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Today There are Two Tours de France

Bruce Hildenbrand — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:22:33 GMT

There are two Tours de France today. While the pros are racing in Brittany, the joes are down in the Pyrenees. Yes, Sunday is the Etape du Tour a day where any rider has the opportunity to ride a stage of the Tour. This year's Etape stage is the day from Pau to Huatacam which included the infamous Col du Tourmalet.

8500 of your closest friends and you will be departing from the town where Bernaise sauce was invented at 7am and heading west for the Pyrenees. The top finisher, usually a top tier French amateur rider, is expected to complete the 106-mile stage in about 5hours and 30 minutes. The pros have an expected completion time of about 4 and 30 minutes.

However, everyone seems to realize the difference between the two events. The French amateur who was first across the line in 2005 remarked that he was very pleased to have won, but he was also expecting that the pros would better his time by at least an hour. They did.

But, like many sporting events. It is not the winning, but the taking part which defines the Etape du Tour. Riders of all shapes, sizes and age participate and except for the top places, it is almost impossible to predict how a cyclist will fare based just by looking at them. That observation applies most appropriately to the seeming hundred of older Frenchmen who come to the start line dressed in jerseys that come almost to their knees, bike shorts which are supposed to be form fitting lycra, but instead, look like baggy athletic shorts and bikes that were manufactured before there was even a Tour de France.

These guys could easily be called "urchins of the road" except for the fact that they pass just about everybody on the climbs and fly by you so fast on the downhills you think you just saw a ghost.

Though most riders seem to be struggling as they ride, it is a mountain stage of the Tour!, the pain, torture and agony(PTA) is soon forgotten and plans for riding next year's event are quickly hatched. Alejandro Valverde may be the king for a day up in Brittany, but he has 8500 kings and queens down in the Pyrenees who feel just as great about their Tour de France as well.

Bruce

Recapping Thor's Win, Tour Gossip and a Preview of Stage 3

Frankie Andreu — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:50:58 GMT

Listen in as Frankie Andreu recaps a windy Stage 2, wonders what the peloton is up to and praises the tactics of Thor Hushovd. Also, the scoop on a new post-Tour team for Gert Steegmans, George Hincapie's exclusive Oakley shades and Greg Lemond at the Tour. Plus, a preview of Stage 3.

The Tour Has Started

Frankie Andreu — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:13:13 GMT

A Tour like no other has started. What makes this Tour different is that it starts with a field that has no stand out favorite. In the past we have had riders that have won repeatedly, which would automatically mark them as a favorite, but this year is different. Many speak of Cadel Evans, who has cracked before in a three-week race, and some say is too inconsistent to be able to move to the top step of the podium. Others look for Alejandro Valverde to shine, but he has never even been on the podium at the TDF.

Carlos Sastre has shared the podium in Paris, and has had many top ten finishes in the Tour, but his age will count against him. The list goes on with riders that have many strengths but they also seem to have a few negatives which prevent them from getting a full blessing as the favorite to win.

For now the excitement comes from the field sprinters. The speed demons that are so aggressive it's dangerous to fight against them. They have dominated the first part of the race and it should be no surprise because every year between 1993 and 2007, except for 2002, the first stage of the Tour has always resulted in a bunch gallop for the line. Also changing from the Tour's traditional departure was the fact that this is the first year since 1966 where there is no prologue. To throw more change into the mix the Tour has eliminated the time bonuses in all of the intermediate and finish sprints.

All of this had no effect on Valverde, who showed an explosive uphill sprint that no one could match and put him in the Yellow Jersey one second ahead of a small group right behind him. This means that more than likely, unless he gets dropped which is unlikely, that he will keep the Yellow Jersey until the time trial (TT). It will be a miracle if he keeps it at the TT because that is his biggest weakness.

A couple of tech stuff. The new electronic Shimano gruppo is on many bikes here at the Tour. Also, the new mechanical Shimano (7900) looks awesome, with clean cut lines. It feels even better and everything about it is aggressive. Something I saw for the first time was Shimano electronic on Sebastian Lang's TT bike. Two little buttons are all he has to push to be able to shift--very aero and very cool.

Team Columbia also has a new TT bike. The top tube is flat and that goes into a flat stem. On the front is on oversized headset which is shaped like a fairing. The cables are internal but they actually come out underneath the front fork below the hidden brake. You actually can't turn that much, because of the tension of the cables, so it's lucky there are no 180's in the TT's.

Lastly, we saw the Liquigas bus filling up at a petrol station that we were at. Check out the price tag on one fill up (632 Euros). That will put a dent in the budget quick!

HELP!!!

tripro — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 02:38:06 GMT

i can't find any cycling events that are near Torrance CA (within 5 hours) and that are before August 5th.......does any body know a event?!

Rainy ramble on the rail trail - Dateline: Cape Cod

Chris Russell — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:53:41 GMT

Rainy ramble on the rail trail - Dateline: Cape Cod

How often do you find yourself saying "It's an easy week I only have to run for 3.5 hours." Welcome to Ultra training. So far I'm digging it. Lots of slow easy miles. Plenty of eating. All the good things in life.

Buddy the Wonder Dog and I ventured out for an easy 90 minute out and back on the Mid-Cape Rail Trail. It was as close to raining without actually raining as it can get. Nice and cool for July 5^th^, but still very humid and the dog wasn't digging it.

There were many random tourists on poorly fitted bicycles. Some looking as if this may be their once-a-year ride. There were a couple of girls on those pseudo-cross-country-ski things with the poles and everything. There were a half dozen runners and joggers.

Buddy and I parked at Thompson's conservation land on Rte. 39 in Harwich. This is a great little park to take your dog to. On any given day there will be 10-20 dogs being walked (off leash). It is a regular love boat for dogs.

Today we parked there because it has access to the rail trail spur. The Mid-Cape Rail Trail goes all the way from Dennis up to Providence Town - over 60 miles. The surface is of the parking-lot-asphalt variety. Not too hard. There is usually a strip of unpaved grass to one side for the dog to trot in.

The Trail itself skirts beaches, ponds, highways, state forests, state parks and cranberry bogs as it makes its way Up-Cape. The section I run from Harwich up to Brewster and Orleans is quite heavily traveled. Lots of families on bike outings. It crosses Rte 6 for the only major elevation gain. It also passes through the large fresh water ponds in Harwich.

Buddy had to stay on leash today because of the traffic. He doesn't like it. If I give him too much leash he'll inevitably make his way to the center of the path and end up running directly into oncoming traffic. I think it's because his breed originated in Scotland - where they run on the wrong side of the trail.

We do just fine on the rail trail. Most of the bikers are faster than us and we are faster than most of the runners. We don't get caught in traffic. We mind our own business.

Today we passed two women on the way out. Buddy doesn't like following. If we are close enough to another runner - Buddy will insist we throw in a fartlek to take them. One of the women was evidently a sophomore like my daughter. She had a shirt that said "Class of 2010" on the back. I thought "Huh - Class of ‘80" when I passed her.

It got warm enough that I ended up shucking my shirt and running in my "racing sweater". I'm old enough now to not care if I scare the locals with my Elephant Man good looking naked torso.

There are at least 5 porta-potties in the 5 or so miles I went out. That's outstanding port-potty density. There is also an ice cream stand and a general store.

On the way back I let Fur-Boy go for a swim in one of the ponds. It reenergized him. He came out of the water wanting to run some tempo. The dog has no pacing skills. We got tangled up racing a family of four on bicycles. I think Dad could have taken us and Mom would have been a tester, but we had the two little kids hands down and lost them on the up-hill over the highway with a little burst.

And so it goes. Another place, another run. Back to the burgers and chips. Tomorrow morning we'll see if we can get up early enough to sneak Buddy onto the real beach.

See you out there...

C-,

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy. Chris is the author of , short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack. Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at http://www.runnerati.com/. Chris' Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at http://www.runrunlive.com/. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners. ChrisRunner@runrunlive.com

Sentamentality Descending

MelanieWilson — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:59:00 GMT

Only two weeks until the race, that's two more group runs and a couple of days in Napa and it's ALL OVER! Ashley is already working on the next CCFA event, which is the San Antonio race. I could probably only afford such an undertaking in another ten years. I'm not hyper into asking people for cash. The fires up north are making the race look questionable. I think I might be a little childishly devastated if we didn't get to go. I doubt CCFA has a backup plan for that sort of thing. But I'm betting we'd still get the t-shirt. And really, isn't that what racing is all about? Having the proof for years to come that you were there? inDEED.

Next Saturday is our final training followed by a group/family/friend breakfast where all the information we'll need for the race will be disbursed. Gotta admit, I'm a little exciiiiited. There's a small chance Jon may be coming home this week and I'd get to drag him out of bed to meet everyone in Santa Monica. The whole group's been keeping him in their thoughts/prayers and they've never even met him. But I guess that's pretty common. I send out good vibes to the entire continent of Africa all the time. In truth I personally know very few Africans.

With DOUBLE luck Jon will be able to watch the race in Napa. I'm guessing there's slim chance in that but a girl can dream. In any case, his return this month looks pretty definite and though the money I have raised will not help pay his hospital bills, I do feel like I've contributed something. Even though I've been ruthlessly driving his car around the city for two months and I probably actually owe him a tune-up. Though at $4.60 a gallon I drive as seldom as physically possible in this stupid city. stupid stupid city. GO LA CHAPTER OF TEAM CHALLENGE OF CCFA! woooooo!

Valverde's Victory, Garmin's Swarming and the UCI is MIA

Frankie Andreu — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:14:37 GMT

Click below to hear Frankie Andreu's first stage report for Active.com. This podcast recaps Alejandro Valverde's uphill win, talks about the large presence of Garmin soigneurs and discusses how the absence of the UCI has impacted the race so far.

Taking a Look at the New Rides

Frankie Andreu — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:05:39 GMT

A day before Stage 1 starts in Brest, Frankie Andreu checks out the new electronic shifting that Gerolsteiner will be using, gets the story on Team Columbia's frantic change from Team High Road and discovers how one bike company decided to reward its employees.

And They're Off!

Bruce Hildenbrand — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:22:09 GMT

The headline in today's l'Equipe translates to "The Thunder of the Tour" which is a great way to describe all that accompanies the entourage that is the Tour de France. And we are finally underway in Brittany with a very hilly day from Brest to Plumelec. To steal a phrase from Phil Liggett, the course profile looks like a discarded piece of string. When the riders aren't going up, they are going down and they will do that for about 120 miles.

While the focus today is on the sprinters, the race for the yellow jersey is still the main focus. In my Tour preview I opined that Cadel Evans, Denis Menchov, Alejandro Valverde and Damiano Cunego are the favorites. Some like Andy Schleck, but this is his first Tour and at the ripe young age of 23 it might just be a learning year for the Luxembourger on Team CSC-Saxo Bank. There is the possibility that he will contend for the white, best young rider, jersey against the likes of Rabobanks' Robert Gesink who is a year younger than Andy at 22.

Another possibility is that neither Schleck or Gesink will finish the race. Some consider 22 and 23 years old to be too young both physically and mentally to race the Tour. Lance Armstrong first rode the Tour as a 22/23 year-old and was pulled, as planned, after the two mountain stages in the Alps about ten days into the race. The primary reason for pulling a rider isn't about the physical demands. It has more to do with the mental aspect and the strain it puts on a rider's confidence.

A potential Tour winner has to believe that he can someday win the race and to be overwhelmed at a young age could do damage to his psyche. So, young riders, especially those who are tipped to do well in the future are routinely pulled either after the first set of mountains or about ten days in.

Race notes....

The finish today in Plumelec was incredible and hopefully it bodes well for an exciting race. Stefan Schumacher's attack looked to be the winning move, but he picked up a couple of concrete suitcases and Kim Kirchen appeared to have taken everybody by surprise. But, in the end, nobody could match Alejandro Valverde. What is very cool is seeing potential overall contenders Cadel Evans, Kim Kirchen, Frank Schleck and Ricardo Ricco also in the Top 10 for the stage. They all outfoxed the sprinters and stole the show on day one. A great start for the Tour.

Bruce

Always Poop Before A Run

hellparadiso — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:20:52 GMT

So I went on my first-ever run today, not counting when I take a walk and decide to sprint to the next stop sign. My first real, live, in-the-flesh run. I'm going with the beginner's training program on coolrunning.com, which recommends a pace of 60 seconds of running followed by 90 seconds of brisk walking, for around 20 minutes.

I essentially got through four rounds of this before everything in my torso started hurting, so I walked the rest of the way. By the time I got home, I had gone for about 25 minutes, although I haven't figured the mileage yet. I feel pretty good about it though. It's certainly more than I've ever done.

Things I've Learned Today:
1. It's not as bad as I thought it would be.
2. Relaxing your hands helps A WHOLE FREAKING LOT.
3. Always poop BEFORE running.

Things I Need to Work On:
1. Relaxing my shoulders.
2. Rolling through my step.
3. Don't stop.
4. For God's sake, don't buy overpriced nasty-tasting "energy drinks" at the store during a run.