It's the last night in town and I hope everything important is packed. There is supposedly some kind of flight attendant/traffic controller work stoppage going on in Italy now. What's a little more pre-trip stress?

Here are some general maps of the routes we will be riding.
Day 1
Warmup ride
Day 2
Bassano loop
Day 3
Fiera to Pieve
Day 4
Tre Cime
Day 5
Sella Ronda
Day 6
Campolongo
Day 7
Cavalese
Day 8
Molveno
Day 9
Riva del Garda
Day 10 undetermined

Day 11
Gavia
Day 12
Stelvio loop
Day 13
Mortirolo

With some luck I will be able to post once or twice during the trip. If not, be back in two weeks.

My knee was bugging me Monday and Tuesday was rainy so I stayed off the bike.

I kept things reasonably close to the house today and did three repeats of three different hills. I didn't attack the climbs. Steady riding in a somewhat uncomfortable gearing. One hour only.

The four of us met again on Sunday for Jeffco. I didn't go hill crazy in my route planning. It was moderate route that gave some time for recovery.

We went down to Fenton and got some miles in the legs before climbing Hillsboro-Parc de Vallee and into Haute Arete. Then it was down Old Gravois into Ressorts de Chambre. We did a loop and returned to Ressorts de Chambre on Dulin Crique. We headed back to Haute Arete by climbing Byrnes Mill and Nollman. After a refueling stop we rode the Hunning rollers and up Old Crique de Sucre and down Crique de Romaine. before crossing back over the Meramec.

After a little excursion through flooded roads we decided to just return on 21.

Met in Columbia as usual. Marco, Patrice and wee Zack were in attendance. Beautiful day and we did a nice ride. Began by looping north with the Mulenberg, Saeger and into Millstadt before proceeding with a usual Ronde route.

Zack was wanting to take the bluffs back. We overrode him and took the flats. The winds played tricks on us again. Standing in Maeystown we felt certain that there would be a tailwind back. Instead, it was a solid headwind that wore us down pretty well

Rode for an hour including a series of six ins and outs of Suson Park. Nothing special, other than getting a little hill work.

I should have gone out for a ride this evening but the lightning, thunder and evil clouds kept me off the bike. It never did rain, though. Oh well.
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The webcam links have been updated. There is a new view looking east from Passo Stelvio. This webcam provides a better look at the road as it heads down. Why don't they plow that side, like they did on the western side? The snow doesn't extend too far down the mountain.

Wednesday evening I hit the road a little earlier, just after 5pm.  With the heavier traffic at that time of day I decided to stay on some roads less traveled.  I rambled over to Kennerly and did ten Mentz hill loops.  On each circuit I rode a moderately difficult (39x16) gearing for that hill. 
 
After two loops I wasn't sure I really wanted to do ten loops and my mind tried to rationalize doing only five or six.  I talked myself into breaking the ride down into two loop segments in my mind rather than thinking 8 or 6 or however many laps left.  This helped get through the psychological block and trudge through all ten laps.  It was another nice day for riding.  Warm and sunny but not hot.  Total ride: 51km

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I started my self-imposed exile from racing this evening by skipping the Tues Nite Worlds. Instead, I went out after dinner and churned out an enjoyable 25+ miles. There was no training in a structured sense. This was just riding some reasonably hilly roads and enjoying myself despite the very bloated feeling for the first part of the ride.

I wound my way through Tapawingo a few times, up Robyn and then explored some of the side roads on W. Watson that, for some reason, I had never ridden on. Probably because I knew they were dead-end but even they were a nice diversion and an extra couple hills. Then it was back home through Weber Hill and Mentz Hill, etc. A nice night of riding.

I formally rescind my respect for Basso admitting his involvement with Puerto.  Twenty-four hours later we are treated to the usual pro cyclist excuses. 
"Me??? Dope??? Never???" 
"I was prepared to dope but never got the chance." 
"I am as clean as the wind-driven snow." 
"I am so innocent that, if I were not a man, it's likely I would be pregnant with Jesus Christ."
 
You only had contact with Fuentes in a "weak moment"?  Sure.  That is believable.  Would you care to explain the telephone messages to Fuentes referencing you during the Giro, Fuentes' faxes referencing you, records of blood extractions and transfusions since '04, payments of over 100,000 euros and Zurich bank accounts.  That's one hell of a "weak moment" Ivan.  For your sake I hope you are putting out these stories for public relations and singing a different tune when talking with the prosecutors behind closed doors.

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Washington Circuit Race on Sunday- Eight laps of a challenging, twisty, ascending and descending course. Fun course. If I were to give a Euro post-race interview to Paul Sherwen my quote would be "I didn't have good sensations today"

The race started with the ever popular un-neutral neutral start. Instead it was a pretty quick effort up the short climb to 2nd Street and a strung out pack to start the race. Oh well, I expected as much. I took up my typical caboose position to start the race and I paid for it on the 2nd lap and and got gapped going up Cedar St. That was pretty much all she wrote.

A water bottle popped out on the 2nd lap, too, I continued to chase, though, and managed to passed and drop a Gateway. Since I was already out of centention, I stopped on the third lap to pick up my water bottle and lost my place again to the Gateway guy. Back to chasing, chasing chasing. Up ahead was a fluid race as Gateway caught Mesa. Mesa dropped off as Gateway caught two Dogfish and Marco while I passed Mesa. One of the Doggies then dropped off and I passed him. On lap 4, I charged down the hill toward Front St to catch Marco, the Gateway and Dogfish. I was going to quit at the end of the lap so I get the big gear rolling into the headwind along Front St. Without any hesitation, I powered right by. I think it startled them to some degree. I know Marco wondered where I came from. They managed to hop on my wheel but it was fun giving the effort and we managed to catch Ted as well at the end of lap 4.

The actual race sucked on my part but the constant chasing actually wasn't that bad of a workout. My heart hasn't really been into the racing lately so I'm happy to be unscathed and will try and get back into it after vacation.
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After months of denial Basso admitted today that he was involved in Puerto. I find it unfortunate that it took this long to admit guilt but, when the evidence starts to become overwhelming, what is the point of fighting on. As I wrote a few weeks ago. Take your lumps, admit guilt, don't give all your money to the lawyers and come back in a few years.

Your rep is tarnished but it is tarnished anyway. Actually, I have a little more respect for standing up and taking blame.

Yesterday's humidity remained throughout the night and into the morning. As daybreak came a light fog had settled in over the city. Clouds hung low and shrouded the upper half of the JB Bridge. After crossing the Mississippi, however, the fog seemed to disappear. What didn't change was the thick air. Thankfully, the morning temperatures were comfortable and prevented the day from being oppressive. Regardless, the mere of act of pedaling through the air made you damp.

Many of the farms were freshly planted with little sprigs of crop beginning to burst through the soil. A sure sign of spring was the sod farm nearly stripped bare of the grass that had been cultivated through the winter and early spring.

We had a good ride along the flats to Valmeyer and up the hill to New Valmeyer. A little ribbing about chainring size at the bottom of the hill led to a pushing of the pace by Patrice. Marco likely regretted his comments at that point. I came around Patrice as the pace settled in. Three more times Patrice came charging around me. This was more aggression than I sought but it was fun jumping on his wheel each time.

The remainder of the ride was a variation of a reverse Ronde up on the bluffs. The route has a different feel in that direction and it provided for a nice change of pace.

Total miles: 53ish

Rain, rain, rain. We have been rainy all week. The weather finally seems to have cleared out late this afternoon. I wasn't much in the mood for riding really wet roads today. My plan was to simply set up the trainer in the garage and put in some time on the trainer. I did that, but the 95% humidity (no joke) completely overwhelmed the nice temperatures. It only took a few minutes before the sweat was rolling off me and leaving a sea of sweat on the floor of the garage.

A half hour of that torture was enough for me. By then the roads were not as wet but there were no dry spots either. Regardless, I needed to feel some air against me and to dry off a little. In total, I had a nice hour of riding before heading into the weekend. It's Columbia IL tomorrow for some unknown distance in preparation for the Washington circuit race Sunday. From then on, it's all about prep for the trip.

The Giro starts in 8 days. Giuseppe leaves in 19 days and I leave in 20. My mind is full of little ticky-tack things that I still need to do. You would think I would some of this stuff down. Not my style, though.

Speaking of the trip, I was most likely Google-fied (I am guessing) yesterday by one of our tripmates, Brian, who found this god forsaken piece of electronic chicken scratch. He seems like a good guy and I look forward to meeting him, his wife and friend.

I was able to sneak out between the raindrops Wednesday evening for a half hour. The pavement was still damp and some very light drizzle was falling. There was no wasting time and I went pretty hard from the get go. I was cautious going around the turns but otherwise didn't lollygag. I managed to squeeze in three laps of my neighborhood loop before the rain began to fall more steadily. I felt pretty good.
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Here's a news story you likely wouldn't brag about to your friends...

A man in South Africa was robbed by armed thieves who broke into his house – then stripped him naked and superglued him to his exercise bike. The man was forced to look on, helpless, at the burglars ransacked his house, and helped themselves to his finest Chivas Regal Scotch whiskey while they were at it.

The men – smartly dressed in suits – kidnapped the man in an affluent Johannesburg suburb, and forced him to take them to his house. Once there, they made him strip, then superglued him to the seat of the exercise bike. The also superglued his hands and feet, and – just to make sure – superglued his mouth shut as well.

The man was only discovered when his partner arrived home several hours later. He was eventually removed from the exercise bike by emergency services, using a mixture of chemicals and Vaseline.

What can I say about the Tour of St Louis. Saturday was relatively easy. Craig got in an early break and much of the race afterward was keeping others in check. Finished somewhere around the high teens or low twenty's.

Sunday, I went into the race feeling reasonably good. I covered one break but was hanging onto it for dear life. I contributed one short pull but wasn't interested in making it stick because my gasping lungs couldn't take it. I hung on long enough for the pack to catch on and I drifted back. Never again did I see the front of the pack and I popped on the penultimate lap when the pace lifted. Pretty lousy race on my part.

Tuesday was rainy. Imagine that. A rainy Tuesday. I skipped the Worlds.
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This evening I got a chance to look at the little bit of video I shot after the race Sunday while trying to get the hang of the camera. The race action was so-so. The best part was probably the probing and hard-hitting questions I posed to Vinnie and Darrin. Personally, I think Andreu has reason to fear for his job. I'm gunning for you Frankie!
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Throughout the Puerto affair I have refrained from adding names to my Dope-O-Meter because I don't add names until riders receive suspensions. However, Ullrich's DNA proved to be a match to a Puerto blood bag. He promptly retired. Sorry, Jan. You may not have been suspended but I will be dubbing you a dope.

Now the Italians are finally getting serious about investigating the Puerto dopers thanks to a new 6000 page report issued by the Spanish police. Basso has quit Discovery, Jaksche and Hamilton are suspended from Tinkoff and more doo-doo will be hitting the fan soon. How fun this is.

Not only is Puerto going on but Italy has there own mini investigation (Athena) that has apparently netted Luca Paolini. Even more disturbing than another cyclist being implicated was news that the hotness that is Elisa Basso-Mazzoleni was being investigated for drug trafficking. Horrors!!! They couldn't possibly jail that smoldering piece of Euro-sensuality. The good news is that Elisa appears to have been cleared of charges. As the Italian prosecutor said "The search of Elisa Basso's [home] turned up nothing. I am not able to respond in regards to Paolini." My hunch is investigators turned up some lacy thongs for their own enjoyment.