...does a body good!
Posted on 07/02/2007 11:38:19 AM PDT by Aeronaut
The tour is about to begin.
Thanks for taking over the list!
...does a body good!
Kidding for all the smoking nazis out there. Yes, I smoked Newps in h.s. No more though. All this cig talk makes me want to spark one up for a cig buzz.
Hmmm, no Team TT this year, eh?
A listing of teams can be found here
http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/COURSE/us/equipes_et_coureurs.html
Follow the Details button on the right of each team line for a listing of riders and their strong areas.
I was involved in a bike race when I was a kid about 14 years old. Well, it wasn't a fancy kind of race with spectators standing on the sidewalk drinking champagne and cheering me on, no! It was a race to escape a serious beating at the hands of three punk kids who wanted to increase their self-esteem at my expense.
It began in a church parking lot as I was confronted with these neighborhood toughs in a church parking lot as I was making the rounds on my Huffy, collecting my newspaper route money. The local toughs knew this and desired to relieve me of it.
It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning sometime in June or July as I pedaled through the parking lot of the St. Anthony's Church on my way to collect the $1.35 (plus tip) from some old lady who never seemed to leave her kitchen table who lived across the street from the church rectory and never seemed to miss a morning mass.
I am stopped by these hoodlums, each of whom own fancy 10-speed bikes that they most likely stole. You had one ringleader and the other two were just stooges who went along with just about anything the ringleader said. One of the stooges was a tiny midget-type punk named Joey who by himself would be the target of bullies himself. But in the company of his ringleader, he assumed a comically tough posture. Those two were inseparable and I don't think I've ever seen one without the other. Sometimes, you would see this little punk ride the same bike with the ringleader, with his arms around him like some little "girlfriend." How sweet.
Anyway, the three of them, mounted on their bikes, surround me and force me to a stop. The ringleader starts with his basic tough-guy repertoire and it is made clear to me that if I want to survive the morning in good physical condition, that I ought to turn out my pockets and hand over whatever money I have over to them. I had something like $20-25 in my pocket. A small fortune back in those days and most of it earmarked for the newspaper delivery service that employed me. I did not want to hand over this money.
When I resisted, the ringleader told me that if I didn't cooperate, he wouldn't only take my money by force, but he would force me to get on my knees and suck his...well, you get the picture. His little punk sidekick Joey let out a laugh and a sneer at this proposition.
For some reason, this really set me off me and without thinking too clearly, I pointed at his little punk friend who was still smirking at me and I asked the ringleader, "What, are you giving Joey here the day off?"
Absolute silence. The ringleader and the other sidekick looked at me like I just insulted their mother. "Joey" looked like he was about to cry. I knew that if I stuck around any longer, I would get the beating of my life. All I could logically do at that point was exploit the moment of shock and vacate the scene just as quickly as my 14-year-old legs could pedal.
The three punk kids were right behind me, howling in indignation and telling me over and over again that I was "dead meat."
Through the neighborhoods we went, across yards, across the VFW parking lot, through an alley in between two storefronts in which an old man walking his dog shook his fist at us for disturbing his morning stroll and scaring his dog.
I started pedaling up a steep hill getting very tired. Lance Armstrong tired. I thought for sure I wasn't going to make it. But at I rounded the top of the hill, I stole a backwards glance and saw that my three pursuers, winded, were barely making it up the hill behind me. One of them even appeared to have quit the pursuit. Maybe it was the pint-sized Joey, struggling on his oversized stolen bike. I didn't look back long enough to find out.
I triumphantly tore down the other side of the hill, knowing that sooner or later I was going to have to deal with offending the three bullies but for now I was blissfully free for now. But my moment of glory was shortlived as in my rapture at having escaped a beating, I drove my bike directly into a telephone pole.
It was one of the only times in my life that I went unconscious. The last thing I remember was blackness and seeing stars. Next thing I knew, I was splayed out on the pavement, bleeding all over and in severe pain as about a half dozen housewives and a few kids crowded around me.
One of them asked me if I needed an ambulance. I told them that I didn't think so. After about 10 minutes of being poked and prodded by the local housewives and covered in bandages, I had recovered enough to retrieve my mangled bike and make the long trip home, being sure to stay off the main roads lest the bullies find me and finish me off.
No more bike racing for me.
C’mon, that story is too good. It had to be a dream or something.
Hmmm, no Team TT this year, eh? - R4F!
Yes, they're going to skip it again this year, I see. But the two ITT's are extra loooong to make up for it. I'll leave it to others more knowledgable about the leaders than I to figure out who that benefits.Who do you think it helps?
Texas2Step!I've been waiting all week for the other shoe to drop about Vino before Sat. People have been hinting that he might have a problem w/ the doping tests -
from IHT: "Vinokourov and his Astana teammates came under some suspicion last month when the International Cycling Union announced that random testing of riders out of competition had turned up six or seven "non-negative" top-level athletes. "Non-negative" is a way of saying "positive" without having to say you're sorry.And who are these riders? The cycling union says it cannot name them until another test, the B sample, proves positive. The wait is on." He's admitted he worked with Ferrari, & the rumors have been flying. If he was one of the "non-negatives" though, I think we would have heard officially by now since he is the fav. And Astana already dumped Kessler & Mazzolleni on their own so that's probably the worst of it. Or is it? Last year the TdF directors kicked out Basso & Ulrich & practically all of Vino's team the day before, IIRC. Fingers crossed he can ride. Poor Vino got royally screwed last year.
Kloden looks good for a win this time after all these years too. (But I thought he did also last year tho). Don't count out Moreau on his home turf either, he did great in the Dauphine. Best thing Levi has going for him this year is that he has Johann in the car calling the shots just for him now, & that's a huge advantage. I'm still bummed Johann didn't put Janus B on the startlist for Disco this year though.
Eurotwit!Bwteim! TdF shout!
Hello leilani!
I am afraid I cannot watch the opening of the Tour tomorrow.
As you might know; Tomorrow, arguably the saviour of the world is holding his Live Earth conserts. In solidarity, I will probably shut off all lights and go hide in the basement for the weekend :-)
Seriously..
It is finally here.
What a sporting summer this is. Soon to take Center Court at Wimbledon in a rematch of the Kosovo crisis is Ivanovic of Serbia versus Williams of the USA.
Go serbia! *blush*
This weekend. The quarterfinals of the Copa America are starting. And, Liverpool F.C. just bought, El Nino, Fernando Torres.
Wohooo!!!
I will probably already tune in this evening to watch some sort of opening cermony from London.
Who will win?
I honestly have no idea. Vino is always an entertaining rider with a good chance this year, though it would also be fun if a more unknown rider stepped forward and claimed his place among the frontrunners. Perhaps there is a rider undecleared yet who has starred in a TV show we could recruit? :-)
As for Thor, am a bit worried about him this year. He has not won a single race this year albeit coming close a couple of times in the Giro. Hopefully he can find his form before the Tour is over...
Bring it on.
Let’em roll!
Cheers,
Euro.
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