Archive: July 7, 2011

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TDF stage 6 / long rolling sprint - Boassen Hagen outkicks Gilbert and Hushovd, GC unchanged

Thursday,  07/07/11  10:45 PM

Today promised to be a lot more interesting than it was; such is the Tour.  (There are other days when you tune in thinking you're going to see three hours of parade followed by 30 seconds of sprint, only to see fireworks all through.)  I expected a breakaway to stay away, but instead a rather weak five-man group hung off the front, closely monitored, as the peloton drove on through the rollers amid rain, all of which culminated with a rather disorganized bunch sprint on a slight incline.  Edvard Boasson Hagen of Sky blasted to the front, closely pursued by Philippe Gilbert and Thor Hushovd.  None of the true sprinters gave it a go. I think today the mid-race sprint point worked against an interesting break.  The sprinters' teams kept the pressure on and nobody could get away.  Perhaps a stronger / larger break would have worked, but on the other hand a stronger / larger break wouldn't have been allowed to form in the first place. Bad luck for Levi Leipheimer; he crashed just outside the 3km boundary, and by the time he was back up and chasing the field was in full sprint.  He ended up losing a minute on GC which he'll definitely wish he had back later in the Tour. Tomorrow we have a pancake flat stage which probably will be three hours of parade followed by 30 seconds of sprint; but then again you never know, so stay tuned :) [ Tour de France 2011: all posts | index ]

 

Thursday,  07/07/11  11:01 PM

I checked in at work today; everything seems fine there, somehow they are surviving without me.  I spent the day fighting an unplanned personal fire, recovered, and ended up visiting the Center of the Universe to see the Dodgers shut out the Mets with my kids.  Final score 3 hot dogs and 1 beer.  Most excellent. Ed Morrissey: do we really have a revenue problem?  Um, no.  We have a spending problem.  Home price survey: no rebound in sight.  Sigh.  Related: Zillow's "Zestimate" shifts.  Down.  Scary :(  Just read Brad Feld's review of I am John Galt, and just bought it on my Kindle.  A great weekend read, yippee.  The ability to instantly buy and read a book you've heard about is one of the Kindle's great virtues.  The grand illusion: 'who to believe', a beautiful sculpture outside Paris' city hall.  "When viewed from a specific angle, the 100 meter long grass installation appears to be a much smaller three-dimensional sphere."  Awesome!  I must see it (and I will in a few weeks :)  This is cool: how to beat a chess grandmaster.  In which a magician uses memory to defeat nine expert players at once.  The clever approach is all explained, but the twist at the end is rather bewildering.  Well tomorrow I'm off; Shirley and I are driving up to Lake Topaz for the weekend, so I can ride the Death Ride on Saturday.  Blogging may be intermittent, see you next week!

 

a visit to the Center of the Universe

Thursday,  07/07/11  11:34 PM

a visit to the Center of the Universe (click to enbiggen amazingly) tonight my girls and I watched the Dodgers shut out the Mets final score 3 hot dogs 1 beer most excellent

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