Saturday night, I ate a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and watched stage 15 of the Giro with an old friend... I got to thinking about how tough it must be to climb those Italian mountains on a hot summer day; sweat in your eyes, tifosi in your way, nothing to eat but prosciutto, hard cheese, and wine. With all those delicious smells wafting across the peninsula, I think it would take a real feat of will for an American (with our notoriously lazy metabolisms) to not start craving spaghetti-O's and Franzia at the very least. I guess cycling professionally is one of the few ways american men in Italy can avoid ending up like this:
Poor fella, he wanted to wear that Maglia Rosa so bad, but those meat-a-balls are-a so tasty!
Anyway, I've started rooting for Ivan Basso, the Liquigas front-man, not so much because I admire his cycling abilities (and I do), but because of his shining optimism. I got some crummy paparazzi photos through the tv:
Ivan's cheery disposition is in stark contrast to another Italian GC contender, Danilo DiLuca, who has just recently relenquished the pink jersey after leading the race for a number of days. DiLuca scares me. He's the kind of guy that takes swings at tifosi instead of just letting it go, and he's got blistering speed when he's in form, earning him the nickname "the killer".
Basso and his winning smile inspire me to roll with the punches and not take life too seriously. During the 2004 TdF, he got third place overall while his mom was dying of cancer and his wife was giving birth to his daughter. thats gumption if you ask me...
In other news, Graeme Obree is once again going for the hour world record! If you aren't familiar with this cyclist, I suggest you do one of three things: check out the wikipedia page on him, watch The Flying Scotsman or rely on my paltry description that follows.
Obree is best known for his innovations to track cycling, and the UCI's disdain for them. He hand-built his bikes and twice broke the hour world record, riding like a downhill skier. This aero riding position also helped him win the pursuit world championships two times. Due to what Cycling Weekly called "petty-minded officaldom", Obree's riding styles and bicycle geometry were banned from races.
After dipping in and out of depression Graeme Obree is back to once again attempt the hour record on a bike of his own construction!
I think that 62t chainring is big enough to seat a family of four...
Lastly, In case you didn't already know this, or wanted scholarly proof; according to a study conducted by Peter S. Tuckel and William Milczarski of Hunter college, "midtown cyclists routinely break law". Wow... now the times is getting stories almost as good as the ones the Post makes up. I can't believe they needed to conduct a "study" to figure that out. Thats like ordering a study to see if cabbies drive safetly, or what percentage of the homeless stink real bad.
Actually, one thing that suprised me is the finding that "Thirty-seven percent rode through red lights, while 28.7 percent paused to look — then ran the light." I guess that means it's safe to assume nearly thirty percent of cyclists haven't fully grasped where the efficiency of cycling in the city lies.
The study went on to show that 10 percent of cyclists were riding the wrong way. Bad news bike snob, It seems as though the salmon are multiplying, try as they might to thin their own numbers.
