Stage 7 - A Clean Ride

Geez! The wind just won't go away. The Boss and I waited for the rain to move out before we set out to put in today's miles. Thanks to the howling wind today's 62 miles felt much, much further than yesterday's 62 miles. We aimed our bikes towards the Holy Hill area to put some climbing in although it probably wasn't necessary as riding into a 35 mph headwind takes more energy than climbing does. The coup de grace was standing on your pedals trying to reach the summit only to get hit straight-on by gale force winds just prior to cresting. Pretty nasty stuff.

Today ends a 430 mile week. The biggest mileage week of the Tour is over (thank goodness). My entire body is sore and looking forward to Monday's rest day. The saddle sore is getting a little worse and is now bothersome on rides. I'm washing and lubricating as much as possible but I'm afraid it's too late. I may have to perform a little surgery sometime soon.


Why are people so weird? Today the Boss and I are riding along a wide open country road with no traffic coming our way. Two Harley riders come up slowly from behind us. I'm thinking that we'll get a friendly wave to acknowledge the brotherhood of two-wheeled cyclists. The first rider passes steadily by without acknowledgment and then the second guy pauses as he is abreast of us. Without once glancing our way he guns his engine to blast us with the painful roar of the mighty Harley V-Twin. Why? The guy looked to be fifty years old (and fifty pounds over-weight), not a kid out joy-riding which, while still stupid, could be written off as a youthful prank. I suppose his little adventure is fodder as he brags about it at the next tavern stop. What possesses a person to be such a jack-ass?


In the previous entry I failed to point out that Bradley Wiggins of the Cofidis team attacked during yesterday's Tour de France stage. He jumped the peloton at kilometer 2 and held them off for 115 miles, getting caught just 4.5 miles from the finish (race radio once again kills the excitement). It was a great day for Wiggins as he and his sponsors had lots of air time on the Tour's world-wide television broadcasts. What is notable about Wiggins is that he has been outspoken against doping and has said that his motivation is to prove that clean riders can be successful. In February Elvis gave Wiggins a shout-out and suggested that Wiggins could be a hero for those disinclined to appreciate the dopers of the peloton (read HERE). Here's to you Bradley Wiggins - you are proving that there is a place for clean riders.

Before wrapping up I'd like you to think about the work involved in trying to stay ahead of the world's finest cyclists for 115 miles. Even if the pack knew that they could catch Wiggins whenever they chose to, they were still cruising along at 28 mph. 170 riders sharing the load of 28 mph is a whole lot different than 28.1 mph by yourself, for 4 hours. The next time you go on a group ride attack and see if you can manage even a mile out front by yourself.

Bradley Wiggins - Riding Clean