TRAM

Well, it's no surprise that Contador won the Tour. I just was clearing off a workspace on my desk, and found the ProCycling mag with his picture on the front "Alberto Contador: Shooting Star--Exclusive interview with the Tour de France favorite." And so it came to be.

TRAM was wonderful. More details and photos later, but I got 300 miles covered in five days. Day three: I rode 80 miles, but the first 71 were computer-logged in at over 20 mph average speed. Yippee! Felt great.

TRAM and the Tour

Here's the route map for MS TRAM:

http://bikemnm.nationalmssociety.org/site/DocServer/2009_TRAM_-_Final.pdf?docID=39446

We leave Sunday. I'm looking forward to it, but I'll miss Freya.

And the big debate--is there trouble in Team Astana? I'd so love to be a water bottle in their team van.

The Tour and some comments on publishing...

So the Schlecks have MOVED UP in the Tour standings after a stellar performance. Wow. Contador is a powerful rider, and Armstrong, Wiggins, Christian, and Kloden aren't looking shabby, either.

One Cycling News group said, "The fat lady just cleared her throat." How appropriate. The time trial will be very telling and high-tension. Can't wait. Wish I had Versus at my house!

And then, FLUX Books put this link on Twittet. It's pretty funny. Sad, but true.
http://bit.ly/5Lxle

If that doesn't work, paste in this one (Same thing):

http://www.closecallswithnonsense.com/to-be-recited-by-authors/

Rest Day on the Tour, a funeral for me

First of all, a cyclist was killed on Hwy 14 last night. We're all waiting to hear who it was. News says a cyclist, and nobody that I have talked to knows who it was. A friend of mine was actually one of the first people on the scene, identity not known yet then...cyclsit vs. semi doesn't leave much for I.D.

Gives us all pause, too.

A friend's funeral is today, after a long battle with cancer. Sad, sad. He used to be the one who orchestrated Tom and friends' yearly trip to Michigan to the races.
Wonderful guy. R.I.P., Dale.

So today is a rest day on the Tour. Controversy abounds. Contador was amazing yesterday, and Lance proved he can be a loyal teammate. As OZCycling says, the fat lady is just clearing her throat.

Drama on the Tour

Georgie (in the picture of the Columbia team at dinner, fourth from right), narrowly missed getting the yellow jersey today, for those of you who aren't watching the Tour de France. He's five seconds--SECONDS--from the yellow jersey, ahead of Lance and Contador. AND there was all sorts of drama among the sprinters. CRAZY and addicting, I tell you.

Dinner at the Columbia table

Wanna eat here? I do!

New book from FLUX!

Get Your Exclusive First Look at Black is For Beginnings NOW on Laurie Stolarz's Website: www.lauriestolarz.com!

FLUX is publishing Chasing AllieCat in 2011!

FLUX is publishing my friend Kirstin Cronn-Mills' The Sky Always Hears Me in Sept. this year!

Le Tour

I will watch eagerly to see how the rest of this Tour unfolds. I wish I could be a water bottle in the corner to observe Team Astana interacting together. Hmmmm.

Team Time Trial

Watching the Team Time Trial (TTT) yesterday made me remember why I love watching Lance so much--and wh he's won so many adoring fans. He makes us recognize what's possible as a human being--how much we're capable of pushing ourselves beyond comfort level, beyond pain to do something great. I remember why I wept when he won the prologue on 1999, before he was a national icon. No matter how the rest of the tour goes, he raises the bar for all of us and he's great for the world of cycling.

Other notes: Astana--Lance's team--averaged 31.3 mph for the entire 24.18 miles
(50.5 kph for 39 kilometers). Unbelievable.

Le Tour, Le Tour!

So many great cyclists to watch...Now I'm keeping my eyes peeled for Cancellera. Today should go to a sprinter. So I'm rooting for Tom Boonen for Rachael and Thor Hushovd for me. Allez!

Le Tour! Le Tour!

Le Tour de France began today. A guy named Fabian Cancellara from Switzerland blitzed to the prologue time trial win. He was a wonder to watch! I may have a new growing favorite...besides Lance and George and Floyd....it's a long list, I guess.
Lance got tenth...a good showing for a man out for three years. This is the only time all year I watch TV. I'm quite excited.

riding, writing

Freya is sleeping by my feet. I love writing that way.
I hit 1500 miles yesterday for the season. It's not as much as I used to get when I was racing, but it's still a decent amount of miles.

Yesterday, I did the hammer ride from Scheels. The hardcore cyclists meet at 5:30 and do 40-ish miles at a hammer pace. I was drafting and got dropped doing 32 miles an hour! Holy sh..smoke. Later on that ride was the only time I've ever been riding along by myself at 23 miles an hour and getting farther and farther behind. I stuck for quite a bit of the ride, but I got dropped four times, too. good lord. My legs are tired.

Today: write ALL afternoon. I'm not riding today. My bike's getting a minor repair done. I rode 40+ miles each of the last three days. I can take a break.