Search This Blog

Friday, July 31, 2009

Dream Tennis Match

Seriously....could anyone imagine a better looking match? At the LA Open Marat Safin is playing Tommy Haas. Sigh.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Okay...I'm not ready to be over it

Here's a picture that (almost) perfectly illustrates one of my dream scenarios - with this slight tweaking - Wiggo on a podium and Dave Z standing by with torch to light Jonathan's sideburns.

Bradley way to double fist them beers - I imagine that after finishing the TdF that is a group of skinny cheap drunks.
Lilly, !Jens! has found a way to beat Astana!! And he's recovering. - Star
Maybe Tour of Missouri!! WWJD?!?! Get back on his bike and say "Shut up body and just pedal!!" - boo

Post-Tour letdown

Despite having 4 more free hours in my day, I miss the tour.
So, here's a couple photos to cheer you (and me) up.
US Men's indoor V-ball has been on espn2 lately, but I think they are old games which is weird, but I guess it's summer and old volleyball games are better than baseball. It's so amazing to see such tall guys dig, its also very scary to see them hit. Happy eyes indeed (that's right- I'm talking to you #3)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Completely Random

-Guy who writes in the OWH made a funny about Rogerer, "...when the twins were born, they slapped the babies to make them start crying, then they slapped Roger to make him stop..."

-Sad comment on SC after yet another KC loss, "... Zach Greinke, and that rhymes with Future Yankee..." NOOOOOOO!!!! He would be a disaster in NYC, too much of a head case.

-Shout out to the "Irish Mist", took 5th in the Bayview Mackinac Yacht Race, a 239 nautical mile race in Lake Michigan. Yacht racing just doesn't get the press it should.... The race took 3 days, the winds are fickle. Congrats to Skipper David Spiers. I don't know him, but his daughter-in-law is a friend of a friend. And I would love to go up the Mackinac Island. Looks gorgeous.

-Belated Congrats to the niece on a hard-fought 3rd place finish at the State Softball tourney a couple weeks ago. They lost the first game, and had to play 7 in a row out of the losers bracket.

- Umm, that's all I've got. -boo


Le Tour...Le Fail

Not so much win...
Astana - rhymes with drama for a reason. Can't even began to chronicle it. I toss a water bottle of fail at your heads (except for you, Levi, and you, Kloden, and you, Popo).
Lance's butterfly bike - decorated with real butterfly wings - just cause you can, doesn't mean you should. "I'm so rich I'm gonna make solid gold bike shorts, look at me everybody" (say in texas accent)
That hole in the road that brought down Jens- not fair! not cool!
Cav talking.... or celebrating. (But a complete win on enthusiastically hugging his teammates, I guess if George is your teammate it makes it easy-watch out for his collarbone!)
Contador winning ITT - Really? over Fabian? REALLY?
The Schleck's biceps (or the place where their biceps should be)
Tyler's haircut- noooooooo!- to much time spent with russian bike monkeys.
George not getting yellow - I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just sayin' its a shame.
Frankie's lame ass interviews. "So, how'd you go today? So, how you gonna go tomorrow?
Johan's....well...existence.
The curb that broke Levi's wrist. Come on curb pick on someone you own size. -Star



A musette full of snickers (WIN!)

A list of win for Le Tour....
Le Tour in HD-more beautiful than ever.
Phil & Paul - when things start to get grippy you can count on them. Except when they get confused, which on mountain stages is often.
Team Columbia - throwing Tony M & Kim K to the wolves that climb the mountains, they came to win flat stages...and they did. With authority.
French teams - not sucking completely this tour, things are looking up, well, probably not.
The Giant St. Bernard - it was at the start line the next day too. Careful! don't sit on Little Al you'll squish him.
Garmin-Slipstream - Wiggo (surprise!) VdV (total stud) Millar (not as pasty as usual) Dave Z (brilliant- crazy mad man) & the rest. Including Matty White - thanks for saving me from Jonathan's disturbing sideburns. Gutsy call on TTT - way to roll the dice and drop the other 4. Well done argyle.
Fab Fabian, Stuey & ¡Jens! - way to hammer.
Thor in Green (for you boo)
Spotted jersey podium girls outfits - all kinds of love, love love....
I did hear Paul say that Bradley held onto his 4th place by the skin of his bike shorts. That must be 3 seconds.
Quote of the Tour goes to Dave Z about G-S chef “He’s even making me beets, which I like a lot. Helps move things along.”
Here's a interview of Christian, there's more on the website. A few by Dave Z, which is always interesting.
Astana's Gregory Rast, he's Swiss too - watch out Fabian.
Only 48 weeks until the next Tour!!! -Star



Sunday, July 26, 2009

Tour de France - the stage all riders have been waiting for

Well done France for once again hosting the greatest sporting event ever.
I think Cav has sent the message that he is the fastest man on 2 wheels. Even his leadout man got second they were going so fast.
Just taking a guess that Alberto is not going to be on Team Radio Shack. I wonder which party Johan went to?
I have to give a shout out to Garmin-Slipstream. Who though a little upstart team from the US in the first year as a proteam could place 2 riders in the top 10 of the Tour de France? I didn't think they could, but glad they did. -Star
It was great to see G-S do so well. It must be the team doctoring... or was he just the chiropractor? Hopefully he can get that extra gear out of Tyler. He deserves a stage or two. Is he riding the Vuelta, or will he be at the ToM? - boo
I finally found the pic of Dave Z warming up for the time trial. Have I mentioned he's crazy.
I don't know if Tyler is doing the Vuelta or Missori. Cav did the Giro, so he won't be in Spain.-Star

Saturday, July 25, 2009

America Loves a Winner....or how I learned to stop worrying and embrace the failed breakaway

Cycling & Soccer, both huge in Europe, are somewhat tepidly embraced by the U.S. sporting public- and that's only if an American/American team is doing well in them. Something in those sports doesn't translate to the U.S. viewing audience.
From my own experience- I started watching Le Tour for Lance and only then realized that he was taking an american approach to the race - while those europeans embraced their tragic losers & fallen heros.
What is it that gets lost in translation? One would think sport is sport and it transcends culture. But those europeans love their scoreless ties in soccer, their Jan Ullrichs', Carlos Sastres', tragic, beautiful, futile breakaways spilling guts down the road.
Maybe it's because we are the world's only superpower, we only respect #1, the winners, the champions. It seems to be a healthier attitude to embrace the humanity in sport, the failure, the loser, the trying & not succeeding. Life is full of much more trying & failing than winning going away.
At least that's my half glass analysis (truthfully, 3.5 beer analysis) - Lil

Tour de France - Stage 20

Bradley Wiggins, you have made all of Britain so proud. Phil & Paul could hardly contain themselves.
I kind of thought that the climb would switch things up a little more then just switching 5th & 6th place. It looked like Frank Schleck had a bad day, which kept him from jumping over Wiggo & Lance.
It is good to see Little Al being a good teammate.....it only took 20 stages, but still he learned.
Chill the champagne, it's on to Paris. -Star

Must be that titanium plate blocks the empathy & strategy part of his brain.
Way to go Wiggo - 4 seconds is 4 seconds. - Lil

Friday, July 24, 2009

US Open Series - Indianapolis

There were seats a-plenty for the match between the two highest seeds - #3 Sam Querry vs #7 Marc Gicquil*. Not exactly a marquee matchup. But with Andy R nursing a bad hip, Rafa with the knees, and Rogerer with two new babies, (WHAT!?!?) it looks like the best they can do.
Glad we didn't get tickets to go out and watch. But watching tennis made my run a little easier. - boo

*In case you are curious about the Gicguil picture, he had just taken a 208KPH serve to the technicals.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Tour de France - the ugly underbelly



Alberto Contador is the next Lance Armstrong. Yes, that statement has been said before and some think that AC will win a lot of Tours de France to come.....but that's not the reason AC will be the next LA. Every race AC wins will have a doping cloud handing over it. For those unfamiliar with the back story, in 2006 several riders were excluded from the Tour because of Operacion Puerto, which was a lab in Spain that was doping athletes. AC and several of his teammates were implicated, but AC was later cleared. But these accusations are going to haunt AC everywhere he races. And on days like today especially. Seriously, taking 3 seconds out of the best time trialist in the world??? There was a rider that beat Fabian last year in the Time Trials, but you won't find he name there any more because Stefan Schumacher got caught doping. His unusually large head should have given him away. I can remember last year Fabian questioning Schumachers ability & rightly so. And I think Fabian is questioning more then just the leading motorbikes in front of AC today. If I was Fabian, I would need to drink more beer.

And it's not just AC that's frustrating.....Frank Schleck also has a black cloud. Which implicates Andy since they are not only brothers but claim to be best friends.

Andreas Kloden doesn't have sunny sky's over him either.

Counting Lance, that is 5 of the current top 6 riders in the Tour de France have been accused of doping. I know Lance claimed that the '08 tour was a "joke", maybe that was because the fans didn't have to hang around with syringe pitchforks. By the way where are last years podium finishers......Carlos Sastre (14th), Cadel Evens (29nd), and Denis Menchov (43rd)???

I'm waiting for those days following the end of the Tour to find out how many riders were caught doping (thanks Floyd Landis). But in some cases is will take longer then that. It looks like this years Giro d'Italia podium will be changing do to a rider getting caught doping.

Thanks for listening it would have been a much rosier post, but after seeing the result of today it broke the collective back of my tolerance. -Annie Oakley

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Tour de France - The Queen Stage

We'll start out with the important happenings of today's stage:
-John Elway is a cycling fan. Check out the VS coverage with 114 K to go.
-Everyones favorite Lanterne Rouge, Robert Kenny van Hummel crashed out of the stage with a cut on his knee. I know he didn't land on his face at 70 kpm, but he also isn't !Jens!.
-Thor the God of Thunder is a rockstar. I would like to see Cav solo in front of the peloton up a couple of cat. 1 climbs. Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen.
-Note to any future teammates of Little Al: don't be any good, because if you get close to him in the GC of a major race he will attack and drop you. So don't even offer a raincoat on a climb to him, he may think it has rocks in its pockets and throw it back at you.
-I don't know if it was the fact that VS has a pair of Brits as commentators (I heart Phil & Paul), but they were swearing that Astana and Saxo Bank were very worried about the fact that Bradley Wiggins had been able to hang with the big climbers so far this tour. They believe that Wiggo will be able to kill the ITT tomorrow. I know Phil doesn't always call riders by the correct name, but I believe him.
-Dream scenario: Both of the Schlecks pull a Rassmussen on the ITT. hehehe -Star
I am not sure why I harbor this intense dislike of the Schlecks. They seem like nice enough kids. I think it stems back from Frank making that ridiculous tough face and flexing his non-existent muscles when he won that stage two years ago. Creeped me out, and I can't get past it.
I know Lil is a non-Lance fan, but he really is having a surprising Tour. He is remarkably resilient and I do hope for a podium finish for him. But even if he puts a couple minutes back into the Schlecks, they will take him back out on Mont Ventoux.
And is Nibaldi that tiny, or is LA just that much bigger? He looked like a giant on the run in into the finish. -boo (Is Jock alive?!?!? I'm getting worried...)

Frank Schleck went to "Kobe & Pau's Lamest Faux-Tough Faces School" - he got an A+ - Lil
Oooo yeah, that's the one. *** shudder, skin crawling***

Get better soon ¡Jens!


That's exactily how the conversation went. Then I laughed. - Star

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Tour de France - Stage 16



Ok - I was looking on YouTube for Jens' crash. (I haven't watched the stage yet.) But I came upon one super funny video about the top 3 bike fights. You got to check it out. Never mind that it is in Flemish. You get the drift when they mention in English about the "Rumble in the Jungle"! Sorry I know I'm off task, but it was distracting.... - boo

Oh, just saw the crash.... OUCHIE.... Hope he's ok. Between the 70KPH faceplant and the sparks coming off the bike... That kind of made me a little sick to my stomach.



Oh Jens, I was going to post this pic when he won a stage this year. But alas, maybe next year. Get well soon Jens!!!
Good, Bad and Ugly of the stage today:
Good: Dave Z keeping within reach of the GC group, the bombing it down the last decent
Bad: Frank Schleck getting dropped when Jens, his own teammate, is putting in the tempo on the last climb
Ugly: Jens crash - I guess he won't finish 2nd this year Lil
And another Tip of the Hat to Kenny Robert van Hummel. Get this, he lost 34 min today, 7 more then the last group on the road. He is now 3:35 behind Little Al, 45 min behind his closest competitor for the Lanterne Rouge. -Star

As not-a-lance-fan, I have to give him his due. He saw the podium riding away and went after it. In the process he managed to confuse Andy enough that VdV, Dave Z & Gang made it back. Thanks Lance!
¡Jens! - that was too scary-don't do that again. Get better soon. Here's a link to a great Jens article. Sample quote: "The grass is always greener on the other side. Unless Jens Voigt has been riding on the other side in which case it’s white with the salty, dried tears of all the riders whose souls he has crushed." - Lil

Lilly, that article brought me to tears I was laughing so much. -Star

OMG, I know. Laugh out loud funny. Don't read at work.
- Lil


Monday, July 20, 2009

Oh Happy Day... :)


Finally, word this morning that Steve signed a 2 year extension (on top next year's contract)- that's right, 3 years of Can-Jez! Happy Day!
I wasn't ready to break up with him, see how happy he looks with me?

Rest Day - British Open

So, Star, you really think this race is going to go into the time trial undecided? I think it is over right now. The only person who could even "kind of" go with Alberto was Andy Schleck, and he couldn't even come close. I think that, barring someone (read: Little Al) falling off the side of the mountain, young Mr. Contador might have this thing wrapped up.

Also, Jock, let's hear your take on the 59 year old Tom Watson almost taking the British Open. I watched that last putt live, and it almost broke my heart. He is one classy guy, though. It would have been an unbelievable story. - boo

Yep boo, I still don't think the winner will be decided before the ITT. You see there are 2 mountain stages before that. I know Alberto can climb like an angel, but there are a lot of riders that have nothing to lose sitting behind him. And I don't think Alberto trusts his teammates (Lance & Kloden) to chase down other riders since they are both sitting so high up in the GC. So Little Al may try to chase down riders himself, wasting energy.
The ITT is long and flat, yes Little Al is the champion of Spain in the TT, but that's like being the 'most athletic' of our family.*
Oh, and did anyone else notice all the Czech flags on Verbier? How cool is that? -Star

*extra bonus point Star! u so funny.
-dreaming- the entire Astana team falls off the podium and dissolves into a giant hair-pulling cat fight. Which Popo wins, easily.
Wiggins wins the TdF and drinks pint after pint during jersey ceremony, horrifying the french crowd. !Jens! gets second. Vdv ties Levi & GG for third. Dave Z "accidently-on-purpose" sets Jonathon V's sideburns on fire with blowtorch. Most perfect TdF ever......

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Tour de France - Boom, Boom and out go the lights!

Ok, Alberto is serious about stopping people from asking 'who is the leader of Astana'. Seriously. Do you want him to ride away really fast uphill again? There are 3 more mountain stages left and he's not afraid of riding alone.
Oh, and he got a really cool prize at the finish, a St Bernard! The dog probably weighs as much as him.
Bradley "Bloody" Wiggins, wow, he can ride uphill really well. Right now he's the only thing keeping Astana from having the top 3 spots. -Star
Little Al was pretty defiant on the podium. As if to say... "that all you got, old man??.." And apparently it was. LA looked a little teary in his interview, as it he just got a giant kick in the pants. But he really could hang onto a podium finish. He still climbs pretty good for being away for as long as he was.
And according to Wikipedia, a full grown St. Bernard weighs 160-250#. Way more than Alberto. - boo
I have to give a 'well done' to Kenny Robert van Hemmel who by losing 45 min today solidified himself as the Lanton Rouge (last place rider). The closest rider is over 40 min ahead.
Well done David Millar, we know how hard it is to write a humorous blog.-Star
I'm a little late on this - surprised, but not really, but kinda with how easy Al rode away. Its his tour now. Will be interesting to see Lance ride for him, it will be frustrating & annoying listening to the american press try to figure it out. If Astana gets all the podium places I'm gonna throw up. yuck.
Oh, and Fab Fabian is a stud. again.-Lil

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Tour de France - Stage 14

So close... Big George came so close to taking yellow. Got into a great break that contained some strong riders and was the virtual yellow on the road, but got nipped at the finish by only :05. In a rather bitter post race interview, he is angry with Astana and Garmin for chasing. His own team had to chase at the end, also, to get a lead out for Cav. I don't blame him. I guess you find out who your real friends are. And I would have thought George would have plenty. I know I would only chase him after the race, not during....
LA said that Astana wasn't chasing, they were setting a tempo. He said they wanted GH to have the jersey. But he thought Garmin did more chasing. Is the TTT smack talk between Columbia and Garmin at the heart of this?
And what is up with the pale blue tights Thor was wearing at the Green jersey presentation? - boo
Who wants to get between the Garmin-Slipstream vs. Columbia fued? But at least Astana didn't make the headlines!

Friday, July 17, 2009

So Sad

Levi has a broken wrist and is out!!! That breaks my heart. - boo

Sniff, poor Levi. No matter how you look at it this is a big, big blow to Lance's hopes. Levi was riding very well- podium well. It does make the OMG Astana team even more like daytime television. As the Pedals Turn.
Talk me down girls...but I don't believe Johan will instruct the guys to ride for Little Al if he's up by 2 seconds. Al has to take a huge lead and/or Lance suffer a huge time loss (like 1:30+) to make that happen. Lance was Johan's $$$ for too many years and its not like Johan's not going back to Astana anyway.

I wish Levi a speedy recovery. I hope see him in Missouri!!
I don't think Johan knows what he's going to do. His knee jerk reaction is to have Lance win, but after seeing Little Al ride uphill, you would be foolish to bet against AC.
Riders like to think they are faster then a speeding bullet.....these 2 aren't.
Finally watched the stage....cold, wet & miserable. Heinrick Haussler was crying by the end of the race it was so bad...what, he's crying because he won? There's crying in cycling? I thought there was only crying in tennis?

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Tour de France - Stage 12

Since Star has been on me for starting the blog first... here we go. Ok - flat stage, breakaway stayed away, some dude from Denmark with an umlaut in his last name won. Cool. I will watch tonight to see if there are any neat crashes, and or interviews.

Poor Vladimir Efikim. I will try to find a picture of his facial road rash. Ouchie. -boo

Way to get the ball rolling Boo.
You're right, this was perhaps one of the most boring stages so far. On VS live coverage, Jonathan Vaughters was in the booth with Phil & Paul. It was with about 30 K to go and they are showing an interview with Lance. Lance is talking about Tyler and is fairly complementary. After the interview Phil says "Jonathan, even Lance is on your side". All you hear from JV is "hum" and then silence. My guess is JV does not have one of those yellow 'Lance Fans'.
My favorite Swiss rider in the peloton (Fabian Cancellara) is not only super fast in the time trial, cute, but he's also a really nice guy. -Star

I don't know about you guys, but I would give Spartacus a big hug, too. Just for looking like he does. He wouldn't have to do a thing...

big vote yes on hugging Fab or whatever tiptoes right up to the line of stalker.
stage sooooo boring... could barely make it. In more interesting news, pro tennis player Richard Gasquet's ban for testing positive for cocaine was lifted. Turns out he inadvertently ingested cocaine by kissing a girl he met at a club. "Inadvertently ingested cocaine" - I love that statement. - Lil

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Tour de France - Stage 11

Cavendish won again today. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one that thinks Cav's a prick.
Oh Tyler, so close, yet so far. One these days, but probably after Cav's out of the race. -Star

If you watched VS this morning, one thing they do that is both entertaining and irritating is their own little Performance Prediction bit. Annoying that Hummer is doing so well, and entertaining because I'm not sure they know what is going on half the time. Today Paul was speechless due to the fact that he thought he picked Feirre but they put up Rojas. Mayhem ensued. Well, as much mayhem as can be had on a set with one dork, 2 retired cyclists and good ol' crazy Phil.

I watch live updating at work from cyclingnews.com. (don't tell my boss...) and there are some funny items. Unfortunately, today was the guy who isn't as funny as the girl. Yesterday, she mentioned that there was a snail convoy attempting to cross the road. She said that one was sent out and got a 2 inch gap on the rest of the snail peleton. Ok - I thought it was funny... - boo

You should have heard Paul & Phil worry about the snails. Was the highlight of the day. That and VdV's post-race interview. - Lil

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Tour de France - Stage 10

The brains of the Tour de France wanted a exciting race today, so they banned radios that allows the riders communicate with the team directors in the following cars. So.....well....uh.....yeah, it didn't work. There was a breakaway that got caught in the last K's, then Cavendish won the stage.
If they want to make the race more exciting I have a few ideas:
-certain kilometers in the race the whole peloton can only pedal with 1 leg
-all the riders have to guess a number between 1 and 10 and those that guess the correct number get rocket boosters for their bikes for that stage
-start a stage at the very top of a mountain
-don't tell the riders anything about the stage, just let them ride it and see what happens
Come on girls, you can think of some more.
-star
They have to do shots everytime someone crashes... that could get ugly in a hurry.
That's a snowball heading downhill, fast.
-Everytime the peloton goes past this guy, someone has to bulldog him. Or just push him over. Or kick him in the knee. Somehow just stop him from being on the side of the road during a bike race. Just be careful not to poke your eye out.
ooooh, okay
-if you want to get in a breakaway you have to be able to ride a kid-size pink huffy through fire, followed by killer RPS.
- bike jousting! I think Thor might win this.
- Instead of getting musettes, the entire peleton has to queue up and get lunch at the drive-thru lane at McDonalds (except there is no fast food there, so they have to stop at the local tavern, which of course doesn't have drive-thru which Yen would say is a sign of being less evolved, don't even ask him about the zoning mess he sees from the arial shots)
- or better yet, have their older sister pack lunch for them in square plastic lunchboxes and totally short them on fritos, shoot the lunchboxes at riders from a giant wiener gun.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Rest Day?

Frankie Andreu was interviewed on NPR this morning and referred to LA and Little Al as "frienemies".

Very "Gossip Girls". And he also said that as the tour goes on, it will be much lighter on the "friend" side and much heaver on the "enemy" part. He stopped short of calling it, but I had the feeling he was surprised by Lance's form, but thought Contador would take care of things in the Alps. -boo

I know he had a pretty funky haircut earlier in the season, but Bradley Wiggins is quickly rising up my list of favorite Gamin-Slipstream cyclists. Imagine Levi asking Dave Zabriskie if Wiggs crazy. Ironic, but I think Dave can recognize crazy.
-star

Whew, rest day. I needed this.
Great articles on Wiggins, sounds like a very cool guy and looks like he should be in a Guy Richie movie. Definitely agree that crazy recognizes crazy.
Read in the NYT this weekend the Johan said "what happens on the bus, stays on the bus", so the Astana bus is like Vegas? But without the slot machines & showgirls I assume. - Lil

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Stage 9 - quick observation

Pellizotti (Liquigas) has some very pretty blond curls coming out of the back of his helmet as he stays away on the break. Got to go to Wahoo now, so more later.

Happy Birthday Big Guy!! Have a good one!

Today was about one rider - ¡Jens! I wish the Lance network would have a jens cam. Today he gets in the chase group of 8 - when he gets dropped towards the top of the HC climb up Col dTourmalet, it appears that he might die from pain. Gets picked up by the peleton, next shot of him is loading up with new bottles from the team car. Then Andy Shleck gets a flat at 4k from the finish (worst place ever!) Jens dropped back and pulled him to the peleton in about 15 seconds. I think he should have a reality show - "¡Jens! Crazy, Painful, Perfect Day"
France wins its 3 stage of the race, as a nation they are overachieving. It was a Bbox rider, the team appears to be moving past their inglorious TTT performance.
It was No-Shave Sunday for Levi & Thor. And in other facial hair news, Phil described a Rabobank rider's "goaty beard thing" - I think he meant goatee.
Lil
I heard that comment by Phil as well. I also just saw a bunch of Aussies looking like marigolds with yellow bushy things on their head and flags as capes. At least they weren't naked. - boo
I would totally watch a !Jens! reality show.
***Congrats goes out to our sister Bones, she's prego. Now Squeaky and Squirmy are going to have a new littler sis or brother in January!
-star

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Stage 8 - yawn another breakaway...

OK - so I didn't watch much of the stage - just the last 20K. Sounds like it was super fast, but there were no big shakeups in the GC. The big boys dropped the yellow jersey early on, but he clawed his skinny Italian butt back into it.
Lil called me out on the #6 of the drinking game, roughly translating Fabian's rant as "...help, you lazy bastards. If not, I'll ride over on the other side of the road..." Since it was only 9:35am, and we were just getting back from the Farmers Market (yea, sweet corn!), I passed on the pounding of a drink and downed the raspberry iced tea...
Tomorrow, two of the monsters of the Pyrennes in Col d'Aspin and the Tourmalet, with fast downhill/flat finish. Will the attacks fly and will we see a big shake up? Lil, if you watched more closely, please fill in the details!! -boo


OMG almost forgot... Thor is in Green!!! Cav had a few troubles getting over the mountains and arrived in the autobus as the God of Thunder was pulling on the jersey!!! he, he, he. I wish I could have translated what he said to Bernhard Eisel as he crossed 23 min back.

Happy to help boo.
A break got away, and stayed away for the win. Going up the third & final climb of the day it looked like the yellow jersey had cracked, dropping off the lead group because of attacks by the Shlecks (unable to tell beanpoles apart, yes I realize they wear different colored jerseys, so I guess it a matter of caring). VdV in post-race interview said he though the Shlecks wanted the yellow to go to Astana & force them to defend - interesting (also excellent move by VS shooting from non-mole side, for you star). However, the yellow got back, paced by teammate Stéphane Goubert -nominated for best name in peleton!- at that point the lead group was like -whatever *eye roll* lets just finish, big day tomorrow.
Big G (le sigh, le swoon) was in the break until the end of the final climb up Col D Angés and tried to descend like a banshee to get back. But was unable-so he sat up and waited for the peleton. This is notable because it meant lots of happy eye time. FYI - he was drinking Fanta in post-race interview. Oh George, you are so awesome.
Also, Little Al was definitely not at the Astana cool kids table today. Always lurking a couple riders behind LA/Levi/Kloden. Not so happy times in the turquoise bus. Also, why the jersey zipped up the whole way Al? what are you hiding? your tiny little bird chest?
Cadel may/may not have the form, but he's certainly more aggressive this year. VdV, Millar & Wiggins finished in leaders group- good work argyle! I don't know what movie they were showing in the autobus today, but it must have been good 'cause it drew a big crowd. I like to picture the autobus as sharing snack packs of fruit chews, baby carrots & juice boxes.

Ooo nice George picture. All the other pigeon chests are jealous. And yes, I do realize I would not technically have to translate Cavendish, but he does talk kind of funny.
Love the Gorgeous George pic, I think that is the only shirtless cyclist we will have on our blog....the others would be frightening. -star

Friday, July 10, 2009

Tour de France - Stage 7

Ah, snap, Lance, did you see what 'Little Al" just did? Yeah, y'all really, really look like a united team. Levi & Lance knew the 'plan', it must have been lost in the Flemish to English and Flemish to Spanish translation when Johan-the ass was going over the stage in the pre-race meeting. What are the odds that Team Astana stays as is after the Tour? My guess is slim to none, and slim just took a flyer off the front of the peloton.
Kudos to the skinny, little fellows in Argyle. Way to stick with the big dogs Wiggy & VdV! Too bad crazy Dave Z, couldn't quite keep with the GC contenders in the last 2 k. -Star.

Good analysis, Star. I'm betting if the roles had been reversed, the French and Spanish press would have been ALL over LA for pulling a move like Contador did. Also, ESPN needs to find SOMEONE that knows about cycling. Their SC anchor mis-pronounced Contador as CANT-a-dor at least 5 or six time. Dork. Or wait, maybe that is me for caring.... - boo

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Stage 6 - Crash-tastic

My favorite Norse God won today!! I have a special place in my heart for a world-class athlete that can eat a danish and have a latte 45 minutes before a TT.

Little story that I have already told most people... Star and I were at the Tour of California stalking some of our favorite cyclists, and since we had been up a while and since Solvang is a big Danish town, we decided to stop for a quick break at a little bakery right behind where the Cervelo bus was parked.

To my great delight, the lovely and large Thor Hushovd was standing at the counter ordering a roll. Tapping him on the shoulder, I nervously asked if I could have a picture with him. Apparently, Star was a little shaky too, since the picture is a little blurry. I then pulled a very stalker-y move and took a table RIGHT next to him and took a picture with my camera phone so that I could tell everyone that I had coffee with the God of Thunder!!!

I did stop short of taking his used coffee cup....

boo

I was totally there, it all happened as she says. -star

Way to stalk sister! Did he really have a latte? or was it espresso?

Stage 6 was also Road-Rash-riffic- Lil

It might have even been a mocha, since it looked like there were little chunks of chocolate on the sides of the cup. Wait, did I say too much? OK - that just sealed the creepy-ness of the stalking... boo

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Le Tour drinking game

Okay, Boo started it when she spotted the full moon, and I noticed on stage 3 a big fat dude running along in a speedo and what appeared to be a shirt tied around his head, musta been hot. So, a Tour Goober drinking game....
1. naked/speedo people. one drink each
2. shots of horses/cattle running in pasture with peleton in background (classic). drink
3. Paul pulling a crazy historical reference out that may or may not be entirely made up - who knows? not me. drink
4. Dog/cow/donkey/horse wandering onto peletons path. drink. two drinks if the animal is okay.
5. VS accidently showing "nature break". drink & take a nature break yourself.
6. Riders yelling/gesturing angrily at photographers on motorbikes/other riders/team cars. drink. If you can translate call someone else and make them drink.
7. Phil using any suitcase, train or dancing reference. drink
8. Any interview with Dave Z. drink lots - then you have a chance of understanding it.
9. Obscene/lewd chalk drawings on road. drink-then try to replicate in your neighbors driveway at 2am. Art! it's for everyone!
Add on girls....
-Lilly
We could revive the 'Lance' drinking game...drink everytime Lance is mentioned in the Only Lance Network, I mean VS. I'm totally out of shape for that game.
-star

Tour de France - Stage 5

Little Tommy V is back in front of the peloton. Oh, it seems just like yesterday he rode over half of France with the yellow jersey on his back. "he's dropped, no he's back, now he's dropped again, but he's back"
I have to say that I am so on top of things. This story by Neal Rogers I mentioned 3 stages ago. Damn I'm good. - Star
Yes, you are Star. I don't think anyone was more shocked than Tommy V when he crossed the line first. Kept shaking his head. I know, hard for us to believe, too.
Levi sounded exhausted and said the peleton is very jittery and nervous, but they say the first week is always the worse. A big shout out to the lone Kazakhstani on the Astana team, one place out from the Lanterne Rouge. Here's to the road turning up soon and the race getting interesting! - boo

***naked guy alert*** with 51.3 K left, two mooners and a speedo... those Europeans...

Tommy V! the human yoyo....leader...gruppetto...peleton...team cars...gruppetto.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Tourde France - Stage 4

Happy Birthday Bob 'Bobke' Roll!!!!
I just have to say that today was the Team Time Trial, which is one of the most amazing things to watch in all of athletics. I love TTT's!
Yes, Astana won the day and almost put Lance in yellow. It's all over the headlines, and anyone at work that knows I follow cycling pointed that out to me. They all think LA is going to now win the whole Tour, never mind that it's only stage 4.
It looks like Columbia burned a few more matches then they thought yesterday. I thought they were the best cycling team in the world?
I swear Fabian Cancellara drove the whole TT in the front for Saxo Bank.
The story of the day for me was Garmin-Slipstream. I was really questioning Matty White plan when they were dropping riders and left with 5 with 28 k to go. But watching Ryder Hesjedal sit on the back for most of the day, it was pretty much 4 riders that finished the race. Dave Z, Millar, Wiggs & VdV are rock stars!
-star
I do love the TTT. So pretty. So Milram has cow spots on their kits?!?! And AG2R stole the arglye type design from GS. Everybody else looks pretty much the same. But I do want to start break dancing whenever they mention the BBox team. What is that?
LA sure did take some massive pulls at the front, but Fabian is a stud. "Sparticus" put that whole Saxo Bank team on his wide shoulders and took them home. I do think that the evil genius that is Johan calculated the whole thing perfectly. The team won, put 4 in the top 5, and Saxo Bank has to defend. ***he, he, he, rubbing hands together*** Evil, but clever. -boo
Most unatractive podium girl.....ever. -star

Monday, July 6, 2009

Tour de France - Stage 3

It was a sprint stage, so it is ok to assume that Mark Cavandish won, because he did. But so much more happened too. It was a "must watch" last 30 k.
I thought the team not to piss off this TdF was Astana, but I think Columbia is not a team to trifled with. Big George looks like a softy until you don't help chase down the breakaway!
I would like to be a fly on the wall in the meeting post-stage in the Astana bus. I wonder how much Spanish Lance and Johan know. I'm sure they've heard all the cuss words before.
Boo's favorite team director!! - Star


Awww... I love Matty.... thanks to Vs. for shooting that spot with him from an angle. Took the big ears right out of the picture.

Damn... Cav is fast. I thought Thor was going to give him a battle, but Mark just kicked it a little bit more and pulled away. Crazy fast. But boy he sure was a jackass in his interview at the end. I didn't see him pulling at any point. - boo

Dear Mark Cavandish,
Don't be such a jerk, if you weren't so good and a practical lock on winning every sprint, then other sprinters teams would help Columbia pull back the break-a-ways.
Sincerely, Star
PS - Does Great Britain know that braces have been invented?

Just gotta chip in on this one. I don't know if LA "accidently on purpose" managed to get in the lead group with 2 strong domestics but that showed experience and some ball(s), which he as plenty of... experience that is.
Note to self: The next time I'm asked to manage a pro cycling team I'm gonna look for a ratio better than 1.25 domestics to each GC contender - somebody has to get the water.
Astana=Kazakhstanian for ¡OMG DRAMA!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Oh Andy...

I just want to give him a hug.
-star

Tour de France - Stage 2

Stage 2 with another predictable winner. If it's a sprint finish on the stage, there's only 1 guy that is really favored: Mark Cavandish. I think we'll be seeing him cross the line first a lot on flat stages.
Tyler Farrar was close, but no cigar. He did beat Thor 'the God of Thunder' Hushovd and 'Tornado' Tom Boonen. I guess the new guard is passing up the old guard.....if the old guard is 31 and 28 years old?
I wonder what Frankie Andreau has in his contract with VS. that has him interviewing Lance Armstong? For those unfamiliar to the backstory, Frankie (a former teammate of Lance's) and his wife have gone on record accusing Lance of doping. Uncomfortable!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th...

Between Serena, Venus & Andy there are many reasons to feel good this 4th. First off, Serena is an absolute beast, she should give Kobe & Pau lessons on how to look tough. ARod played better against Murray than he's played in a long time. Along with his improved fitness he played with more patience & confidence. Not that I'd give him much chance against Rogerer, but maybe Mirka will go into labor and he'll get distracted.
Happy 4th all!

Tour de France - Stage 1

I don't think anyone is really surprised that the fabulous Fabian Cancellara won the stage. Seriously he's a rocket on the time trial bike!
I think Christian Vande Velde is a little disappointed that his 57 sec. back on the stage, but he's 3 sec. in front of Andy Schleck, who is Saxo Banks leader.
Who's the leader of Astana? Right now it's Alberto Contador, but their 4 main riders are within 22 sec. of each other.
Who can pass up a Dave Zabriskie interview? Not me!
Here's good article on Tyler Farrar. I really hope he can win a stage this year.
Lil here - Astana looks good, but also looks destined to implode. How Johan is gonna juggle those egos? Fabian was fabulous, even with the scruffy stache. Also, they really went crazy with the podium girls outfits. Did you see those bows on the KoM? wha?

Friday, July 3, 2009

Tour de France Preview One Final Time

Tom Boonen was not going to race because of testing positive for cocaine twice in the last year. But now he's in. So we'll see tomorrow if he is at the starting gate of Stage 1. I'm looking forward to seeing the big Belgian.
But Tommeke will have to battle Mark Cavendish in all the sprint finishes. It should get interesting.
The rider I'm really, really looking forward to seeing in big George Hincapie. Yep, I'll enjoy seeing him again.
Although I'm excited to see Jens Voigt race. He is my favorite racer that reminds me of a Malmo farmer.
I'm not sure how much time and effort I want to devote to the continuing saga that is life in Astana. The latest rumour is that Alexander Vinokourov has got the Kazakh backers to bump Johan & Lance out of the organization, and make the team up of Spanish and Kazakh riders starting with Alberto and Vino. How many times does Johan have to say that the team is united for it to actually be so?
I think we should just start racing!
-Star

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Wimbledon. Day 9. T-minus 2 days to TdF

ARod won, although I can find no evidence that the match was shown in its entirety today- despite me filling the entire DVR with alleged tennis coverage. ESPN, I'm feeling so stabby towards you, stay away. Rogerer & Napoleon won too. Big story, Tommy Haas upset Novak Djokovic today in 4 sets. Haas at 31 is ancient in tennis years, which makes me think that tennis girlfriends must age inversely. Remember when the Russians "allegedly" poisoned him? Andy, Tommy takes your saving the hotel guests from fire and will raise you a poisoning. Good stuff.
I'm sure Boo & Star had alot of time to brainstorm while driving across the entire state of Kansas today, so expect stellar TdF insights from them when they sober up monday- after drinking with Jock the rest of this week - Happy B-day Jock!