Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012: Prediction

1. Gallopin

2. Boonen

3. Cancellara

4. Pozzatto

5. Ballan

6. Gilbert

7. Kroon

8. Devolder

9. Paolini

10. Leukemans

Sagan doesn't make the cut. Pozzatto surpises some people. Ballan stays nice and consistent. Gilbert shows hidden form, but things don't work out for him. Then, Tony Gallopin of Radioshack will take the win. Want my rationale? I realize that this course is extremely hard, harder than in previous years. These cobbled hills favor Cancellara's smushing of everybone. He was relatively contained last year. This year it will be more difficult, but the last selective part of the course is 15 km out from the finish. (in my opinion) If Radioshack has any common sense, they will seek to make a preemptive killing of the Cancellara-getting-wheelsucked excuse. Their plan ought to be sending Tony Gallopin (a punchy rider becoming more and more adapt at hills and coming off a good showing at E3 Harelbeke) off the front. Cancellara will get the sick satisfaction of sucking Boonen's wheel dry and swallowing the straw in one fell gulp.

Those Moments

It's the unprecedented moments that create beauty in cycling and certainly in other aspects of life. Some of the most memorable cycling race days were the ones where I watched an underdog go toe-to-toe with the big dogs. Last Saturday, the most memorable moment of the season occurred. Jake Spelman, a recently upgraded Cat 3 made the breakaway in the Cat 1-2-3 race. I hardly expected him to finish the race with the peloton, but he finished 6th. I was incredibly happy to watch the race unfold.

It was just one of those moments.

Diagnosis

We got the results from my MR Arthogram. The results: a small tear in my right labrum. The procedure only looked at my right side, so it is likely that my left labrum has a small tear as well. I have been prescribed 6-8 weeks of physical therapy. At the end of that time period, my orthopedic surgeon will reevaluate the tear. I hope that means I can begin riding in late May/early June. Sadly, this means I will miss the L'Abitibi camp and probably Nationals, but there are many summer races that I can do: the Flagstaff Omnium, Another Damn Hill Climb, Mormon Lake Road Race, the Tolero Crits, and the ITT/TTT/HC Championships. I am very pleased to have a shot at Mount Graham this year.
I'm sure there will be more details about the recovery process. Maybe it will take more time, and maybe it will take less time. Who knows?
Time will tell.

Upcoming

An MR Arthogram tomorrow and a Wisdom Teeth extraction in two weeks.

The Cross-Contaminated Truth

This thought has bugged me for quite some time. Everyone I tell seems to shoot me down, but maybe you'll respond differently:

I often go to hotels...not for fun, of course, but for vacation and various travels. During most of my stays I end up eating from the hotel buffet and hearing the same command:
"Use the tongs to pick up the pineapples."
"Use the tongs to pick up that bagel."
"Use the tongs. That way, you won't spread bacteria and give everyone else your germs."

We listen, and we feel safe. However, when we analyze the effects of buffet tongs, we ask the question: are they really helping us?

The reason for using tongs is the fear of spreading germs. The great fear is a person's hands touching (directly or indirectly) the food that another person will eat. The modern day buffet tongs were invented to prevent cross contamination through hands. Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you today proposing that these tongs fail to do their job.
The problem lies in the fact that buffet tongs do not work automatically. They are, in fact, hand-operated. As I see it, this means that if you use buffet tongs, some of your germs and bacteria will find a home on the plastic utensil (or whatever material it is).
Here is the counter-argument:
"In order for the tongs to backfire in a bacterial sense, the victim would have to eat with his/her hands. And it is rare that a person will eat with his/her hands (excluding an eating utensil)."
That argument can be quickly refuted by means of expert testimony. As I previously stated, I have eaten in loads of hotel buffets. I have almost never failed to eat some type of finger food for breakfast. For a person like me, the touching of hands to the food is quite inevitable. The germs will come to me either way, but at least grabbing my buffet food with my hands can be healthier, so long as I use precision.

That is my case. Remember, free speech is allowed on this blog. You are allowed to disagree with me and express your opinions. You just aren't allowed to be right.

Milan San-Remo

1. Sagan
2. Visconti
3. Gerrans
4. Van Avermaet
5. Nibali
7. Cancellara
8. Gilbert
9. Cunego
10. Boonen

I realize that I am biased towards climbers, I realize that. However, I see the elimination of the pure sprinters to be a necessity. As I see it, only four teams are purely determined for a large bunch finish: Garmin, Lampre, Lotto Belisol, and Sky (even though Lampre has Cunego, Lotto has Vanendert, and Sky has Boasson Hagen). I believe the onus to drop Cavendish/Greipel/Petacchi is on Katusha and BMC, BMC especially. BMC has Van Avermaet, whose sprinting is underestimated, Ballan, who does well at this race, and Gilbert, who doesn't require much of an explanation.  Obviously Van Avermaet can't take Cavendish&co in a sprint, so BMC needs to attack and break things up. Gilbert will show everyone the form he was hiding and blow the race apart. Nibali will make a go of it, but he will find Simon Gerrans countering with Visconti and Sagan. Sagan will take Visconti in the sprint.

That's my take. Either that happens or Cavendish takes it over Greipel. I think my pick is more exciting.

Paris-Nice Stage 5

Here's a video to get you off my back.


I'm just sayin', I think Arnold Jeannesson could be a surprise rider this year.

Just not our year

Given that tomorrow heralds the Tucson Bicycle Classic, I looked back upon last year.
In 2011, by the start of TBC, my dad and I had seven race days between us.
This year, we have one.
This year has been a challenge for us both.