The eve of the Tour is upon us and the expected news of riders being kicked out of the Tour happened. Basso OUT, Ullrich OUT, Mancebo OUT (and retired), Vino cleared but team booted from Tour for not having enough riders. The top 5 from last year will not be participating. This makes the Tour picks difficult. You could easily choose 10 potential winners and make a case for them but just as easily discount them for some weakness. If all else fails look for the well-rounded rider.

My mind keeps playing different scenarios and the name that keeps coming up more than any other for the win is Landis. He's proven the last couple years to be very strong TT'ist and a sound, but unspectacular climber. I'm banking on his awful Dauphine being an anomaly. He could not have been that far off the pace in comparison to his other performances this year. My biggest concern is Phonak. They are one of the most often drugged teams in recent years and with this year's increased drug spotlight everything come apart.

I'm risking being a homer but 2nd will be Leipheimer. A pretty good TT'ist, and another solid climber. Looked strong at the Dauphine and is the highest placed returning rider from last year. Not a great team but Totschnig should be good, too.

For third I'm going with Valverde. Good climber, good sprinter but a suspect TT'ist and I think the long time trials will take their toll on his overall placing. I like his team, though.

Then there is the horde of others that I have considered at one time or another for a podium. Those riders are Kloden (is he healthy?), Evans (improve TT a little), Sastre (still has the strong team), Karpets (awful last year but good all around), Azevedo (limit TT losses, Popovych (can he live up to early potential), Hincapie (bound to have a bad day in the mountains), Savoldelli (might handle these Mts better than Giro), Menchov (knows how to win drug-plagued GT's)

Friday morning at 9:30 (Europe time) the names of 56 or 58 cyclists in the Operation Puerto scandal are supposed to be made public by Spanish authorities. Meanwhile, names have continued to filter out in the press. Not surprisingly, all riders continue to proclaim their innocence. Twenty-two of the riders are supposed to be on Tour de France start lists. The names that have leaked out so far include former and current riders. These are the names at this point.

Astana Wurth
MICHELE SCARPONI
MARCOS SERRANO
DAVID ETXEBARRIA
JOSEBA BELOKI
ANGEL VICIOSO
ISIDRO NOZAL
AITOR OSA
UNAI OSA
JORG JAKSCHE

C.S.C.
IVAN BASSO
GIOVANNI LOMBARDI

Caisse D'Espagne Illes Balears
CONSTANTINO ZABALLA

Saunier Duval
CARLOS ZARATE

AG2 R
FRANCISCO MANCEBO

T-Mobile
JAN ULLRICH
OSCAR SEVILLA

Phonak
JOSE ENRIQUE GUTIERREZ
JOSE IGNACIO GUTIERREZ

Comunidad Valenciana
VICENTE BALLESTER
DAVID BERNABEU
DAVID BLANCO RODRIGUEZ
JOSE ADRIAN BONILLLA
JUAN GOMIS LOPEZ
ELADIO JIMENEZ
DAVID LATASA
JAVIER PASCUAL
RUBEN PLAZA
J.LUIS M. JIMENEZ

Rabobank
DENNIS MENCHOV
JUAN ANTONIO FLECHA

Unibet.com
CARLOS GARCIA QUESADA

Retired or suspended riders
ROBERTO HERAS
ANGEL CASERO
SANTIAGO PEREZ
TYLER HAMILTON

On a lighter note, this story has provided a good reason to use the always humorous online translation tools. I always like when a person's name gets translated in an odd way. Among the good names in this sad story is Unai & Aitor Bear, instead of Unai & Aitor Osa. Angel Casero was Homemade Angel. Santiago Botero is translated as Santiago Wineskin maker. And, my personal favorite is Angel Vicioso becoming Vicious Angel which would be a rather good name for a wrestler or rock band.

With the Operation Puerto shiite about to hit the fan there were a few comments about updating the 2005 Dope-O-Meter. Consider it done. Now spanning more than 2005 it has been renamed simply, Dope-O-Meter.

You may notice none of the names mentioned so far in Operation Puerto have been added to the list. My basic rule for being added to the "honor roll" is that a suspension must be handed down by a national governing body or the UCI. No formal suspension have been issued in Operation Puerto yet, except for some team suspensions. I dread adding all the names if this case really blows up.

The folks must have taken their vitamins before tonight's Tues Nite Worlds. We took off like a bat out of hell from the gun and didn't seem to let up at all until the 25 minute mark. Uncharacteristically, I moved up toward the front after the first lap and stayed within the front 10 or 15 for the first 18 minutes before drifting back. As mentioned before, the pace stayed high with guy after guy going off the front. About 26 minutes in my rubber band just about snapped. I dangled about 15 ft off the back, gasping for air and begging for mercy. Finally, some sanity came back to the race and things eased up a little. From then on I was just moved around in the pack. I'd move forward on the second half of the course and drift back on the first half. I was in no position on the last lap and put it on cruise control.

After the race, I overheard some post race talk and Cummings mentioned having a 27mph avg. That has to be the fastest Tuesday of the year.

Their must have been something floating in the air tonight. I'm hacking some gunk up out of my lungs right now. Seems pretty minor.

Maybe this newfangled concept of riding during the week has its benefits. A decent week of riding last week led up to Sunday's Webster Crit. Much of Saturday I wavered back and forth whether to race the Master's in addition to the 3/4's. On one hand, I could get extra racing under my belt and I need it based on recent performances. On the other hand, I risked getting blown out twice in one day. How's that for positive thinking.

Finally, I figured it was beneficial to try both races. Master's was the first race of the day at 10:30. Kind of late for a first race but that was fine with me. I didn't feel rushed in the morning and still got a nice warmup in before the race. That was aided even more by starting about 15 minutes late. It's not a bike race if it's not a little behind schedule. The wait was worth it though as there was apparently some last minute patching of pavement that made for a nicer course.

There was an impressive Master's turnout. Must have been 25 guys, at least. Even nicer was having five Sharks show up. There were the core group of favorites who did a good deal of work but everyone seemed to try and contribute. I even took a short-lived flyer. For the most part, though, I felt good during the race. My last lap positioning was typically poor but I went by a good number up the hill and kept reasonably close to the main men on the downhill as the pack really strung out. Walsh got 2nd, Brewer got 9th and I think I got 11th or 12th but I never could the find the results posted anywhere.

Buoyed by my decent work earlier I went ahead and registered for the 3/4's. There were a few races in between and I hung our for a while and slowly spun around the area. As the children's races began Glen, Rex and I headed down Lockwood. Rex wanted to check out The Hub real quick so they continued on while I turned left on Elm. I didn't want to risk missing the start but if they wanted to go on I wasn't going to stop them. At Elm and Big Bend I ducked into gas station to bypass the left hand turn light and continued on at a comfortable pace. I turned down Edgar, made the three turns and came face to face with everyone lined up to race and Buddy giving race instructions. I'd never missed a race start but this one was wayyy to close. When I saw everyone I thought to myself Glen and Rex were going to miss the race. I squeezed through the pack and took my place at the back of the pack and both of them were rolling up to the line as well. Lockwood must have been quite a bit shorter route back. I'm just glad I shortcut the stoplight or I could have easily missed the race.

My legs were sluggish for the second race. I hung in the race okay but was nothing more than pack fill. If the pace slowed I would move up some and then drift back. I would have liked to do more but my legs didn't have it and I could feel each time cresting the hill. It was odd because I felt decent going up but then there wasn't much acceleration going downhill. I would get up to speed but there was no snap. So, on the last lap the pace hotted up on the hill and I let most everyone go. I kept a good steady pace and came across the line off the back. I didn't see the point of killing myself to try and hold the tail of the pack and risk a final corner accident as everyone tried to sprint for 30th place. I placed 39th. Not a good placing but, for all intents, I finished with everyone and after the last couple weeks this was a real good day.

A few weeks ago, Fullerini and I were chatting about the breaking Operation Puerto doping scandal in Spain. Joe asked when I thought the names would come out. I confidently predicted a week before the Tour started. Lo and behold, El Pais breaks a story listing a number of riders mentioned in the cryptic notes of Dr. Fuentes. This thing has turned ugly in a big way. Fifteen Libery/Astana riders were mentioned. Among the names are Sevilla, Gutierrez (The Bull) was mentioned again, Vicioso, Serrano, Jaksche (?) , Heras, and biggest of all was speculation that Ullrich (Rudy's son) is tied in. They even dragged out documents showing a purported Tyler Hamilton doping schedule. Spanish riders refused to race the national championships as a protest. As of a couple hours ago, the Tour organizers have asked Astana to withdraw from the Tour and, if they don't, the Tour will take the case to the CAS. A giant mushroom cloud has begun to form over the pro peloton. The fallout is still to be determined but you have to wonder if the Tour will even happen. Lots of teams withdrew from the Tour in the wake of the '98 Festina affair. Will there be more rider protests? Who will be left standing when the smoke clears?

Decisions, decisions...

I was torn about what ride to do today. On one hand, I thought it might be good to head to Fenton and put in a good hard effort or two along the River and Outer Rds. Instead, I rode to Webster. I've missed the previous Webster races and don't like racing on an unknown course so this was a reconnaissance ride.

On the way out I went Sappington, Garber, some subdivision streets, through Whitecliff Park, Pardee, Elm and Big Bend. A nice ride of about 35 minutes. I lingered in Whitecliff for a few minutes because I saw the potential of a nice CX race. I mentally mapped out a potential course and continued on.

The Webster course is different than I expected. I pictured more of a rectangular course instead of the skewed pentagon shape. I'm glad I went to check things out. I also imagined a flatter course. There is no big hill but a long gradual rise that could wear on a person if it is consistently hit at a hard pace. The course is also rather choppy in places. There is the assorted manhole cover. That's not a big deal. The road between turns 1 and 2 is rough, especially on the right and a nice sized hole dead center in the road, too. Maybe that will be covered somehow. Turn 2 has a couple brick crosswalks that make for some unevenness and the narrow turn 3 has a rough little patch too. Big Bend isn't so hot either going east. With any luck they open all of Big Bend up and we can stay left.

I did four laps of the course before checking out places to park. As I was about to leave Dan "there is a German beer named after me" Bischoff in his new The Hub shorts, Rusty My-Pizza-so-late-o and Nick Coil were taking a few laps too. I guess that was Nick Coil. I'm really bad about getting to know my competitors and I didn't even ask his name. Anyway, I did another 5 or 6 laps with them before heading home. Checking out the course was beneficial and I'm glad I didn't go to Fenton.

On the way home I ducked onto the Grant's Trail to see if there were any good sights using the trail. There were not. Still, taking Grant's Trail gave me the chance to use the trail extension I have seen so often along 21 that runs up to Clydesdale Park. That is a handy bit of trail that keeps you off 21 and Green Park. It was fun too. Kind of winds it's way up to Mueller. From there I took Little Rock and Von Talge, etc. Total riding was about 1:50. To finish things, I toweled off the sweat and then cut the grass before settling in and watching Argentina beat Mexico in OT. A good game and I love the crowds at the World Cup.

Went out in the heat again tonight with the intention of getting some interval work. Headed over to Schuessler, a lightly traveled two lane road. This isn't an ideal road for intervals because of its lightly rolling nature but section I chose for my minute intervals is challenging. I start on a very slight decent to get rolling before it quickly flattens out. Two-thirds of the way in, there is a 200 ft long rise that hurts the legs before leveling off some but still going up slightly.

The first three times up the small hill I stayed in the saddle. The final two were done out of the saddle. After the five efforts, stomach cramps began to set in from my dinner. I did one more effort but extended it to 2 minutes. By the end of the two minutes I was spent. I'm glad I didn't look at my speed at the end. I turned around one more time and went down to the very bottom of the road, down by the Meramec and climbed back out. Nothing hard, just pushed a moderate gear all the way up. Also went into and out of Woodley before cooling down, if that is possible in this heat, and heading home.

Tuesday Worlds went okay this evening. The temperatures were in the low 90's and that seemed to take some of the aggression out of the riders. There were still attacks and even one that stuck but the pack seemed semi-aggressive. There were surges and some attempts to bridge but nothing much materialized.

Fifteen minutes in there was a little lull as we rounded the final turn. Giroard pulled off the front and no one was eager to continue so I shot through the hole from about 5 back. They let me go, of course. Nagy bridged up to me after one lap. He pulled a half lap before I took us up the hill and to the finish. He rolled through again and I was cooked. Two laps this week was better than the 3/4 lap last week. I'll take that as some improvement. My recovery was not great but I wasn't about to get dropped either.

The rest of the race I floated around the pack and moved up some for the bell lap. The race was setting up okay for the final sprint but the outside got plugged up with cooked riders so I sat up too rather than try and force my way through. All in all, I did okay but I do okay most Tuesday nights. It's race day that has been my buggaboo.

Since there wasn't much riding yesterday at Winghaven I took my usual rest day today and rode instead. I tried to mix in a variety of different efforts. There were a couple shortish efforts of about 30 seconds down on the Bottoms followed by an all out effort up Hagemann in the 53x17. Back down on the Bottoms and a moderately hard effort out to the bridge. On the way back it was ATT sprints back to the Khoury fields before spinning into the Lower Meramec Park.

The first couple hills on Wells I did moderately and then went pretty hard up the hill into Suson. On the way out I stayed in the saddle (53x19) and gave it a hard effort. My legs were screaming by the top. I rode in and out of Kennedy too before heading toward home through the subdivisions. I tacked on a cool down loop by the Bread Co and Chevy's to see if there were any babes eating on the patios. Alas, not much scenery.

Newsflash:  I really don't give a flying crap about Paul McCartney turning 64.

Winghaven

The positives: Nice course, good roads, nice atmosphere, decent weather.

The negatives: Me

A twelve lap race (3 mile loops) and I was essentially done after three laps. I had a gap after the first roundabout following the start/finish. And that was the race for me. I had nothing more to give other than gasping for air. The pack even slowed down, seemingly, and my legs had nothing. My lungs had nothing. I finished the fourth lap and pulled out.

When I started racing I couldn't finish a race for two years. I would finish RR's because they don't pull you in those but the finish of crits were never seen by me. My career has come full circle. Right now, I am not capable of finishing a race. A Cat 4 race would push me to the limits right now. I'm puzzled, confused, frustrated and seriously considering giving up the racing. It's been 14 consecutive years of riding in circles. Some good years, some bad and a lot of average but fun nonetheless. Right now, there is no fun. I'll probably finish the year but beyond that I do not know.

Last night I got a rare good night's sleep. Oh, sure, I still got my usual 5 to 6 hrs of sleep which really isn't enough but I hate going to bed before 10. For some reason, last night I slept soundly for the whole night and woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in recent memory. If only I could sleep like that every night.

Tuesday Worlds went okay this week. I hung out in the pack for much of the night, like I have been doing lately. This week though I actually felt good enough to bridge up a Pirtle party of Ryan and James. It seemed they were going a little easy hoping to get a little support and the bad news for them is that they got me. I took one turn and Ryan came through. While drifting back I saw someone peripherally coming up from behind. At the bottom of the hill I utter lack of fitness reared it's head. I looked back and saw that it was Mr. Hill that had bridged up. I motioned that he better pull through and gave a few pedal strokes to close the few feet that I let open up. He stayed and I drifted back to the pack. The three of them were never seen again. My efforts were rather fruitless but I take my willingness to try getting in a move as another step back to fitness.

Thursday afternoon I had a window of ride time open up after work. I threw on the kit, grabbed the bike and hit it pretty hard right out of the block, down Kerth, to the Bottoms and finally eased up at the bridge. I was gassed but I needed a good effort. I continued up 21, which I normally don't ride on except to cross the bridge. There is a better shoulder than I remember. Must be from the construction that has gone on over the last few years. I rode up to Hagemann and then back down to the Bottoms before going up Wells, into Suson and back through the subdivisions. The ride wasn't real long but it served its purpose for a quick one.

This morning my right achilles hurts. My only guess is that I should have warmed up a little instead of go hard from the very outset. Hopefully, the irritation will go away quickly. Walking was not terribly comfortable at work today.

Random thought: I was driving down Delmar a couple weeks ago on my way to the shop when I passed a car. It was a typical small hatchback. There was nothing particularly unique about the car other than having more than it's fair share of stickers in the rear window. My eyes glanced over to see what liberal causes they were promoting. How did I know they would be liberal causes? I have a theory that if a car has at least 10 stickers on it, the stickers will be for liberal causes. You willl get the occasional gung-ho conservative with maybe 5 stickers adorning their vehicle. But only a truly committed lib can be so pious that they would cover their fossil fuel burning, ozone-destroying, pollution machines in stickers. I think they feel guilty and cover the vehicle in stickers to try and camouflage the fact that they are driving the evil, earth destroying machines. But, I digress. Proudly stuck on the rear window of the hatchback were two stickers that caught my eye. One sticker was the rainbow colors proclaiming the driver's gayness. The other sticker proclaimed "Keep Abortion Legal". Isn't it logical that, if you are gay, abortion is one topic that you could completely avoid and not worry about? Maybe not. Otherwise, you would have to find another cause to save the world.

Do not be alarmed by the giant sucking sound you may have heard over the weekend.  That was only me pedaling my way into consecutive DNF's. 
 
The State RR Championships were Saturday.  The 3's were scheduled for 12:10 in the building heat of the day.  And it was a warm day.  We didn't have anybody in the feed zone so I had two bottles on the bike and one in the back pocket along with a Power.  I figured that would be about 1 bottle every hour or 1 every 2 laps.  That seemed like a reasonable feeding schedule.
 
Everything was good for about almost three laps.  I even bridged up to a small breakaway group that had 3 or 4 teams in it.  They were not real far ahead but we weren't represented and I thought it would be good to get someone up there.  More than anything I dragged the pack up to the break but that was good enough.  The third time onto Rte KK was the beginning of the end for me.  There were a couple back-to-back hills there and for some reason they did not suit me.  I think I was pushing a bigger gear up them than I should and on that 3rd lap it took its toll.  I drifted backward through the field and if those hills had been just a little longer I would have probably been shot off the back.
 
Lap 4 was either easy or I was smarter in the shifts because I got along quite well.  I spun up the climbs in a smallish gear and did fine.  My hopes were buoyed again despite feeling a certain amount of fatigue. 
 
Lap 5 started well enough.  Through the feed zone everything was good.  Following the feed were a few rollers.  The whole course was rollers I guess but a mile or so past the feed was a small hill that wasn't terribly steep but seemed to drag on.  I was tired or hot or maybe a little of both and let a gap open up.  I damn near quit there but I shifted down bridged back up to the pack.  That only made me hotter and more tired.  Ten seconds later I was off the back again and the fat lady had sung.  The question then became whether to finish the lap or turn around and take the shorter route back.  I pushed onward but it wasn't pretty.  Once I blew, my legs had little to give.  Twinges of leg cramps creeped in and I drank most of my liquid in the remaining miles.  After reaching the finish I found the nearest bit of shade and laid down.  I probably should have drank more before the race.  More training in the weeks leading up to this would have helped too. 
 
Aside from the heat and humidity the most distinguishing feature of the race were the attacks through the feed zone on every lap.  When did this become the norm?  Classy race tactics.
 
Sunday's race was unexpectedly different than what the flyer described.  Instead of the usual figure 8 with a section of brick we had a rectangle.  About six years the State Crit was run on a similar course but it had an extra left and right at the bottom of the course.  The course was a little choppy in places on the backside but ,in general, it was fine.
 
Mesa seemed to hammer the uphill start from the gun.  My heart wasn't into racing and that kind of start didn't help but I hung on.  I sat at the back the whole time.  About twenty minutes there was a pileup on the homestretch.  A couple bodies went sprawling and a bike bounded from left to right.  I slowed up trying to decipher a clear path.  I made it through unscathed but gapped as the leaders kept the gas on while those behind had to slow up.  I chased through the first turn and up to the top of the hill but I didn't seem to be closing down the gap.  I thought "screw it" and called it a day.
 
The only positives from the weekend were some Shakespeare's pizza, some big ol' pancakes slathered in butter and syrup at Ernie's Diner and the fact that on the way home we drove through Winghaven and got a look at next week's course

Went down to the Bottoms this evening. I got on the bike and was less than a 1/4 mile from home and kept hearing a jingly-jangly coming from the rear wheel. The same sound occurred last night but I didn't give it much thought since I didn't ride much after installing the new wheel. I stopped and bounced the bike a little to see if I could isolate the sound but could not. After crossing Butler Hill, the noise finally bugged me enough to give the bike a good examination. The more I listened, the more the sound seemed to come from the cassette area. I pulled over, got off and examined the cassette. Sure enough, the first set of cogs (the 23 and 21) were slopping around. At that point, I immediately remembered that 10-speeds have a little spacer that goes in place before any of the gears. I didn't take that spacer off the old wheel before installing the cassette on the new wheel. Thus the sloppy, jingly noise of the cassette moved around on rougher pavement.

Despite the improperly installed cassette I continued the ride with a 5-ish minute interval, then a climb up Hagemann and another street off of Hagemann that I hadn't been on but had a nice small climb. Back down to the Bottoms and up Wells. In and out of Suson and then through subdivisions and the hills of Greenton, Brookton, etc.

The legs felt a little better tonight. They won't be great for the weekend but maybe they will be halfway decent. The Easton Orions felt good again tonight. Light and snappy for nice accelerations.

I really need to get the hair off my legs. I feel slow just looking at the hair.

Monday we had our team meeting. The main order of business was the team kits being available for pick up. Afterward, however, I bought some new hoops to roll on. I finally tired of my old Mavic's. They have served me well but were a little chunky and the rear rim got a bit chewed in last weeks crash. Not to mention the amount of lateral play I discovered on Saturday's ride, particularly when out of the saddle. So, it was time for something new.

Tuesday I got to the World's course earlier than usual and was actually able to ride quite a few laps. I put the new front wheel on but hadn't gotten around to putting a cassette on the rear so I rode the old rear wheel. During the warm up my legs were really poor. There was no snap at all.

Maybe it was my bad legs but the race felt like it started really fast. On top of that, I was not comfortable going through turn two. I think it was partly due to last week's crash in that turn. The bike also felt different. Maybe it was the new wheel or having two new tires but I was feeling things differently than I was accustomed to feeling. My comfort increased as the race went on but I was still thinking more than I should have. The race itself was nothing special. I could move up at times but I didn't have anything to offer to the race other than just sitting in.

Today I did five laps around a neighborhood circuit I sometimes ride. Again tonight my legs were very heavy feeling. They got a little better as I rode but after 45 minutes I stopped. I didn't feel I was getting much out of the ride other than riding in a big loop. Instead, I went back home and put the cassette on the new rear wheel. The cassette swap went smoothly and I did a couple quicker but hillier loops around the neighborhood. I like what I felt.

Joe, Mark G, Glen and I headed for a something a little different Saturday. I was uncertain about my knee and hadn't set any plans for a ride so we improvised. We took Vance, Big Bend, out past Castlewood. then St. Paul, Manchester and down Woods. I had never gone down Woods before. Always gone up the hill. Damn fine road to ride down, if I do say so. Then up Melrose and down Allenton and into Eureka. We finished with Hwy FF, to John McKeever and into House Springs and up Old Gravois to High Ridge. Nice riding all around. Total riding was about 125km and according to Joe's Polar around 3200' of elevation.

Sunday we had a Phawley invite for Jeffco at 7am. The invite was tempting and I'm an early riser but I just wasn't up for a 7am ride. Joe and I went to IL instead. Joe had Maeystown in mind. I mentioned that Fort des Chartres was having one of their Rendezvous celebrations and that what could roll by there and check it out for a little bit. Saying the fort further north than Prairie du Rocher was enough for him to say okay. Of course, the road leading to the fort adds a mile or two and then we had to go to Prairie anyway to refuel.

The damndest thing happened while at the fort. We went into the fort's courtyard where they were just about to begin a procession of various groups. Colonial French soldiers, some Scottish soldiers, British too along with ordinary settlers. Also in the procession were some Indians. Native Americans for the politically correct. At least they were supposed to be Indians. I don't know. A couple hundred people lined the path out of the fort. When the Indians passed by Joe and I this one Indian kept looking over at me and Joe and even nudged the guy next to him. What's up with that? Yeah, we were dressed in lycra but you are bald with a tuft of hair and feathers at the back of your head. Not to mention you are wearing a loin cloth. And you are staring at us?

We didn't hang around long before starting the return trip. There have been windier days but the trip back was a grinder with little twinges of leg cramps from Maeystown Rd. up to Columbia. We did okay despite some fatigue. I felt much much better than last week despite riding about 20 more miles. Total ride was approx. 140kms. The miles were good after having a few weeks of not the best riding. Now I need to mix in some speed work and things will be good for the coming weeks.

A little better...

My leg is feeling better. Not great, but better. I'm not sure whether I will ride this weekend or not. I want to ride some but will probably temper any riding I do and try to ease into a little more mileage and intensity. But, State RR is just over a week away so I have the urge to get some good training this weekend. The good thing about riding is that many times my leg has hurt when doing normal everyday things but felt fine when on the bike. I won't ride until Saturday and then just see how it feels. If it starts to bother me then I will back off.

After work I went to the shop to get a new tire to replace the one blown out this past Tuesday. After a few years of riding strictly Vittoria's I bought a Conti GP4000. I soured on Conti's many years ago for various reasons. They seemed to flat easily and sidewalls seemed to wear thin quickly. But, I've heard good things about the 4000's. I am willing to give them another try.

Random thoughts:
I really like the curvature of a brand new, inflated tire on a wheel. Simple, clean and elegant.
Maybe you hadn't heard this. It's the start of Hurricane season. It hasn't been reported much today. *heavy on the sarcasm*
Speaking of the media, they sure know how to make a big deal about themselves when they are in the news. It is bad that CBS' Kim Dozier was injured and her colleagues killed over in Iraq, but is she really deserving of news stories every day since then? Is she that important? I'd bet that before this incident not more than 2 or 3 percent of Americans could tell you who she was. And if you don't think the media is good at making themselves the news then ask yourself who the name of the soldier killed in the same bomb blast. Can't answer that can you? Neither can I.