[kd1966]

I'll admit, it wasn't until Lance Armstrongs 2nd Tour win that I got interested at all, but now that I'm somewhat "limited" in my own mobility due to previous lower back injuries, I have done more bike riding, and watching those guys ride for hours is pretty motivational to me.

This years Tour is certainl off on a bad foot, however............... nearly all the top competition is out from drug/doping scandals that have not been proven.............. Good thing Ullrich already has 1 Tour victory, but guys like Basso, and a few ohers were just getting started on their Tour careers. It would really be a shame if nothing comes of the allegations and guys careers are marred becuase of someone crying "cheater"..................

That being said, it's still an exciting thing to watch, especially now that all the "favorites" are out; usually by now they are talking about how LA will take over in mountain stage-x............. hard to say now WHO could win

[augie]

I agree with everything you've said and a sad state affairs it is. Did you know that L.A. was probably the most tested athlete anywhere? It's about time the real cheaters got their due, way overdue IMO. I hope that they finally clean their act up. It's only shown in French up here, but I can deal with that. Let's see who gets ahead in this crap shoot.

Good to see that you can ride with your injury, it's also easy on the knees. Unfortunately, I can't ride anymore.

[kd1966]

Truthfully, my knees feel worse than my back, but you said it................ bikes are easy on the knees for the most part. Heckuva crash by Julich as well................. hope he'll continue his riding career

[augie]

Landis finally got the yellow jersey! I just found out that he's due for hip replacement after the race. Should be interesting tomorrow.

[kd1966]

Dang....... you JUST heard about that??? We've been inundated with this for over a week now.......... Media is looking for some angle to make him look like a "tough guy"................ as if what he accomplished didn't already do that.........

[augie]

Dang....... you JUST heard about that??? We've been inundated with this for over a week now.......... Media is looking for some angle to make him look like a "tough guy"................ as if what he accomplished didn't already do that.........

Ya, just heard but I didn't have much background on him. The French must be livid as Landis won. First a cancer survivor wins seven in a row, then another yank with a bum hip beats the field. They must be cursing their fate!

[kd1966]

Yeah, pretty cruel to the French.................. but the good news for them is that Floyd likely won't be back for next years tour................. Hip repl's are far worse than a shoulder repl........... but he is young and could totally make my statement invalid............

[c0ldfyr3]

I still ride every day just so i can one day beat Lance's record. i got to ride with team UPS in joshua tree a couple of years ago. very nice, though i was only on a Trek 1420 aluminum frame bike, i could still keep up with them.

we rode a total of 154miles that day, the farthest i have rode was 218Miles in 2003. i did the Hemet double but i rode the extra 9 miles in to town and out of town, it rained that nights too.

i ride at a top speed sprint of 56Mph and an average of 24Mph, and 67Mph downhill ( only because i get a high speed wobble)

[kd1966]

That was one thing I wish I would have done when I was younger............... get involved in bike racing..... but I didn't even know about it until I was already in the Army..........

[augie]

Aaaarrgggh, Landis may be tainted. We'll see what the B sample brings. http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/0727/tourdefrance.html