Pretty Men

Not to obsess about this but there are some very, very good looking professional cyclists out there.

Jan Ullrich
Ivan Basso

Enough said.

And Another Thing

Lance Armstrong may not be my favorite cyclist, but I am very tired of reading some stick and ball sports writer talk about how he isn't one of the best athletes ever. Sigh. I guess it all comes down to whether you think fine motor skills are more impressive than the efficiency of the human body as an engine. I could argue until the sun comes up tomorrow about why there is more to bike racing than just having a good engine. It takes balance, nerve, aggression, quick reaction time, quick thinking, and no fear. I would truly enjoy seeing some of these reporters go out for a ride in the mountains of France. Heck, even some cat 3 climb - it doesn't have to be one of the monsters in the Alps or Pyrenees. It's more than just riding your bike up hill real fast. That's hard enough. Try going downhill on two skinny tires at speeds in excessive 50 mph with sharp turns and steep dropoffs. It's hard. It's hard not to crash your bike, it's hard to make the corner, it's even worse if you think about it. You have to understand the physics of making that corner and you have to understand your body and your bike. If you make a mistake, you crash. If something happens to your bike and you aren't prepared, you crash. You may die. I would also like to see these guys race in a crit with almost 200 other guys. I wonder if they could hold their line or keep their bikes upright. Nerves of steel and the reaction time to match. Sure, Lance probably can't score 20+ points a night in the NBA or hit a drive for 300+ yards or sink a putt at the 18th at Augusta to win the Masters. But I don't argue about how great Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods are.

Skip Bayless of ESPN.com (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=bayless/050725) has written that "Armstrong doesn't qualify as the greatest all-around athlete because cycling doesn't test enough athletic talent or skill. And he doesn't qualify for greatest performer because his sport doesn't have the equivalent of last-second shots or throws or catches, of two-outs-in-the-ninth swings or of final-hole putts. The pressure through 21 Tour stages is constant, but rarely if ever acute." Fine, he's entitled to his opinion. He gets paid to have an opinion. I just wonder why skills sports hold so much fascination for Americans. Ah, the grace under pressure aspect. So the world's greatest athletes don't choke. Does that mean it's impossible for an endurance athelete not to choke? I'm thinking back to the women's Olympic marathon - one of the favorites had a breakdown on the course and didn't finish. I think that qualifies as choking. Again, I digress. I respectfully disagree about pressure in the Tour de France not being acute. It's definitely constant and I would argue that on certain stages it can be acute - if your competition has the will and the fitness to apply it. An attack on a particularly difficult mountain stage can put the best riders in the world into difficulty. You watch them slip away from as you climb in the searing heat, with thousands of people cheering you on, willing you to pedal faster, bridge the gap and catch the wheel in front of you. If it's a good day you will do that and perhaps counter attack and drop your competition. If you are having a bad day, you lose time and the more time you lose the more pressure the next day. Perhaps it comes down to the last time trial, you have to beat your rival or at least keep you losses to a minimum. Look at what happened to poor Chicken, aka Michael Rasmussen. A former mountain bike world champion, so no stranger to the big stage in bike racing, he completely came apart at the seams during the final time trial in St. Etienne last Saturday. He crashed within the 1st 5k, had 3 bike changes and crashed again because he couldn't make the corner. Time trial bike are notoriously twitchy but he lost whatever poise he had on the bike with the first crash. Why? Because he had to stay within 2 minutes 12 seconds of Jan Ullrich in order to keep his 3rd place in the Tour. Last year Jan beat him in the final TT by over 5 minutes. Jan beat him by 2 minutes 5 seconds (maybe 6 seconds) in the first TT of this year's race. All of which meant Chicken had to ride the best TT of his life. Bad luck aside, he choked. I can't believe I'm defending Lance but I am. The man does not choke, he has withstood all attacks for 7 consecutive years. I think he's had 3 bad days during the tour in 7 years. He's almost robotic. And maybe that's the problem. He's made it look too easy so people can somehow diminish the accomplishment.

I have an argument as to why he's not the greatest cyclist of all time but that would diminish my argument as to why he qualifies as one of the greatest athletes. Like I said at the beginning, it all comes down to whether you are a stick and ball person or not. I think I've ranted enough for today.

Funny!

Wedding Crashers - the audience was laughing so much that I couldn't hear some of the dialog. I haven't laughed so hard at a movie since "Grosse Point Blank."

It's Over

The Tour de France (TdF) finished yesterday with it's typical 8 lap ride around the Champs Elysees/Place du Concord. This year a non-sprinter won the stage, Alexander Vinokourov, a Kazak, who rides for the German team, T-Mobile (yes, the cell phone company). Perhaps, I should back up and explain a few things for those of you who don't follow professional cycling as much as I do.

The final stage of the TdF is typically anti-climatic. The final general classification (GC) is set and therefore there isn't any "real" racing until the riders reach the Champs Elysees. Then, the race turns into a really big criterium (crit). A crit is a type of bike race where the racers ride around in circles (usually about a mile or so long) for a predetermined amount of time. But I digress. Since winning the final stage is prestigious and the competition for the Green Jersey/Sprinter's Jersey is sometimes up for grabs, the sprinter's and their teams usually push the pace to set up their guy for the win. Inevitably some riders will try to 'escape' from the group (peleton). The sprinters' teams will let them go for a while but once the race is within a couple laps of the finish, the speed goes up and the escapees are usually caught, with a lap to go. That's when the craziness begins. The speed is usually above 35 mph, with the final sprints usually a bit faster than that. Which impresses me because these men have raced around France for 3 weeks and they can still get their legs to go that fast. Yesterday, the competition for the Green Jersey could have been interesting, depending on who placed where in the final sprint. Anyway, it turned out to be not quite so interesting as Vinokourov sucessfully escaped and took the victory from the sprinters. It was his second stage win this Tour. Great for him since he's leaving T-Mobile at the end of the season for a French team (possibly Cofidis or Credit Agricole). Unfortunately, Vino's victory put American Levi Leipheimer in 6th place and Vino in 5th. Disappointing for Levi - some of it can be blamed on the timing deciions made by the officials - it would take too long to explain it so I won't bore those of you who are still reading this.

I have to be a bit shallow and comment on the final podium of this year's Tour. Lance Armstrong, Ivan Basso (sigh), and Jan Ullrich (big sigh) - you would be hard pressed to find a better looking top 3; check it out for yourself @ www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tour05/?id=tour0521/80
Granted, I'm a HUGE Jan Ullrich fan. Huge.

The Lance era is over and in some ways I'm going to miss him, if only because he was fun to dislike. I hope that the people who watch the Tour and other bike racing events because of Lance will continue to do so. It's a great sport to watch and a great sport to participate in. Vive le Tour; Allez Jan! Allez Ivan!

TDF: An Exercise in Boredom

I love the Tour de France. Adore it. Have been to France twice to watch it. It is such an amazing event. The number of people it takes to make it work plus the number watching it in person each day is staggering. Usually, the race is full of drama, a little intrigue and excitement. This year, not so much. Last year either. The last *good* race was in 2003. It is a foregone conclusion that Lance will win his 7th consecutive TdF. It might not make him the greatest cyclist ever (my vote is for Eddy Merckx) but he certainly is the greatest TdF rider ever. Or he's doped to the gills. Not saying that's what is going on but it's a possibility. I'm sure Lance won't grant me an interview now and I'm on some sort of persona non grata list but I'm not too worried about being shut out in that department.

I'll give him his due; he is phenominally well prepared. It's rather robotic actually. No personality, just response. 'Oh look, you put in a little attack. I'll let you think that you've made me work hard for about 3o seconds and then I'll pull you back.' Which is great, except that it makes for a really, really boring race. No drama. No excitement. At least t-mobile as been trying to attack which is more than I can say for CSC. Apparently, they just want to ensure that Basso gets second. Gosh, that's exciting. Basso has managed to move Michael Rasmussen aka "Chicken" into third with Ullrich in 4th (almost 3 minutes behind Chicken). Unless something happens at the last tt - the podium is set. Ullrich beat Chicken by 2:06 in the first stage - it may be close in the final TT - but I think it will be difficult for Ullrich to overtake Chicken for 3rd overall. Which is a disappointment. Probably a greater disappointment for Jan than for me, but I'm always rooting for the guy.

Maybe something will happen but I doubt it. I guess I can look forward to next year's race though: no Sheryl Crow but probably less tv coverage. You have to take the good with the bad I guess.

London Calling

Or me calling London this morning while I was on the bus. I caught the end of the NPR broadcast of the press conference from New Scotland Yard in London regarding the 4 bombs that went off Thursday morning. Once I hopped on the bus I took out my mobile phone and started emailing the people I know in London. Thankfully, they are all alive and uninjured. Several of my friends work in buildings that were only a few blocks away from the blast sites. One of them was locked in his building for 3 hours today. They wouldn't even let people go down to the pub, which for an Englishman qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment...

Thank goodness for the current cell phone technology - I couldn't get through to London on a phone line but email worked like a charm. Now if we can just stop terrorist attacks.

Top 500 Reasons I'm Going To Hell

500 - 11: The debauchery, the drunkenness, the mean spirited acts, etc. You know, all the stuff you do in high school and college. I've done countless bad deeds in my life, some I really, really regret. Thankfully, most of them were done without witnesses so I'm the only one cringing in horror when the flashbacks come. Some of these reasons might put me in heaven in some circles...

10. The bitchy/catty comments about co-workers and sometimes even friends (some friends are spared the snarky commentary).

9. My inability to stop the commentary running through my head as I sit through another incredibly frightening Easter service. "Wow, the costume budget must have gone up this year 'cuz check out the skirts on the Roman Centurions."

8. My inability to stop the running commentary in my head during the sermons at Easter service. "Do you really think 'The Passion of the Christ' is popular in Muslim countries because they want to understand the life of Jesus Christ? Do you think it might have something to do with the movie's portrayal of Jews? Maybe?"

7. The constant swearing at the t.v./radio whenever anyone in the Bush administration or certain male Republican members of Congress/Senate are on. It's not pretty.

6. My perpetual desire to walk up to people and suggest a more appropriate hairstyle or mode of dress. When I finally crack, I'm going to be cutting people's hair on the bus whether they want a new hairdo or not. It will either be that or I'll be standing on a street corner with a sandwich board listing my many grievances against the government. It's a toss-up.

5. I've decided that my in-laws (my MIL in particular) are 'different' and that they will not be allowed to baby sit my child (when/if I have one) under any circumstances.

4. My undying love of pop music. Justin Timberlake, a couple of Kelly Clarkson songs, "we belong together" by Mariah Carey, you get the picture. (Duran Duran does not count - they rule!) I blame iTunes for my descent into hell.

3. I use a bus pass obtained by a relative from her company so I don't have to buy one. Free bus pass! Yippee!

2. My overwhelming desire to see Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, Rick Santorum, Condeleeza Rice, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Shrub, Alberto Gonzales, Justice Thomas, Justice Scalia, Karl Rove, et al., go down in ball of flames. Soon.

1. My continual mocking of my in-laws' Christmas holiday tradition of a birthday cake for Jesus. Candles and a rousing version of "Happy Birthday to You" included. Especially the year the cake read "Happy Birthday Jessus." If the comments in church don't do it, then this definitely puts me in hell - if it exists. :-)

The All Lance Network

The team time trial was yesterday in the 2005 Tour de France (TDF). I was looking forward to watching the coverage because the finish was rather exciting - for bike racing that is. I already knew the results but I still wanted to see what happend. My favorite cyclist is Jan Ullrich, who rides for the German team, T-Mobile. He won the tour in 1997 and has placed 2nd 5 times (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003). Not too shabby. So, I'm not a big Lance fan. He's an amazing athelete and an amazingly strong person who's recovered and conquered cancer. I just don't *like* him.

The Outdoor Life Network (OLN) has been covering the Tour for the past several years. And every year it's the same thing, it's all Lance, all the time. Which is fine - they are broadcasting the race for the average joe fan and not the people who are really into bike racing. If it gets more people interested in the sport that's fabulous. However, last year I had to suffer through seeing Sheryl Crow almost every day - you know, Lance's girlfriend. Who knows about *this* much about bike racing. Fine, she's famous, she's dating Lance, it gives Al Trautwig and Bob Roll something to do besides provide mostly lame commentary about the race. I just don't need commentary about whether the mattress in the hotel was o.k. the previous night. This year it appears it will be more of the same. I told myself that I can live it with it, really.

But last night, I went into full blown rant mode. (A little background, since the TDF is all about Lance, Jan Ullrich must be the bad guy. Last year OLN described him as a 'lurking, menacing presence' in the peleton, always shadowing Lance. A bit of dramatic license, but it's not like Jan was the only one keeping tabs on Lance. EVERYONE keeps tabs on Lance. That's what happens.) So, last night, OLN called him 'incompetent.' I presume they are suggesting he's incompetent because he hasn't won the TDF since 1997. Since 1997 only 2 other people have won the TDF, Marco Pantani in 1998 and Lance Armstrong. Apparently, all of the other men who have tried to win this race aren't incompetent (Joseba Beloki, Roberto Heras, Levi Leipheimer, Tyler Hamilton, Alex Zulle, Ivan Basso, etc). I've never heard them say anything like that about the other challengers. Just Jan. I know my anger over this is irrational but seriously, incompetent? I think everyone can admit that Lance is the best cyclist in the world especially when it comes to the TDF. I also think most people could admit that Jan isn't incompetent; just a disappointment at times. It's obvious he has the talent to win, it's just that he always falls short. But I digress.

When I had finally calmed down about the whole Jan insult thing, I was then forced to see a split screen of the finish for Lance's team and Sheryl Crow. Sheryl Crow!!!! Why?!? I kid you not, this woman cannot watch her boyfriend race a bike without looking like she's about to cry. It bothers me to no end. I don't need to see her on screen during the finish of the race. I don't need the announcers telling me that Sheryl's nervously watching the finish of the race. I want to see the race. And to cap it off, David Zabriskie (who had been in the yellow jersey and ahead of Lance by 2 seconds) of the CSC team, crashed with about 1.5 k to the finish and his team lost the team time trial by 2 seconds. My evening, ruined.