theswordsman's Diaryland Diary
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checking in
You get one last cycling photo. I was bored Friday morning, read a couple of news stories, and decided that Contador might try something a fan of his should watch. Sure enough, not long after the stage started, he went on an attack that lasted the rest of the day. On some of the climbs, people show up with campers days early so they can party and then have a good spot to cheer on the riders. Some step in front of them to the middle of the road. One decided it would be fun to dress up as a surgeon and get all over Contador while he was on a steep stretch and barely moving. There's no way of knowing what he said, but he held the stethoscope a couple of inches in front of Alberto's face (see the short video).
Yesterday I made my last delivery order, this time from Pizza Hut. I really wasn't that interested in the food, but was excited about the two liter bottle of Mountain Dew that cost three times as much as the dollar store. The driver forgot it. I asked if someone could bring it along the next time someone delivered to my town. It didn't happen. I was having a pretty crummy morning today, and when it was time for Pizza Hut to open again, I called and asked if someone could bring it by today. I told then I was sick & housebound and would be stuck drinking tap water all weekend. They said they'd bring me two. The driver from yesterday showed up and gave me a non-apology. The soda hit the spot.
I'm figuring out how I can get myself cleaned up enough to go to the chiropractor Monday to see if I have a rotated disc. If that, or something similar, isn't the case, I need to go to the Emergency Room. I think they're only required to get me stable for free or whatever, but at least I'd get credit for making an effort before settling back into "I'm screwed" mode.
I watched Eagle Eye on JTV this morning. It's not a great movie, but the action never stops, and there's suspense. It held my attention the whole time.
I'm not watching the celebratory final stage into Paris Sunday. Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of suspicious rides over the years, with some of the riders testing positive within the next few months. At least three of the top four were really suspicious, either by turning into Superman for a couple of days after being below par for a year, or by having a peak that lasted for over three weeks with huge performances the first and last days, with big efforts and not one bad day in between, or by excelling on steep mountains not suited to their body type, where they would have failed in the past.
It doesn't take much. A guy goes to train at altitude earlier in the season, increases red blood cells, then stores half a liter of blood for during the race. Add that back in the day before you need a big performance, microdose with EPO and maybe one or two other substances to keep your blood values looking normal, and he's better than everyone else for a day or two. I hate that I know that. One of the Eurosport announcers was a star back in the days when riders used amphetamines and things. If I took a sip of beer every time he's called a performance "amazing" or "unbelievable" in the past three weeks, I'd be in a drunken stupor (which actually sounds good right now).
If any of them were cheating, the UCI (I get to forget they exist now) would never expose them with the Biological Passport, so unless French authorities come up with something this week, the whole race (except the one Russian dude early on) goes down as clean and exciting. I almost gagged earlier when the Eurosport guy was gushing about how clean and exciting it was.
My breathing isn't any better.
I need to come up with some things to look forward to for the next few months. I need something to spur me on, and convince me that the things I need to do next week are worth the effort.
I hope you're having a great weekend. Take care.
12:48 p.m. - Saturday, Jul. 23, 2011
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