Can I Get A Raincheck?

That's what was asked at Ian's baseball game yesterday evening as it was cancelled after 1 1/2 inning. It hadn't started raining (yet), but lightening was dropping in the area so a good decision was made. We grabbed some pizza in SPR and then headed home.

It was a pretty relaxing evening with Ian and I catching most of the College World Series final game (I was backing Texas while Ian was rooting for 'whomever ends up winning').

Fitness: Think yesterday's rest was really good for me physically and mentally. Got an 1:30hr AM ride this morning as the temps were in the low 70's (felt almost chilly - almost). I threw in a couple extended interval efforts on the SBU crit loop and everything responded really nice. I was frustrated for the past week as I felt sluggish and slow (I know and what I meant was 'slower than usual'), but this morning felt crisp. Hoping to feel the same this weekend in KC and be able to hang with the group all three days.

Let's talk a little cycling today with several national championships coming up and the TdF not too far off. First, take a look at this as Longo won again at 50 yrs old - AWESOME! The below is her at the 1980 Championships and the second is her this year:

The Spanish and Belgium races are always a favorite with each having the main contenders not allowed in the TdF (Valverde and Boonen, respectively). Gilbert is tipped as the fav up north while Alberto might give Valverde a run for his money down south although Casse' has a stacked team and probably not so much for the Astana rider (but he should be used to that with the crap teams he's been given all year).

Speaking Astana, check this out as a cool watch showing their selection of TdF riders. ...and as for cool videos, I am saving up my nickles and dimes for George's documentary (80 min of start to current day) although I know most of it will be "... and George goes down..." or "... and George has a mechanical at the most crucial..."; oh well, I'm a big fan and looking forward to getting it.

TdF - Haven't really looked at the stages and team rosters (not all are complete as of yet), but will in the following week. I am sticking with Contador as the overall and teetering with Evans, a Schleck bro, Lance and a couple others on the podium. Sprinter is up in the air as Cav will have the most wins, but probably not the jersey in the end.

Who am I kidding, I don't even know why I offer up my forecasts and views; I should just wait for the EXPERT to chime in since according to him my credentials are "...get a Cycling.TV subscription & a blog & he's an instant expert". By now I should "receive words of advice from my years of experience..."