Tour News and Fashion Update.

The Tour de France has finished with two british riders in first and second position. I imagine the French are overjoyed with this result.

One of the highlights of the tour for me is a purely professional interest in the latest fashions as paraded by the podium girls. Pezcyclingnews do a good review of the latest fashions here:
http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=dds/dds12/dds-jul12
During my cycling carreer I made more appearances backstage at the Giro, the following image typifies that scene....
http://pezcyclingnews.com/cgi/gallerypicget.asp?pic=http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/babes/babes12/otbf12-giro12st21.jpg

Back on the Chain Gang.

I'll be out at 0900 on Sunday. I'm awaiting the second episode of last week's history lesson. It would seem that one of the pivotal moments of the 20th century was when the Werhmacht only had one division (not two as reported in many texts) at the Dzerzhinsky tractor factory in Stalingrad. Had they triumphed at that venue we would possibly all be speaking German. Most people would have heard of the Battle of Stalingrad, if not being knowledgable in it's finer details.
As a slight distraction, here's Chrissie looking good....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQcuIkZWGl8&feature=related

Jens Voigt.

An exciting tour stage this morning saw Jens Voigt descend the Col de Richemonde like a man possessed to rejoin the leading break with 10km to go. Thomas Voeckler ultimately took the stage in a great, slightly uphill battle. The really memorable part for me was Phil Liggett's commentary on Jens Voigt. Phil was complimenting a man who at age 40 is still able to keep the mental strength to train for 7 hours a day as is required by a professional rider. Mr. Liggett was further amazed that Jens can do this when he has six children at home as he is missing all those wonderful moments of their childhood! Hmm.....question........is it easier or harder to go out on your bike all day when you have six children at home?

Proper Cycling.

Yesterday's Tour De France stage was very refreshing. It looked like real racing rather than the usual 'catch the break by 1 minute every 10 kilometres' to overhaul some poor hopeful with 500 metres to go. The Tour’s youngest competitor, Thibaut Pinot passed leader Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana) with 17km to race and launched a bold attack that left him with enough of a gap to hold off a host of big name challengers who pursued him intensely. Aside from the cycling the show of emotion from Marc Madiot in the team car left photographers struggling to decide where to point their instruments.

The Final Chapter.

Spain demolished Italy this morning in a fair end to Euro 2012. Despite the fact that Italy should not really have been there, how in a game of 'professional' footbal did they find themselves unable to replace a seriously injured player at the 60 minute mark? It is understandable that Prandelli had to take action when he found his team 2-0 down at half time. What I cannot grasp is how he thought that he could use up all his substitutions and risk an injury leaving him with ten against eleven at this point in the game.

On another note look at this quote from the New Zealand Herald....
"Losing 2008 finalist Germany looked to be on fire at Euro 2012, scoring almost at will, before the team packed with talent and pace suddenly misfired horrendously in its semifinal against Italy, losing 2-1, overwhelmed by Italy's passing and the finishing of Balotelli. And England was just England, perpetually unable to live up to its own self-important expectations." - John Leicester - Associated Press.

This guy is probably English but what on earth is he talking about. Anyone I know born before 1980 has no expectations whatsoever for the England football team. We still watch but we know that it is  a lost cause until the blazers at the English FA recognise that the future national team is aged 5-10 and kicking a ball around in the suburbs of England. Should they actually realise this  fact they could then put a system in place to develop this talent.

Enough said.....

Football? What Football?

Only another two years people. I must admit I thought England would get past Italy and lose to Germany but as Jimmy Greaves once said "It's a funny old game!"

Please take the time to watch this video clip (only 5 minutes).....I've been saying this for years.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aBiTnUqW8&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Dobber.

The Calm Before the Storm.

England have qualified top of their group which means they avoid Spain for the time being. I have just returned from the back garden after warming my hands on a bonfire of clothing displaying the word 'Italia'. It may be necessary to leave home on Sunday as the rest of the family will be cheering on those men in blue. Presumably somewhere in Eastern Europe intensive 'diving' practice is under way with sessions on how to get the most out of your hair dryer during the half time break. Poor old Ukraine eh? One commentator said that they were not really football mad in the Ukraine he then went on to say that they were not even Ukraine mad, just keen on corruption and old cars. Apparently the slab of a man who is the Ukrainian coach ordered one of the journalists outside of the post match press conference for a 'man fight'.
France don't deserve to be there, they were lazy and arrogant against Sweden or dare I say it, French! Shame about the Dutch car wreck......So, in conclusion, all England have to do now is beat Italy and Germany and they'll be in the final of Euro 2012.

England's Brave John Terry.

The tension builds. A draw is enough but it is doubtful that playing for a draw is enough. Wayne has managed to lace his boots up, not a bad start. The Ukraine start at full pace, England's 4-4-2 stands out from above like the Maginot Line. Chances come and chances go. England's brave John terry is the 'man in the middle', he heads off many aerial attacks. After twenty minutes the pace settles, England start to push forward. Gerrard is the 'new Beckham' for set pieces, at 23:30 he puts a nice ball in, the keeper is in no man's land but Rooney is just short. The perfect ball to Rooney's head comes at 28:00 but he fails to convert. The Ukraine win the first half on points but it is still 0-0.
Ahhh......defensive stuff up by Ukraine, ball bounces through, Rooney is 'Johnny on the Spot' and stumbles into the ball to score. Sorry, in fairness, he was in the right place and onside. England are in charge now but the Ukraine keep at it. on sixty minutes it looks like a certain goal but England's Brave John Terry clears it off the line. I think he actually clears it from 90% over the line. That was close. England are through and so are France after losing 2-0 to Sweden. Monday morning and more stress.....Italy are the nominated opponents. Why do they do this to us?

Wayne's World.

Roy Hodgson - England Manager has stated that Wayne Rooney is 'special'. Is this news? I suspect that Roy means that he is a special player on the pitch. The key point though is that he has not actually been on the pitch. He has not been on the pitch because he was special enough to take his hoof to a Montenegro player in the final qualifying game. Call me traditional but I wouldn't be too upset to see Wayne remain getting splinters in his backside. After all the other chaps did rather well in that historic victory over Sweden. Hopefully the final pool game will be interesting and England don't go out and play for a draw. That is a very risky strategy.

Here We Go, Here We Go, Here We Go!

Having cunningly planned to be in the middle of nowhere with a bike when England v Sweden was played out I was shocked to discover that it was on Saturday morning not Sunday (NZ time). I was therefore obliged to watch and was pleasantly surprised by first half proceedings. Liverpool (er I mean England) took the lead with a great cross from Gerrard headed home by Andy Carroll. The game was really open and exciting, hang on is this an England game of which I speak? The plot returned to normal when England found themselves losing 2-1 after 60 minutes. The game really opened with end to end play and England made a brave comeback to win 3-2. I am expecting to wake up soon and realise that the game is about to kick off.
Next episode on Wednesday....

Ingerland Defend 1-1 Lead.

A new chapter in English football kicked off this morning under the direction of new manager Mike Bassett (a.k.a. Roy Hodgson). Those of us with deep knowledge of the game were relieved to see a return to the solid 4-4-2 formation. None of this fancy modern rubbish. In the early stages England played with characteristic fairness and sportingly passed the ball to the French in midfield when they felt they had been in possession for more than three passes. England displayed a lack of flair up front, Fat Wayne was watching from the stand due to having booted a player in the last qualifier. There was a moment of excitement as a through ball to Milner enabled him to beat the keeper and neatly hit the outside of the side netting. Then at the 30 minute mark a perfect cross by Stephen Gerrard MBE, from a free kick enabled Lescott to head home. How many times have you told your team to drop the cross on the edge of the six yard box!! It seems that England's biggest hope is from the set piece as it has been for 20 years. The French later equalised with a great shot from outside the area. Later in the game Ribery started play acting like an Italian every time he was touched. The second half seemed to be game where both teams defended their 1-1 lead and the group will be decided on who can play the worst in their other matches. Ingerland now awaits.

Winter Wonderland and Ingerland Expects.

Snow on the ground has had me driving to work this week. The excuse is that I don't want to encourage the offspring to ride to school on icy roads.

At the start of last Sunday's ride we had the Builder, the New Parent, the Engineer and the Optimist. The Engineer was mumbling about taking the chance to go up a hill as the ex Para was not present to command the mission. He was asking to take it easy shortly before racing off up Hackthorne Road. You guys amaze me at times, I have a different understanding of 'take it easy', my definition is NOT 'sprint up a hill'.
Along the summit road we passed the Paramedic, the Chopper Pilot and the Water Skier (or is it now Mr. Shitmano) going the other way. A brief exchange of pleasantries was followed by the Optimist and the Engineer mulling over the possibilities of an electronic jamming device for the new electronic shifters ;-).
On the descent of the Stelvio, the Engineer tried to escape. It was looking promising until the New Parent put his foot down on the flat to Motukara. Tiffin at Tai Tapu was followed by a 45km/h race back to town. The New Parent must be eating Farley's rusks or some other secret breakfast as having babies normally limits cycling for a few years.

No ride for me this weekend as I am off up to Auckland to see Lady Gaga. So I shall expect a report from someone else.

In other news, England take on Europe at football again, starting with France on Tuesday morning. The usual questions are being ask namely  "Who's missus is JT shagging?" and "Who is going to score the goal?".

On Any Sunday.

Last Sunday's ride had six starters, the Engineer, the Builder, the Ex Para, the Man fromWanaka, the Rave Organiser and the Optimist. The Engineer gave up at Tai Tapu with some excuse about an upper respiratoty tract infection. This was shortly after passing the Water Skier, the Helicopter Pilot and the Physiotherapist who were travelling in the opposite direction. The Water Skier had been on the phone the previous day with concerns about his move from Campagnolo to Shitmano despite advice from the Optimist to the contrary.
Shortly after Tai Tapu the Optimist was not amused to feel water droplets that were not due to the Builder clearing his nose. Earlier in the morning the decision had been taken to wear shorts to to the mild temperature. Five kilometres later the squall had arrived with a vengeance and the wise call was made to stop (or hide) at the Motukarara cafe. Fortunately for the group it seemed to take about 45 minutes to make five coffees, did I mention that the Engineer had gone home with a sniffle?? How can it take 45 minutes to make five coffees? There were only two other customers!! Anyway normal service resumed with sunshine for the ascent of the Stelvio (er I mean Cooper's). Contrary to team orders the boys waited at the top for me. More next week......

Under A Tuscan Sun.

The last post was from Germany, this one comes from Italy in the spirit of keeping the blog alive. The photo below was taken outside our rented villa in Tuscany. The village under the Rainbow is Bibbiena. The area looks good for cycling except that the roads are quite narrow. Despite this fact there are plenty of cyclists all on top end italian frames.

Pinarello Jim would feel at home. When we arrived here I found a bike and scooter shop smelling of oil with a Bianchi hanging on the wall outside. After venturing into the back of this cave I discovered three men huddled round a computer. One was a policeman on duty and the man on the keyboard seemed to be the owner. he was looking at pictures of himself in a recent bike race. There was a beautiful old steel Bianchi hanging in the workshop. The owner didn't seem bothered about renting me a bike so I left. My cycling exploits have therefore been limited to testing all the coffee outlets available in the local area. the fact is that round here an expresso is 90 euro cents and a cappucino is Euro 1.10, the average time to delivery of the product is two minutes. How on earth can they justify $4.50 for a coffee in New Zealand and take 20 minutes over it at some venues.