Author: Maxsons Import_User

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Todays Bike Ride — July 4, 2006

I had today off work (it's the 4th of July) so I decided to start off with a ride.  I had an idea of where I wanted to go, so I surfed to maps.google.com to map a route.  I then went over to google pedometer and planned this route. 

One thing I noticed was the lack of a road on the google pedometer.  Interesting….they use the same data….

Notice the road on the google maps map and the lack of the road from google pedometer:

Map Difference

I decided that the google maps map must be right so I went on my ride.  When I got there, sure enough….there was road.  I went ahead and took it.  However, it turned out that Capital One has a gate across the road shortly after you cross 288.  ARG!  Now, I didn't know where to go.  I didn't have a map and only knew where I wanted to end up.

I turned around and rode out the other end of West Gate and out rt 6 for a while till I got to River Road.  Here is a link to the real route I rode on 4 July 2006.  It was still over 30 miles, soI was happy.

BTW, if you ever want a fairly nice ride in the Richmond area, River Rd is it.  There wasn't much traffic and the route was fairly nice.  On top of that, there were some nice church looking church buildings out that way.

If you want to see the details of my ride, look at my July 2006 Bike Stats.

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TDF 2006 Stage 2 — July 3, 2006

I'm watching OLN's coverage of the 2006 Tour de France this evening.  I'm sure everyone has heard the outcome already.  I found a link with results, etc… on it.  Fairly good read:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.bicycles.racing/browse_thread/thread/be981dccd25568f2

Today at work, I tried to follow the Tour live (at www.letour.fr).  It went ok, but I didn't check it very often so I missed some things.  If you can check it ever 10-15 min, it makes a fairly unique way to stay up with the race.  They have a neat graphic that shows you the current position of the riders, what is left, and what left.

Tomorrow, I plan to get up and go out on a bike ride.  I should be back before the 11am finish of the race.  I should have some more to post.

Oh, if you haven't seen it yet, make sure you watch the last 5-10 min of the race.  There was a big wreck inside the 3 km mark.

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Are Your Legs Up To It?

If you have Google Earth, you can view the 2006 TDF cource via a Google Earth Route.

There are tougher days than this, I think; however, take a look at this climb. The quote from Dirty Harry comes to mind:

"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"

Well, what do you think? (For a larger view, click the image).

2006 TDF L Alpe dHuez climb

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Interesting Bit from the 2006 TDF Race Manual

I was reading the 2006 Tour de France race manual and came across this interesting bit:

Supplies at feeding stations are handed out by the staff accompanying the teams. This distribution takes place only in areas clearly marked with offi cial banners and signs, except in cases where other provisions have been clearly indicated beforehand.  Stations will be set up on only one side of the roadway, the rules specifying on the right side only.

Cyndi had asked me about this earlier and I didn't know the answer.  I guess now I do…..  You only get a bag of goodies if you are on the right side of the road.

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2006 TDF Stage 1

I just got done watching Stage 1 of the 2006 TDF.  Here are the top 5 riders overall (the GC competition for the yellow jersey):

Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 003 HINCAPIE George DSC USA  
2 118 HUSHOVD Thor C.A NOR 00' 02"
3 018 ZABRISKIE David CSC USA 00' 06"
4 044 LANG Sebastian GST GER 00' 06"
5 091 VALVERDE Alejandro CEI ESP 00' 06"

The only surprise was Hushovd's wreck at the end of the stage.  It looked bad on the video, but I don't know exactly what happened.

Expect more tomorrow evening after I watch the tape when I get home from work.

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TDF — Stage 1

We had church this morning so I taped OLN's coverage of the 2006 TDF stage 1.  We have visitation at 3 so it will this evening before I get to post much about today's TDF stage.

For more information about today's stage, here is the offical TDF page about stage 1.

Here is a graphic showing the profile of the stage:

2006 TDF Stage 1

What you will notice is 1 cat 4 climb.  Bob Roll (on OLN) just said that was probably a highway overpass!  These guys are hillarious!

Oh, I just heard that Floyd Landers (the guy who showed up late yesterday) showed up late because of a tire flat.  Since it was a time trial, they don't use quick releases.  It took a special wrench and 1 min to change.  Because of that, he lost about 8 sec.

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I can only hope of riding this fast

I can only dream about riding this fast on my bike:

Shortly after the turn, I'm in a full sprint to keep in touch with the group and I hear the police siren behind me –

Brip brip, …….. Followed by the Megahorn…….. "Cyclists, pull over at the next crossroads, pull over"

…

We all got written citations of warning for, umm, running stop signs …. no, no, — going 35 in a 25 ………… yea that's it……….35 in a 25. HAH. All in a days ride.

Check out the full story at http://love2ridezzzzz.blogspot.com/2006/07/day-i-shoulda-been-dropped.html

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Tour de France Prologue

The Tour de France prologue is over.  Thor Hushovd won with George Hincapie right behind (< 1 sec).  I didn't get to watch all of it, but it was a fairly straightforward way.  Something < 6 miles (probably 6km).  Everyone did it in about 8 min or so.  The only surprise was someone (I forget his name and don't want to look for it) showing up late at the starting gate.  That rider would have probably won (or been close) had he been there on time.  From what it looks like, the clock starts at your assigned time regardless of whether you are there or not.