...keepin it real Thursdays

All week I've been trying to come up with an epic fail to write about for today's post. Not coming up with any good ideas, I decided I'd go for a short stroll to organize my thoughts and hopefully happen upon some freak occurrence worth relaying here. I didn't watch any heads roll, though seeing the state of my local bike lane this afternoon brought many opinions to the front of my mind.



Frustrated by these menaces, I cast my gaze skyward hoping for consolation and an explanation from a god I don't believe in, and noticed the sunny skies had become overcast... Walking at a leisurely pace back to the office, I was caught in the initial rainfall before I could make it to the dry indoors.

A woman, scurrying into the lobby, slipped a little before catching herself on the door handle and simultaneously gave me exactly the idea I was hunting for.

July 4th, this coming Saturday, is not only the best day to visit an overpopulated city park or get inebriated on cheap beer; it is also the start of the 96th Tour de France!



As you can see from this video, courtesy of the french, the race starts with a team time trial through Rotterdam, NL (strange that it doesn't start in France, huh?). update: i was confused here, it did in fact, start in Monaco.

If you've no idea what a team time trial (TTT) is, its just like the individual time trial (ITT) where the starts are staggered and each rider races the clock, though in this case, the whole team rides together to get one guy across the finish line fastest. Needless to say, a lot of fancy bikes and pterodactyl helmets come out for these events, both of which are not known for aiding in bodily protection or handling.

This recalled to me the gripping last few minutes of the three-week-long Giro d'Italia 2009. Dennis Menchov, being the race leader, was the last to start the ITT through wet, cobbled, roman streets. If that sounds like a recipe for disaster to you, your instincts serve you well:



This aired in New York around two in the morning and thinking the race was as good as done, we practically shit ourselves when we saw this. One of the most interesting things about this fall was how fast the mechanic got out of the team car, removed a new bike from the roof-rack, and had it standing, ready for Menchov to ride away on before he could even really stand up. That guy deserves a raise if you ask me.

Of course as I said before, Saturday is July 4th which marks the first large-scale refutation of British colonial administration practices. Enjoy the "freedom" eveybody...