Bike Ride

This is the finish line of the 50 mile bike event. Glen heard that next year there will be a timed division. Then we can call it a bike "race".

Cindi can relax now that Glen has arrived safe and unscathed.

After 50 miles you get hungry. Beth and Steve are very relaxed. Viva Mexico.

LiveStrong

I noticed during the safety demonstration (you know when the flight attendant show off that delightful little mechanism of the seat belt so you will know how to insert one into the other and then lift here to release blah blah blah) on American Airlines this afternoon that the flight attendant was wearing a LIVESTRONG yellow wristband. So, I made sure that my yellow bracelet was showing outside my long sleeve shirt.

Carl gave this bracelet to me—I think he is the boyfriend of Bill Vickonoff’s stepdaughter—on Thursday evening, the same night that Bill passed away. So it feels a little bit special to me.

When the flight attendant came down the aisle with the beverage service, he noticed my wristband and motioned to his own. I asked him if he knew a cancer survivor. He said that his neighbor was; then he corrected himself, he had passed away last February. I told him briefly about my friend Bill. It was a short flight—34 minutes I think. This all happened about the time people would have been traveling to Rose Hills for Bill’s funeral. So I felt like I had an emotional connection.

Sorry for the delay, but Heras won

Roberto Heras won his 3rd Vuelta a Espana (I'm using windows, so I don't know how to put the tilde over the n) today, Sunday, 26 September 2004. The first was in 2000 when he was on the Spanish Kelme team, then 2003 on US Postal, and now 2004 on Spanish team Liberty Seguros.

The race came down to the final time trial, as it has on so many occasions in this race. Heras is not a good time trialist, but he still won the Vuelta taking third in the TT. Perez, not a bad challenger for the overall lead, won the stage, with Heras third.

Perez


Floyd Landis abandoned the race, so you won't see his name in the standings, as you would expect.

The ever-present Erik Zabel took the points jersey, as he has done many times in the past.



The final top finishers:

Final overall standings
1. Roberto Heras (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 77:42:46
2. Santiago Perez (Sp), Phonak, at 0:30
3. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears-Banesto, 2:13
4. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Kelme, 3:30
5. Carlos Garcia Quesada (Sp), Kelme, 7:44
6. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 8:11
7. Isidro Nozal (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 8:32
8. Angel Gomez (Sp), Paternina, 13:08
9. Luis Perez (Sp), Cofidis, 13:24
10. David Blanco (Sp), Kelme, 15:15



Something big about your favorite guy from Marblehead, Massachusetts has accured. Tyler Hamilton has been accused of taking someone else's blood, but there is no evidence for that, and he says he'll race again, and his wife, Haven has sent a letter to all his fans trying to pursuade people of his innocence because they didn't want to even have their dog get a blood transplant because of risks it has. Haven also says in her letter that the reason Tyler quit the Tour this year without more of a fight is because he remebered how long it took to recover from last year's edition with his broken collarbone.

This is the season for bike shows, with major ones being the Eurobike in Friedrichshafen, Germany; EICMA in Milan, Italy; International Cycle Show in Islington, England; Interbike in Las Vegas, etc.

Blogging in Chicago . . .

at the Apple Store. Just for the fun of it and because I can.

Got here today, going home tomorrow--in time to go on the Rosarito-Ensenada bicycle ride. Just because I can.

Next week I'll be back to Chicago and my new teritory: Indianapolis. Of couse, because I can.

Vuelta comes to first rest day

Jimenez wins Monday's 10th stage on a long break while Floyd Landis keeps the malliot de oro (the Vuelta's leader's jersey) by 8 seconds, 1 minute behind Roberto Heras' group.



U.S. Postal's David Zabriskie won Tuesday's stage with another long breakaway, but he went by himself at only 5 km! (To make that in miles, multiply it by .621.) Some might think that it was to take pressure off teammate Floyd Landis, but he said, "there was no plan at all. It just happened." This is definitely the best win of his career. One of the favorites, Alejandro Valverde, crashed, which I will write about more.



The next day (Wednesday) was a rest day, so Alejandro Valverde can recover a little, but still, "Alejandro's 100 percent sure to be starting tomorrow--what we don't know is if he is at 100 percent," CV-Kelme team assistant director Ignacio Labarta told Reuters [press]. "The checkups on his hip revealed he had nothing serious." Roberto Heras looks like he will win the Vuelta a Espana for the 3rd time in his career, one at Kelme (where Valverde is), one at USPS, and now at Liberty Seguros, the team ONCE turned into.

US Postal won't be too stressed if they don't win because, as Johan Bruyneel says, "We came to the Vuelta with the objective of winning a stage. We have won two, and have led the race for 11 days. We have done what we came here to do. Can Landis win the Vuelta? I don't know. Why not?" Everything besides the Tour is a bonus. Read more here.

Michael Barry, a USPS rider, writes about his experiences in this Grand Tour, and they (the writings) can be viewed here. Things to know while reading this: Max is the sprinter on USPS, and Dave is the stage winner.

Vuelta Comes to Turning Point

Zabel was beaten again in the seventh stage on Friday by Alessandro Petacchi, winner of 5 stages in this race last year alone. A five-time Tour de France winner, Miguel Indurain, said that he would sign a contract saying that he would win the Tour de France and spend the rest of the races coming in second. Erik Zabel's a sprinter, so maybe he did that this year, but made the race he won the World Championship. We'll see what happens in October. The overall classification remained the same, with Manual Beltran in the lead.



The next day's race, an individual time trial, was won by the new olympic time trial champion, Tyler Hamilton. He has been wearing a wrist splint from a crash on stage 4. (You would think he would learn from his mistakes, but I guess he will always crash.) This put Floyd Landis in the leader's jersey.



Today's (Sunday's) race was won by Leonardo Piepoli, but the big news was that defending champion, Roberto Heras, was right behind him and gained time on his challengers (see below for times). Floyd Landis is still in the leader's jersey.

(The guy in the yellow won the stage, while Heras took second.)


INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - STAGE 9
1. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 4:29:36
2. Roberto Heras (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 0:04
3. Isidro Nozal (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 0:10
4. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears-Banesto, 0:15
5. Jorge Ferrio (Sp), Paternina - Costa De Almeria, 0:25
6. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Kelme - Costa Blanca, 0:29
7. Denis Menchov (Rus), Illes Balears-Banesto, 0:41
8. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 0:52
9. Floyd Landis (USA), U.S. Postal Service, 0:55
10. Aitor Gonzalez (Sp), Fassa Bortolo, 1:09

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION(AFTER 9 STAGES)
1. Floyd Landis (USA), U.S. Postal Service, 31:46:48
2. Manuel Beltran (Sp), U.S. Postal Service, 0:33
3. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears-Banesto, 0:38
4. Isidro Nozal (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 0:51
5. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Kelme - Costa Blanca, 0:57
6. Roberto Heras (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 1:35
7. Denis Menchov (Rus), Illes Balears-Banesto, 1:52
8. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 1:55
9. Aitor Gonzalez (Sp), Fassa Bortolo, 2:25
10. David Blanco (Sp), Kelme - Costa Blanca, 3:30

Five National Parks, Two Countries, 8 Days!

Hey, we're back. Even though I carried my computer with me the whole time, I didn't have the opportunity--read: didn't feel like it--to blog. Pictures: too many to count. We'll likely post a couple here and there. In the US we saw Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and the Grand Teton National Park. In Canada we went into Waterton Glacier National Park and Banff and Lake Louise.

There are a couple of weeks to go--September 25-- until Mexico and the Rosarito Ensenada bike ride. I think more of us should go--so far, I know Beth, Steve, Cindi and I are going. Daniel, talk to your mom. Let's see if we can't get you there to show us how this little 50 mile bike ride should be ridden.

I better get out and do some training rides myself. I'd like to finish. And, in less time than I took last year. I should have written it down but I think it was less than 3 1/2 hours.

Zabel Misses Out Again

It's the third time Erik Zabel has just missed a stage win in this year's Vuelta a Espana, with Two-Time World Champion Oscar Friere beating him to the line this time.

Defending Champion Roberto Heras broke away but was realed in with Oscar Friere's Rabobank team and numerous attacks.

Manual Beltran is still in the leader's jersey less than a second ahead of teammate Floyd Landis.

(Zabel's in the pink on the left)

Vuelta

Alessandro Petacchi got his second win in this year's Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday after just beating Erik Zabel to the line in a very windy stage. US Postal rider Benoit Joachim took the leaders jersey after the stage.



Denis Menchov, the winner of the 2003 Best Young Rider Competition, won Tuesday's stage after breakaways tried to get away but couldn't because of the strong head winds. US Postal rider Manual Beltran is now in the leader's jersey.

Michael's New Home

Here is a picture of Michael's tent in Kuwait. He is getting used to the 120 to 130 degree heat. It is also very humid. It is so hot his soap melts.

Vuelta

Alessandro Petacchi returned to winning ways with his win in the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday. He was not expecting to ride the tour, but because he crashed out of the Tour de France, he decided to do it. The stage put US Postal rider Max van Heeswijk in the leader's golden jersey.



Today's (Monday's) stage was a little harder than the last, and Alejandro Valverde won in an uphill sprint. US Postal rider Benoit Joachim is now leading the race.

US Postal wins Prologue

US Postal won the opening prologue in the Vuelta a Espana (which was a team time trial), which put Floyd Landis in the leader's golden jersey. Floyd is going for the overall classification, so it's a good start (Lance is not in the race for this). Read more here.

1. U.S. Postal 30:45
2. T-Mobile, at 0:31
3. Banesto, at 0:56
4. Kelme, at 0:58
5. Phonak, at 1:01


George Hincapie won the "Beyond the Peloton" award given by Clif Bar. Floyd Landis was 2nd and Jose Azevedo was third.

2002 Giro d'Italia winner signed a two-year contract for the Discovery team recently, which should help the team.