Back to cycling

I haven't posted anything of substance here (if you consider blogging about the TdF substantial) in a good amount of time, but with today's ITT and my ride, I thought I'd add some text to cyberspace.

First, I was glad to see Vino win the ITT today; I am not sure he can make up enough ground in the remaining seven stages, but Vino is an exciting rider to watch... now, Levi "the next great American cyclist" zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, oh, sorry, fell asleep for a moment... Yes, Vino = exciting; Levi=boring. I really hope Levi doesn't win it; heck, I'd be glad to see Contrador win, but I doubt Bruyneel would give him the protection he'd need to do that. Despite the statements that both are protected riders, you know Levi is going to be given the most opportunity to win the Tour. AC will have his chance in upcoming years.

Second, I took a solo ride - second day in a row - and had a good time except for those terrible crosswinds (hi Bob Roll) and my neck pain. This is the same pinched nerve / neck torture I experienced last year; I get it while running too, so it's not just a cycling thing. It's probably a bad posture thing. Yesterday I put in 17 miles on mostly flat road; today I put in 21 and did a bit of climbing. I also wore my heart monitor. Avg 144 bmp, high of 174. I probably was more at 150 or so for the good part of the ride; coming back through town, I went down to 132, which affected the average certainly. The best part of the ride was hitting 26-27 mph on the rollers. Of course, I have this dread fear that some car, animal, or small child is going to jump in front of me when I'm at that speed. There was one random dog attack. Ok, it wasn't so much of an attack as a golden retriever that spotted me and started to run from his yard straight for me. Luckily i was cruising along at 19mph and by the time he saw me, I was able to get past him. Hitting a dog at 19 mph is bad both for dog and rider.

Well, I'm going to do some reading now and get a shower. Should mow the lawn too, I suppose.