After riding 183 miles the last two days I think a rest day is well-deserved. The knees feel a little better today. Since the pain was reminiscent of some IT band pain that I had in the past, I have stretched several times over the past 24 hrs. Me thinks I chose the right remedy.
Now that my brain is working again here are some random thoughts from the ride.
Missouri is pretty. The whole ride wasn't gorgeous but there some very nice areas too. There are no dramatic mountain vistas in MO but glimpses of rolling green hills and tree-lined roads make for some quite nice riding. Even IL right now has a lot of flowering yellow plants to spice up the endless farmland.
For the first time this year I got the dime-sized tan on the back of my hand from wearing my cycling gloves. Sexy!
In Festus, Hwy 61 is a reasonably well-travelled road. I'd compare it to Big Bend out west around Castlewood. Now admittedly, that doesn't compare to Lindbergh or Manchester. However it is more than busy enough to keep me from taking a natural break while standing on the shoulder of the road in plain view with my back to the road. We rolled past this rough looking fellow and, as I passed, my ears picked up the familiar tinkling melody as his golden stream struck the ground. I did a double take, looked back and had to chuckle.
After 70+, pain filled miles a HoneyBun with white icing tastes heavenly. That was a delicious piece of junk food.
The Modoc Ferry was a fun little jaunt across the river but it was cold out in the middle of the Mississippi. If felt 10 degrees cooler than on the shore.
News Item of the Day: Eurosport.com - The Fassa Bortolo train rolled out the sprint red carpet for Alessandro Petacchi on Monday's Stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia, catapulting the hitherto frustrated Italian super sprinter to his first stage triumph of the 2005 edition of the race. Danilo Di Luca (ITA) conserved the overall race lead.
Despite one early climb and one early break, Monday's 139 km stage -- the shortest on the 2005 Giro's itinerary -- boiled down to what was essentially an inevitable mass-sprint launching pad. After capping the category-two Passo del Muraglione climb in the first third of the race, the last 88 km of Stage 9 was a flat, fast and furious drag race for the finish in Ravenna.
Fassa Bortolo -- held blushingly impotent in the sprint finishes of the Giro's first week -- strangled race tactics Monday. The Italian team rode to tactical perfection, allowing a little leash to a breakaway comprised of Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) and Mads Christensen (Quick Step), but never allowing the duo a real window of escape. Krauss, the current blue-jersey wearer of the Intergiro competition, and Christensen bubbled off the front from the first kilometre of Monday's race, trading measured -- and ultimately futile -- pulls before being gobbled back with 18 km left to race.
Fassa Bortolo lingered mid-pack until the final five-kilometre lead-in to the finish, slowly assembling their lead-out train for Petacchi. Gutted by bad luck and botched tactics (notably on Stage 6 when a misstep in the Italian team's train crashed Petacchi three kilometres from the finish) Fassa Bortolo was an efficient -- but visibly nervous -- ball of energy at the entry of the final kilometre.
With the sprint hostilities launched, Petacchi jumped with the patented panache that earned him a record nine Giro d'Italia stage wins last year. Aussie Robbie McEwen, already a double sprint winner at this edition of the race, put up a fight but eventually faded to fourth on the stage, relegated for second by Italian puncher Paolo Bettini.
Swiss Phonak rider Aurelien Clerc tallied third on the day.
Now that my brain is working again here are some random thoughts from the ride.
Missouri is pretty. The whole ride wasn't gorgeous but there some very nice areas too. There are no dramatic mountain vistas in MO but glimpses of rolling green hills and tree-lined roads make for some quite nice riding. Even IL right now has a lot of flowering yellow plants to spice up the endless farmland.
For the first time this year I got the dime-sized tan on the back of my hand from wearing my cycling gloves. Sexy!
In Festus, Hwy 61 is a reasonably well-travelled road. I'd compare it to Big Bend out west around Castlewood. Now admittedly, that doesn't compare to Lindbergh or Manchester. However it is more than busy enough to keep me from taking a natural break while standing on the shoulder of the road in plain view with my back to the road. We rolled past this rough looking fellow and, as I passed, my ears picked up the familiar tinkling melody as his golden stream struck the ground. I did a double take, looked back and had to chuckle.
After 70+, pain filled miles a HoneyBun with white icing tastes heavenly. That was a delicious piece of junk food.
The Modoc Ferry was a fun little jaunt across the river but it was cold out in the middle of the Mississippi. If felt 10 degrees cooler than on the shore.
News Item of the Day: Eurosport.com - The Fassa Bortolo train rolled out the sprint red carpet for Alessandro Petacchi on Monday's Stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia, catapulting the hitherto frustrated Italian super sprinter to his first stage triumph of the 2005 edition of the race. Danilo Di Luca (ITA) conserved the overall race lead.
Despite one early climb and one early break, Monday's 139 km stage -- the shortest on the 2005 Giro's itinerary -- boiled down to what was essentially an inevitable mass-sprint launching pad. After capping the category-two Passo del Muraglione climb in the first third of the race, the last 88 km of Stage 9 was a flat, fast and furious drag race for the finish in Ravenna.
Fassa Bortolo -- held blushingly impotent in the sprint finishes of the Giro's first week -- strangled race tactics Monday. The Italian team rode to tactical perfection, allowing a little leash to a breakaway comprised of Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) and Mads Christensen (Quick Step), but never allowing the duo a real window of escape. Krauss, the current blue-jersey wearer of the Intergiro competition, and Christensen bubbled off the front from the first kilometre of Monday's race, trading measured -- and ultimately futile -- pulls before being gobbled back with 18 km left to race.
Fassa Bortolo lingered mid-pack until the final five-kilometre lead-in to the finish, slowly assembling their lead-out train for Petacchi. Gutted by bad luck and botched tactics (notably on Stage 6 when a misstep in the Italian team's train crashed Petacchi three kilometres from the finish) Fassa Bortolo was an efficient -- but visibly nervous -- ball of energy at the entry of the final kilometre.
With the sprint hostilities launched, Petacchi jumped with the patented panache that earned him a record nine Giro d'Italia stage wins last year. Aussie Robbie McEwen, already a double sprint winner at this edition of the race, put up a fight but eventually faded to fourth on the stage, relegated for second by Italian puncher Paolo Bettini.
Swiss Phonak rider Aurelien Clerc tallied third on the day.
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