Thursday

Communication from Europe has improved. Sounds like a good trip so far. Now Berlin.

We had big rain early yesterday morning and the local creeks were all out of their banks. 3-5 inches throughout the area. Enough to kick my sump pump into frequent operation. But most of the holiday festivities went on with only minor problems. Lots of standing water in low places.

The TdF starts in London on Saturday. The first day of all the Grand Tours is a "Prologue", which is usually a fairly short, less than 10k, individual time trial. Saturday's is just short of 8k and ends at Buckingham Palace. The winner of that race wears the yellow jersey when the race starts the next day. The lead is usually just a couple of seconds, but the way the Tour works in the first week, that few second lead will often stand up for several stages.

The big news on the Tour this year is doping, doping, doping. I was in a conversation with someone today about why this seems to be such a big problem for cycling, and I think that much of it is the lack of centralized authority in the sport. The organizers of the three major Tours, Italy, France and Spain, are always at odds with the relatively newly organized Pro Tour people, and the cyclists themselves have their own union. Add in the provincialism that exists between countries and there are lots of moving parts looking for positions of authority.

I want to say that pro teams in the USA in say, the NBA or NASCAR, have the teams firmly under control, and they certainly have strong enforcement policies. But you have that cheatn' thing in NASCAR.

Europe also has cycling media vultures which don't really exist to the same degree in the US because pro cycling is a non-event here. Since cycling is so important in Europe (like soccer), there is a lot more interest in digging the dirt on the riders. It sells papers.

Speaking of sports media vultures, I have noticed this week that the mid-week falling of the 4th has caused numerous substitutions for the regular show hosts on ESPN and FSN radio. What is shocking to me is that these substitute hosts are so bad that they make the schleps for whom they are pinch-hitting look legitimate. Boy, is that tough to swallow.

Even Craig Wilson gets the week off? I mean, USA Today isn't published on the 4th, and he wasn't in today's paper. Maybe he hadn't had the chance to read my earlier stuff to author a piece this week.

My ride yesterday was too long. 41 miles. I had intended to do 25-30, but got caught by a detour on Utica Ridge, and my choice around the detour wasn't too bright. It was hot and windy, and not much fun.

The choice of wine for the wedding is a work in progress. I need to have another chat with the caterer. One of the whites (the pinot grigio) is ok, but the chardonnay failed the taste test. More on this tomorrow. The great part of buying wine at a restaurant is that you get to pay about three times the price that the same exact bottle costs at Hy Vee. Pretty soon, you'll have people selling bottled water.

Bill and Hillary were in Iowa campaigning for four days. Somehow, I missed them.

Have a great evening. (Or "day", depending on when you might be reading this!)

Be careful out there.