Faith and Reason with Bill Moyers: Mary Gordon and Colin McGinn

I chose to watch this tv show over the tour preview given how deflated I feel about things.
Mary Gordon's voice grates on my nerves. If I didn't know and like Colin, I'd turn it off, but instead I continue to listen with quick checks of OLN.

I hope they turn to CM soon...

There will be NO Tour de France this year

WOW! You thought FESTINA was bad in 1998. This situation now is 100 xs worse than that. Ullrich and Basso OUT? Maybe Gorgeous George and Pretty Boy Floyd or Levi will win one for the Americans, but who will care? NO ONE! The biggest story of the tour will be the riders NOT in the tour. I am so mad about this as I really wanted to see Ullrich win. I bet Lance is glad he didn't bother to participate this year. What a nightmare!

Update

I've been on the road (see my other blog) and generally busy with Michael's family situation, so posts here have been infrequent. I want to give an update on a few things:
1. Jan Ullrich won the Tour de Suisse; if you care, you already know this, so why mention it? Well, this site's name comes from the 2005 Tour de France, which was 21 stages. So, I periodically talk cycling. I'm psyched that der Kaiser brought the hammer down on the final time trial/stage for the win. Riis' remarks earlier that Jan looked terrible, didn't seem to like cycling, etc. were probably designed to stoke his fires - why you'd do that to someone cycling on a competiting team, I dunno, but I can't imagine Riis really believed what he said. Still, it's great to see Jan approaching top form, and I'm hoping the showdown on the Alps is tight. If either Ullrich, Basso, Levi Leipenheimer, or any other the other favorites - Floyd Landis anyone - take a crazy lead, then it will be a boring tour.

2. I'm teaching English 215 in Summer II. Want to talk about technical writing? Let me know. I've also expanded the community project, so all five of my students (yeah, all five) will be "consultants" to John Ridge's various businesses. I'll do it again in the Fall, where I'm guaranteed a bigger crowd. I'm looking for other businesses that might want to receive documentation created by students in the area.

3. Middletown City Council has been off the hook. I just can't explain it to folks outside of this town, but it scares me to think that this is how city politics works. We have 50K people here - we are a decent-sized place with a 27 million dollar budget. I received a call today from my ward rep, who wants me to be on a committee. I'll listen to what he has to say as I want to become more involved in local politics.

4. Michael and I continue to cycle but not as often as we'd like.

5. I enjoy hitting 24 mph on flats.

6. I don't enjoy hitting 38 mph on descents.

7. I'm rereading Lolita for my project. I've also purchased lots of cool older maps and promotional materials.

8. I moved the Tablet PC and desk from the dining room to the study, so now there are 2 desks, 3 computers, and 1 manual typewriter in the room.

9. My Lolita continues to make me smile daily. Bichon frises are awesome.

10. Enumerated lists are helpful.

Upcoming travel

I've booked several trips including visiting Blue Licks, Lincoln's birthplace, Mt. St. Helena, Mission Dolores, Russian Gulch State Park, and Magnolia Plantation.

Once I'm on the road again, I'll blog. I'll also post about the project iself, etc. Currently I am working on a piece looking at Mesker Zoo and its relation to the novel. I have a fairly good idea of an argument I wish to pursue beyond merely reviewing the Zoo's history, but I'd prefer to just tell a good story.

Do two people make a peloton?

Today I was a "ride leader" for me and Mike, who took his first trip on the big, bad roads of Ohio. We had a great time, but I was miffed at myself for having to get out of the saddle on a hill. I didn't have the right gear (was using Jan Ullrich monster gears), so I suffered. It took me a bit of time to catch my breath, but I was fine for the rest of the trip.

We did a version of the typical Saturday or Sunday ride led by David Myers - to Kathy's Kitchen in Germantown. I had my typical mid-ride meal: some french toast. I did get a banana as well, which was a good choice. I drank water - but a cup of coffee would have been nice. Must think of that digestive system.

I'm already itching to get on the bike again. In fact, earlier I was thinking, I could go for a ride NOW. I'll wait until at least tomorrow to get in the saddle again, but it's such a wonderful feeling to cycle. I hit 38 descending a hill. I hate descending hills. I also hit about 25 on a flat. The bike really responds well . It's amazing to just shift and increase speed by 4-6 mph without any additional effort (or so it seems). Still, I need to work on my climbing skills. I hate that I had to get out of the saddle.

Tomorrow I'll watch coverage of the Dauphine Libere (and lament my weak skills).

Pedal hard!

I'm ON THE ROAD WITH LOLITA

so to read about my exploits, check out that blog: