The Day After Tomorrow!

Just 2 days from the start of the Tour de France!

Performance Bike Shop is putting on thier own Fantasy cycling game for the Tour. It's free to enter and easy to register, check it out:

http://www.performancebike.com/inform/fantasy/


I'm also entering a couple of teams in the Fantasy league put on by cyclingnews.com
This costs some $$$ but not until the 8th stage of the Tour.

Pre-Tour thoughts...

So I've been reading a lot of pre tour commentary from all over the internet. It's widely accepted that T-Mobile is going to be the biggest threat to Lance and the Disco boys at this years tour. Even I have said that this will probably be the case.
In my perousal of the net this morning, I came across an article that was claiming that Lance is strong enough to withstand attacks from other GC contenders, but that he'll struggle holding off the three-pronged attack of the T-Mobile boys; Ullrich, Kloden and Vinokourov.


(Kloden, Vinokourov and Jan Ullrich pre-season)

This got me thinking..."what, is Lance riding this tour by himself?"
It's still common knowlege that Lance brings with him arguably the best tour team ever. For every attack that Kloden launches, do we not have a Popovych or a Savoldelli capable of covering it? For every time Vino goes up the road, do we not have a Tricky or a Chechu to counter? If Jan can muster the legs to attack Lance on the final climbs, will the "Ace" not be able to pull Lance to the wheel of the desperate German?
I think Team Disco is more than well equipped to handle anything thrown at them by the guys in pink...heck, we'll probably out number them in the mountains 2-1.
Come on now!!!


(middle: Lance. clockwise from top right: Azevedo, Popovych, Tricky Beltran, Savoldelli and Chechu Rubiera)

Lance gets busted up:

You may or may not have heard by now that Lance Armstrong had a little training accident in Nice, France. While on his time trial bike, rolling along at a slow speed, he went over his handlebars due to either his wheel washing out, or because he was swatting a bee away. He says it was a minor incident and there are no worries. He got a few bumps and bruises, a black eye and a bee sting on top of it all.
I was able to come up with a photo of Lance during an interview where you can clearly see the results of his spill...you saw it here first (probably)!



I've also come up with another question for you:
When Lance won his first TdF in 1999, he was supported by his US Postal team that consisted of seven American cyclists (including himself). The amount of Americans on the TdF squad in the subsequent years has gradually diminished. Five in 2000, four in 2001, three in 2002, 2003 and 2004; and just two Americans for Discovery Channel in this year's edition of the TdF.

A) What are your thoughts about the lack of American representation on the only American Pro-Tour team?

B) The seven Americans on the 1999 US Postal TdF squad were:
Lance Armstrong
George Hincapie
Tyler Hamilton
...and what other 4 Americans???

I'm back!!!

Well the conference in Tampa was very educational. Due to rainy weather I was unable to ride the bike though. I tried to look at the lack of training as a much needed rest. So with a bit of hesitation I took my week of rest with me to DeLeon Springs this past weekend for my first venture into catagory 4 racing.
A 42 mile road race on a relatively flat 7-mile course. I really had no pre-conceived ideas of how the race was going to go, so I just took it as a "feel it out" type of race. It was a huge field so it was easy to just sit mid-pack and watch the tactics unfold. Other than the sprints out of every corner, the pace was pretty easy to handle. There were two substatial crashes within the first two laps (both happened in front of me). I was forced into the grass on the first and into a ditch on the second, but was able to sprint back to the accelerating field both times. A veritable deluge hit us on the second to last lap and created a bit of nervousness through the corners. I was able to stay near the front on the last lap and even had enough legs left to possibly get a good place into the final corner before the slightly uphill sprint...but I was admitedly nervous about the wet roads and high speeds going through the turn. I took a much safer, and slower line on the inside which gave me no shot at all at the sprint, but I got out of the saddle anyway and finished strong in the top 20 (I think 16th, out of a good 70 or so guys).
• Brad Jerald (Santos Bike Shop) also rode strong and finished with me in the pack. Santos Bike Shop had a few guys out there, including the winner of the Cat.5 race (it was his first ever road race (he's a mountain bike guy)).
• Rodrigo S. from the GCC also entered the Cat.5 road race and finished well...ask him how it went if you see him.

The BLOG is spreading...
There has been some expressed interest in my little BLOG from some cycling enthusiasts of late. I'm glad to see that there are more and more comments being posted and look forward to even more interest in the coming month with the start of the Tour de France!
• in response to some of the comments i've been getting...
Huan, sorry for misspelling your name for the past couple of months, it won't happen again.
Brad, you can still post your comments without me responding to each of them, don't be so co-dependant (I kid)
Moose, thanks for searching out the BLOG, your input on the Tues/Thurs ride is great.
Brent, good times in Tampa...enjoy your business cards.

In Addition:
• The elite national championships are currently going on in Utah. Check out the results on cyclingnews.com (it's listed in the links menu to the left)
• Discovery Channel has listed the eight guys that will ride in support of Lance at the TdF this year. And the cyclists are:
George Hincapie
"Tricki" Beltran
"Chechu" Rubiera
Jose "the Ace" Acevedo
Benjamin Noval
Pavel Padrenos
Yaroslav "Popo" Popovych
Paolo "il Falcon" Savoldelli

In the Future:
I'm going to start posing a question to you, the viewing audience, with each of my posts. This will hopefully be a catalyst to promote a more interactive environment for all of us.
The topics will most likely be related to the TdF during my TdF commentaries, but they will in no way be limited to just the Tour, or to just cyling for that matter.
So for the first "trial" insallment:

"Other than Jan Ullrich and his T-Moblie teamates, who do you see as a possible threat to Lance and Team Discovery at the Tour?"

Keep posted, I'll be in touch,
Paul

Sorry 'bout the lack of posts...

I am currently out of town at a Graphic Design conference. I have had very limited internet time since I've been away and therefore haven't been posting my normal amount of meaningless bable.
Stay tuned though...I'll be back on thursday, and should have something more substantial for you.

In the meantime:
The tour is just 10 days away!!! I need to get my digital video recorder set up prior to that.

Stay tuned...

Paul

The latest

Here's a quick update on the latest happenings:

•The tour de France is just 12 days away.
•The Tour de Swiss is over and Aitor Gonzales wins. American Chris Horner rides amongst the top Euros in the peloton and finishes 5th overall. His result is good enough for a guaranteed spot on the Tour de France squad for Sanuier Duval.
•Happy fathers day to all the daddys.
•I won the sprint on Saturday's A-ride...thanks to the help of Joe for a killer lead out and to Lambert for a little blocking help which kept Huang from coming around me.
•Stay tuned to the Discovery family of TV channels next week as they will be airing about 72 million shows all having to do with Lance in the lead up to the Tour.

Thursday's Group ride recap:

Yesterday's 35 mile training ride saw one of the largest turnouts of the year thus far. Where we usually have ten or eleven riders at most, yesterday we had 14 guys start the ride.

We started out very civilizied, as we always do...but once we hit 441 Danny M. turned it up. The pace maintained in the low to mid 20's until Huang and Ed decided to pick it up a bit and before we knew it, we were flying towards Alachua at 30+ MPH.

After a left and then a right, we had returned to a more manageable speed, but one of our riders went down due to some plain ole bad luck. We all stopped while his rear tube was replaced and we made sure that he was okay. Other than a bit of road rash there was no damage (but I'm sure he's feeling it this morning!). Mike R. went back with him as the rest of the group wound it back up.

**this photo is me, but it's just for effect, it wasn't taken during thursdays ride**

The integrity of the group was maintained all the way to Chestnut Hill in spite of a nice steady 22-23 mph pace. A few guys dropped on Chestnut and from there we got serious. We cranked it up once again on 241 and kept the heart rate up as we turned onto Millhopper. Ira and Ed jumped as we climbed the overpass, but everyone else was willing to let them ride. They came back to the group in time for the final climb of the ride. Ed goated Joe Brew into sprinting up the final climb, hoping for a break. It was all I could do to hold thier wheel as we flew up the hill. I'm not sure who we dropped there, but that set the final selection for the flat portion of Millhopper leading to the sprint.

We were all a bit winded at this point and started a 25-26 mph rotation in order to share the load. At one point Ed tapped me to go with him on a break, I followed his wheel as he sped up to 32 mph, but I had some dificulty pulling through at that speed (go figure). We reformed, but there were less and less guys pulling through so Joe Brew took off and we let him go. We still had a couple of miles to the sprint sign and there was little chance that he would hold off the remainder of the group.

Joe was moving along at 26mph so once we started pulling him in, it took a bit longer that expected. Once we were all back together, the lead outs to the sprint started...first Ed, then Huang (who had to sit on for the last mile or two) and then Danny jumped just 50 meters to the line. I was on his wheel and tried to go around, but there wasn't enough gas in the tank.

I settled for a respectable second place following a hard, fast ride. Good job guys

IN OTHER NEWS:
American Chris Horner of the spanish team, Saunier Duval won the mountain-top finish in Stage 6 of the Tour de Swiss yesterday. He's hoping that results like that will secure him a spot on the Tour de France squad next month.

Comment, you don't have to be a member!

I've changed the settings for the blog. Now, you can comment without having to register with "Blogger". Anyone can comment on any of the posts. I know this inhibited my vast viewing audience in the past, but no need to worry anymore...

TdF is just 17days away

Lance is getting all sorts of press lately due to his impending retirement. Sports Illustrated has been kind to Lance in the past, and the latest issue is no different. Check out the cover...


That's what I call a close-up.
Lance has also made the top 25 list of "The Greatest American". Discovery channel has been doing a special on who the greatest Americans of all time are. You can go to www.discoverychannel.com if you want to cast your vote for Mellow Johnny.

(Mellow Johnny is a nickname of Lances'- it was given to him by some of his friends because he has spent so much time in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. The french way to say "yellow Jersey" is Maillot Jaune (pronounced: mie-yo schaun), which spelled out, looks a bit like Mellow Johnny)

The word on the street is that SI is also going to be putting out a comemorative Lance edition, to pay homage to his illustrious career.

IN OTHER NEWS: Trek released photos of the bike that Lance will be riding in the final race of his professional career.
check it out:



Well that's all for today, but stay tuned as the Tour draws closer...I'll be keeping you all up to date with my thoughts of how Lance's bid to win an unprecidented 7th consecutive Tour de France are going...I'll also be talking about other cyclists in the race as well.

The weekend in cycling.

In the Dauphine Libere (the last major race used for final polishing before the TdF) finished up on sunday. Lance finished 4th overall, but took 3rd on the final stage behind two Discovery channel teamates, George Hincapie and Yaroslav Popovych, who finished 1st and 2nd respectively. It looks like Lance's TdF training schedule is right on track.

In the Tour de Swiss, Lance's major competitor; Jan Ullrich, won the time trial stage. Things are shaping up for a huge battle at the TdF between Lance and Jan, not to mention what will most likely be a strong showing by the Americans, Floyd Landis and Levi Leipheimer.

Locally, I did a 70 mile GCC group ride on sunday. Twenty-one cyclists started the A-group ride on the hot and humid morning. After the rest stop the pace picked up with a light rotation followed by attacks by Danny M. and Naked Ed. Twenty miles of attacking and rotation brought us back to Gainesville as we all began to tactically prepare for the sprint. I blatently marked the wheel of Huang, who usually finds himself in the mix for the sprint. With a couple of good lead-outs from others up front Huang finally jumped at about 150 meters and I waited until we were about 75 meters to the line when I started to move around him in the wind. A very close call, but I got him at the line by mere inches...Good job me!

Congratulations Pete!

Last friday afternoon I received a phone call from Pete Elder informing me that he would be taking part in his first ever bike race. A field of about fifty cat. 5's contested the hilly 21-mile road race in Pete's new home of North Carolina. Pete must have taken to heart the hour of advice that I gave him on friday because he rolled across the finish line in a very respectable 13th place! Congratulations Pete!


here is Pete crossing the finsh line...now shave those legs, you Sasquatch!

I'm going to be published.

My friend Brent Ferraro, who is the designer of a local "outdoor health" type of magazine, has offered me the opportunity to write a column for this months edition of the magazine. I accepted, so we will hopefully see my article about the trip Jen and I took to Georgia for the Tour de Georgia this past april. I'll post the article here once the magazine comes out for those of you unable to receive the magazine...but in the meantime, here (as always) are a couple of pics that may or may not accompany my story.



This is former pro cyclist Frankie Andreu and myself in the VIP tent in Alpharetta at the final stage of the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia.



Here Jen keeps her spirits high and her knees warm despite some unfriendly weather on top of Brasstown Bald (the highest point in Georgia).

In other news...

My dog is still kickin yo!
Kickin, and runnin and jumpin, and barkin and...



Nice Jester collar huh?

Goodbye Rudy :(

My older sisters family has recently suffered a loss...thier dog, Rudy, was hit and killed by a car.
Here is a photo for you to remember her by.

R U ready for the Tour?

The Tour de France is fast approaching and I'm here to get you up to speed.
I know you all only think of Lance Armstrong when it comes to the sport of cycling, however, there is so much more going on! Lance will always be closely associated with the TdF due to his unprecedented 6 consecutive wins (after a comeback from cancer no doubt). But I'm here to put you in "the know" about this years TdF and who to watch for.
We all love to see Americans do well in international sports, so in addition to cheering on Lance in the TdF this year, you can also root for Floyd Landis. Floyd was one of lances main lieutenants in last years TdF but has since moved to the Swiss team Phonak. Floyd will be Phonaks GC (General classification aka overall winner) hope this year, but he's been riding strong this season and had some impressive time trails. So we'll see if he can handle the pressure of being the team captain.
Another American who looks to do well in the overall at the TdF this year will be Levi Leipheimer of the German team Gerolstiener. Levi has had good results this year as well and just took 2nd in the prologue Time trial at the Dauphine Libre (a French race that is largely viewed as the main tune-up for the TdF)
Still another American is Bobby Julich of the Danish team CSC. Bobby has had arguably the best season of his pro career so far by winning the Criterium International and Paris Nice. Bobby isn't necessarily the all out captain of the CSC team though, he is one of a few great cyclist that CSC will bring to the Tdf. The head of the team will most likely be determined as the race shapes up and the CG contenders start to get sorted out.
And yet another American that you may want to keep an eye out for is Chris Horner of the Spanish team, Sanuier Duval-Prodir. Chris has had some bad luck so far this year by breaking his leg in a crash during an early season race. Chris has done the required re-hab to get back in shape and is riding well. He just placed 3rd at this past weekends US Pro Championship Race and rode strong at the other two races included in the Championship week. Saunier Duval doesn't have Horner listed on their roster for the Tdf as of now. He's hoping that his results from this past week, as well as a strong result in the upcoming Tour de Swiss will get him included in this years Tdf. He's highly motivated to get on the Tour team and has not been subltle in voicing his desire to race the Tdf.
In order to educate you even further in Tour de France knowledgege (so you'll look like a genius at the water cooler) I'm going to let you know who to watch out for as far as the opposition goes:
T-Mobile from Germany is bringing their triple threat of Jan Ullrich, Vinokourov and Andreas Kloden. All of these guys have made it to the podium in the Tdf in the past, with the most notable being Ullrich's 1997 Tdf win. Ullrich finished the tour 4th last year and 2nd every other time he raced it (except '97 of course), which makes him a threat every time he lines up. The rumors are that Ullrich is in the best shape he's been in since winning in '97, and with a strong team around him, they will definitely factor in to the overall.
Other names to look out for are Ivan Basso, who also rides for CSC. Basso was Armstrong's main threat in last years TdF eventually finishing 3rd overall. Basso was argueably the strongest rider in the peloton (group) at this years Giro de Italia (tour of italy) but didn't finish high in the overall due to an ufortunate stomach bug during one of the key stages.
Iban Mayo who rides for the Spanish Team Euskadel-Euskadi is great in the mountains but will have the same old issue with a weaker team supporting him, but look for him to do well in individual mountain stages.
In closing I'll get back to Lance for you. As I always say at the start of the TdF, if Lances team (Discovery Channel) can keep him out of trouble in the early flat stages then I think he's got the best chance of winning the whole thing. Unfortunately there is a certain level of luck involved in winning a race that spans 3 weeks and over 2000 miles. Just because Lance comes into the TdF with a high level of fitness doesn't mean he'll be there at the end. Anything can happen.

More pics from Tally

I can't be sure that these are photos from my race, but they do a good job illustrating the type of course it was. Both of these images are of the final climb to the finish line. It was hot and hilly!!!


you can see the heat on the road! This is the point where you really suffer!


Again, not MY race, but look at the road just drop out of site!

Here's the State RR pics

As promised, pictures of the podium presentation at the State Road Race.