Whitewater Horn

Can you imagine how furious G must feel right about now?

I, for one, welcome our Slovenian overlords.

van Aert is an absolute beast. Fascinating to watch him destroy like a terminator.

Yeah, I had a lot of moments like that in different countries over there where what I heard growing up didn’t match the experience I had.

Holy shit, Bernal. The struggle is real. Let’s see what Pogacar does...

Oh hai, 13

somewhere else tonight

promising start

Epidemic

Wow

Bobke has always rubbed some people the wrong way. He’s actually toned it way down since working with Liggett. That was fun watching Bora and Sagan trying to make a genuine effort to get some significant points back in the green jersey competition. Races within the race like the battle between Bennett and Sagan make stages like today so much more interesting. And it’s always cool to see someone win their first Tour stage.

Same here, and yes. Watched LHN coaches show and All Access today. Cast to the tv with no issues.

That’s true of most places, but Europe was the first part of the world I got to explore while living there in my early 20s. Some of the best advice I got from the Welsh locals before I started exploring was to be a traveler and not a tourist. I’m so glad I made it a point to meet people and get their suggestions on where to go and what to see, especially in France. They are very proud of their country and are eager to show it off to those eager to learn and explore. I didn’t even go to Paris until my third trip to France. It’s a shame that so many Americans believe the bullshit stereotypes and put downs we’re fed growing up, especially someone like me who grew up in rural Texas surrounded by people who had never traveled or lived abroad. I love that place and there’s still so much more I want to see.

For the sake of the race, I hope to see Bernal bounce back and put up a fight, but that shot of him a couple of minutes after crossing the line was not promising. He looked utterly spent and crestfallen. I was calling bullshit on Ineos coming to the front, only to once again be shredded by Kuss when he took his turn to move forward and set the tempo. On the other side, Roglic looked like he measured his effort and even held back some. In those last 500 meters of the Puy Mary, Pogacar was doing all he could to hold the wheel. Roglic looked like he could have stood up on the pedals and left him behind if he wanted. If Bernal doesn’t have a significant response soon, the only real GC battle will be between Primoz and Tadej. And COVID testing, of course. Still, pretty compelling race so far and excited about young talent showing out in this race.

That’s it for the Peter Sagan show this year.

Almost certainly

“Marginal gains” keeping him safe

Damn, it looked like they were riding through an alley with the peloton three wide a minute ago, WTF.

Too bad for Prudhomme. Pretty surprising not a single rider tested positive. Glad all teams are still in the race.

Yeah, that was brutal to watch him get that far and then be in the position where sitting up and getting in the chase group to save energy for the sprint was the inevitable choice. Still, aside from being Swiss, this kid won a sprint stage and rode of the front on a mountain stage in the Pyrenees - very Cancellara-esque. What a talent! Also, what redemption for Pogacar after losing time on Stage 7. What a smart ride that kid did today, no pun intended.

Shit getting real now...

I’ve been mostly lucky at shows, but have had a full beer spilled down my back at a Rush show in Dallas and my nose busted by some idiot running through the crowd at a Faith No More show in London. Me and a buddy lost our dates at a Ministry show in Dallas when their trim coordinator asked them if they wanted to go backstage. They turned up three days later with the kind of tale one would expect from spending a few days with Ministry. One incident that stands out didn’t happen next to me, but it was something me and my friends watched from a distance. It was a Dead show on Halloween night in London. The crowd was mostly expats and American Deadheads who had followed them on their European dates that year (1990). After the last song, a cover of “Werewolves of London,” we saw a pack local shitheads running around the arena pickpocketing the stoned, tripping, or otherwise unaware Deadheads. We were on the floor looking up at this happening in the lower bowl and trying to yell, but no one could hear us. Fucking assholes.

White Water also had a somewhat padded slide you went down head first on a mat that and had a jump where you caught real air. As a BMX kid, I rode that thing until I was bruised. And that diving area was great, too. I hated when that place closed and we were relegated to the much tamer and regulated Wet n Wild.

Not sure what’s happening with Stephenville (there’s a Briles joke in there somewhere), but after beating Brownwood last week and crushing Stephenville last night, it looks like the run Lampasas made at state last year might not be a one off thing. They have my attention.

That happened quickly and it was a damned exciting stage to watch. Yet another reinforcement of the rolling chess match that is road racing. It’s not enough to just be strong and on good form. Once again we see who had the situational awareness inside the race to position themselves accordingly and be in the right place when the opportunity for splits arises. It’s fascinating to watch it happen in real time and the chaos it causes. Before that happened, it was fun to see that well planned and brutally executed strategy by Bora to eliminate the possibility of a bunch sprint and get Sagan to the intermediate sprint to take maximum points. Except for the actual intermediate sprint itself. Oops. I wonder what Pete said to Trentin. 😂