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Tour de France is Crack

Honestly I'm a little (a lot) sad and depressed that there's no more stages left to watch on my DVR.  The TdF is like crack...  I'm having withdrawal symptoms. 

Here are 10 sings you are a TdF addict. 

1)  Your Facebook and Twitter are all about cycling.  

2)  Your good, understanding, cycling friend tells you that you are too crazy about the Tour and Andy. 

3)  Your friend asks if you are ok after Andy loses time to his competition.

4) You quote Jens Voigt in your daily conversation.  (i.e. I say, "Shut up, legs!") 

5)  You and all your dorky friends have the same video clip posted on FB page.  And, they are usually of Jens Voigt's.

6)  Your friend leaves a message on your FB saying, "Allez, Andy!"  Even though your name is not Andy. 

7)  Your local Specialized dealer gives you their promotional poster of Andy because they know you are crazy about him. 

8)  You try to stay in bed at 4 in the morning knowing that the Tour is on, and you have these crazy dreams where you are giving Jens a pep talk, "Jensy, you have to pull up Andy hard on Tourmalet.  Contador will attack after seeing how Andy does on the climb.  Don't let him get away." Then you wake up and realize that trying to stay asleep is useless, so you turn on your TV and start watching.  

9)  You keep having dreams about your favorite riders, namely Andy.  And the dreams are not quite PG13. 

10)  You know Versus' new commercial pep talk by heart.

Whether or not you win this thing, you’ve got to decide how you’re gonna walk out of here when it’s all said and done because the game is going to go on.  And there’s only one rule you’re going to need to know about: There are no second chances.

There is only this moment and the next moment.  Every one of those moments is a test that you get to take one time – and only one time.

So, if you see an opening – tear into it.  If you get a shot at victory, make damn sure you take it.  Seize that moment.  That moment is a crossroads where everything you want will collide with everything standing in your way.

You’ve got momentum at your back.  Fear and doubt are thundering like a freight train straight at you.  And all you’ve got, the only difference between making history and being history, the only thing – THE ONLY THING – you can count on at any given moment is you.

It’s You versus Them.
You versus No.
You versus Can’t.
It’s You versus Next Year. Last Year. Statistics. Excuses.
You versus History.
You versus The Odds.
You versus 2nd Place.

          The clock is ticking – let’s see what you’ve got.

I'm a sick, sick person.  Hello.  My name is Mai and I'm addicted to TdF.

Tour de France 2010 is OVER!

The Tour is over.  What did you all think?  It was a lot of drama this year.  When Phil and Paul say that this was the most exciting tour in decades, I believe them. 

Stage 15 was hard for me.  Like, screaming-and-crying-in-front-of-the-TV-at-8-in-the-morning hard.  For those who missed the stage, (how could they?!) it was the stage where my favorite Andy Schleck lost 39 seconds to Alberto Contador.  What was so controversial about the stage was that Contador attacked when Andy was having a mechanical problem.  Cycling is a sport of lots of unwritten rules...  a gentleman's agreement if you will.  And those unwritten rules say nobody should attack while the general contender in yellow jersey is having a mechanical.  So, what Contador did wasn't necessarily illegal according to the written rules, but according to the unwritten rules, it was something to be frowned upon.  It wasn't sportsman-like.  Contador gained 39 seconds on Andy that day.  And in the end, Andy lost the Tour to Contador by 39 seconds.  So, while Andy showed his sportsmanship and said he was over the whole controversy the day after it happened, it cost him the Tour.  In the end, those 39 seconds did matter.  But that's cycling.  I guess. 

It was a hard day for me nevertheless.

But on a brighter note...

With all the drama and controversy, I think Andy won over a lot of people's heart this year.  I think lots of girls (and boys) fell in love with his style, sportsmanship, fairness, his ability to climb like hell, his bad English and his cute smile with the crooked tooth.  And, I'm happy for that.  As a true fan, I'm only happy that a lot of people got to see what I have always seen in him.  I'm a very understanding, sharing fan.  Yup.  That's me. 

As for the TdF 2011...  Well, Andy didn't show any weakness this year to Contador.  He matched Contador on every mountain stage.  He rode an amazing final time trial, which surprised everyone who knows how bad Andy is at this discipline.  Andy's truly ready to take Contador down next year.  Watch out, Pistolero.  My baby's coming to get you.   

I'm Back.

Hi Angels.

I must confess that I haven't written about the last day of the Tour of California.  I also haven't been riding much.  All I have been doing is to be a bad blogger.  I apologize. 

Almost all of June, I was out of town on a job and vacation.  It's been a few weeks since I got back, and the dust has finally settled.  So here I am.  

First of all. 

The Tour has started!  Hope you guys are watching it on Versus or Tour Tracker.  It's been truly, truly exciting.  As Ben wrote in the previous post, we have a lot of contenders this year!  Who's your favorite?  One of my favorite, Frank Schleck-Andy's big brother, crashed out with a broken collarbone unfortunately.  Very sad for him and Andy.  Here's the video (from Team Saxobank's website) of Frank saying thanks and good-bye to the fans and his team.  Watch about 2:45 into the footage.  It made me cry. 

It's this kind of very, human drama that makes cycling so amazing.  You get to know the riders like they are your friends, and you start to care...  not just as riders but as people.  It's amazing.

Next.

So, on the last day of the Tour of CALIFORNIA, (I know, jumping from one tour to another...  confusing.)  Oli, Amal and I went to see the boys one last time.  (For the first time for Amal, who is a total trooper for geeking out with us.)  The race was amazing as usual, but more importantly, I had a mission. 

I was going to chit-chat with Andy. 

I'd say I accomplished that mission.  OK.  It wasn't so much a chit-chat.  It was more like a "chit."  Nevertheless. 

Wanna know what I said to him?  I know, all of you dirty mofos out there are thinking something naughty.  I wouldn't do that to Andy! He's a good, innocent 25-year old boy!

I asked him if he missed Frank.  (Frank was back in Luxembourg with his family and did not race ToC, so Andy was all by himself in the US.)  Andy's response.  "I miss Frank VERY much." 

So there you go.  That's it.  And, he continued to sign more shit I brought him to sign...  I told you he's a good boy. 

By the way, I think he's famous now...  Look at the number of reporters around him.  This is a VERY special footage...  behind the scenes with Andy Schleck.  (Special because I shot it.  Sorry, no fancy editing.) 

Lastly. 

I am finally getting back to riding.  After a month of not riding and eating Mom's home cooked meal for a couple of weeks, I feel out of shape.  (A tub of lard is more like it, but let's not tell it like it is, ok?)  So, I've put in a few easy rides since I got home.  The weather here in Venice has been on the cooler side, which I like, so there will definitely be more riding in the coming weeks.  Our riding group team a2b has been doing well, too.  We have been constantly getting new riders every week, and turn-out for each week has been pretty good, as well.  So, if you haven't ridden with us yet, come join us next Sunday!  Find us on Facebook for ride info (time, place, route and pace etc.)  

OK.  Gotta get back to the Stage 4 of the Tour. 

See you soon and until then, ride safe.

Tour of California 2010 - Part 2

Day 2 of my cycling saga continues...

Saturday May 22 was the Time Trial stage in Downtown LA. For this race, they shut down most of Downtown for the first time since the Olympics in 1984...  it was mad. 
Thanks to Ben, we got to purchase VIP tickets to see the riders in action.  Really close. 

At first we were in the designated VIP tent...  with free booze and food, we thought it was the place to be, but the view from there looked like this.  Lots of people in front of us.  Not good. 

So, we decided to ditch the option to have bottomless Michelob Ultra to get closer to the action.  See how dedicated we are?  We situated ourselves where the riders make a U-turn, a 100 yards or so from the finish line. 

All of a sudden, there is nobody in front of us, so the view was like this.  Amazing!  The riders whizzed by us so close, sometime we had to pull ourselves back from the handrail.  So intense.  You could definitely see their sweat and hear the wheels turn.  And, oh yeah, this is a picture of Andy Schleck taken by Ben.  Isn't is a nice shot? 

What was I doing when he rode past me?  Where is MY picture of Andy?  I was trying to cheer (like a crazy woman) and take a picture at the same time, so here's my version of Andy.   #epicfail

One more photo?  How about Dave Zabriskie!   Again, awesome photo by Ben.  (And, most of the pictures from yesterday's post are by Ben (and Oli), too.  Thanks!)  

After the race, we tried to raid the Garmin bus this time, but our main man Dave Zabriskie (DZ) didn't win the stage and was feeling a bit pouty, so he didn't spend much time with us at all.  Very sad.  From what we've seen of DZ being the strange, funny, brilliant guy, I was expecting him to be more upbeat!  I know he's the US time trialing champion...  I know he wanted this stage.  But I was hoping he was ...  for lack of a better word, a bit more DZ!  Maybe next time.  Go DZ!!

While Oli and I waited for DZ in vain, Ben was getting what he wanted.  He went and got the George Hincapie jersey autographed as well as had one last rendezvous with his lover, Jens Voigt.  I'm happy for him.  

After 2 intense days of race-watching, I've learned a lot!  So here are some of the things to note...

1) Go see the race more than one day.  One day to watch the race live.  Another to see the riders at the bus, maybe.  A mountain stage and TT etc different kinds of race would be good.  Watching a race live is awesome, but a huge part of cycling that is so different from anything I know is how close pros are to their fans.  Might as well take advantage of that.  And to do that, you need more than one day! 

2) Go prepared.  Got Sharpie?  Got jerseys?  I almost brought a 18x24 framed photo of Andy but decided against it.  It would have been awesome and embarrassing at the same time.  Maybe more awesome than embarrassing...  No? 

3) Find out where your team bus is parked beforehand...  and be there early! 

4) Be respectful.  You didn't just ride 110 miles in the wind, so shut up and wait for the riders to come out.  There were some amazingly pushy people...  it's just not nice.  

What do you think?
Don't you just wanna fly to France in July and see the Tour de France now? 

Man.  That would be so amazing.  

Part 3, the final stage coming soon. 

Tour of California 2010 - Part 1

I never said I wasn't a big dork.  I never denied that I'm a little obsessive.  But now I know.  For sure.  That I'm a little crazy. 

Crazy about this business of cycling.  (And a boy named Andy Schleck.) 

Here's part 1 of my 3-day saga following the Amgen Tour of California. 

Amgen Tour of California is an 8-stage race.  (More on AToC here. ) This year, they started the race in Nevada City and over the last week, they made their way down to Southern California.  

Last Friday was a stage in Big Bear, which is about 2 hours from where I live.  I knew that this stage was an important part of the tour (Mountain top finish!) since they announced the route over 6 months ago.  So, I made sure that I was available on this Friday to go see the race. I wasn't going to miss this for anything! 

Friday morning, the usual suspects (Oli, Ben and me) drove up to Big Bear.   We got there early.  We walked around the expo, had early lunch and went on a recon mission to find out where the team buses parked.  (This becomes very important later, so pay attention.)  After we figured out the lay of the land, we perched in the Radio Shack tent to watch the live feed of the race.  So.  Much.  Fun.  I always loved watching the race with a bunch of people.  Everybody talking smack about everyone else's favorite riders. Cheering and yelling.  Getting excited and being sad...  everything is much more fun if you are with 60 people in a small tent.  But, no.  This is not the time to be sentimental about the camaraderie of cyclists. We have an important mission to accomplish. 

As soon as the first rider crossed the finish line, we got up and ran like a bat outta hell to where the team buses were parked. 

One team bus on our collective mind. 

Saxo Bank. 

All of our favorite riders are with Saxo Bank. 

Oli loves Fabian Cancellara.  (Loves him a bit too much for a married woman.  I guess it's ok since Ben loves him a bit too much for a married man as well.  I don't know.  Better not get involved in their business.) 
Ben loves Jens Voigt.  Jens is one of the oldest man in the peloton and also the most popular and respected guy in the peloton.

And, I love Andy Schleck.  

We got to the bus first.  Nobody else was there yet.  That means we secured the best spot in front of the entrance to the bus.  See?  I told you that the recon mission to find out where the buses are is important. 

And, we waited. 

Jens was in the bus already.  Then one by one, the riders started to come back to the bus from the finish line.  They get inside and take a shower, relax a bit.  And, they come out to say hi to the fans.  So we waited.  We waited for a long time. 

The first one out was Jens.  (Of course.  He's the man who does the right thing no matter how tired he is.)  He is a happy man.  Super nice to his fans.  All smiles.  All the time.  I respect this man.  He spent a lot of time with his fans. 

Then the next one out was Andy.  He doesn't look too happy.  Turns out, he had to slow down on the climb because he was told by the management to take it easy, and he was worried that fans and critics wouldn't approve of his less-than-perfect riding.  Don't you worry, baby.  We know this race is your practice for the Tour de France!  The picture is Andy signing my Luxembourg Champion jersey.  

Finally.  Fabian comes out.  He loooves the attention.  He knows he's GQ handsome.  He knows how to work the crowd.  He's goood.  He's a star. 

The picture is Olivia in heaven.  Fabi is SO popular.  It's very hard to get him to pose for the camera.  Oli got her Swiss Champion jersey signed.  She's a happy girl.  

With all our mission accomplished, we started to head home.  All of us still very much in heaven.  We giggled and (almost) skipped all the way back to the car like three little girls. 

Cycling is a very special sport in that the fans can get so close to the pros.  There's no security guy guarding the buses.  No credential to see the riders.  It must be a great motivation for the pros to see that their fans are so excited.  I really hope this tradition will never change.   

I had such an awesome day.  This was my very first professional bike race to watch live.  And it was so much more than what I had hoped for.  I mean, face-to-face with my baby Andy Schleck? 
I think I'm addicted now. 

Day 2 is a time trial stage in Downtown LA!

More on that tomorrow in Part 2 of my saga. 

Paris-Roubaix Tomorrow!

Hello.  Sorry I haven't been writing much lately.  After finishing the century, I wasn't being able to set the next goal, and that made me utterly unmotivated.  I spent a lot of time eating out, having a few (too many) cocktails with friends, being a couch potato...  and put on a few extra pounds!  I guess that's going to be my motivation to get back on the bike!  One thing for sure is that I got my much needed rest though.  Even with a layer of fat I must lose before the summer, I feel pretty good and refreshed! 

Before going back to me riding...  let's talk about other people (pros) riding.  Tomorrow is one of my favorite bike races!  Paris-Roubaix on Versus. 

Ben wrote an awesome post about it last week, so check it out. I love having Ben, my own commentator, who is like Phil (for his funny comments), Paul (for his sanity and precision) and Bobke (for his dorkiness) all rolled up in one and spiked with lots of hot pepper.  Ben's post is always funny, full of good information and SPICY.  Thank you, Ben, for another excellent post. 

Tune in at 3 pm on Versus!! 

Kristin Armstrong!

Kristin Armstrong is a badass pro cyclist.  She won the Women's Time Trial at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and is the winner of World Time Trial Championship (2006 & 2009) among other things...  She's mean and fast on the bike.  (Super nice off the bike.)  And, I always thought she was so cool.  She announced her retirement after the world championship last year.  She retired as a champion.  That's hard to do.  But, that's how she rolls.  She's just cool like that.  Yes, I know.  I said she was cool like twice already.  I'm a fan. Leave me alone.

When I found out Kristin Armstrong was having a 3-day cycling camp for women in Palm Springs, I immediately emailed Olivia to see if she was interested to go with me.  I really really really wanted to ride with a world champion! 

After Oli and I signed up, Kristin emailed us (Yes!  She emails people herself.  She doesn't have an assistant do it for her!)  and said she had some bad news.  She didn't have enough people signed up to make the camp.  So, instead she offered to have a one-day clinic on Friday before Palm Springs Century (for free!) 

Just past 9 am, Kristin showed up.  On her Cervelo bike in her white Cervelo kit.  She sticks her hand out casually and says, "Hey, I'm Kristin." 

I know who you are.  You are a world champion!!  (I only said this in my head, of course.) 

She introduced herself to everyone, who was just starting to gather around her. 
It was 7 of us and Kristin, Joe and Mike (Kristin's people.) 

First, she asked us about what we wanted to learn from her, since she didn't know where we stood in terms of skills and experience.  And then we rode about 6 miles to a parking lot where we had our clinic. 

We practiced bike handling skills like picking up water bottles placed on the ground, cornering and riding a tight figure 8.  But, she put a lot of focus on the mental stuff.  She showed us how to "bump" with other riders to mentally prepare ourselves for pack riding.  She said not to panic if you bump into someone.  If someone pushes you around, push back to claim your own space in the pack.  (Do this safely by pushing on the riders hip not up on the shoulder.) Very important, yet nobody taught me this before.  She took each of us individually to literally "bump" with her.  And, of course, I almost took her down because my handlebar and hers locked together.  I'm the girl who almost crashed Kristin Armstrong.  Very glad she was so good on the bike she didn't fall.  And, this doesn't even faze her.  She's SO cool.  Have I said this enough?  She's cool.  She's like, "Let's do it again." 

Not only was she cool, she was real, down to earth and so open.  While we were riding to the parking lot, we chatted about cycling and life in general...  my goals and dreams.  She talked about her new endeavor as a coach.  She said she had checked out this blog already because I had written her from my blog email address...  Seriously.  How cool can she be?  

After the "clinic" she took all of us to a Palm Springs local hangout to have a "date shake."  We all had the famous date shake and took pictures with her.  (Kristin and Olivia below.) 

After the date shake, we rode back to the meeting place, and it was time for good-byes.  Sad.  :(  I had such a great time with her. 

As I'm writing this, I seriously feel inadequate.  I can't write about Kristin and say how wonderful she was and what she said and what she taught us without feeling like I'm just a bad messenger of her gospel.  Paraphrasing doesn't do justice.  You just have to be there to experience how passionate she is about cycling and how much she cares about you as a cyclist.  And I know, as a blogger, I'm failing at telling you a story about my experience with Kristin because pretty much all I said in the previous paragraphs was "She's cool", but I can say this.  When you see Kristin is having another clinic somewhere sometime in the future.  You just go.  There's no other way.  And, I'll leave it at that. 

Hot Quote from VeloNews

"The cuts were deep, with a lot of blood. The cut to the gluteus was so deep you could see the fat."

-Joaquim Rodríguez,
on his recent crash during the Katusha training camp

The Ugliest Jersey in the History of Pro Cycling

1.  Cycling jersey should not be the color of your naked body. With the strechy-strech of fantastic synthetic fiber Lycra, you already see more than you want to...  Making the jersey AND the shorts nude color just doesn't make any sense.  I'm just sayin'. 

2. There shouldn't be a body part (i.e. foot) printed on your jersey.  The foot print makes it look like you've been freshly stepped on.  That can't be good for the morale of the team.  Again, I'm just sayin'. 

3. 3 national champs don't look like a part of the team cause their jerseys look so different.  WTF.  

I can't wait to hear what Paul and Phil have to say about this...

The Rules of the Road

Professional cycling is the most unusual sport where an individual goes up on the podium, but a team gets him there.  Just think about how crazy that is -- only one person gets the glory of the victory, but it takes an entire 9 person team each with his own roll, to put the one star in the right position at the right time to take the win.  

 

That's the crazy part -- the most important person on the team that day could be the person who dropped out halfway through, because he spent all his time while in the race shielding his teammates from the wind, grabbing water bottles chasing down a break.

A lot of my favorite riders are those guys -- the ones who bang their heads against the wall for miles on end while their teammates, the stars, are able to keep protected and fresh for the end.  They don't win much, but they are absolutely worth their weight in gold for their teammates.

 

Lots of times, these guys are setting the stage for the opportunists.  These are like the backup plan for the team.  Most every team has the one star, the one who the whole structure is built around -- but every team knows that too, so every team is watching the same stars.  So a lot of times those teams will send someone else up the road, to take the pressure of the star, and to have another option just in case the star can't get away.

  

These attackers can make it up the road and win sometimes, but in the end of the day, the stars are stars for a reason.  They know how to win, and they do it a lot.  Men like Boonen, Cavendish, Cancellara and Armstrong just have that killer instinct, to constantly react the right way when they are in the right position.  But they can only put in the right place at the right time.  And that's due to the efforts of their teammates, men who never make the podium, but have earned the victory just as much as the stars have.