Good Ol' July...

I'd lovvve to sit and reflect on cycling's tribulations and impending doom [actually, i'd loathe it], but whatev. I'm not. Predictions: Julich's winning the tour (he uses chainrings from the 80s and a camelback, he cannot lose). Brent's gonna edge out Cunego in the last TT and win the white jersey, and Boonen's gonna win sprints in yellow. The tiny glimmer of cycling fan left in me is really hoping that Zabel gets the Maillot Verde. All those second places are good for something, we hope. Maillot Pois: no one cares. As i'm sure you can tell, i'm not as excited for tomorrow as I had been, and am not looking forward to the inevitable gossip and the "EVERYONE IS DOPED" theorists that are going to have a field day with this whole bit. What's rule #1? Just ride your F-in bike. Pretty basic. Enough on this...if i'm feeling philosophical/bored in the future, I'll type up some words on the issue.

Bowl Action Thursday!

I skipped the warm up lap, and started with the group on the uphill side. I was feeling springy, so instead of drifting into the group to start, I attack. So solo to the corner, then back together. As i'm drifting back, I notice Gord Mccauley's (monex/successfulliving /something) out here. Swell, lets show him up! 200 meters later, I was at the front, and let a slight gap open up for a couple Amgen dudes. Gord chased. Then [as is the rule] I countered when we caught the break 30 seconds later. We're only half a lap in and it's this nuts!!! I'm off, alone, again. Came back: likely Gord's work. Lots of the same in the next few laps. And lots of calories incinerated. Not a good day for plain water in the bottles, I found. Eventually, I was at the front of a stretched out peleton, knackered, on the wheel of some guy just drilling it for no apparent reason. I Held on (just), and looked back to regretfully find that we had a nice gap. F. I tell the guy [honestly] "hey, I got nothing" but pulled through anyway, cause he had less than that. Of course this lame "move" sticks. Gord and old-school net zero guy (I think it was the ex-bodybuilder guy from Hard Road) bridge up, and the 4 of us rode a nice tempo to the end. We weren't keeping track of the laps (only Dave does that, it's much too complex at 180bpm), but it was past 7, and getting darker, so we decided to do a last lap. Gord attacked with 500m to go. I was gonna mark it, but was last in the paceline. Netzero went instead, but faded fast, and the gap stuck. Gord took it with me 5m behind. Eh. Turned out there was still a lap to go, but hey it wouldn't have made much difference. Awesome training session, no doubt. I wish guys like that would come out more often.


Tomorrow: Track: ADT Center. 3pm. Come out! Bike racing+Air Conditioning? What more can anyone ask for? I'm racing 4/5s again, 'cause i'm a jerk.

And....a monumental victory and redemption for me in last night's $80 NHL2k6 tourney. I was undefeated throughout, and ended up playing my brother, Ari, in the final. The final game was the closest, but the others were mostly blowouts. Scores were [in order]: 4-2, 4-1, 10-1, 11-2, and 5-4. I was far from classy, however, and will admit to being a huge jerk after winning, but these are extenuating circumstances...you cannot be timid. In any regard. Hey, kinda like cycling. And most of you will laugh...but the whole bike racing thing (the field-sprinting aspect, mainly) really transfers well to this type of application: I feel no pressure or nerves or jittery in these situations. Bike racing naturally teaches you to do away with these feelings, because you cannot race proper if you're the least bit pressured, nervous, or jittery, even while railing it through the gutter of some gnarly turn 200 meters from the line. The tournament winnings will pay for some MUCH needed new cleats, race fees for the weekend, and most likely, a couple burrits.