From LeMonde:
 
The organizers of the race had warned that racers "named" in the
Puerto files could not start the Tour.  This is the principle that
impelled the exclusion of the German Jan Ullrich and the Italian Ivan
Basso in 2006.  "In any case the Contador's name could not be linked
to the clientele of Fuentes," argued the boss of the Tour, Patrice
Clerk, on Thursday, July 26, when the Spaniard slipped on the yellow
jersey.

Besides hundreds of pouches of blood, the Guardia Civil seized, in the
spring 2006, many documents where the doctor recorded treatments and
indications for his numerous "clients".  According to our information,
the name Alberto Contador appears several times in these documents.
And, in contrast what Patrice Clerk claimed, Contador was not simply
"quoted in the framework of telephone conversations for results of
races" by chance.

In the files, to which le Monde had access, the investigators note
that "in the document 3 appear marked in different manners the names
of the racers: Dariuz Baranowsky, Joseba Beloki, Gianpaolo Caruso,
Alberto Contador (...)  ".  This piece is part of "the documentation
relating to the illicit presumed activities" of Dr. Fuentes, seized in
one of his Madrid apartments. The investigators specify that the name
Alberto Contador appears under the initials "A.C." in another document
of Fuentes. "On the back of document 31 are handwritten annotations
with the title 'Individualization' where various racers on the Liberty
Seguros-Würth Team are identified by their initials:  R.H. (Roberto
Heras), M.S. (Marcos Serrano), J.B. (Joseba Beloki) (...) A.C.
(Alberto Contador)."

According to the Guardia Civil, these documents correspond to the
planning of the 2005 season for Liberty Seguros.  It was in January
2005 that Alberto Contador returned to competition after his brain
operation in the spring 2004.  As in the cases of Spanish Roberto
Heras, Joseba Beloki or Marcos Serrano, most of the racers named in
these documents are today without a team or on second division
squads.

"DIFFERENT RIDERS GET TREATED DIFFERENTLY"

In contrast to a Roberto Heras or a Joseba Beloki, the investigatory
report did not reveal annotations mentioning doping products opposite
the name Alberto Contador.  The case of Gianpaolo Caruso is, on the
other hand, similar to Contador's.  Now if the Spanish federation did
not deem it worthy to go after their rider, the Antidoping prosecutor
of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) required a two year suspension
for Gianpaolo Caruso. "It's completely extraordinary that Contador can
continue to race without being worried about Operation Puerto while
CONI demanded that Caruso be suspended for two years. There isn't more
in the dossier against Caruso than against Contador," said Jörg
Jaksche, former team member of the Spaniard with Liberty Seguros, to
Le Monde.

The German racer had caused a sensation before the Tour began by
publicly admitting taking drugs with the assistance of Dr. Fuentes
when he rode for the Spanish team. "There is different treatment
according to who the rider is," deplores Jaksche, who says he related
the history of his life as a doped cyclist for twenty hours to the
German federal police on Wednesday the 25th and Thursday July 26th.

Alberto Contador himself had been questioned scarcely ten minutes, in
December 2006, by the magistrate charged with the Puerto dossier.  In
front of Judge Antonio Serrano, Contador declared he did not know
Eufemiano Fuentes.  He also refused to submit to DNA sampling that
could have verified that certain blood pockets, recovered from the
apartments Fuentes performed autologous transfusions in, were destined
for him.

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Big news in the Post-Tour criterium circuit:  Francesco del Ponte was supposed to have participated in the Aalst post-tour criterium in Belgium yesterday.

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UCIban Mayo

You just know the world champ loves posing with these folks for picture.
 
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/jul07/regionwallonne07/regionwallonne071/Par1441598.jpg

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What a lovely summer weekend. Ninety degrees with seventy percent humidity. Yummy!!!!

You walked outside and the air was thick with moisture. Ten minutes of riding and the sweat was rolling. We finished riding Saturday and the jersey could not be any wetter and clinging to the body. Rather unpleasant.

I rode pretty well. Nothing spectacular but very solid.

Sunday I did some intervals down on the Bottoms before crossing the Meramec and setting a moderately hard pace along 141, into Fenton, then along the river road and outer road up to Bowles. Finished off the ride up Old Gravois and Kennerly.

Aside from the intervals, I pushed a bigger gear than normal. My left knee bothered me some this afternoon but it seems better now.

After a tough few weeks I like how things are progressing. There were times, like just before Soulard, where I would feel upbeat following a ride. Those good feelings were quickly smashed. The problem was those good feelings were hit and miss and not based on anything. The last couple weeks though I have sensed a real progression. My strength is growing. I can push harder for a little longer. Before, I only wanted to ride a steady pace but now I find myself pushing my limits more. The confidence is growing again with urge is to dish out some pain.

Presidential Hopeful John Edwards Proclaims: "My Butt Hurts"

“The biggest problem is my butt hurts. Is that normal?”

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards squeezed into a pair of Spandex bike shorts today and pedaled on the RAGBRAI route with champion cyclist Lance Armstrong.
-----------------
The ol' saddle is not quite as comfy as that leather senate chair or '$400 per haircut' chair is it?

What the hell!!!

Two weeks of relative calm in the Tour was too good to be true. Sure, there was Sinkewitz' positive from several months back that came to light. But, he had already crashed out of the race so that story didn't cause too much stink.

First came the story that Rasmussen missed several doping controls and was kicked off the Danish national teams. The dark doping cloud could be seen on the horizon.

Then came old accusations about Rasmussen trying to get a MTB'er to unwittingly transport fake hemoglobin into Italy. The cloud grew nearer.

Vinokourov got booted on Tuesday for blood transfusion. The storm cloud firmly settled over the race.

Christian Moreni, of the pious french Cofidis squad, is confirmed positive with exogenous testosterone after todays stage. I wonder if Cofidis team manager Eric Boyer will call his man a "bastard", like he did Vinokourov? Rain begins to fall from the cloud

Then late today, after winning the final mountain stage and virtually securing overall victory, Rabobank pulls Rasmussen from the race for lying about his whereabouts during the missed doping controls. A funnel cloud descends from the dark doping cloud

Like Vinokourov, Moreni you suck.

And to paraphrase Homer Simpson, Rasmussen... you are the suckiest suck that ever sucked.

Then, after dinner I open this weeks Sports Illustrated that arrived in the mail today. The story on Page 48 is entitled "Uphill Climb" and begins with these words

"Despite isolated doping allegations, which hit even race leader Micahel Rasmussen, the Tour de France was buoyed by signs that riders might be cleaning up their acts."

There's nothing better than a timely headline, eh?

Any guess what next week's story might be titled??? "Downhill Descent"?

Vino sucks!

Thanks for pissing on a fun Tour, Al. I wonder how many team sponsorships you have crushed for next year. You are probably not the only one doping, but you are the dumbest one.

I love some of the quotes today.

Eric Boyer, Team Manager, (Cofidis):

"I feel sick. I hope that Vinokourov won't be a coward and deny everything. He said that he worked with Ferrari just for training plans. He always told us what a brave guy he is, that he is stronger than the pain, that the French ride behind everyone else because they are lazier. Now we see that he is a big bastard. These practices discredit all of cycling again."
----------
Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile Team):

"This is naturally very bad and I feel like Vinokourov has made a fool of me,...
----------
Marc Madiot (Team Manager, Fdjeux):

"A surprise? Not really!"
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On a bright note, my fantasy team has moved up to 4th place and is kicking some arse. Thanks to Mr. Kazakh Doper, though, I know longer have Kloden earning points. Burn in hell, Vino!

Let's hope Contador puts some of this nastiness on the back burner with a storming ride through the mountains. The finish will be a good test. The first time I rode the Marie Blanque, that sucker dished out some suffering. The first 4-5 kms are not difficult at all but the last 4km are consistently in the 10-11% range. The way I remember the mountain was a lot like Ventoux in the sense that it is steep and doesn't really have hairpins. It's pretty much a straight shot. If it were closer to the finish I could see those last km's being a good place for a pure climber to lay some hurt on a challenger.

The descent is longer, twistier, and more gradual and empties onto a plateau, before descending again into the valley. The road from there is a dead straight road to the base of the Col d'Aubisque. I believe the town at the base is Laruns. You roll through town and make a left turn to start the climb.

The first few km's really suited my riding style. The grade was just right for me. You then hit the town of Eau Bonnes(?) The town is small and has a few hotels and shops. The road through town is short but steep, turns left and flattens out and then starts going up again. The climb on the whole is pretty steady in grade. Typically about 7%. There is a brief section about halfway up with a sign that says something like 12%. More than anything, the sign scares you, because you are back to the more gradual grades soon enough.

From that point, if you look up and are not familiar with the climb you can be tricked into thinking the summit is closer than it really is. There is a hotel about 3km from the top. Down below it looks like it would be the top but once you are there it keeps on going. The weather on top of the Aubisque often seems to be foggy so if you like watching the guys finishing in the fog you might have the chance Wednesday. If the sun is out, you can have some pretty scenery for the TV cameras.

I will be interested in seeing how and when Contador makes his move on Rasmussen.

Saturday's ride was absolutely glorious. Half of it at least. We rolled out of the parking lot with temps in the low 60's and not a cloud in the sky. We rode between fabulous 8ft tall corn, explored some new roads that we had never chosen before. Steppig had a short, nasty little kick in it. Andy Rd was a freshly paved piece of heaven. And, Deer Hill which we had been on a couple times was good. Maybe it was the newness of the route but I thought the trip down to Maeystown was great, minus a smal amount little loose gravel toward the end.

After stopping in Maeystown, the return trip was less fun. My legs were tighter than a drum. Out of the saddle my entire thighs would contract. Not a cramp really but very tight. I'm surprised they didnt go into a full-on cramp. The I missed our turn somehow. I'm still not sure how but we did. We got back on track but Patrice needed to be getting back to Columbia by noon. We stuck to the flats on the way back.

Thats fine but there is a good sized section of B Rd that was newly gravelled. Giuseppe flatted about halfway through. Marco and I waited, only to start riding again and realize my rear tire was going flat.

I came home and watched Stage 13 TT of the Tour. Thoughts:
Michael "powered by Biopure" Rasmussen did quite good.
Valverde should do better than that.
Moreau has mentally quit the Tour.
Levi continues his move up the GC by doing nothing. He has a sub-par TT and moves into the top 5. His war of attrition will not take him any higher unless he makes something happen. Unfortunately for him his teammate Contador is a minute ahead of him and truly is an attacker. Levi will have to attack before Contador and make it stick. I have a hard time seeing that happen.
Contador is fun to watch and I look forward to the Pyrenees.
Evans did great.
That leaves Astana. Look at their roster and you know they have a strong tream. Still, having three of the top four TT finishers raises my eyebrows. Especially when 3rd and 4th both had crashes. They possibly could have swept the top three. Call me cynical but I just do not trust that team. There are probably a lot of dirty riders still but I feel dirtiest when seeing them perform. They are a diabolical combination of Liberty Seguros and T-Mobile and when you see a performance like that from Vinokourov I can't help but wonder

Today's stage should be fun. Plateau de Beille is always packed with crazy Basque fans and is usually causes some nice time gaps. Go Contador! Light up the race. I will ignore your equally diabolical combination of Liberty Seguros and Discovery.

Fantasy update:  After 11 stage, my fantasy Tour team has moved up again and sits in 6th place out of 2495 teams.  Boonen's stage win today should ensure that I not lose many places, if any.

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This morning I checked on my fantasy team's performance for the first time since Stage 5.  Doing all right.  After Stage 6 I was up to 69th, Stage 7 - 32nd, Stage 8 - 20th and Stage 9 18th.  Kloden and Rasmussen have really picked up Boonen and Cancellara's slack in the mountains.  Sastre, Chavanel and De La Fuente racked up a few points.  Leipheimer needs to start carrying a little bigger load.
--------------------------
Yesterday afternoon I had little desire to attend the Tues Worlds and almost did my workout.  Instead, I mustered up the gumption to get in the car and drive to the park.  It turned out to be an okay race and I gave a few efforts.  They were nothing spectacular but I gave it a go.  My recovery really sucks and needs big improvements.

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Today's stage got me thinking about the mountains the rider's will tackle today.  I have not ridden the Col d'Iseran but that is not the case with the Telegraphe and Galibier. 
 
The Telegraphe was a thoroughly enjoyable climb.  I innocently approached the mountain thinking it was only about 6km long instead of the 12km that it really is.  Thinking it was shorter than it was I fearlessly upped the tempo more than I would have done normally.  The mountain is forgiving, however.  The road is nice with a fair amount of trees to provide cover from the sun and is a very steady grade.  I don't recall any major variations.  Once you are in a steady rhythm you can carry that pace quite nicely.
 
The descent into the town of Valloire is much shorter and not technical.  You could open up and let the bike really roll.  Fast and fun.
 
Valloire is a small little town.  I assume it is a ski village of sorts despite being in a valley.  They have some good sized hotels that you wouldn't normally find in a town of that size.  They really go "en fete" when the Tour rolls through.  Yellow balloons, banners and streamers everywhere.  Because of its location between the Telegraphe and Galibier, the town is hopping on Tour day.
 
Right outside of town is the start of the Galibier.  There is a short little steep section just as you leave town and then it "levels off" into a false flat and then very gradually gets a little steeper.  The grade kind of sneaks up on you and you find yourself working pretty hard in the 39x24.  After a while you come to a truly flat section called the "Plan Lachet" if I recall the name correctly.  As the name says, it is a plain.  Off to the right is a decent sized lake and high mountains surround you except from the direction you just came.  If you look up the mountain on your right you see the cars, campers and cyclists snaking up the hairpinned road to the summit of the Galibier.  This upper section is the touger part of the mountain where it is a steady 8% up to the summit. 
 
The Galibier didn't strike me as a brute of a climb.  Maybe I would feel different if I hadn't stopped about 3 or 4km from the summit to watch the race go by, but I doubt that would have changed my opinion much.  It is not an easy climb but I have suffered more. 
 
Once you summit, the first part of the descent is quite steep before becoming more typical.  Its a twisty descent to start and then becomes more of a winding type of road as go further down.  The "base" of the Galibier is the summit of the Col du Lautaret.  From there you have a looooong gradual descent into Briancon.  It will be hard for breakaways to make it stick with the long descent after the Galibier.  It is possible, though, as Vinokourov did a few years ago.  It's hard to predict a winner on this stage but if it stays together and they go up the hill in Briancon I will pick Valverde for his good sprint and climbing abilities.

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Quotes in the news:
Roberto Heras says "For me, training does not impose any sacrifices. It is the advantage that I have. I enjoy doing what I like,"   - Don't we all like doing what we enjoy?  That's not an advantage, Bob.
 
Iban Mayo says the most important thing is "keeping this feeling, the sensations I felt today."  -- It's time to start tracking how many times pro cyclists have good "sensations"

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Soulard: sucked

What more is left to say? Before the race, my goal was to get a good start for a change. My starting position wasn't real good but I actually did get a decent start and moved up on the downhill between turns 2 and 3. From then on it was slow drift rearward. Time to face facts. I have a lot of work to do, to just be competitive.
------------
Tour Stage 8 - I dozed off this morning during the race. I won't comment on whatever happened on the decent of the Montee de Hauteville. Bad luck for Michael Rogers crashing on the Roseland but, despite him being in virtual yellow at the time, I have news for Phil and Paul. He was not a race favorite. Same goes for Hincapie.

I was surprised more riders did not put Astana under pressure earlier on the final climb. The breakaway group of 7 moved away from the peloton rather easily and could have had much bigger time gaps if they had worked together more. Kashechkin and Contador could be excused for not working more since they had leaders in the group behind. That said, I thought that group provided some fun viewing.

Thumbs up today go to: Rasmussen - he won solo, 'nuff said. Moreau - clearly the strongest of the chase group with several attacks. Mayo - I like to watch him climb when he is on form and his attacks today were a welcome sight. Contador - He only had to stay on wheels but he was fun to watch dancing on the pedals. And when he had a mechanical in the final km's, he came flying back out of the main group to try and bridge again to the breakaways. Kloden - did yeoman's work in pulling the main group on the upper slopes up to Tignes and then waited for the ailing Vino. He's Vino's equal at the very least and hurt is own chances by waiting.

Thumbs down go to: Evans - did nothing in the breakaway group. Leipheimer - passive, passive, passive.

Had a nice ride this morning. I skipped going over to Columbia because I wanted to do my own thing in prep for Soulard. And, frankly, I didn't know if anyone else was going over there. Instead I went into Fenton. There were some hard efforts but it was all about keeping the legs fresh for tomorrow. The legs felt reasonably strong and they had some hippy-hop in them. This gives me some good sensations for tomorrow.
------------
The first mountain stage of the Tour was rather uneventful. There was a slow selection among the peloton but the race favorites did absolutely nothing. Not one attack. Gerdemann's solo win was a nice effort and he looked truly happy to be on the stage for both the stage win and yellow jersey presentations. Good for him. I also give a hand to Mauricio Soler of Barloworld. He attacked out of the peloton fairly early on the Colombiere and the cameras never showed him again but he stayed away until the end and actually closed the gap some on Gerdemann. A nice ride by an unknown rider.

Today's Velonews Forum Stupid Post of the Day:
 
What's with these breakaways in the TdF anyhow? So far, all have been caught by the peloton a short distance from the finish line. I think that the breakaways are meant to incite the peloton to travel quicker. Those in the breakaways have absolutely no intention to go for the finish. It's not the politics of the game. Team work is absolute.

Well, you racers, what is your take on this.
----------------------------------------------
My comment:  To paraphrase Forrest Gump... Stupid is as stupid posts.

 
 

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After a rough start to the week I finally was able to get a couple nights in a row of productive training. Not long rides but good intensity but, at this time of year, that will suit me just fine.

Not long after heading out tonight I looked up the road and saw two riders making a left turn onto the road ahead of me. It was hard to tell from a distance whether they were neighborhood folk out for leisurely ride but they appeared to have full kits on. I picked up the pace just to see who they might be. About a mile later I caught up to them. One was in a Grand Performance kit and the other in a Univ of Rochester kit. Strange to see those deep in the heart of SoCo. With my curiosity satisfied I was going to peel off with a right turn when they turned the same way. I followed them down into the valley and up the next hill when I truly did pull off and head out to my planned ride. Strangely enough, we crossed paths again as I started to head home on W. Watson.
------------------------
Today's TdF Stage 5 was the first day that had potential overall GC implications. Vinokourov crashed late in the stage and lost 1:18 despite his Astana teammates giving a TTT effort to try and drag him back up to a storming peloton.

When reporters asked Vino about the cause of the crash he replied, "The crash had nothing to do with the performance enhancing drugs that I did not take with Telekom or, that the Astana team is not taking when we ride in our solid black jerseys."

Okay, I made that quote up. But, it sounds like many of his recent guilty sounding pleas of innocence.
-------------------------
My fantasy team continues to rack up a solid performance. Cancellara, Kloden and Boonen's strong, steady riding continue to buoy the team almost all by themselves, while Chavanel helped out today with his breakaway effort and mountain points. Currently I stand in 93rd place out of 2495 teams.

Today's shocking news story:

Quick Step manager Lefevere in no hurry to sign UCI anti-doping charter
By JEROME PUGMIRE, AP Sports Writer
July 11, 2007

JOIGNY, France (AP) -- Patrick Lefevere is in no hurry to sign the International Cycling Union's anti-doping charter.

Lefevere, the manager of the Quick Step-Innergetic team at this year's Tour de France, will first seek legal advice. "I don't do anything without a lawyer," Lefevere said Wednesday. "I give it to my lawyer and if he says it's OK, it's OK. If he says we have to make some changes, (then) I give it to the lawyer of the AIGCP."

Lefevere is also president of the International Association of Professional Cycling Teams. "We have an association, and then we will see," Lefevere told The Associated Press.

On Monday, UCI president Pat McQuaid added team managers to the list of people he wants to sign the anti-doping charter. "Each manager has to ask themselves what kind of sport do they want to be involved in," McQuaid said by telephone, adding that he has had "some very positive reactions."

After requesting that all 600 ProTour cyclists sign a similar charter last month, McQuaid asked team officials to promise they will not encourage a cyclist on their team to dope, or ignore such activities within their team.

The charter must be signed before Aug. 1 and is aimed at managers, sporting directors, doctors and other team staff. "I'm not in a hurry. It's the first of August, no?" Lefevere said. "I want to do the Tour de France. It finishes on the 29th (of July), and then we will see."

The document for riders asked them to pledge that they are not involved in doping and promise to submit DNA samples to Spanish authorities for the Operation Puerto probe into blood-doping at a Spanish clinic.

Lefevere issued lawsuits in January against a newspaper, journalists and Belgian lawmaker Jean-Marie Dedecker for alleging that the team was involved in doping.

Similar to the cyclists' charter, staff members who sign the declaration agree to pay a year's salary if they break their pledge. The names of cyclists and team officials who sign the commitment will be published on the UCI Web site.

Cyclists had until July 7 to sign the document. All 189 Tour de France riders signed the charter in time for the July 7 prologue. Tour director Christian Prudhomme had warned that anyone who refused to sign would not be allowed to race.

And all this time I thought Mr. Lefevere was leader in the fight against doping. He will only sign that as he is dragged to the table kicking and screaming and 11:59pm on July 31st.

For the last year or so I have checked out the Velonews forum. From the beginning they seemed like pompous, cliquish asses. There are a few decent folk over there but they remain the same in their attitudes. The only difference being that are sometimes just dumb, pompous asses.

Today's dumb velonews post of the day:

Predictor is a type of pregnancy test???
I had no idea.

That is as wild as when I found out ONCE was the Spanish society for Blindness and Amore & Vita was a pro-choice organization.

Not only was the writer clueless for the last 7 or 8 months about Predictor and the talk that surrounded their sponsorship of a men's cycling team, but Amore e Vita, (Love and Life) instead of being pro-choice, was founded on an anti-abortion platform with heavy connections to the Vatican including yearly meetings with the Pope.

Two weeks of not touching the bike is not recommended before going out on a warm, sun-baked ride into Illinois farm country. Okay, I had two good rides last weekend but beside that I haven't touched the bike.

Patrice rolled out a new route into Smithton, then Freburg and a little extra loop beyond Freeburg before heading back toward Columbia. I was good on the way out to Freeburg. I always seemed to get on the front with Giuseppe and his interminal pace. Finally, I popped just as we hit Smithton on the return trip. We refueled at the gas station before hitting the last leg into Columbia.

Once we were going again I was feeling the pace but was holding on okay. Then, on Gilmore Lakes or Floraville or whatever road leads into the Gilmore Lakes subdivision Giuseppe hit the front again and the pace raised a notch or two. I struggled mightily but was hanging on. My breathing became more labored and the legs heavier. I was squirming all over the bike trying to find a comfortable position. Finally, I said enough and sat up. Everyone chilled the Gilmore Lakes but I still didn't feel that great. Patrick said we would go back on Rte 3. I guess as a way of shortening the ride for me. Instead I told him I was going back on Centreville and they could do whatever route back that he had planned.

Centreville has a few little rollers but it is generally easy terrain. Plus, it is a short way back to town. I cruised along at a comfy pace without the pressure of keeping up with or slowing down the others. Even at my leisurely pace, I was back at the parking lot several minutes before the rest.

This kind of ride really hurts the morale. Last week's riding was good and this was just awful. I will chalk it up to not riding but the heat probably played as big a role. The last few years I have wilted on quite a few hot rides. The heat really seems to beat me up lately. Then again, maybe it is a mid-season swoon. There was a real bad stretch of riding for me last year around June and early July as well. I don't know, but I have to put it out of my mind.

On a more positive note: My Tour fantasy team at Velogames is off to a nice start. Cancellara and Kloden went one - two in the prologue. I'm going to have to look at the scoring and make sure the prologue counts. It will be a bummer if they scoring starts with stage 1. Last year's Tour was my first attempt at building a team on this website. I finished middle of the pack. My team at this year's Giro did much better and finished 84(?) out of nearly 800 teams.

Time to vent:
 
I HATE drivers that will skip by an entire right turn lane and drive up an empty straight-ahead lane and promptly turn right when the light changes.  Burn in motorists hell!
Last night I was watched the Cardinals game.  During commercial breaks I would flip over to Larry King.  Larry is not something I normally watch but every few months I may flip past it.  That show is a trainwreck.  Larry had Al Gore as a guest pimping his LiveEarth crap, er, concert.  There were two things wrong with the show from the time that I watched.  Problem #1 was Larry King and #2 was Al Gore.  Can Larry be a bigger senile prune face?  At one point Al was being oh-so-serious and concluding his statement by saying we only had 10 yrs to fix our climate problems.  That seems like a serious comment that Larrry could use to follow up with a probing question.  Wrong.  Instead, Larry asks "How did you get Madonna to appear?"  Huh?  What?  Excuse me?  From what I could tell his questions were like that all night, going from one stray thought in his mind to another whether they had any connection or not.
Then there was oh-so-serious Al.  People still tout him as a possible presidential candidate but that appearance last night reminded me of what a completely unlikeable person he is.  The slicked back hair.  The annoying speech patterns and lisp.  The "I know better than you" preachiness despite his oil company investments and huge energy usage.  The fake hipness, trying to say what a wonderful guy the lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas and what great original songs the Peas and Madonna have written for LiveEarth.  Please!  You're a stiff, overweight, white guy with a lyric banning wife. 

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News of the Day The past week has been rather busy and not allowing me to ride. If I really had the desire I probably could have squeezed in some ride time. but work has pretty much tied me down to staying around the phone.

Last weekend was a nice weekend of riding. Saturday was good, hard riding with a fair amount of pacelining. Someone said we did 80 miles. That seems a bit much but I have know way of knowing. Sunday, I needed to ride up to work and the other jokers I ride with were willing to join me on the scenic ride up to Bridgeton. This was certainly a different route than normal but it turned into another good ride. In an effort to try and gain some fitness, Giuseppe spent only 80% of the ride driving the pace. :-)

My groin was bothering me for much of the ride and it grew slightly, but steadily, more annoying all day. The long drag up Adams was the end of any efforts for me that day. This week's rest probably was a good thing for my groin. Sunday night my left calf was really sore. Muscle cramp soreness. I didn't really cramp up at all during the ride so it is curious that it hurt as much as it did. Four days later the calf is still a bit tight.

The Tour starts Saturday and apparently there will not be any major pre-race bombshells hit the press. The USADA, sensing a lack of scandal, has decided to finally rule on Floyd Landis' doping case Friday, one day before the Tour starts. Nice going guys. There is no better way to begin the biggest race on the calendar than by announcing that last year's winner is guilty of doping. Idiots!

Okay, okay. They have not announced his guilt yet but, if they don't, it will be a big surprise. I don't want Floyd to be guilty. Last year's race was an unbelievably stirring event. Whether you believe the test results, the procedures that were followed or anything else involved with the case, beating positive drugs is not the norm. Good luck, Floyd. I really don't want to your name to the Dope-o-Meter.