NorCal Cycling News

If you haven’t seen vid of Cadel clawing his way up those final, awful alpine slopes today …

well ~ you just don’t love bike racing enough.

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And how lovely was it, that the same morning this sweetest, roughest grand tour battle in years, swashbuckling its way up d’Huez … we see announced a new, an inclusive, an expanding Tour of California route spidering its way into new towns, new territories, new markets.

Yes, cycling is on it’s way up.

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But what in the world are we going to do with Bernard Kohl?

I mean ~ this guy is half-guppy, half-orangootang on a bike.  There hasn’t been this much coyote-ugly on 2-wheels since Fernando Escartin crab-jabbed his way up Sestriere against the one-ball’d wonderLance.

Still, this kid is growing aces in my book.  I liked how he almost asked for permission to set pace over the KOM at Cwaw-duh-Fehr … taking his PolkaPoints, but deferring to the CSC threshing machine.  He’s no Virenque, that Bernard.  good on’em for it.

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… and what a CSC display today, indeed.  Still, it will take the most heroic of time trials for Sastre to win this race.

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as it should be.

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And speaking of fugly’in up the bikeworld … what’s with showing up to the SLO-Podium so RiccoEscrubbaEsquela?

i mean, if you’re going to play pro-bike racer, you might as well make the rudimentary efforts of showing kit and accessories on the show-steps, don’t you think?  Somebody did buy all that stuff for you, didn’t they Ricco?

It looks like Escuela is just out of jail and RockRacing’s young gun Finneran is on his way to it. All scowl and horsemeat for that so-cal youngster.  right on.

Although i must say i am becoming more a convert to R&R’s musical-chairs of bike race costumery.

keeps you on your toes.

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At least DHolla’s got his ghettofabulous gig going strong. Those lemonade-shades have me smiling backwards in appreciation.  Hollowheed shows that you can be a kookpot-original without snubbing the hand that feeds.

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respect the race, or don’t take the payout, yo.

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what the vandevelde?

who cares whether VdV gets on the podium.  Let’s just hope one-thousand percent that this is what clean racing can be at the pinnacle of the sport.  Let’s just hope.

the question will be …

will aMErica ever be sophisticated enough to adore effort over domination.

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we are a country that loves winners.  trite though that statement may be, it doesn’t take away from the very, very real-world ramifications of our addiction to destination over journey.

Vandevelde has displayed courage, determination, and an intense willingness to try and be the best.

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that IS the best.

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