The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying the sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the first student, "You are a smart boy! When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over like I do."
The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path!" The teacher commended the second student, "Your eyes are open, and you see the world."
The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."
The fourth student replied, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all sentient beings." The teacher was pleased, and said to the fourth student, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."
The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher sat at the feet of the fifth student and said, "I am your student!"
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I was under the weather tonight so I decided to go for an easy ride. That meant driving to the north side of town to join Mary's C ride. It was my first time at this ride. The intent is to keep the pace nice and mellow.
That was (mostly) the case. We, about 20 riders, did an easy 22 miles. I stayed in the small ring and spun along. The only time this was a little difficult was when we picked the pace up in the last 2-3 miles and I had to spin my legs off to keep pace on downhills.
Pity Lampre's riders. The nine man team earned the equivalent of $6.50 an hour during Le Tour.
Of course, one could argue that given their results, they were overpaid during the last three weeks.
Not strictly cycling-related, but a little bit of a preview of what I'll see at Death Valley (link to my Ride page).
One of the beautiful things about a July beach vacation is the ability to rise late each morning and watch Le Tour live, cup of coffee in hand, while ignoring the family's pleas to get my butt off the sofa and get down to the ocean where I can get sunburned and stung by jellyfish.
This was my first year ever with cable tee-vee, so I had unprecedented personal access to what promised to be the greatest drug-free show on earth. And having sacrificed beach and bike (yeah, that thing sitting in the corner, unridden) time in order to see the Tour in excruciating detail, I feel the need to offer my own wrap-up.
First, in the category of biggest surprise of the Tour de France, the Chipotle burrito carnitas. Vandevelde's camera time, as he held his own in the Alps, brought my exposure to the Chipotle logo to some sort of critical mass, whereby I was driven into our local outlet which -- just coincidence? -- is adjacent to two bike shops. And the burritos are pretty darned good.
Biggest disappointment? I bet you're thinking Cunego in a landslide, but since I never gave him a chance to crack the top 10 in GC, his utterly forgettable performance was well within my expectations. Instead, I'm handing this one to Valverde, who never rose to the level that would justify the serious man-crush Phil and Paul have for him. Yeah, he won a stage, but when it really counted he faded badly.
The most dramatic moment was cyclist/alpinist John-Lee Augustyn's stage 16 header off an Alp, and subsequent epic climb back to the road, aided by an alert/insane fan. Dude finished in the top 25 overall? Good for him, because last I saw him he was standing on the side of the road, sans bike, looking like he was waiting for a bus to come by.
Biggest supporter of recreational doping? That would be Gert Steegmans, who got a break from leading out party boy/Tour pariah Tom Boonen, and won today's final stage in Paris.
Watching a time trial is, for me, like listening to a bowling tournament on the radio, so I'm a bit perplexed that I thought the stage 20 TT was the best day of the race. But watching the last hour while slowly realizing that Evans and Sastre weren't going to follow the script created some drama. Never mind that Schumaker proved that the stage win (and not just the GC implications) wasn't a foregone conclusion.
Following the Red, White and Blue Ride Stuart Larry David suggested that some weekend we might want to go have a look at Chinqua Penn. So Saturday that's what we did, starting at Christ Community Church on Air Harbor Rd. It's more or less a straight shot up to Reidsville, where Chinqua Penn sits, with mostly flat to gently rolling roads. In fact, we were rolling along so well that I was surprised when we flew right past Chinqua Penn. Up front, everyone seemed to have their heads down.
Once we got everyone turned around we stopped for a few minutes at the main house, sat in the shade and drank some water, then debated the best path back to Greensboro.
Ultimately we decided to return on Wentworth and Sandy Cross Rds, turn west on Bakers Crossing, and climb the long hill up to 65. After regrouping we made our way to Bethany, then turned back toward town on Witty. A few large rollers, then turns onto Spencer Dixon, Church, and Air Harbor, and we were home with a total of 51 miles at a not-too-shabby pace.
Sunday a few of us opted to skip the mid-afternoon sufferfest and meet for a ride starting in Summerfield at 6 PM. Our route took us along Bunch Rd. to Pleasant Ridge, Summerfield, Scalesville, Witty, Lake Brandt, Old Battleground, Horse Pen Creek, Carlson Dairy, Pleasant Ridge (again), Stanley Huff, and back to Bunch Rd. Altogether, about 22 miles. We rolled along at a pleasant pace (~18 mph average), and kept the paceline rotating. A really pleasant ride, particularly since the sun was dropping and our skin wasn't roasting. Much better than suffering the under a 3 PM sunlamp.
Pay attention beginning at the 0:10 mark. Ouch:
Last night: Crammed a series of paceline intervals into an hour. Three long, hard efforts of 2.5 miles apiece, between which we groaned, heaved, and tried not to throw up.
Big fun.
Let's set aside stories of doping, Pat "Is my dignity showing?" McQuaid's pouting like a spurned lover, and some pretty good racing, and focus on what's happening closer to home. In this case, Deadwood's home.
Tonight Scott, Stuart Larry David and I met at Deadwood's house in Reedy Fork for a 28 mile loop that took us east, west, east again, and back. Very little of the route is flat; most of the terrain is gently rolling so you're either pedaling downhill or trying to maintain momentum as you climb. The middle third features a lot of smaller whoop-de-dos that you can roll over without losing much speed.
Traffic was light and the weather not too hot, so it was a good night for a ride.
Tomorrow night we're gathering at Grandover Resort for a harder workout. Saturday's agenda features a ride to Chinqua Penn and back.
Beltran is in police custody. Think he went quietly? No way. Here's how I imagine it went down:
