nicely into the 60s. A nice tailwind helped us along on the return trip too. There won't be many better days of riding than today. How often can you be gone for that long and be only slightly sweaty and still have worked pretty hard. In all we were gone for just over 4.5 hours but that includes at least a 15 minute refueling stop in Prairie. I felt much better after this ride than a week ago. Or was it two weeks ago? Seems like two weeks. Anyway I think the tailwind really helped

News Item of the Day: With the 89th Ronde Van Vlaanderen now complete, the heir-apparent to Johan Museeuw can now crowned the new Lion of Flanders. Today in Meerbeke, 24 year-old Tom Boonen, who first showed his talent for the Spring Classics three years ago after finishing third at the 2002 Paris-Roubaix, rode an incredible, powerful and faultless Flanders, soloing home to take the biggest win of his career and leaving the rest of the favourites by the roadside.

Placing himself in a select group of six riders with just over 30 kilometres to go that included Peter Van Petegem (Davitamon-Lotto) and Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), Boonen not once feared these pre-race favourites who were with him. Instead, the Belgian wunderkind countered an attack by Van Petegem with such force that lef the others wondering who would take second.

Riding the preceeding cobbled climbs such as the Oude Kwaremont, Koppenberg and Valkenberg as if they were flat, Boonen had more than enough energy to ride the nine kilometres that remained on his own and with pure power crossing the line half a minute ahead of Klier, who rode a fantastic Ronde, and Van Petegem, who may have been feeling the effects of his sickness during the week.

"This is crazy!", cried Boonen right after the finish line. The 24 year-old was incredibly happy with his victory, for which he had a calculated plan on his mind. "I had this scenario in my head, and wanted to attack à la Edwig Van Hooydonck on the Bosberg, but that didn't work. With nine kilometres to go, it was the ideal moment to go."

Boonen decided to attack because there was another sprinter in the front group in the form of Erik Zabel. "I knew I couldn't go to the finish line with the fast man Zabel still with us; he was so strong today," Boonen said. "Also because Klier and Van Petegem were with me, they would have killed me in the final kilometres. So I decided to take my chances and attacked. I don't quite realize what's happened yet, I will need some more time for it to sink in!"

In any case, Boonen feels ready for a double Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. "Why not? That's actually possible seeing the way I'm riding at the moment. In fact, Paris-Roubaix suits me even better than the Ronde!"

Viewpoint: Discovery was somewhat disappointing in missing out completely on the decisive move. Of the names I mentioned as possible winners I did fairly well. My main picks got 3rd and 7th and an abandon. My near misses got 1st, 16th, 17th, 24th and 35th. My outside shots got 2nd, 4th, 8th, 9th, 12th, 23rd, 29th and 52nd.

Tilles Park Crit today. Cat 3/4 - 50min + 6 laps.

Most of the team got a fantastic back row starting position. That was okay. With an hour long race there would be plenty of time to move up. After 3 laps I found myself up near the front without much difficulty. The rest of the team seemed to be hanging back a bit, at least I didn't see them near me. Shaun O'Neal then began the first of numerous attacks and I began a whole series of covering moves making sure that the team had someone in whatever break was attempted. O'Neal was almost too strong for his own good. He launch these attacks and when no one was around to follow up or had the energy to pull through he'd get angry. Funny thing is when the decisive break went toward the end of the race he missed out. We had two guys in a group of about 10 that slipped away. Because we had a few guys up, I parked myself near the front hoping to let the break get away. Before the breakaway got too far away Sven attacked with Joe on his wheel. I really wanted to go but felt that another one of us going would only result in towing the whole pack up to the break. Joe couldn't stay with Sven as he made the bridge and the break was established.

From then on I just covered every attack I could. O'Neal kept trying, Gateway tried, Maplewood tried but nothing would was sustained. We'd accelerate and back off and in the end it resulted in no real time gains I took 3rd in the field sprint which was totally meaningless. Aaron Hinni got a nice 2nd, Sven 6th and Nate Rice 8th. I'm guessing I got 15th. Thanks to the wonderful videocamera expertise of the officials they completely missed me in the final results. The group that came across with me was not that large but they managed to make me a non-entity. Even if they didn't catch my number you would think they would just write in "Big Shark rider", but that didn't even happen.

I couldn't hang around for the 1/2/3 unfortunately. I think I could have hung in much better than last year.

Positives: Rode strong and up front the whole way. Had good power to close gaps.
Negatives: My jump is lacking. Once I get up to speed I'm good but there's no snap right now.

Half hour on the trainer tonight. Small ring spinning the whole way trying to keep a little fresh for tomorrow's race.

My saddle adjustment may work. Before, it felt good on the trainer but had me feeling a backward lean on the road. Now there is a small forward lean so I'm hoping there will be a good neutral position when on the road.

Viewpoint: My Ronde picks in no particular order. Van Petegem, Hincapie, Wesemann. Near misses: Devolder, Mattan, Boonen, Dekker, O'Grady. Outside shots: Ivanov, Hoj, Flecha, Van Bon, Klier, Zabel, Hammond, Hoste

I look at the start lists and Discovery looks absolutely stacked. I named four Disco's above and while he says he's riding in support I wouldn't be shocked to see Lance snag a top 10. With the numbers they have, they could well dictate the race with an attacking style, hoping that one will stick.