B-game Fun Fest and Tour Time Goodness

I showed up at the Burlingame Crit and was AMAZED at the turn out for the kids ride. The Ryan Phua Memorial Kids ride had several HUNDRED participants!! We're talking something like 800 kids signed up! Too cool for words!!

Hung out with my Team Fremont/BBC/Velogirl/AltoVelo posse. ate some tasty Greek food and drooled over the soon to be MINE, Leopard bicycle. Doesn't get much better than that.

***

Now, on to the Tour.
Here's my early pics for TdF 2008:

GC
1. Menchov
2. Evans
3. Cunego
4. Valverde
5. Sastre

Points
McEwen
Zabel
Hushovd

KOM
Hmm... maybe Soler if he has form, but some French riders may try to nab this one.

Young Rider
A. Schleck

Team
Caisse d'Epargne

Expect early sprint action between Cavendish, McEwen, Ciolek, Steegmans and Friere. Cavendish should show to be the strongest early on, but McEwen will be right there. This should be good!

First TT:
Evans
Cancellara
Valverde

***

All that said, I'm rooting for Cunego. He'll have his work cut out for him, but he's a class rider. My brain thinks Menchov is the guy to watch, with Evans as his shadow. If Cunego brings his best climbing legs, he stands a chance of upsetting the favorites.

Little RED riding Hooptie

stol'd this from Pez today.

My RED equipped SystemSix is almost ready. I CANT wait to get me some of that Double Tap shifting action.

Maybe it's all this smokey air, but this bike looks good to me.

MotoGP's got STYLE!

Mars soil = plant growth

My prediction for the first two things to be planted on Mars:
Starbucks and ganja.

Insta-Dope Nutrition

Here's the funny part, this idea came to me while my insomniac ass is jetting around the blogosphere craving, but unable to attain a suitable state of rest at 2 a.m.

So me and my blood shot eyes stumbled upon a LANCE ad for some miracle stimulant while scoping the latest product tests from the crew at cyclingnews.com. This is the result.

Humor + (me - sleep)= my little journey into advertising.

Talk that SH!T!!

From being a "Hope Machine" to full blown Shit Slinger, LA stands at the top of the heap. In an upcoming Procycling interview, he proceeds to rip into some old teammates, the Tour bosses and one of my fav riders.

Here's one jab that really caught my eye...

"As far as the Americans go, I'd say we're at least a couple of years away. Those riders referred to as the Great White Hopes haven't really panned out. That's not a criticism of them, it's just that European cycling is just very different than the Tour of Georgia or Redlands or a VO2 test in the lab."

Ouch, especially if you're Tom Danielson. Lance started calling Tommy D "Great White Hope" and "Great White" when they raced on Discovery together. When asked about the future of the Discovery Team's leadership, Lance would brag about the talents of T.D., especially his VO2 numbers and his being the best "pure climber" he's ever seen.

Now, granted, Tom hasn't lived up to the hype, but it's pretty damn DICKISH to hype the guy and then slam him with the same PROPS you were giving him. Damn Mellow Johnny, you're coooooold bloooded.

He even had the nerve to talk shit about my Italian brother, Damiano. What the hell? LA's picking Evans (cheap bet). I hope Cunego kicks Evans' ass in July.

ToC + ASO = $$$?

First, the story of the Tour of California photo above. I was stuck. Do I lean WAY THE HELL OVER Fred's Rock teammate and squeeze my mug up to his to be in the pic OR do I stay in the hetero-neutral position outside of the shot? I got caught inbetween. So what you get is me in the "stalker" position while my friend Lala snuggles up to Fast Freddie. Anywhoo, here's the news...

It was announced that Tour de France organizers, ASO, have partnered with AEG, the organizers of the Tour of California, to promote each others' races. ASO is the 800lb. gorilla of the cycling world and the ToC will definitely benefit by have the ASO stamp connected to it. I don't think we'll see much difference her in the Bay Area, but on the international side, I think this move is a HUGE jump in the game for AEG.

The other cool piece of news that came out was the report of Amgen inking a new 3 year deal (with a 2 year option) to sponsor the ToC. For the past 3 years, the ToC has been operating in the red. That had me a bit worried for the future of the race. But now, AEG have some breathing room and hopefully will be able to build on the popularity of the event and make it a money maker.

Moral of pic and the story? Don't ride the fence. Either go ALL IN or get the hell out. Kudos for AEG and Amgen for sackin' up and taking a chance with great race. Now It's time for me to start planning for the next ToC Beaver Shot.

Tom on the Rock

"Can't wait to get this home AND SMOKE IT!!!"

Crack is Whack Tom. Get off the White Horse and get clean for next year. Wonder if Quickstep is going to fire him? Rec drug use v. cheating. One year ban?

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!

Hmmm...



I'm just sayin'.

Book Review: "We Might As Well Win" by Johan Bruyneel

I picked up Johan Bruyneels' book, "We Might As Well Win", last week and when I saw it, I expected to be through by the end of the day. At just over 200 pages, it's not a heavy read. Even the size of the book was a little underwhelming. My first thought was "hmmm, a booklet." But I couldn't have misjudged the book more.

Bruyneel managed to cram a lot of feeling into those 200 pages. I found myself having to stop every so often because the stories Bruyneel was sharing or the images he was describing triggered something in me. It brought to life vivid replays of my own experiences in bike races, with family, in life. My daughter looked at my book mark over the weekend and said, "you've only read THAT far?" For each page of the book, it seemed that another 20 were added from my own personal "manuscript" that added to the depth of "We Might As Well Win".

Having met Johan Bruyneel a couple of times and seen him on t.v., I had an impression of him that was made much more clear after reading his book. Before the book, I viewed him as a tactical genious, especially when it came to the Grand Tours. After reading his book, I see now that his mastery, his genious is forged simply from his dedication to being a learner, a student. He studies everything about racing and applies that knowledged to forging victory.

Johan Bruyneel is the prime example of the smart rider beating the stronger rider. He raced that way and he directs that way as well. It is no wonder that he has become the greatest Champion maker in the world.

Definitely read this book!!!

Weak Sauce

Some random examples of weak sauce:

"Dude, I felt so strong. I pulled the last two laps, but then blew."

"I didn't know it was the last lap."

"I thought my race started at (insert time)."

Vaporware (Grrrr....)

The "10 second attack, sit up, bail out". I love it when people do that.

Attacking the group ride after they waited for you when you were dropped on the last climb.

IHOP marketing itself as a steakhouse.

***

"SUCK IT!!!!" by Johan Bruyneel

Johan Bruyneels' new book hits the shevles tomorrow. Entitled "We Might As Well Win", it could have easily been titled "Punks Jump Up To Be Beat Down: My riders can kick your riders asses".

I'm looking forward to reading it. Full review coming soon.

photo (below) by Edward Falsken

Will the Real Champ Please Stand

Alberto Contador is the real deal!!! He withstood attacks from Danilo Di Luca and Ric "The Dick" Ricco to win the 2008 Giro. What a GREAT RACE!! One of the best races I've seen in a long time.

I have to say, I'm becoming a Contador fan. His vitory in the 2007 edition of Paris Nice was masterful. And now, with his victory in the Giro after a late call up from the organizers proved his class (and the class of Squadra Astana).