Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Monday, July 21, 2008

Sorry it's been a few days since I've posted but our DSL modem decided that this life was too great a burden and so departed for the great technological waste bin in the sky (or some such other metaphor as might come to mind). The break from the computer was good I think as I got a lot of reading done on topics as diverse as the negative perceptions of Christianity found in the last two generations of Americans, the confluence of epidemic disease pools in the years between 200 BCE and 1200 CE and the culture of fear modern advertisers, politicians and religious leaders have generated in order to manipulate others into following their agendas. You can check out my reviews of some of these things out at Amazon under the name Chad "Downhill" Davies.

The Tour has been interesting since I last wrote with the race tightening up with the last mountain stage. I have to wonder what might have happened if CSC had decided to lay down the hammer on the first climb up the Col Angel. I really think they could have cracked Evans like they had Valverde up the Tourmalet and he would have been out of the Tour right there. Of course, had they done that then Menchov may have had the strength to ride away from the worn out Schlek and Sastre on the final climb. Still, I think it was a risk I might have taken had I been Riis since my two climbers still don't have anywhere near enough time with only two hard stages to go before the final TT where Evans will get three minutes back (and Vande Velde and Menchov will get 2:30). Nevertheless, it's really exciting to have the race still have six riders all within a minute of the lead.

Tomorrow's going to be interesting as there's a huge risk/reward ratio here. If someone's willing to take big risks they could crack the race wide open. There are two HUGE climbs but the finish is 24 km after the last one. If one of the GC contenders can get away on the last climb and then take some risks on the descent, he could do some real damage. Of course, he could also pull an Ullrich and ride off the side of the road and into a ditch and end his chances of making it to Paris. More interesting is the possibility that one fo the guys who is lurking a little further back could launch an attack over the first climb and then race down the first descent and hold onto a lead going over climb number two. If I'm Valverde, that's what I'm doing. Go for broke.

"Alejandro, Senor, everyone knows you can finish top ten; doing so again doesn't really prove much. But if you can get away and win with panache then you'll be remembered and maybe you'll get back into this thing."

The same goes for Kirchen and the two Euskatel riders who are placed just at the top ten level. But what I really see happening here is that CSC sends Andy Schlek out for a suicide ride to make the other teams chase hard and do the work (with any luck, Cunego or Lang will go with him). That'll destroy Rabobank, Garmin-Chipotle and Silence-Lotto and leave their GCF riders isolated for the 1-2 punch of Sastre and Frank Schlek. The last thing the other teams want is to allow CSC to set up their crushing series of strong men of Cancellara, Voigt and O'Grady to get into one of those grinding rhythms that end up pulverizing the legs and egos of the men around them. You have to attack and shell those guys off early if you're going to have any chance.

I rode the final climb with the guys again yesterday on my trainer. It was a great ride and I got a wonderful workout but it killed me for the rest of the day. It's gotten really, really hot here in Georgia and the temperature out on the road has been 105+ so riding outside isn't really all that good of an idea right now. After riding I made the mistake of going out to run errands and ended up sick for most of the day due to heat and dehydration. This week is a recovery week so I'll take the better part of valor and do most of my riding indoors on the rollers.

Tomorrow, my wife and I head out to Salt Lake to visit family and take care of a few things. For me, that means recovery rides at altitude; a tricky proposition to say the least. But I figure if I keep my power output and heart rate down, my body will adapt well and I may even come back with a little more oxygen carrying capacity for the races in Elberton in a couple of weeks. I'll try to keep you updated from there as I have internet access.

Until then, Ciao and Allez!

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