simple

push a pedal in a circle

movement that drives a chain
over a cassette attached to a wheel
freedom attained

look at a bike
every part serves a function
the gears and derailleur look complex
derailleurs do what the name implies
they derail the chain onto the next gear
no magic
they push or pull until the shift is made

Now What

So I get home turn on the TV and... no Tour. Nothing. A void. Now I have to do something else to take up my down time. My whole schedule is off. What am I to do with no cycling on TV?

Three weeks in July. Everyone has Tour fever. You can't shut people up about it, especially if you have not seen the stage. Yap Yap Yap Cavendish blah blah blah Andy. Then it happens, the sprint in Paris and cycling is over. It's like a bomb went off and cycling was the target. Conversations are no longer weighted with talk of crashes, climbs, minuets and seconds. What's the deal? There is more to cycling than le Tour, don't get me wrong le Tour is huge. If you like le Tour you might try the Giro, or the Vuelta, watch some classics in the spring/fall, and the World Champs are comming up. Act now and you could be a hard core cycling fan with knowledge of cycling outside of le Tour.

There are three "Grand Tours" and they are all equally awesome each in their own special way. Did anyone see the Giro this year? I tried to stay up to date with it, but without TV it is tough following on line if you don't have a subscription. We have the Vuelta coming up soon. Anyone hear of it? It is just like le Tour but with a Spanish flair. I am going to try and watch the Vuelta, even if I have to pay for it. I turned into such a junkie watching this years Tour that I need a fix.

I'll pay, I'll pay, just give me some cycling to watch, already.

Tell me a Lie

I hate TT

I hate to do them

I hate to watch it on TV

I hate that a Tour is sometimes decided by it

The TT is cruel

It is pain cranked all the way to 11

It lets me know just how slow I am

I don't need to know the "turth"

I love when I cross the line

Apres Tour

I regret the possibility that I am going to offend, but I feel I must do my duty, pull on the stripes of a referee and "call it like I see it".

The podium is a holy place for the athlete, it is an elevated step both literally and metaphorically. We raise up our champion for all to see.

le Tour is the most prestigious race in the whole cycling world, held in France the hotbed of fashion. The best they can come up with for the Stage winner podium girls is a black jumpsuit a la Grease? I try to be open minded about the ways of the world, but I don't get it. Fashion is art, and I think LBJ said, "I don't know art, but I know what I like." Sorry stage winner podium girls, not a fan.

Now here is where I am going to get into trouble. KOM. Was it a dare, was it too much wine the night before a deadline and it was raining outside? "Hey, I know whats we can do...let's make z dress out of an umbrella." --ridiculous French accent by John Cleese. So, what do you do if it rains? Pull your dress over your head? Probably wind up with a few new friends. "mind if I share your dress?" Ou, la la.

As for the other podium girls, I think they hit the mark. Well I do have to mention the Points Leader presenters. Nice white dress with a band of green, and then we have to add the sponsor, because the jersey is not enough. PMU green hands everywhere and we need to make sure that it is on the dress somewhere. I forgot who is the sponsor again?

I guess it could be worse, at least they have clothes on, they do have class and pageantry. I will give them that.

If it is offensive to you that I used the term girls, just replace with presenter. Problem solved.

Fin

Champs

Who does not want to win in Paris? City of lights. 7 lap circuit race with 60-70kph blistering speeds. When they hit the 180 they look so slow, I bet they are faster than a Cat IV sprint. The last stage, one of the hottest uncontested stage of the whole Tour. It is unwritten, that no one attacks. When they get into Paris and start the circuits, all bets are off.

Was it really a big deal that Radio Shack wore a kit that commemorates the 28mill people fighting cancer? If you look at it from a business/marketing standpoint, then yes it is a bad move. If you see it for what is was supposed to be, a point. A perspective of a horrible disease that has in one way or another touched almost everyone on this planet. I get it, fight your battles, lose some, try and win the war. Was Armstrong trying to get in one last FU? I'll give him the benefit, I'm a sucker, and poor judge of character. They were way better than their normal kits. I don't get the Military style badges? Anyone, little help here?

ASO/UCI checked Fabian's bike for a motor. They need to check HTC to see if they are homo sapien. ET? Want to drive the pace, get a notepad and watch some videos of HTC training-it on the front. Drill it for a K and then disappear, sometimes to re-appear to do it again. It is a beautiful thing. School is in session HTC is at the front. If you are in the back of the peloton, you are like "oh,____ here it goes again".

Oh yeah, Cavo made it five. Six last year, and four the year before. 15 in three years. Look it up. Stop the hate, resistance is futile. Cav won every sprint he was in. If he had not had the bad luck and bad days... I'm seeing Green. Cavo does not need a lead-out as long and the other sprinters lead him out. I have to say as of right now: Unbeatable

The show is over. What a fun, strange, painful, sorry, excellent, pitiful, super Tour.

stage 19

Al had 8sec on Andy. 39sec that were stolen with a drop of a chain. Andy is not a TT specialist, and he needed every second that he could going into stage 19. He did not have a cushion and had to have the TT of his life. He did. He threw down. It was not enough. Al put in a less that stellar TT (for him), but put Andy down 39 seconds over all.

End of the Tour, well at least for the Yellow. I would love to see Saxo attack on the last day. They have too much class for that. We could debate all day long about was it right to attack, what is proper etc...

Deni raked Sami over the coals, and handily took the third step on the podium. It really comes down to who is faster. ??? Does it?????

Al and Andy kill when it goes vertical, Cavo will take you to school if it ends in a sprint, and Spartacus will stop time. So how do you decide how a Grand Tour is won? I started following le Tour because of a fellow Texan. So I will beat that drum once again. Lance in his day, was the best all-around tour rider. He could climb like a crack monkey, and TT like he was on fire.

So who is the best?

stage 18

80%?

Seriously, Phil and Paul were trying to make it sound like the break was going to stick? Really, with the race of the green as hot as it is, the sprinter's teams were highly motivated and fighting mad crazy. HTC used everybody up before the red kite, what is Cav to do?

I like Sky, I like their approach, throw a lot of $ at a problem and see what happens. In their case not much. Is there something wrong with Wiggo? That guy has done nothing, his team has put him in the right places, and he just can't produce. 2009 a fluke? Sky needs to get a refund from Garmin. Afterschool special- Mike Barry, of US Postal fame and accomplished writer, is riding in his first Tour with Sky. Good to finally see you in the big one.

Cavo has a mouth on him, and so far the only problem with it was a dental issue at the first of the season. When asked about sprinting he said that he puts out 80%, watching the sprint today looked like a lot less than 80%. He grabbed Petacchi's wheel, sat on it and soft pedaled to the finish. Effortless, he had time to look back, I mean really look back not a glance over the shoulder, but a stare, as if to say "where did you guys go?"

Thor is upset with the stage 2 neutralization, he feels that he would be in Green, because he would have won the stage since Cavo and Petacchi were off the back. Is that really how you want to win? Luck is part of it, but being the best is about beating the best. Good Luck with that.