... the Friday madness (rarely seen!)

It was a dark and dreary day at the tour today as the riders ascended to the 1183m high summit of the Col du Platzerwasel near the German border this morning... Of course, this doesn't mean that the fans were any less thick or annoying than on other famed climbs.


I have to say, however, that I'm getting a tad bored with the tour so far. Now that the flat stages are largely over, Cavendish has few opportunities to drop creative new victory salutes and it has fallen to the big-shots of pro cycling to create some action.

But the "cycling elite" (as the announcers like to call Lance, Alberto, Fabian, et al.) aren't doing much of anything. Today they let a breakaway go clear of the field before the first climb and never got around to reeling them in. Lance didn't push the tempo, Nocentini (maillot jaune) didn't try anything risky, and Contador just wasn't as aggressive and assholey as he usually is.

The guy who ended up winning the stage today was also visibly upset by the lack of action from the peloton:


Actually, In case you can't tell, I was only kidding with the previous statement. This is Heinrich Haussler and he rode magnificently today. Haussler obliterated the breakaway group almost thirty km out from the finish and stayed away, increasing his lead with every pedal stroke.

I can't blame the man for being overcome with emotion like this, the Tour de France is decidedly the most prestigious race in the world, and to win a stage in it is a coveted and elusive goal for nearly every competitive cyclist.

That said, I'd cry too.

Spending so much time recently scoping out the absolute cream of the sport of cycling, I find it neccessary to also probe its dark underbelly. Take this seemingly innocuous craigslist post for instance:


As I've underlined, and visibly questioned with a BADA55 'colorway', this ad is rife with inconsistency and beguiling language. Perhaps the poster is simply a once-in-a-while rider (or god forbid, a salmon) and knows very little about cycling nomenclature.

First of all, I think most bicycles are unisex these days, especially since the days of women's modesty have gone and rendered the double-drop bar frame an antiquated convention that is today more stylistic than functional.

Secondly, The poster may be interested to note that velodromes do not allow the use of multiple gear ratios or brakes, as is evidenced in the growing urban fixie fetishism. Therefore, "21 speed" and "track bike" are mutually exclusive terms and to put the two together in a strange portmanteaux is an oxymoron, moron.

Thirdly, though not lastly, I've never seen, heard of, or even dreamed about 700cm tires (i'm not going to even get into the "track tire" faux pas). I believe they mean 700c tires which roughly means tires that are 622mm in circumference. A wheel 7 meters in circumference must be a real track machine indeed, especially considering the UCI's limit on gain-per-pedalstroke is barely over 7 meters to begin with, though I suppose that could give creedence to the handlebar motto I blogged about recently.

Then again, perhaps cycling is in fact moving toward larger and larger wheel sizes as evidenced by Bike Snob's recent sighting.

Lastly, I hope the above post intended to say carbon fiber fork, instead of fiberglass fork because fiberglass has a famously poor track record when it comes to resisting the dynamic forces of impact.

Anyway, steer clear of the rediculosity this weekend and ride safe!

P.S. Look forward to epic pics and coverage of my slog up to the roadie-verse on Monday!