Time Change, History and Carnage

Time Change
This weekend we lose and hour of sleep, but we gain an hour of precious daylight. Due to the impending time change, the tues/thurs training rides out at the Progress Park ended last night. We will no longer be riding in circles, so we will now resume our normal tues/thur rides that leave from the Chevron station at 6:00pm.

History
There has been some great riding out at the Progress Park this winter season and those of us who have diligently ventured out to Alachua are now looking forward to training on terrain that doesn't repeat itself every 1.16 miles.

Early on in the winter, we developed an informal contest that we dubbed, "The IronMan Contest", to determine who would attend the most rides out at the "Mobious Strip". Early on it was a tight three-man race between Scott, Jayson and Myself. As time went on, I slipped further and further away from Scott and Jayson who had distinguished themselves as a formidable two-man break. These two stubborn competitors showed up in the rain, the cold and the dark of night...unwilling to concede the victory. Through the months of training, family events and personal obligations kept our two leaders from completing the winter with perfect attendance records and in the end only one man had missed less rides than any other Progress Park attendee. That man, and the winner of the first ever IronMan Award in none other than...

JAYSON O'MAHONEY

Congratulations Jayson! As a result of your dedication, you are entitled to dinner at the restaurant of your choice. see Scott to claim your prize.
Here are a few images from some rides out at the Progress Park this season...





Carnage
Unfortunately, our last ride out at the Progress Park wasn't quite what we would have hoped for. I had stationed myself up the road from the group and was attempting to take a picture of them strolling through the park. A moment later, due to a simple lack of concentration two or our riders went down. Doug Flokerth and our youngest rider, Justin Pfaff (9) each sacrificed some skin to the Progress Park gods.

Aside from some soreness and obvious road rash, both of the fallen soldiers will live to ride another day. This is a reminder that no matter how safe, slow or comfortable the ride is, accidents can happen..oh yeah and it's also a reminder to wear your helmets!

So not a perfect ending, but an ending none-the-less. We look forward to seeing those of you who can attend our rides at the Cheveron, starting on Tuesday the fourth of April.

Burrito Bros. expands to Tampa

University of Florida fans and alumni in Tampa will soon be able to get their fix of primo beef, bean and double-wrapped burritos — with plenty of guac.

For the first time since the hole-in-the-wall restaurant opened in Gainesville 29 years ago on 13th Street just north of University Avenue, Burrito Brothers is expanding. The Burrito Brothers’ satellite restaurant will offer the same menu with the same intimate view of the kitchen.

The grand opening of the restaurant, located in the Carrabbas Center, 11417 N. Dale Mabry Highway, is Monday, April 10.

story originally reported in "Gator News", an online newsletter from the UF Alumni Assoc.

My Spin City Classic recap

click on image
Downtown Crit
While race weekends usually take us to some corporate park or out to some country road in the middle of nowhere, the "night-life feel" of the Spin City Classic offers a change to our race scenery. Downtown O-town on Saturday night was the scene for the Spin City Criterium. A four-cornered course that possessed more than a few bumps, manhole covers, cobbled intersections and holes. The atmosphere of this event is always second to none, and as a result, the bike racers show up by the hundreds.

My race featured a field of 80 guys. That's eighty guys going through corners from curb to curb, eighty guys strung out on the straights at 30+ mph and eighty guys capable of laying their bikes down right in front of me. This race, for me, was an exercise in bike handling skills.

I'll be the first to admit that this crit had me at my limit, rendering me unable to do little more than fill space somewhere in the middle of the field. It took me the first 15 minutes to get comfortable with the rhythm of the race (and by comfortable I mean: able to hold on without entertaining the thoughts of an early departure). During that 15 minutes I realized that taking my chances getting run into the hay bails by cornering on the outside was better than slowing so much on the inside that a full sprint was required just to stay in contact.

By the time my heart rate had come back down to a manageable range, I got cut-off in the first corner sending me into the hay and ripping my foot out of the pedal. The remainder of the field was flying by me as I clipped back in and sprinted all out to get back within the comforting draft that I so desperately needed to stay in the race.

My tank was teetering on "empty" but I needed to situate myself closer to the front if I was going to avoid another crit-ending hay bail encounter. I worked hard to advance my position in the field only to be swarmed the next time the pace dropped a couple mph's. I fought for position on every straight, but my efforts just rewarded me with the same mid-pack placement that I was trying to get away from.

With five laps to go the peloton became overly anxious and I used just about all that I had left to force my way to the wheel of my teammates who were located in the top 20. I didn't feel like there was going to be much of a sprint in my legs but I figured my chances of survival were better near the front.

As it turns out, one of the main instigators of this fast paced race was none other than Gainesville’s own Brett Miller. Brett apparently went on to win this race (not that I could see anything from where I was when I rolled up the finish line).

So no, this wasn’t my best performance, but I came out of it on two wheels and I’ve got a little more race experience in the bag. Even though it sounds like this race wasn’t anything more than an exhausting, nervous and painful event, I loved it. I love that nervousness, I love going through the corners handlebar to handlebar with 80 other cyclists. I love being a part of an event that brings out the aggressive, competitive spirit in everyone.
But don’t get me wrong...at the same time I was happy when that race was over.


Southport Circuit Race
Sunday’s race was a 2-mile jaunt around Southport Park, which is next to the Orlando International Airport. My one and only crash last year occurred at this race and I wasn’t looking to see history repeat itself.

Another good sized field of 60+ guys started a race that saw a good percentage of them dropped by the blistering speeds in the first 10 miles. Most of the straights had me on the tip of my saddle, rolling at 30+ mph once again. Even the section with the soothing tail wind was made painful by attacks and counter-attacks at the front.

Half way through, a pile-up occurred right next to me as a result of a sewer drain that was located dangerously in the middle of the third corner. I was once again pleased with my ability to avoid the crash and stay on the bike (even if my heart rate did experience a bit of a spike at that moment).

I got into a good rhythm and was able to navigate the six-corner course without getting caught in the wind too much. I was probably just outside of my comfort zone judging by my face in the pictures I found of myself from the race (#1, #2, #3)

With three laps to go my bike handling skills were once again tested as the rider in front of me experienced a mechanical which completely locked his rear wheel up and sent him skidding sideways through the corner. I jumped on my brakes, which sent me sliding sideways around him. As I came up next to him I let go of the brakes and my rear wheel was whipped back into line and disaster was once again averted. Unfortunately, not everyone behind me was as lucky.

Steadily hammering on the straights and aggressively sprinting out of the corners slowly chipped away at my “finishing sprint ability”. By the last corner of the last lap, I gave a less than powerful attempt at a sprint, which got me nothing more than to the line safely.

Once again, my result wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but I was able to hang tough in one of the fastest races I’ve ever done and I didn’t crash regardless of how much this course was gunning for me.

The clocks are about to go forward an hour which will create enough daylight after work to benefit my weekday training. I anticipate this will also result in better finishes for upcoming races.

Like I promised...

I'm finally getting around to posting some pics of recent events/races. So without any further delay, I give you...

The Wedding
The weekend of March 11th in Tampa Mike and Kelly finally tied the knot. A much anticipated event, the wedding saw friends from as far away as California, Chicago, Boston, Michigan and Atlanta come together to partake in the open bar. Oh yeah, and to wish Mike and Kelly the best too!
*pictures can be viewed at larger size by clicking on the image


The wedding took place on the water. It was perfect weather and quite picturesque, wouldn't you say?





The reception was just 25 yards away at the Rusty Pelican. These are a selection of guys that I've known forever and recently went to Las Vegas with.








Here's the happy couple cuttin up the dance floor. These two are probably smiling because they were leaving in a couple of days for a two week Hawaiin honeymoon.













When the open bar closed at 11pm, most of us carried the festivites over to Bahama Breeze until 2am. In a classy move, Josh (Mich. State fan) relieved himself in the valet drive.





Orlando crits (3-4/5-06)
Earlier this month I was in O-town of a couple of crits. On saturday, I arrived to the race 20 minutes before my race was to start (due to getting lost in suburbia-hell). I threw on my cycling clothes, pumped up my tires, ran down to registration, had a friend pin on my race number, did 2 warm-up laps and lined up for the race.

The race course was short (<1km) with four corners and a nasty head wind on the back side. I almost got shelled during a 33+ mph stint through the start/finish line, but managed to suck wheel until the wind dicouraged the break two corners later. The pace evened out and I was able to take advantage of an inside line through the last corner (the ouside line got blocked up by a crash caused by a tubular-tire rolling off the rim) for 7th place. I even made enough money to recoup my entry fees, woo hoo


Here's Jason, Brad, Myself and James after our race. The picture on the right is the finishing straight just past the S/F line.








Sunday was eventful not because of the race result, but due to the fact that Team Olympus brought a few of us onto their team. Team Olympus won the Team Florida Points Series for cat. 4 last year, but due to some upgrades and other things their cat 4 ranks have been diminished. I wish I could say that Olympus sought me out afer I solo'd to victory, but the truth is I was in the right place at the right time and some friends put in a good word for me (thanks Jason and Brad). I'm looking forward to playing some race tactics for the remainder of the season and working hard for the team.

By the way, I rode strong on sunday but wasn't as fortunate in the last corner. I took the wrong line and got caught behind a guy who had more speed than he could handle in the last turn.

At the race on sunday. The posting of the cat 4 race from the previous day...even though it looks like rider #820 "Pall Messai" got 7th place, I'm pretty sure that's me (nice handwriting)





Tallahassee Crit (3-18-06)
Last weekend Rodrigo and I drove up to Tally for the crit on saturday. I had raced on this course last year and remember not appreciating the slight incline on the back side. Well, things haven't changed. All in all the race went well, I didn't really do much but watch attacks go up the road by all the colligiate guys in the field. Brett, Phil, Mitch and the Lees McRea guy who ended up winning. There was another crash in the last (and only) corner that slowed me down, not that I was on my way to winning or anything though.

This is a shot of the home stretch, slightly downhill and super fast. Rodrigo was kind enough to take on the driving duties for the day, so his car was our home base while in garnet and gold country.








Roger had one heck of day at the races, taking first place in both of his races (colligiate C & cat. 5). He's got one hell of a top end and I'm sure he'll be making waves in the higher catagories in no time. Congratulations Roger.



In closing...
• I know that was a lot to take in, but lately I have to take my blogging opportunities when they come.
We'll be in Orlando again this weekend for the Spin City Classic (formerly known as the "Festival of Speed"). It should be a good weekend.

• Don't forget to vote in the 5count poll located in the sidebar to your left.

Larson Breaks Free, on Stage Three

photos courtesy of cyclingnews.com
It looks like Rebecca Larson had one hell of a race in California this past weekend. Larson finished the San Dimas Stage Race placing 9th on GC and winning the final stage. Her victory came as a result of getting into a 5 woman break and then attacking them on the last lap to solo in for the win. Along with her stage-three victory came enough points to secure her the green points jersey as well. Congratulations Rebecca!
***you can check out the story at cyclingnews.com

What's wrong with this picture?
This is a picture from the finish of the last stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. It looks like Zabel and Petacchi have become close in more ways than one???

Sham-Rock and Roll

Happy St. Patty's day
Sorry for the lack of updates lately...I've been busy busy busy. Here are some quick tid-bits though.

• Racing has been going well, 7th a couple of weeks ago in Orlando. I've actually got some pics from that weekend that i've been meaning to post, so I'll have a full race report up soon.
• I am now riding for an actual team out of Orlando as well. I'll cover that whole thing in the race report coming soon.
• I'll be heading up to Tallahassee for a crit on saturday...nobody else from my team will be up there so there's no pressure to work during the race (phewww).
• I had a birthday, now I'm actually the age that my racing license says I am (31). point of interest: Also born on March 10th...Sharon Stone, Chuck Norris, my dentist and Danny M...oh yeah, and some girl named Amanda I was in 2nd grade with.
• Today is a sad day in the lives of many women across this great nation of ours. It was 5 years ago today that I took myself off the market and married my lovely wife Jen. Being a bit of a romantic, I made a card today to wish her a happy anniversary (It's a take off of the "peas and carrots" line from Forest Gump).
• Completely un-cycling related...My great friends Mike Gutowski and Kelly Singer finally got married last weekend after almost 8 years of "courtship". The wedding was awesome, lots of friends + open bar = good times! I've got some photos to post for that too...stay tuned.

Again, sorry for the absence of new posts (I've heard reports of 5count withdraws due to the lack of new reading/viewing material). More to come very soon.

Be sure to vote in my super-cool "web-poll" located at the bottom of the sidebar to your left.

I'll leave you with...
a joke of the day.

Sean and Seamus were walking in the woods when they came across a sign saying, "Tree Fellers wanted". One of them said, "Ye know, it's a shame Murphy isn't here. We could have gotten the job".

Poll Results

The first ever 5count poll has officially come to an end. The question for the poll was, "What team in the Tour of California has the best looking kit?" The votes poured in (all 20 of them (2 of those were mine)) and have been counted. For those unobservant readers of 5count, the polls are always located in the sidebar to your left (no Jayson, your other left), underneath the list of links. You may have to scroll down a bit, but you can do it.

And the winner is...
Davitamon Lotto from Belgium! I'm sure Lambert (Lam • bare) will be proud. The Davitamon Lotto team received 30% of the votes and now and forever be known to have the best looking kit from the inaugural ToC. The voting breakdown is as follows:

Davitamon Lotto - 6 votes
TIAA-Cref - 4 votes
KB Homes/Mexican Nat'l team - 3 votes (all coming from Rodrigo no doubt)
Phonak - 2 votes
Gerolstiener - 1 vote
T-Mobile - 1 vote (had to be Danny, cause these are the ugliest things in any peloton)
Team CSC - 1 vote
Jelly Belly - 1 vote
Sierra Nevada/Kodak Gallery - 1 vote

*receiving no votes were: Discovery, United Pro, Health Net, Saunier Duval, Navigators, Credit Agricole and Colavita.

New Poll is now Posted
Be sure to let your voice be heard. Let us know who you think will win the '06 Tour de France. We'll probably leave this one up for a while to see if there is any shift once the TdF draws closer.
Vote as many times as you wish *limit one vote per day

Gainesville Race Day

The University of Florida's cycling team, Team Florida, held their annual race weekend this past Saturday and Sunday here in sunny Gainesville Florida.

With the help of various spectators, we've assembled some pictures to better illustrate the goings on of the weekend.

Cat 5's
Many of our friends from the Gainesville Cycling Club (GCC) showed up to show support for their friends and family. Rodrigo (far left), who raced the Cat. 5 race was there along with his wife Gaby (left).

The Cat. 5 race went well for our two GCC entrants, Rodrigo and Scott. Rodrigo finished 13th on the day, but avenged his DNF from the same race last year. Scott posted his best result of the season finally breaking the top 5. Both guys are riding strongly and should be upgrading before we know it. (side note: Earlier in the day Scott's son, Justin placed 4th in his Juniors race see previous post about Justin)


We've highlighted Scott and Rodrigo coming through the 1st corner.

Cat 4's
Danny had mentioned to me the night before the race that he'd like to try for a prime in order to "open his legs up". Then he said that he would sit in a bit to recover from the effort and hopefully be able to put in a good sprint in the end. Well, that's exactly what he did. He won a prime and then put in such a good sprint in the end that he won the race too.

Things were fast right from the start. The dip in the middle of the course kept us fast on the downhills and sprinting on the uphills. Breaks were attempted on the lead up to the S/F line, but nothing really came close to getting away. Although the cobbles and tight corners created opportunities for disaster, we all managed to keep the rubber side down (until the finish, more on that later).

With only a few laps to go, I knew I had to force myself up towards the front if I wanted any chance of: (1) staying out of trouble, and (2) Getting across the line with a respectable placing. I worked around the outside in the corners to sit in the top 12 or so. Shortly after, Danny made me aware of his presence on my wheel.

I like to think that I worked hard to keep Danny in the front all the way to the last corner (he probably could've done that on his own though). Coming out of the corner, I went wide and I saw Danny launch himself up to the lead. There were plenty of guys with enough legs to put in good sprints, so my sprinting efforts did little more than kept me in the top 20 (I finished 16th). Danny obviously went on to get the win, but I couldn't see him as I was distracted watching Big Phil hitting the deck just off my right shoulder.

CRASH!
I knew that Phil would end up with some pretty good road rash as well as a scuffed up Giro Atmos at the very least. What I didn't know was the affect that his crash would have on our friend and GCC riding companion "Naked Ed" (who was standing on the sidelines watching the festivities).
When Phil (Team Florida) went down in front of Nate (Chain Reaction) (pictured at the left: Phil on the front, Nate sitting 2nd wheel), Nate was forced off the course and barreled into Ed, knocking him unconscious.

Big Phil was okay, aside from the obligatory road rash and need for a new Atmos. Nate had minor cuts and scratches and Naked Ed was taken to the E.R. in the back of an ambulance after drifting in and out of consciousness.

5count is happy to report that Ed is just fine. The paramedic just wanted to run some tests and make sure he was able to enjoy his passion for "full-contact bike race viewing". It'll take more than a cyclist running him over at 30+ mph to keep Ed out of commission.

Most aggressive award goes to...
Jayson O'Mahoney made more than one suicidal attack in the Cat 3 race on Sunday. His finish wasn't indicative of how much heart he rode with, but those who were there saw the Australian sensation make attempt after attempt at getting away, no matter how futile it really was.

All in all...
It was a good weekend at the races. Beautiful weather, good finishes and a great group of local support.


In an unrelated topic...
Some pictures of Joe Brew came into my possession recently. I put them together in somewhat of on homage to Lil Joe Brew in his native environment (collegiate middle distance track).

ToC Final

Landis Wins!

As the ToC drew to a close, the opportunities to overtake the race lead became fewer and fewer. As a result, Floyd Landis won the innaugural Amgen tour of California.

The only change on sunday's stage was the ownership of the Clif Bar Green Jersey. By winning back to back bunch sprints on Saturday and Sunday, Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile) earned enough points to take the final green jersey from George Hincapie.

All in all, the ToC had been vastly successful and looks to increase in size, sponsorship and field size for next years edition. I really liked having the biggest stage race in America over here in the east (Tour of Georgia), but I have to admit...the ToC seems to have been even bigger, ToG has it's work cut out for them come April.

War wounds...

Tom Peterson (TIAA-CREF) was involved in the big pile up in the opening lap of sundays race, but in order for him to claim the Best Young Riders jersey and the $5000 check that went with it, he had to finish the stage. At only 19 years old, Tom showed a lot of heart, fight and determination to finish with the bunch. Keep an eye out for this kid in the future...Congratulations Tom.

In the same crash, Phil Zajicek also went down and was unable to continue. I've been following Phil's blog and keeping track of his results in the race. It sucks to see him have to abandon when he was soo close to finishing with a very respectful 15th on GC. We hope Phil is feeling better soon.

Holy ripped-ness Batman!
Check out this picture of my legs...not really, I think these monsters belong to Olaf Pollack from the T-Mobile team.

click on image for larger view

ToC Stage 5

George Hincapie won his second stage of the ToC on friday, giving him enough points to take the green jersey from J.J. Haedo.

The only real climb of the stage didn't turn out to be a leg-breaker, but did serve up the only real drama of friday's race. Levi Leipheimer had his teammates push the pace at the start of the climb and he launched himself off of the front in hopes of taking some time out of Floyd Landis.

Long story short, Levi's break didn't stick as he was caught on the descent into Santa Barbara. A selection of about 35 guys held off the chase group which contained the big-time sprint men. Disco led the charge to the finish as they had like 6 or 7 of their team present at the front.

George was able to hold onto the win even though he started his sprint with about 350 meters left to the line. Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) and Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto) finshed 2nd and 2rd respectfully.

Floyds grip on the leaders jersey seems a bit stronger now that there are only 2 stages left, and neither of those have climbs tough enough to put Phonak into any real trouble.

The leaders jerseys are now held by Americans:

Floyd Landis - Leaders jersey
George Hincapie - Sprinters jersey
Levi Leipheimer - Climbers jersey
Tom Peterson - Best Young Riders jersey

Very Interesting
In yesterday's post, I mentioned how there was an aweful lot of "buzz" surrounding J.J. Haedo's top-notch sprinting capabilities. Look at this picture from cyclingnews.com...


...looks like Bobby Julich may be planting some seeds about moving over to the CSC team???

Good Luck

To all those who are taking part in this weekends races (USCF or Collegiate) in Gainesville, Florida...Good Luck.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate and everyone will stay safe!

I'll probably be posting audio blogs from the races...stay tuned!

P.S. I've added a poll to the side bar...check it out.

ToC Stage 4

Juan Jose Haedo takes his second stage win in the ToC ahead of Fast Freddy Rodriguez. For a guy who said that he wasn't feeling that good in the later part of the stage, he sure is doing a pretty good job against a bunch of stud pro-tour sprinters.

Get a good look at J.J. in his United Pro Cycling team jersey, because he's not going to be wearing it for long if he keeps this up. There's a lot of reported chatter amongst the pro-tour teams that Haedo is super-talented and should be riding for a European pro-tour team. We'll see...

Something else
Read the Decontructing the Break section on Velonews' report of stage 4. There was a lot of "controversy" regarding Chris Horner bridging the gap to the day's main break.

Here are my thoughts:

Horner's move was full of great tactics for his team. If the guys in the break don't like it, then either drop him or shut up.

If Phonak didn't like it because they weren't able to pawn the pace-setting duties off on a sprinters team, too bad; that's the price you pay when your guy is in the leaders jersey.

If Phonak thinks Horner really bridged to that group as a result of seeing Floyd have a mechanical, then they're delusional. Chris has been around pro-cycling long enough to know the basics, and Phonak should've realized that and not whined to him when he returned to the peloton.

Grow up, this is bike racing!

Another Something else
I noticed while watching the end of yesterday's stage this morning...The UPC team may be disrespectful to the "stars and bars" jersey of the U.S. champion by having their kits look too much like it, but one thing about their kits that I do like is the last name of the rider is printed on the back each of their jerseys. That is something that could make deciphering who's in breaks a lot easier if more teams followed suit.

As For Today
Another opportunity for everybody to attack the poo out of Phonak. 105.32 miles from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara.

Stage 5 begins along the flat coast before heading inland towards a four-mile category one climb across San Marcos Pass. This area, near Solvang, will be familiar to many teams such as the Disco boys, who were training here just a month ago. The location of the San Marcos climb near the beach front finish in Santa Barbara will be strategically significant for a stage win, or possibly a GC move.

Although the climbs aren't all that difficult [for the pros], you never know what could happen after 5 hard days of racing. Them Phonak boys might be gettin tired.



Friday's Joke

A Tallahassee area mortician had a new apprentice who was learning the embalming ropes. He walked into the embalming room where a cadaver was lying on the table.

Thinking he knew enough now to begin the procedure without his boss, he began examining the body. He rolled it over and to his amazement there was a cork in its ass. Mystified, he pulled it out, and immediately heard, the Florida State Chop song come out the guys butt.

Startled by what had happened, he shoved the cork back into the cadaver and ran up the stairs to find his mentor. 'Sir, you've got to come down and help me, I've just seen something I can't believe.'

Annoyed by the naivete of his assistant, he said OK and followed him downstairs. 'There, look at the cork in the ass of that body, I couldn't imagine what it was doing there so I pulled it out. Please you do it.'

The mortician was a bit surprised to see the cork, too, so he walked to the table and removed the cork. Then the Florida State Chop song started playing.

Exasperated, he replaced the cork in its appointed position, turned to his assistant and said: 'What's so surprising about that. I've heard thousands of assholes sing that song.'

ToC Stage 3 etc., etc., etc...

I guess havin' your arms up in the "bent over the pew, praying for speed" position is the way to go! Floyd Landis' new TT position allowed him to time trial his way to a stage win and the overall lead in the inaugural Tour of California with an average speed of 28.39 mph.

Besting the time of Dave Zabriski, who placed second, Floyd now leads the ToC by 29 seconds which Johan Bruyneel believes could be enough to win the whole thing based on the remaining parcourse.

Floyd looked good on the hardest climb of this tour in stage 2, being one of only three riders to summit the peak ahead of the field. If his team is able to fend off the inevitable attacks by Discovery and CSC, he may just be the winner of the first ever Tour of California.

Youngin'
TIAA-Cref's new stud, nineteen year old phenom Tom Peterson, currently hold the best time by a rider under the age of 23.

This is Tom's first year as a pro and his first big test against the sports elite...and what a test it is. This kid who was born in 1986 (the year I started middle school, and coincidently the same year that Scott became eligible for retirement) is out-performing veterans of the peloton.

If he keeps this up, forget Saul Raisin, TP will be the American stud of the future.

Damn ESPN2
The damn DVR was set to record the TT stage early this morning once again, and once again the previous show ran into the ToC coverage! This time it ran over by like 15 minutes so I still missed the finish of the stage despite adjusting the record timer to run over 5 minutes.

In the words of Jerry Seinfeld, "What's the deal with ESPN2".

Or maybe Cox Communications is to blame, I mean really... if you're going to advertise a start time of 1 a.m., then why the F*&# don't you start the damn show at 1 F*&#ing a.m.? My box set of ToC stages is now ruined!

Other Blogs...
Phil Zajicek of the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team has a blog where he's been posting text and audio about the ToC. It's an interesting view point from one of the riders actually fighting it out day after day.

Zajicek is actually sitting in 15th place on GC right now. He's one of only two non pro-team riders in the top 20 and had been riding strong all week long. Check out his blog here.

In Other News...
Eight people from a meat packing plant in Nebraska are splitting the $365 million lottery jackpot that they won. I'm happy for those people, cause people who make a living packing their meat don't usually make a very good income, just ask Jayson O. (he just does it because he loves it)

ToC, Stage 2

The top 5 on GC in the ToC shouldn't be any surprise to those of you who paid any attention to my list of favorites a few days ago. Those of you who didn't think any of the big names would win this race because it's too early in the season obviously underestimated the determination of the American cyclists to have a good showing on home turf...namely Levi Leipheimer. Levi hinted loudly in his cyclingnews.com diary that even though he lost the jersey yesterday, he should be able to get it back in the TT today.

1. USA HINCAPIE George DSC 7.20'28"
2. USA LEIPHEIMER Levi GST 7.20'32" @4"
3. USA JULICH Bobby CSC 7.20'37" @9"
4. USA LANDIS Floyd PHO 7.20'38" @10"
5. USA ZABRISKIE David CSC 7.20'41" @13">

The stage was won by big George Hincapie (DSC) followed by Chris Horner and Josep Jufre Pou, both of the Ridley-riding Davitimon-Lotto team. The time bonus earned gave George the lead over Levi by just 4 seconds.

It'll be interesting to see if Hincapie can hold onto or extend his lead in today's ITT. There are some undulations on the 17 mile course that will make it tough, but I think that George will do well enough on the fast flat portions to keep it really close to the other TT specialists (Floyd, Dave Z., Bobby J., Levi etc...).

Web site notes:
Recent additions that have been made to the 5count blog have reportedly altered the layout of the site. Through much investigation into the code, I've come to the temporary conclusion that I don't know what is going on. However, I have realized that there are certain things that can make your viewing experience better.

•If possible, view 5count on a browser other than Explorer (Safari, Firefox, Mozilla etc.)
• If using Internet Explorer, make sure that you've upgraded to at least version 6.0 .
• Make sure your screen resolution in as big as posssible, preferably 1280x1024
• If none of these things help, then just deal with it until further notice!

ToC, Stage 1; DVR suckiness

Well the first stage of the ToC finished just as we all expected it to, with a bunch sprint to the line. Juan Jose Haedo (ARG) from the newly formed United Pro Cycling Team took the sprint easily over Olaf Pollack (Ger) from the T-Mobile Team and Stuart O'Grady (Aus) from Team CSC.

The GC didn't get shaken up due to the fact that all but 16 riders were awarded the same time as Haedo. Today's stage has long been pegged as the real catalyst to separate the true GC contenders from everyone else. There is a category 1 climb just 23 miles from the finish line of the 94.88 mile stage, so whoever wins today will most likely come from a lead group that summits the climb first. Look for the usual suspects to be there: Levi, Floyd, Bobby J., Dave Z., Tommy D., George, Cadel etc. etc. etc...

DVR Suckiness
So I've set my Digital Video Recorder (DVR) to record all of the stages aired on ESPN2 for the whole week. I wake up an hour early in order to have time to watch the previous day's stage before going to work.

I had to really use some will power to not get on the computer last night to check out the results of stage 1. I wanted the conclusion of the race to be a surprise.

I got ready for work and eagerly sat down with my bowl of Cracklin' Oat Bran to watch my pre-recorded race.

I became very involved with the way that the stage was winding down...the 3 finishing circuits, the jockeying for position, the lead out trains moving to the front...I was on the cusp of the climactic sprint finish...one K to go...STOP!

"what the F*#&"

Apparently, the stupid Gonzaga basketball game had been aired just prior to the start of the ToC coverage. The stupid basketball ball ran over the allotted time frame and into the ToC time block, thus not allowing the stage to finish before the pre-set record time had elapsed. UUHHHGGG

I got to work and checked out the results of the sprint (which I would've done anyway), but not before re-adjusting all of the record times for the remainder of the week to run over 5-10 minutes.

Being a cycling fan is hard work.