We have a winner!

Yes, the TdF competition was close and if Astana didn't get booted things may have been different...

But the winner of his choice of brewha is the Ute Rider, Forrest tied him, but due to rule trois, Ute wins because he entered first... (that rule trois will get ya everytime man) good job to all... Note it was so close that if Cadel and Levi would have had a few more seconds in the TT then Polka-dot would have taken it all, with Cadel 1st and Levi 2nd...

Ute-dude reply back, and we will make arrangements. Congrat's.

Hornet.

He's a Basque-Man!

How can't you be in command of a race when your name is Contador, Con-ta-DOR! Accent on the last syl-able...it just rolls off the tongue...Gee Sally is that Con-ta-DOR! Yes, Buffy it is, and he is so dreamy!...

CON-TA-DOR!!! You can use it in a manner of speech now, for example- I just Contadored that a serious hors category climb Kip! No way Chip, that's wicked awesome!

Do your self a favor be a Con-ta-Dor man, or for you femme fatals out there, be a Con-ta-dor-ess on your next climb up your favorite mountain pass...

"He thought the sun just came out!"

Phil is the bomb! When Rassmussen passed Valverde in the ITT that is what he said... I fell of my chair laughing...he was so animated about it. Really I think Valverde was probably thinking something much darker at the moment... Then he went right into another ad for Extreme Cage Fighting (for you Forrest)... I think I even heard Paul choke on the olive from his beverage of choice...

I agree with the Art-man, Trautwig has to go... Especially after he made the following comment prior to the stage Z-man had to leave due to his knee prob's... "and look at Zabriske, he is way, way back at 1:49..." Oh yeah, Troutschmeg get some info first you putz! Then you might want to invest in a good read regarding team tactics and tour history... or one short call to T-Mac should fill you in...my mother doesn't know squat about the TdF, I bet if you gave her a month to study up and research it, she'd kick Trout's ...! Any day, any where! That is a Rant!!! And I am now a card holding Rantmastaflash! Now I need a beverage! Where's MY beverage!!!
Don't mess with Z, T...

Raise one for Columbia!

Tuesday's TdF climbing stage was pretty cool. First of all I reviewed it plenty of times on the TiVo in slo-mo, then in partial mo', so I definately saw more than the average TV sloth...

Here are the hidden facts to as what happened. Mauricio Soler, who's real name is Mauricio Juan Javier Edgar Manuel Roberto Maria Rodriquez Martinez Jiminez Soler just took command during the last climb like a fat boy boxing out his little bro's for the last chocholate Dunkin Hole-he simply would not be denied. On replay I saw Juan Valdez hand him two shots of super espresso Columbian Dark java from the Bartoworld team car just prior to the attack, and one more in the final 10k. That pretty much did it. In fact he didn't drink or eat anything else...all day or after the race... If you look at the pre-tour stats he stood at 6'3" and weighed 188lbs, yesterday pre race he was only 147lbs... and by the end of the tour he will be 89lbs...

There is nothing like a dude from a B team taking it to the big's. He attacked, flew by the lead dudes then said "zelzebarez mi salsafritos" which is an old Columbian bike racing term (loose interpetation) "you guys ride bikes uphill like your riding a freekin' snell (Normism)... so I'm gonna take it to you, just a try to hold my flaming wheels my little friends!" He has max moxie!... I hope he does the same thing next week in the mountains... can he TT better than Rass-ma-tazz... who know's, with the right java?...

Le Tour

I think that we may have a clean (er) tour. These guys look like they are suffering, the attacks on Stage 8 could not break up the chase group...and Rass-man "The Skeletor" just kinda rode people off of his wheel... That guy's so skinny he makes me look like Arnold...

How 'bout the Ziggy Stardust circa '75 lookin dude from Germany that took stage 7, he got the stage, the Yellow, the Polka-dot, the White (wimp didn't get the green!). Anyway he was foaming at the mouth, and had to be lifted from his bike by two bier drinking guys with forearms the size of my girlfriend's (believe me they are really big under all that hair)...then he keeps on apologizing to the French head's of state... that was pretty refreshing to see that dude take it.

To bad for all the crash victims... man you got guys getting launched over guardrails, having Muesetts stuck in their sphincters and just falling off their bikes going 8mph up hill... wha???

Then you have "Iron- man" bandaged up to his forehead hanging in... its probably because Borat was cheering him on... if anyone wears the Borat outfit to any race, thats good for a six pack from yours truely... by the way the winner of the TdeF competition might only have one or two of the top riders the way it is going... my bet is on Wayne Cottrell. By the way what ever happened to Wayne, I miss his training runs after the races... So Borat just shows up and Wayne suddenly is missing, hmmmm.

Pentucky!

Just got back from Seven Spring's and it was different in just about every way imaginable... and it kind of grew on me by the end.

Hills

First of all, when you arrive in Pittsburgh and drive in any direction, the roads simply go up and down. I mean UP and DOWN. I was in my car talking to my mom saying now I am at the top of the hill, 10secs, 20 secs 30 secs later... now I am at the bottom and so on...

The Road Course

This sucker went really up and really down to the max... and most of the hills have no flat at the trough or apex... and some are pretty damn steep. Anyway you start with a minor climb, you hit the only somewhat flat part for about 3/4 of a mile then a minor climb, then it goes down, then a steeper climb then it goes down hard, flattens a bit goes down harder, flattens less and goes down even steeper, then up and down, the you enter the loops which are all up and down so much I must have been hallucinating... and you go fast, really fast like a roller coaster... then back up the steep long rollers for a 4 mile climb... then fast through some condo areas and up, down fast and up to the finish... whew! And it was really humid and scoarching hot during the day.

The Race

The good news- the race seemed short for me... the bad news- the race was short for me... It started well, I got in the front row next to Jeff Sargent (who was 3rd last year and got on the podium with 5th again this year... back to him later). We had almost 150 guys sign up and it looked that way at the start. So, we went up the hill, Jeff and I stayed toward the front, then there were some surges that put us down to about 50th (they opened up the whole road which was pretty cool). Anyway we then had two climbs seperated by a downhill, the second climb was long enough to move up and get to the front. So that is what I did, went to the very front and some nice dude wanted 1st spot, so I sucked his wheel at numero dos. That was pretty cool, considering we then had to descend fast, for the next 4 plus miles... with 150 other dudes...some heavier dudes passed me, and man could you smell brakes- it was wild. Anyway the rollers came, I tried to stay within 10 people of Jeff at all times (who was always at the very front and even went for a short dig with two other guys -Jeff is strong). Anyway, had a lot of fun sucking wheels and conserving energy, there was one serious hill per lap (4laps) and the guys hit it pretty hard, but it wasn't bad. To make a long story short, I was having fun, felt really good, was way relaxed and looking forward to the last climb when... the next thing you know, I was a dirt seeking missle. I didn't crash, but I was then off the pack a ways and had to try to catch the group (down to about 60) up the damn hill, down some fast hills, around the chase cars for about 5 miles, almost there, almost there- POP! Game over! Play again next year.

The post race thoughts

Ah, not happy somes it up. But I will say this, the local road racing definately prepares you for the Nationals and Coach Hardwood really had me peeking at the right time. So, I guess I could take that away. And once again big up's to Jeff. He worked hard up front, did his pulls, was willing to attack and still drilled the podium spot. I know 'cause I always had an eye on him (at least for 3 laps)...

Other Results

I didn't see everyone or all of the races (apologies to those) but I did see... in the M45's Rob Westerman tuff it out with his reconstructed leg coming in the top 1/2 of the field, and my roomate Tony "the Italian" Chesrow who crashed on the first of 4 laps and taco'ed his wheel (please don't stay in room 221 at the Super 8- it causes vertigo, obviously). So what does The Italian do, he figures aw-ight I'm last and I need a cold one ASAP- he drills it for 3 laps then starts catching people on the climb and ends up 59th... he stormed on the down hills and his back wheel was toast. Italian's seem to be short on smarts but long on guts!

W40+ Jill Wilkerson Smith saw the podium for the TT and was tenth in the road race which was pretty fractured by the end and newbie Lori Fransden got 9th, she was a cat 5 at the start of the season...got to fly back with her, she's got it together...

W45+ Kris Walker took off on an attack and was in 2nd ascending the climb to the finish when Ellen Guthrie caught on and pulled the group up the entire climb while wearing a big smile that never seemed to leave. Anyway they finished 3rd and 4th and had enough energy to set up the Italian with several of their single friends, which brought a smile to his face also.

I left before Dirk went off, but he was wearing his socks high so it must have been a good day... he's down to only 4-5 hours a day of training for the worlds... then he'll up it to 6-7 hours a day for the intergalactics...and Mr Ken Louder had to have been there and must have done well, I did not see him?

Mark Schaeffer and Louie Amelburu had some technical difficulties in the TT and came in second...barely... they were not happy, I mean they were really not happy esp. Las Vegas Louie... so what do they do, they train like mad men for the road race, break three chains and the crank bolt on the tandem... Mark tells me "the goal is to go hard enough to win, but soft enough to not break the bike." Man! So, Louie says the hell with that, duct tapes the bike then loses a lung while putting out power like Thor and spinnin like DJ mastablasta... they win... Mark is so thrashed he can barely make it up to the podium... I really like those dudes, a lot, great job! Oh, and they hit over 70mph descending while Las Vegas closes his eyes "I just don't want to know at that point" fortunately he's in the back.

The goods

J.R. Smith was defending his turf from some gang banger at the feed zone when the crip said "don't play in my sandbox"... Crippy then body slammed a stunned J.R. and punched him in the kisser and beak a few times. It looked like J.R. went a round with Iron Mike ...So watch out! Those feed zones are pretty tough in the land of the Ohio Valley...

Package Stores

In the PA, they have package stores (liquor) stores everywhere... I mean there could be 8 people living in the township yet have 3 packies... one was a drive through, that was wide and high enough that your local truckers with the semi's could mosy through.

Toll Booths

The Italian really doesn't like toll booths, he feels that they are un-American. He avoided them at all costs and found dirt roads to get to the venues... oh, he drove across country to the nat's, I think he went via Mexico to avoid all but one... and at that one, he found out they don't accept credit or debit cards... so he was sent to a local hotel to get cash... he was pretty happy about it...

Hot Mama's

Lotsa the lady riders were rightous! One inparticular was way rightous for my tastes. Then I saw her line up for the 60+ group, holy cow! After the race one of the grandma's she raced with got on the podium also, I think it was her mother... she had one tooth... now come on, get the kisser fixed first, then buy the $8,000 Colnago with the Zipp 404 carbons! The Italian said she must have taken her dentures out before the race to conserve weight, if that is the case, way to go, but come on put 'em back in for the podium photo's!

Southwest and the kiosk

I'm the only one at Southwest at 6:30Am in Pittsburgh Inter... I have the bike in a roller carrier, a suitcase that has a bunch of tools, and bike stuff and a backpack filled with food, zig zagging toward the ticket counter...There are three ladies in two areas doing.... nothing... except for telling me that they can't help me, and that I have to ticket myself at the kiosk... I look around still not another soul around... now the kiosk and self serve is fine with me if the peloton arrives all at once but.... come on already...get off the keister and put the fingers to the keyboard ladies, I kinda have my hands tied up right now... ya think!

That's it for now, I have a lot more stories in person... so just ask... overall I think it was a 9 on the enjoyment scale and a 13 on the bizarre scale... and one more thing... you can buy mush for breakfast, wha? Name it something other than mush, I think the marketing could be better...mush?!? Come over to the Nest I'll make you some mush... for free... I won't charge ya, I mean it is mush, tastless, soupy, luke warm and all...

***UCI to adopt new categories within pro ranks.

After reading Sly and Art O's respective blogs, I have come up with a new rating system within the UCI based on how much doping each athlete partakes in. There are 5 Categories and each athlete may enter any race. But depending on the race, there will always be handicaps (like golf) where the highest category dopers- Cat A's may start, for example, 45 min's after the Cat E's, but only 15 min's after the Cat B's. So with no further a-due, here is how a mountain stage in the Vuelta could look like next year, with Phil, Paul and Bob commentating...Oh but first...

To set the new UCI rules up- first a little breakdown of how it works.

Cat A- unlimited doping before, during and after the race, anything goes.
Cat B- some constistant doping, but these aren't the fastest guys, so why invest.
Cat C- little doping, these are the has been's or never been's, so they get the left over, outdated stuff.
Cat D- No doping, new guys who are being evaluated for potential, either won't ever dope (Saints) , OR probably will eventually dope (Sinners), these guys can be tested up to 12 times per day at anytime!
Cat E- Don't even know that there are dopers , very new to the sport.
Cat X- Experimental- riders may have placebo's or product's that have only been tested on, or from, animals or plants. Cat X will ride with the A's

So, before we go to the action on today's 156 km mountain stage of the Veulta- here are the handicaps. Cat E's will start 1hr and 20 minutes in front of the A's, Cat D's- 1hr 10. Cat C's-45 minutes, Cat B's-22.5 min's. Cat F's will then start with the A's.

One really ironic thing today every racer in each category actually has a last name starting with the same letter as his category. Hence, Aki is Cat A, and Earkle is Cat E.

... now to the commentary with Phil, Paul and Bob.

Phil (ph)- ok we are ready to start... today we have only 3 racers in category E... they are J. Earkle representing Greenland, L. Eumba from East Cameroon and R.
Estovk from Bosnia who seems pretty calm not even on his bike yet...

BANG! (the starters gun)

Paul (pl) and they're off, holy Jesus! Estovk is flooring it, I have never seen someone take off like that from the gun... Bob (b) do ya think he knows it's 100 miles. I think this might be his first race, let's look it up. (ph) look, Estovk is not even clipped in, he looks terrified... pan in closer... he isn't clipped in, but he looks scared... what's up with this guy? (b) well it says he grew up in a war zone, no TV... poor family... (pl) that's gotta be it, all the Cat E riders generally are from poorer countries with no TV's, or else they might have a clue regarding the "juice thing." (ph) yeah I think he might have a PTSD problem, the guy is flying... (b) how 'bout Earkle and Eumba right on his wheel...if these guys can keep the pace...

10 mins later...

(ph) the Cat D's are 28 strong and ready to start, we have the no-doping division here... and Dorn, Dunff, Deede and Doneti who are the UCI division Cat D leaders to date... and they are off. (b) this pace is a bit better off of the gun, these are savvy and clean riders... I like these guys... (pl) hey... back to the E's, my man Estovk is still pounding at about 130rpms, he has some serious leg speed!... in 20 minutes they have already covered 18km in hilly and hot terrain... that's averaging over 30mph. (b) but Eumba and Earkle are struggling to stay on, pedalin' some serious squares... I think there dyin' out... I have no idea why they are trying to stay with Estovk who is obviously been spooked by the starters gun...(ph)probably because these guys have no clue...(pl) certainly looks that way, but it is rather interesting to watch...

45 mins later...Start of the C's- (p) this is an entertaining group, you never know who is going to get the good stuff today. (b) yeah sometimes it's outdated or junk or whatever scraps these guys can find to hopefully increase there performance...
(pl) with that, there are NO consistant leaders, recently though, the Italian's Creti and Cressendo are looking good, and how about Cartez from Spain and Canzeldez from Colombia, I really think each of these guys has found a good source...and they are off... (ph) back to the D's- Dorn is leading the pack and they just passed Earkle and Eumba like they were standing still, those Cat E's are going to have a long day in the saddle... (b) but how 'bout Estovk, he is still screaming... we have him extending his margin over the D's (pl) he is riding like a man posessed!.. and he still hasn't clipped in... reminds me of a young man who went by the initals of E.M...

1hr and 20 minutes later... (ph) looks like we missed the start of the B flight but we now have the heavy hitters... the Cat A's... (pl) we have really seen some fantastic riding from these super dopers! (b) yeah that Alpe D'Huez TT stage where the Chinese rider A. Auuan just crushed it in 34 minutes, beating Lance's best by 5 minutes...(pl) that's just simply a commitment to excellence from the Chinese, these rising stars have powerful goverment backing, not only getting the riders the most potent stuff, but to dose it spot on when they need it...(ph) yeah and you can't forget the resurgence of the East German's with Audmilsch and Aurlicht, as well as the super strong Soviet team represented by none other than a Mr. H. Aupslkv...(b) wha? East Germany? since when... (pl) since doping came back... it's now 43% of the countries GDP... (b) wow! (pl) and don't forget the X'ers esp. Xavier and Xene we have the special scoop on these guys, we know what they are on... and they are off...

15 minutes later- Estovk is at km 96 in one hour and 35 min's, we have been told that this is the fastest split time ever in this stage, at that point...

(pl)The Cat A's are just flying... they are already only a few minutes behind the B's...and hold on, there is a crash...there is a pile up...(b) no it's a brawl... Audmilsch, Aurlicht and about 10 other's are pummeling Earkle and Eumba... blood is everywhere... (ph) that's a nasty side effect of the stimulents and steroids mixed together... Earkle and Eumba must have gotten in the way or slowed the peleton down a bit too much...(b) yeah Phil, road rage to the max... we sure have seen a lot of that this year... but I think the fans really liked it during the Giro... then again only nine guys finished...

10 minutes later... Estovk at km 99 decending fast....(ph) hold it, look he has a flat... and in the Cat E's, they have no wheel car's... (pl) he must be going 95km/hr on his rims, sparks are flying everywhere... (b) he's still not clipped in... he just flew off the road, I hope he's ok...that looked nasty...

22 minutes later... (ph) the A's are back at pace and have passed the B's, only one B remains in with the A's, it's number 341, Keith Best the American from Wyoming... he looks good...(b) the rest of the B's are not looking good at all, at this point in the season, it appears as if the big teams are putting all of their doping money on the big boy's and nothing is left for the B's.

(pl) It looks like the D's are in a group 10 minutes behind the A's, and 5 minutes behind the B's. But Dorn is still pulling the group, I think he has pulled the whole time...(b) he is tough!

(ph) let's talk about the X's for a minute. The teams were nice enough to give us some insight as to what they are on... Xavier doesn't know it, but he has been injected with Northern Atlantic fish isotopes... the Argian Fish, these fish can live out of water for 3 hours at a time, they actually mate with Ferrets to produce the unique Gymnate Aqua Bats of Prince Edward Island... (b) no kidding! (ph) so the hope is that the injection will not only increase his VO2 max by almost a whooping 100%, but also his skin will become oily and repel water and heat... but the side effects are nasty... hallucinations and a sardine scent (b) that can't be good... (ph) and Xene is taking an oral supplement from the root of a Zbwee tree, found only in the Uganda hills, that is supposed to make someone so alert mentally, that he can overcome physical demands like a hard bike race, day after day... no side effects to note so far.

(pl) Oh, they have stopped the D's, they are all getting drug tested by WADA... this is not good, it has just killed the D's results all year, sometimes getting tested 3 times in a race. (ph) but look at the savvy Dorn, he is having a well placed natural break at the same time... and getting some fluids on board...(ph) he is the consumate professional always multi tasking!

25 minutes later-(pl) still haven't seen Estovk, no there he is... he is back on his bike and apparently he has used tree leaves in his tires, and fastended them with small bush roots... this guy just wont quit (b) he still looks terrified...

(ph) Dorn has gone!... he is TTing at a blistering pace, what lovely form... he has separated from the D's and has passed some of the C's... and Best is attacking the B's solo too, what a race!...(b) I think Best, the American is going to catch the A's, and that Dorn is something special, clean and everything... looks like Estovk is with the A's now at km 101... it is all hard climbs for the next 55km, and some of these hit 22%... hold it, another crash, 25 people are down... (pl) no Bob it looks like Xavier, the fish man is in a brawl with three Russians A riders, and Estovk... let's get some audio with our man Davis Phinney, who is at the action, (dp)-Estovk and Aupslev the Russian are pounding on Xavier who is crying, no...its an oily substance coming out of his eyes... he really smells... I think they can't stand it anymore, these three will be kicked out of the race on this one, esp. with the red flag being flown with the earlier fight... yeah the officals are handcuffing them, they are DQ'ed... too bad, that Estovk was a stud and I wanted to see what Xavier co... hold it! Xavier has slithered out of the cuffs he is off chasing the group... a renegade rider, his placing will not count but it is kind of interesting...hold it Estovk just body slammed the paddy, he's back on too... wow!

15kms later, (ph) Dorn who caught the group is now off the front with a two minute lead... for a clean guy...he is really digging deep into the closet of courage with this one...oh no, another drug test! They have stopped him, he is mad this time... they are flying his sample to a lab in a copter... this can't be good, and he is off again, that was quick, and he still has a minute lead!...(b) hold on Xavier has attacked of the front also, the peleton seems to be slowing...his VO2 max must be really kicking in... that experimental stuff is probably good to go.... and the Chinese are now attacking, all of them pacing Auaan, and here comes the Chinese team car, they are hooking an IV into Auaan's left arm... trying desperately to get more electrolytes in him... (b) that is legal...but he can't hold onto the car when doing so... in fact the Chinese have perfected this using doctors who are also former olympic gymnasts to inject on the fly.. mad skills...

5 kms later (pl) they are placing another IV in Auaan's arm... hope it doesn't get caught in his spokes... (ph) there goes Best the yank, hard off of the back of the Chinese pace line, he doesn't see Auaan's IV... man it is tangled between both of them, Auaan went down hard... his teammates are beside themselves trying to untangle him... (b) the East German Audmilsch is down, it looks like a heart attack, they are placing electrical pads on him...this happened at the Tour de Swiss, and he ended up winning... third shocks a charm, he's back on the bike... they will give him a morphine drip then steady slow doses of amphetamines to get him back to speed... pretty standard these days...should not pose a problem (pl) Estovk is down!...looks like he is spent, being an E.. his day is done...what a true sportsman in every sense, too bad he is an E. The Russians are back, but the team doctors are giving them plenty of little helpers...

(ph) another A, the Spanish rider Adzolez is really bad off, green stuff is coming out of his ears... that's got to be a bad reaction...the coaches are kicking him to no avail, yelling venga, venga, venga... Adzolez' day is over...(b) Xene is back, he just took Adzolez' bike!... remember he is the one on he root toddy to keep him alert, it looks good for him now, with only Xavier, Dorn and Best in front, and the peleton not within whiff range of Xavier...(pl) look at the Heli, it's back, a gent is hanging from a rope...yelling "you're out doper!" at Dorn... Dorn keeps on going... they just threw a net spot on... got him...they are pulling Dorn and his bike high in the air...and out of sight into the mountains... that is the first time a tested clean rider has had a positive test all season, mark him BS for Big Sinner, he's out...what a scandal for Dorn the WADA is not going to be kind to him...being that he is an anti-doper poser and all...

(pl) 5 kms to go and it is steep. Best is leading Xavier with Xene the alert one 7 seconds behind....hold it, Xene is taking the steepest part of the switch back into the wind... (b) smart move from a cagy rider to get out of the scent stream of Xavier... (pl) Xene passed Xavier, hold it, he is saying something to Xavier... audio please "hey it's just a bad trip man" "look at the pretty color" "is it fire" ... and Xene just took a red powder packet out of his pocket... and threw it in the air in front of Xavier... (b) Xavier is going crazy... I think he is getting that bad hallucinogenic side effect from his test drug, he turned around!... Xavier just turned around with 2k to go!... and I think he is singing old Beatles hits... man o' man!.. (ph) man that Xene is really alert and riding sharp, he really is focused ... and now he's taken over the lead, who knew!... Best is sweating a lot now, and Xene just poached his water bottle and is drinking it... Best is unconsolable... with 1/2 km to go... it looks like Best will be second best on the day, Xene has taken it...(pl) first win for the Cat X's all year!... (b) what a race (pl) what a gem that's for sure with an X winning a stage for the first time this year and a Cat B placing second, the sun was shining on those two today... (ph)...whatever!

Post race interview with Best's Sportsbooky Team Director, Jimmy Sledgedriver- (ph) that was a great showing by Best, Sportsbooky's best finish by a rider this year. (js) yeah, I think now you are seeing that if we put our resources together, than we can compete with the best of the Chinese, Russian, and East German teams. Those countries really have doping down to a science... We really had some good stuff today, I am really proud of our doc's for coming up with a potent batch... we need to build on it to be competitive day in and out... just look at how Xene and Xavier came out of nowhere with completely inovative chemical enhancers... of course that smelly side effect really did it in for Xavier being used as a human punching bag... but its something that could be tweeked with for sure... (ph) aahh, yeah, um good to hear?!?

Happy 4th ery'one!

Tres Hombres get named -Scallen, McWin and Portimal

Went up to do the first stage of the Gate City Grinder. So here is a limited report on some narly racing during Stage Uno.

The masters 35+ field was small but cagey. The goal was to loosen up the field with a lot of attacks when the road went skyward. Broke off a couple guys and some others suffered a bit, but always made it back up after the planned digs. So that plan was scraped after a couple of laps. We then decided to do a dual whammy on lap 3, with Scott Allen going hard into the wind, after the short steepish hill, where I kept the pace high. Scallen went, and was able to hold off two splintered groups for about 4 miles while TTing with the wind. I had a great vantage point while tooling in the first chase group, watching everyone in both groups redline it to catch him. I told him "they suffered a lot, do it again on the last lap or forever hold your peace."

Here's where it gets good; on the last lap with 15 miles to go Scallen attacks on the flats, it takes them 5 miles to catch him. Then he attacks 4 miles down the road into the wind at the same point as last time, and once again I have a great vantage point from the chase group. The strong guys are yelling to the punch drunk ones to pull harder "come on we can catch him." To no avail. Scott held off 7 chasers the whole way. He simply had the cajones, willing to risk it all, to take over the race. So after giving appropriate congrat's, I did the proper teammate thing. I went down the street to Uncle Hank's farm and borrowed a wheelbarrow to help Scallen drag those bad boys he's slingin to his car for the next stage. How they didn't slow him down is a mystery that I'm not gonna try to solve.

Ok, all young-un's out there listen carefully on this one, very carefully. There are race smarts and then something much better, referred to as opportunity smarts. John "McWin" Mckone apparently has both. Here is the dealio- McWin and his lovely wife are having their first "little winna" soon. So John decides to race 45+ and then win's the stage (what's new) about 2 hours later. Here's where you "wet behind the ears" ones should pay close attention. No, not "I will race for 2 hours and win." That's good, but this is better. While John crosses the finish line he doesn't point upward with the number one's, or zip up his jersey and point to his sponsor, or beat his chest like a mad baboon, he doesn't do any of that stuff. He mimes holding a baby in a cradle position for the perfect photo-op for Mrs McWin to enjoy for years, AND he was planning on doing the TT stage, only to immediately after drive back home to (Park City- ETA 10:30PM) to be with her. Then re-drive three hours back early Sunday morning to complete stage trois. Way to make a big deposit in the FDIC insured Bank of Spouse, and perform the ultimate Carpe Diem at the GCG.

Up's to Gary Porter, now to be referred to as Portimal, cause the dude is part Porter, and part cycling animal- placed 6th overall in the GC at the Elkhorn Classic last week. Considering that there were some serious climbs, long stages, big competition, and the Portimal was fighting a serious ailment (so much that he couldn't tap the free keg post race) that is one hellava result. Then again, "Gary likes those long stages, since he only really starts getting warmed up at about 60 or 70 miles in."- Quote from Scallen, August 2006

Comment finis, Congrat's to Tete de la Course DH. He has been trying to win that stage for years and got it Saturday.

**Don't forget to place your top 5 TdF GC's (see the last blog) time is running out!