Chapeau to Cadel Evans for finally making it onto the top step of the podium in Paris. He was not spectacular, but he was as strong as an onion-and-horseradish sandwich in a very tough Tour, and when it got down to the leg-breaking he was serving up pain by the plateful.
Things got a bit hectic around here the past few days. I made a quick trip to Boulder on Friday to say adieu to Ben Delaney, who stepped down as editor in chief of VeloNews. Then yesterday it was back to the VeloBarrel for the time trial that saw Cuddles clock the Schleck sisters.
And finally Herself decided that Chez Dog required an actual dog, so we paid a visit to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, where she volunteers a couple days a week, and bailed out a 6-year-old Japanese Chin she’d had her eye on.
The shelter people were calling him Sweetpea, and I was calling him Motherfucker when he woke us up at 4 a.m. today, but at the moment he remains nameless, though I’m leaning casually toward Buddy — an anglicization of Budai, the laughing Buddha — because the Japanese Chin appears to be smiling all the time.
When they’re awake, anyway. I think I’ll sneak back into the kitchen and wake the sonofabitch up, see if he’s grinning when I give him a taste of the old cowbell.
Mad Blog Media 
You fool no one with your pretense of surliness. ツ Good boy!
We are not amused.
Ouch!
The Schecks tried to give Cadel a reason to cry, and made sure of it by making sure the Aussie anthem was played today. They both need to add a bit of muscle if they plan to be on the top step. Cadel and Contador look ready to have a fist fight with their rivals, while Frank and Andy look more like a pillow fight may break out. Man’s game, bitches!
Boz, you got that right. There was much manliness on display in this Tour, one of the finest I’ve ever seen, but very little of it came from the Schleck sisters. Bobblehead Andy must give his physio fits as he tries to correct the crick in his pencil-neck caused by constantly swiveling around in search of Christ knows what. And Fränk brought shameless wheelsucking to new lows. Even Leipheimer was looking at him like, “Dude, do you ever take a pull?”
When Andy headed up the road on that long solo break, I’m surprised the bunch didn’t tell Frank to join him, so they didn’t have to listen to any Schleck whining for a few hours. I’m surprised El Pistolaro didn’t throw a back fist to one oft as he did to the clown running along side him day. Good theater.
Corky Laing ‘sez: More Cowbell!!!
Cute pup.
A dog? Were Mia and the Turk not consulted on this? Oh, the humiliation. Who’s opening the can of whoop-ass in that household soon? My money is on Mia.
As for a name, well, the photo of the dog looks like he’s got a massive forehead and low eyebrows, and it reminds me of Simon Bar Sinister from Underdog. So how about Simon?
Mia and Turk’ are appalled at this coup against the Feline Socialist Republic (motto: “What’s Ours Is Ours and What’s Yours Is Ours.” But so far there has been only low grumbling rather than outright counter-revolution.
Right now Buddy is asleep under my desk and the Turk’ occupies the high moral ground atop my drawing board. Mia has retreated to her alpine hideaway (the top of the refrigerator).
I’ve got a cat that has some unusual ways of waking me up at night (does he really think my toes look like mice?), but manages to sleep soundly ALL DAY, regardless of how much I try to disturb him.
All I can say is “more cowbell!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4royOLtvmQ
Hmmm…a pup. Will be interesting to watch the group dynamic in coming weeks among the staff and the guests at la casa..
As far as Andy…is interesting among the people I ride with…the younger the rider, the more they like Andy, the older ones just the complete opposite. Next year will be interesting for sure if Contador is back. I wonder if Andy’s build will be difficult to overcome in time trial. Maybe he should seek out Miguel Indurain for some assistance.
Sharon, it’s definitely an exercise in pet management. Both of us have some travel days this week, but happily they are not the same days, so at least one of us will be around to referee.
As regards the young fans of Andy Schleck, one can only hope that age brings wisdom. I’d love to hear what Bernard Hinault has to say about him when the mic’s potted down.
Lest you think me entirely without sympathy, I will note that I used to “race” time trials against Kent Bostick when I lived in New Mexico. He routinely flogged me by nearly 10 minutes on the 40km Moriarty course, which makes the Schlecks’ beatdown look like a kiss smack on the lips.
Leipheimer an hour down. Boy that sucks.
Yep, K, definitely not his Tour. Too bad Horner crashed out … I’d have enjoyed watching him race this one. He sure wouldn’t have had much help, though, eh?
Sweetpea/Buddy: Winning!!!
Doggie O’G and Cadel have never had it so good! Well-deserved.
A Dog in the Dag Haus? Congrats Patrick.
As for the TdF: thank goodness an English speaker won it this year! And I think that makes Cadel the first mountain bike pro to win a major road tour, right?
Been a while since you folks had a dog (Fuerte?). I take it there is still a truce between the hounds and the cats?
Someone needs to send the Schleck bros some weight sets. They just don’t look like they have enough all around strength (e.g., Hinault, Indurain, Armstrong, etc). Admittedly standing on the podium in Paris, even in 2nd and 3rd, speaks for itself, but some power is needed to blast through a time trial. Or, they need to administer a bigger can of whupass to the competition in the mountains. I suspect they will make a good run at it again next summer. Good TdF, all in all, except for the first half demolition derbies.
Le Beeg Shew redeemed itself in the final week after two weeks of little more than crashes and whines from the Schlecks. Evans may not attack with a lot of excitement going uphill, but he put it to his rivals a few times going downhill, which to me is just as (more?)exciting to watch. Not only is he a complete rider (does well going up, down and against the clock) the man can RIDE a bike! Slick surface, dodgy (or no) pavement, twisty descent, none of it fazes him. The Schlecks are hopeless unless LeTour takes out everything but uphill racing or all the real bike racers suddenly retire.
Delaney out of VN? Please tell me this is not another Washington DC type deal where the former “journalist” takes a high-paying job shilling for one of their advertisers. I’m still peeved at the guy for describing European cycling vacations as an extravagant luxury while at the same time promoting the sale of $10K plastic bicycles to those who already have a perfectly good, $9K bike!
Did Delaney say that? With such rhetoric, maybe he should get a job at Buycycling magazine. A ten K plastic bike isn’t a luxury–its a travesty. Spend 7-8k in Europe and that gets you Europe–and can be done on a 2-3 k bike quite nicely.
I spent a week and a half in Holland and England riding a 1970’s Motobecane Mirage with a huge set of upgrade: alloy wheels and an “ultra-six” 13-30t cogset I calculated to do the trip! Had a hell of a lot of fun in the process, including latching on to the hind end of a Dutch racing team while biking back from the Hook of Holland to Amsterdam with panniers (Bike Nashbar) on a cheap aluminum commuter rack.
A nicer bike might have been fun, but the trip’s primary joy was the trip, not the cost of the bike (my grad school commuter).
A few years ago, I picked up a Mirage at a yard sale for ten bucks. A thorough clean, lube, a new chain, seat, and brake pads was all it needed. It was a great light touring/around town bike. I think it was made of magnesium. Sold on e-bay for $165.00 a year later. I kind of wish I still had it.
Mine was the basic Motobecane Mirage. I think it was a 1978 model I got on sale. Mild steel frame and fork with steel “we don’t stop when its raining out” wheels. The Super Mirage that year had alloy hoops. Nice upgrade; a friend of mine in the department got one of the Supers at about the same time.
That was the bike I crashed into the Volkswagen the day I got my brain scrambled. It was one week old. The fork was bent and front wheel tacoed so the insurance company put a new aluminum fork on it from a higher priced bike and a new front wheel. That bike lasted me till about 1990, when I found a cherry Univega Speciallisima in the back of someone’s garage and sold the Motobecane to an undergrad at the U of Hawaii. By then I had ridden the paint off of it.
Yes Khal, this BS appeared in his column in VN awhile back. Understandable in a way since bike tour companies don’t often pony up for full-page ads, but just the typical idea that spending money for an experience is an extravagance vs buying another new bicycle, frosted me pretty well.
Someone once wrote, “when you look back upon your life, will you remember the things you DID or the things you bought?” Sadly for so many, especially ‘Muricans, it seems that shopping for more useless crap is a higher priority. I wasn’t the one who coined the “VeloNews – The Journal of Competitive Shopping” moniker, but too often it seems to be the case these days.
How quickly we seem to have forgoten that Andy WON the Tour last year…Good for Evans, now they oth have one, can’t wait for next year.
Huh? Only if Alberto Clenbutador gets his yellow jersey pulled. Or did I miss something?
Why this new banner?
Hey, Libby … beats me what happened there. My custom banner vanished and the site reverted to the stock version. I reloaded the graphic and all seems well for now, though I’ve noticed some other unwelcome changes. I think WP must have inflicted another “upgrade” upon us.
Lost two dogs in the last six months, and instead of jumping back on the horse, i gotta take some time so i don’t feel like i’m replacing something irreplaceable.
Where’s Ben off to?
Steve, unlike the usual suspects in politics and business, Ben really did quit to spend more time with his family. No job — not for now anyway — and his wife has apparently scored a promotion that makes a single income, augmented by free-lancing, doable in the short term.
My unofficial take on things was that he was spending more time on the road and in the office than with the kids and it no longer added up on the plus side for him.
Good on him. I’ll look for him at the playground.