Sunday, December 30, 2007

Software

We did have Christmas here. And I did get a picture of our Christmas visitor. And I did intend to post it. But I failed some part of the photography task by not activating the red eye reduction in the flash settings. I therefore ended up with a sub-standard photo. Then it took me a bunch of days (until just now) to figure out which of the software tools already installed on the hard drive here would edit out the too much red. It was that collage from Picasa that got me started. I have photos posted to the Picasa webphoto hosting service so I thought maybe the editor would work. Maybe it would but it looked to me like a download and I decided I didn't want to download the rest of the program. But today I opened the scanner program which is already resident on the HD and looked around in there. Sure enough, I found an editor.

So here is our tree, our presents, and our shining star.

Joyeuses fêtes.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

W. Wonderland

I read on Wikipedia that the winter solstice only lasts for an instant. However, the day when the solstice occurs is also commonly called winter solstice. I am going to rule that either usage is acceptable.

I was up for a few minutes during the middle of the night, probably quite close to the time when the solstice occurred (shortly after midnight local time) and discovered that it was raining outside. I went to the window and watched for a bit. My thought was that the melting effect of the rain could combine with the possibility that the streets might dry and produce a day on which a bicycle ride might be possible. Alas, the temperatures continued to decline throughout the darkness, as they usually do, and by the time I got up this morning the rain had turned to snow.It is a very heavy snow but fortunately most of the weight fell as the rain and we don't have much snow. What we do have has assumed picturesque poses in our backyard (above) and in our neighbor's (below). The weight that fell as rainfall does not have to be shoveled and also does not bow the branches of the trees the way heavy snow would. The trees are spared.Apparently it is also winter in France (who knew?) and four games from round 19 of Ligue 2 have been postponed due to poor field conditions. This from the FC Nantes website: "En raison des conditions climatiques délicates, quatre rencontres de la 19ème journées ont été remises à une date ultérieure." The postponed games were all scheduled for yesterday in cities in the northern part of France and included the Le Havre home game against third place Clermont Foot.

Nantes and Guingamp were scheduled for today and a slight rise in temperature meant that the field was not frozen and the game went on.

Interviewed on the Nantes website earlier in the week, manager Michel Der Zakarian commented on the nearly complete first half. "Même si ce n'est qu'un titre honorifique, j'ai envie d'être champion d'automne,", even though it is only an honorary title, I still want to be the champion of autumn.

Nantes may have done enough against Guingamp to earn the autumn champion label as the Canaries earned a point away from home by drawing 0-0. The result leaves Nantes on 39 points for the first half of the season, one short of their goal of 40. The result also leaves the door open for Le Havre to spoil the other goal as a victory by Le Havre in the make up against Clermont would put Le Havre on 39 with a superior goal differential and therefore the "champion d'automne".

Nonetheless, Nantes is on a path which clearly leads back to Ligue 1 as they lead the fourth place team by 9. Last year 70 points earned the third promotion slot.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Curling obituary

Legendary sports broadcaster Don Chevrier passes away

Don Chevrier, a popular sports announcer best known in Canada as the original television voice of the Toronto Blue Jays, died at home on Monday. He was 69.

Chevrier also provided television network coverage of the Olympic Games for North American audiences since 1972, working for the CBC, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and the CTV Television Network before moving on to NBC. More recently, he covered events at the 2004 Summer Olympics, including badminton, table tennis, and synchronized swimming for NBC.

Chevrier is perhaps best known in places in the USA where curling is contested as the voice of curling on TV. If you have ever seen curling on TV it is probable that the distinctive voices that you heard were Chevrier and his longtime partner, Don Duguid. "The Two Dons" called curling at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin for NBC. Chevrier did the play by play, Duguid provided commentary.

Chevrier, who was born in Toronto but lived in Palm Harbor, Florida, suffered from a blood disorder and was recently admitted to hospital before being released a few days later.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Luck of the draw

Gérard Houllier, Directeur Technique National (DTN), et Nathalie Dechy, joueuse de tennis française professionnelle, ont procédé lundi midi à Lille au tirage au sort des 32èmes de finale de la Coupe de France.La Fédération Française de Football rolled out a celebrity on Monday in Lille to participate in the draw for the next round of la Coupe de France. Nathalie Dechy (with Andy Ram the 2007 French Open mixed doubles champion and two time US Open women's doubles champion, with Dinara Safina in 2007, and with Vera Zvonareva in 2006) helped out and the draw was again favorable for FC Nantes.

Nantes has drawn another away match, this time at ÉDS Montluçon. Montluçon is a town of about 32,000 located in central France. The team plays in the Championnat France Amateur, the 4th level of French football, in Groupe D. This is an interesting bit as Groupe D also includes the FC Nantes reserve side. Montluçon is currently 14th in the 18 team league, the Nantes reserve team is 17th. Les Sables d'Olonne is currently 18th.

Also interesting is that Orleans plays in this group, currently fifth. That means that it is likely that the Nantes reserve side has played previously this year in the stadium in Orleans. The five Nantes reservists who played for the senior side against Saran last Saturday in the Orleans stadium may have had the advantage of already having played a game there.

The draw is spiced by two draws of a Ligue 1 team versus another Ligue 1 team (Auxerre against Saint-Etienne and Lorient against Valenciennes). This means that no more than 18 Ligue 1 teams will survive to the round of 32.

At least 6 teams from below Ligue 2 will survive. There are two CFA v. CFA draws (Ligue 4 v. Ligue 4), one CFA2 v. CFA (5 against 4), one CFA2 v. DH (5 v. 6), one National v. DH (3 v. 6), and one CFA v. National (4 v. 3). At least 4 teams from the fourth league or lower will survive, one of which will be at least league five or lower.

All of this leaves room for 8 from Ligue 2 to advance to the next round, assuming no upsets. FC Nantes will be the favorite to be one of those 8 but, of course, there are always upsets, that's why they actually play the games.

Paris FC received an unfavorable draw, having drawn Ligue 1 Toulouse at Toulouse.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Canary youth movement

USM Saran 0, FC Nantes 3.

Saran is a suburb of Orleans and as was the case when Vertou hosted Nantes, the suburban team felt that their regular home ground would not have sufficient seating capacity for this game against a storied opponent. The game was moved to the big stadium in the city proper. Approximately 5,000 were in attendance for the game at the home ground of the Orleans club.

Earlier in the week team manager Michel Der Zakarian had been quoted as saying that Nantes had to use their speed to destabilize the lower league side and obviously Nantes was successful in doing so. Nantes was missing many players due to injury and suspension and Der Zakarian had to call on the youth of the organization. Five of the Nantes eleven were call ups from the Nantes reserves, including both forwards and the keeper. The reserves are mostly young players who usually are being groomed for future service with the senior team. Given this early opportunity and exposure the youth were sensational. Reserve team striker Ima Faneva Andriatsima found the back of the net in the 20th minute to stake Nantes to a half time lead of 0-1. The two young forwards produced many opportunities and eventually scored again as the third Nantes goal was scored by teenage sensation Youcef Sekour. The 19 year old Sekour again proved his mettle with his third goal in two games since joining the senior side.

Elsewhere in Coupe de France action, Paris FC also advanced to the round of 64. The teams of Ligue 1 enter the draw at this stage which means that the possibility exists, although remote, that Paris FC could draw as its opponent in this round the current Ligue 1 relegation zone habitant, Paris Saint Germain.

The draw for the next round is to be held Monday.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Surrender

Here is what you find in my basement in the winter time: furnace, hot water heater, my bicycle.The season is over, the bicycle is in the basement.

Scheduled winter maintenance: a new chain, maybe a new cog on the cassette, and a complete cleaning.

Last Monday in the southern French city of Montpellier, the Montpellier Herault Sport Club held FC Nantes to a 0-0 tie, dropping Nantes from first to second place in the Ligue 2 table for the first time since very early in the season. This evening in Le Havre Montpellier again took the field against the first place team in the league, this time Le Havre, and again played to a 0-0 tie, and again dropped the opponent into second place in the league. With the 18th round of league play now complete, Nantes holds first place by 2 points with a single game remaining until the half way mark in the season schedule. Nantes is on 38 points while fourth place, the first team outside the promotion zone, is on 29.

Thanks to Wireless for providing a translation of the description on the Nantes website of the Friday night yellow card offense of the Nantes player and two goal scorer Youcek Sekour. Also thanks to her for noticing that he is only 19. All additional mentions of young Sekour for the rest of this season will reference him as the "teenage sensation, Youcek Sekour."

Allez Nantes!

Friday, December 7, 2007

Blogger fix

I haven't posted many pictures lately so maybe I should just let it go. But the Blogger picture fix turns out not to be a retrofit. Pictures being uploaded now are behaving correctly, or at least they are on other sites, but the ones which were producing a download box instead of a full size photo on this site were still broken. I went through my old posts and found that there were only three such photos so I went ahead and performed the work around for all three, editing the code to make them behave properly. It probably isn't a big deal to anyone else, but it makes me happy.

On the subject of photos I notice that the Legend has posted a photo of a friend at a Superfund site standing in front of what appears to be a tree with what I take to be a non-tree color patch of bark very visible. Hmmm.

Nantes returned to Ligue 2 action this evening at their home ground. Amiens led 1-0 at the half as a result of a 21st minute own goal scored by Nantes defender Jean-Jacques Pierre on an errant header off an Amiens corner.

In the 51st minute Nantes again scored on a header off a corner kick, but this time defender Yoann Poulard directed the ball into the Amiens net to draw Nantes even at 1-1. Youcek Sekour then scored twice, in the 60th and 77th minutes to secure the 3-1 victory. Sekour received a yellow card after his second goal and I appeal to French speakers for an explanation as the website states, "Youcef Sekour est sanctionné par Mr. Turpin pour une semelle trop appuyée." Mr. Clement Turpin is the "Arbitre", the referee. Is this another excessive celebration yellow card?

The crowd was below average for Nantes, only 18,646 were in attendance. It was the last game for this calendar year at Stade de la Beaujoire. Les Canaris reprennent la tête au général devant Le Havre qui évoluera lundi soir face à Montpellier. The Canaries retake first place in the general classification ahead of Le Havre which plays Monday night against Montpellier.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Not a fit night out for man or beast

It didn't snow as much today as it snowed on Saturday. The difference was, obviously, it snowed while we were all at work.

It took me an hour and 15 minutes to get home from work. Each and every time I approached a traffic light I had to wait through a minimum of two cycles before I could proceed.

It was not a fit night out for man or beast.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Known issues for the new Blogger

I noticed a problem and found the following information at "Help".

Clicking on image uploaded through the post editor will show a file download box instead of showing the full-size image in the browser. We are currently working to fix this issue. In the meantime, a workaround is to make two changes to the first URL in the image tag:

1. Replace "-R" with "-h".
2. Replace the image location folder (preceeding something like "s1600-R") with the folder in the second URL.

They then give examples of the old code and the new code as an illustration. I tried to copy and paste it here but it is of course code and tries to do what code does making itself invisible to the non-code eye.

Find the full explanation here:

They are working on it.

Montpellier 0, Nantes 0. Nantes returns to even on points with Le Havre. Le Havre retains first place on goal differential.

Nantes returns to action Friday at home against Amiens. Amiens is currently 18th in the table, mired in the relegation zone. Nantes closes out the first half of the season on December 22 against Guingamp. Guingamp is currently 17th in the table. I found an article on one of the websites about the Nantes goal to complete the first half of the season with 40 points. They are on 35 after today and would therefore need wins in both of the remaining games to reach 41. As the games are against bottom dwellers of the table the goal still seems reachable.

Le Havre finishes the first half at home to Montpellier, currently 8th, and at home to Clermont Foot, currently 6th. Le Havre has much stronger opposition but will have the advantage of both games at home. Both Nantes and Le Havre play in la Coupe de France in the period between the first of these two games and the second.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Winter arrives

It is here now.

I don't know if we have had the predicted 6 inches yet. It started this morning and snowed hard for a spell. But we got out and went to the hockey game without a huge amount of difficulty. The street seemed plenty fine on the way back to the garage and I stayed out and shoveled half of the driveway. It was only 3 or 4 inches but as I shoveled it resumed snowing pretty hard. By morning I am sure winter will be unmistakable. I will be bringing my good bike inside.

This photo was taken around 10am this morning only about 45 minutes after the snow began. This is through the glass door out into our back yard. The neighbor's cats are getting old and can no longer hunt as efficiently as they did when younger. The bunnies return.I just can't seem to help myself, I love this French football. Here is a headline from the English language website where I get Ligue 1 news:

Monaco v. Nice Riviera clash ends 1-1.

It had not previously occurred to me but of course, Monaco and Nice, the Cote d'Azur, the beautiful people, I wonder if Prince Albert is a fan.

And then this, also from today:

"A nightmare season continued in the French capital as a terrible defensive error from Ceara gifted Caen victory at the Parc des Princes and left PSG mired in the relegation zone after yet another shocking result."

Paris FC also played today and was held to a draw. Paris FC remains 3 points outside the promotion zone in Ligue 3 keeping alive the possibility of Paris-Saint Germain and Paris Football Club both in Ligue 2 next year.

And finally I suppose that every Daily Photo blogger in the Twin Cities area has a version of this shot on bridge theme day. I have used it before but repeat it for today's theme.Welcome to winter
In Minnesota.
Here is your fuel bill.
Ha ha ha ha ha.

Friday, November 30, 2007

One last French football post

And it may also be the very last bicycle post as the weather prediction is for a possible 6 to 10 inches of snow before the weekend is out which would certainly bring to a final and irrevocable close my bicycle riding season.

Ligue 2 resumed today and Le Havre battled from 2 behind in the second half to earn a 3-3 draw with Reims. The result moves Le Havre into first place alone on points but opens the door for Nantes in its Monday evening encounter at Montpellier. Nantes trails by a single point and can retake the top position by snatching the away 3 points at Montpellier. This is certainly no easy task as Montpellier is solidly in the top half of the league but nonetheless the opportunity is there.

The draw for the 8th round of la Coupe de France has been held and Nantes has drawn another 6th division opponent. The game is scheduled for either the 15th or 16th of December at Union Sportive Municipale de Saran. Saran is a suburb of Orleans. Drawing another lowly opponent is good luck for Nantes as the draw included 3 games where Ligue 2 teams will be matched against other teams from Ligue 2.

44 games are scheduled for the December weekend, reducing the field to the 44 winners who will be joined in the draw for the next round by the 20 teams of Ligue 1. Nantes has drawn a 6th level opponent for this round but faces the probability of seeing much stronger opposition if they can continue on.

The complete draw is reported on the Nantes website and a team I have recently mentioned is also still alive: Paris FC will be at home to Villefranche or Feurs.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Whose woods these are I think I know

Actually I am pretty sure I know whose woods these are. Today I went to an all day meeting at the Cloquet Forestry Center. The Center, located just south of Cloquet, is owned by the UofM. It is a research and instruction center for the University's Forestry program. This is what it looked like today. It was 2 degrees on the bank time and temperature display when the bus passed through Cloquet. Winter has arrived in Cloquet.

I have not taken the course of instruction from the University but I do know that those are red pine, also known as Norway pine.Here comes the bike part. The main speaker was a geologist whose subject for the day was carbon sequestration in the Mid-Continent Rift as a strategy for dealing with global warming. The part that I heard was the idle chit-chat introduction that our geology guy gave him that said he was a marathoner and a triathlete. OK, I know what triathlon is so I went up to him at the break and after waiting for all the geophysicists and such to complete their technical questions I asked him what he rides.

He was immediately even more animated than he had been while talking about the Mid-Continent Rift. He rides a Cervelo. I knew that Cervelo was one of the favorites of the triathlon crowd but after today's conversation I know quite a bit more than I previously knew.

He and I had a nice moment as we discussed the point which I believe I originally read on FatCyclist about how few people there are who understand and appreciate what a wonderful thing a really nice bike which fits properly is and what a wonderful tool such a bike is and what wonderful things you can accomplish with such a tool.

Bike post, and here's some poetry:

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-Robert Frost

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Salt residue

I am not sure when this happened because I think I have been watching but today there was a white film along the edge of the entrance ramp of the freeway and then the same white between the drive lanes, clear evidence that that section of roadway has been salted. I know it has been cold enough but it has not really snowed and that first application of salt to the roads usually occurs contemporaneously with the first snow fall. Just being cold isn't enough as you also need moisture to produce poor traction requiring melting and I just do not recall that having occurred this year. But the salt residue was unmistakable. This is actually a bicycle post as the first application of salt is a sign certain that the season is over. I do not wish to expose my nice bike to potent corrosive chemicals so I usually bring it inside when salt appears on the streets. I am uncertain at this moment and it seems likely that the weather will make the decision for me before I have to do much worrying but the evidence is mounting that the bicycle season is over.

I have that "Gullible Info" widget over there on the side of my page and this is what I found on it when I logged on today:

"The Battle Creek Enquirer published the prior week's lottery numbers on February 15 2007, causing Michigander Bret Nelson to throw away what is believed to be the winning $17 million ticket."

Is this really true? Or am I just really gullible?

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Nice punish PSG

I was checking a French football website just now to find out if the draw for the next round of la Coupe de France has been held yet. It has not. But the headline on the front page of the website set me to surfing. It seems that Nice has defeated Paris-Saint Germain in Ligue 1 play. As a result of the defeat PSG has fallen into the relegation zone and must confront the possibility of demotion to Ligue 2.

I have in the past done a little reading around mostly Wikipedia about football in Paris and therefore know that there is another team in Paris, Paris Football Club, which currently competes in the Championnat National, the 3rd league in the French hierarchy. I found a place where I could check the general classification for le Championnat and discovered that Paris FC is currently 3 points adrift from the promotion zone in that table. This raises the intriguing possibility that PSG could be relegated to Ligue 2 in the same year that Paris FC wins promotion to that same league. Apparently the followers of the two teams are somewhat antagonistic towards one another. PSG is very much the team of les Bobos (or with English subtitles by King Negrito), the self styled trendsetters of Parisian life. The average Paris FC fan would claim that football is what is important, that PSG is about image and therefore not worthy of serious consideration. So the two teams in the same league could be fun.

In truth, both PSG and Paris FC are relative newcomers to the scene. Top flight league football had fallen on hard times in Paris in the early 1970s. Paris found itself in the embarrassing position of having no representation in Ligue 1. A new team was formed, partially by the fusion of an existing Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain, and partially from funds gathered from nearly 20,000 subscribers. The creation of the new Paris Saint Germain marked the reappearance of a major club in Paris after the demise of most notably RCF Paris and Red Star. However, shortly after the new team was formed it came under pressure from the Paris City Council to remove the reference to Saint Germain from the team name and it split again into two forming the current Paris Saint Germain and Paris Football Club.

Historically the two top teams in Paris through the formative years of French football were Racing Club de France, and Red Star of suburban Saint Denis. Both currently play in in the Championnat de France Amateurs, the fourth tier of French football league system, although in different groups, RCF in Groupe A, Red Star in Groupe B.

One final note, "Red Star" is not a translation; the club's name in French is "Red Star", rather than "Étoile Rouge".

Enough French football for today.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Sun makes an appearance but you couldn't prove it by me

Monday arrived and I went back to work. I don't get an early start this time of year so it was completely light by the time I went, the sun was up but I couldn't really see it behind some clouds.

The day cleared nicely and I could see blue sky out the window, but it was out the window don't you know. I could just as well have been watching it on cable TV on the "What's Outside" Channel.

Sunset? 4:36 today.

Walking out to the parking lot to come home? Dark. Totally, completely dark.

Only about 3 and a half weeks and the days start getting longer but late November is hard.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Sun shines

It was a very nice day in a couple of the most important ways, the sun was out, the temperatures were pleasant for this time of year. But it was windy and it certainly seems like the sun goes down in mid-afternoon. I know that in July I can head out at 5:15 for a bicycle ride knowing that 2 hours of riding will bring me home well before dark. Today I got home from the hockey game at 5:15 and it was already stone dark.

So it was a very nice day but abysmally short.

I can report that I did a bit of grocery shopping today and blueberries have retreated from the $5.99 threshold to now stand at 2 for $5. That's 2 125 gram containers for $5, still around $9.50 per pound. **sigh**

The traveler is back on this side of the Atlantic. She is such an old hand at this France thing that I do not so much worry about her when she is gone, I just am personally happier when she is closer to home.

Anyone reading this should leave here now and go over to her site and see the pictures from her trip.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Une qualification sans conviction

It might have been possible to ride this afternoon. It was above freezing and the wind which later howled a bit had not yet started to blow. But I had a hockey game to go to and bicycling just did not fit into the schedule. It is just as well as it was very, very marginally acceptable conditions for riding. It might have been possible but I suspect it would not have been a very pleasant ride.

No biking today.

A crowd of over 11,000 assembled in Stade de la Beaujoire this past evening for Vertou-Nantes. The final was 2-0 for Nantes. Despite the victory the Nantes side was taking no particular joy. The consensus reaction was that the Vertou side had played more inspired football than the Nantais and deserved to at least have scored. However, after a scoreless first half, as headlined on the Nantes website, Thomas Dossevi "sauve la mise", saved the day with goals in the 49th and 56th minutes to seal the Nantes victory. Avec panache, Vertou tentait bien de revenir, with panache, Vertou tried well to get back into the game but could not. Nantes does not take joy in the way that they played but they do achieve the most important objective, advancement to the next round.

Friday, November 23, 2007

French transportation strike losing impetus

The news from France is that a series of votes taken yesterday nearly unanimously confirmed the intent of the striking transportation workers to return to work today. It will be several days before full service is restored but the worst is apparently over and visitors to Paris should find it easier to get around for the next couple of days and cheaper to get to the airport on Sunday.

The news from here is that it was very cold yesterday with a bit of snow. The snow has stopped although a bit of residue perseveres here and there. The cold hangs on with a vengeance. Last year I rode on the day after Thanksgiving and Saturday and Sunday, three rides for that weekend which finally allowed me to barely reach my mileage goal for the year. No ride is planned for today. I have several guidelines to help determine when bicycling is possible. One is that the water must not freeze in my water bottle while I am on the bicycle. Today is a day on which the water would freeze, no bicycle today.

In other news from France, Vertou was given the opportunity to hold a practice session in the Nantes stadium to familiarize themselves with the surroundings. The team members are, of course, all residents of the Nantes metro area. They are obviously avid amateur players and therefore almost certainly fans of the professional game. It is extremely likely that they have all been in the big stadium before. On all of their previous trips, however, they had to pay admission and confine their activities to watching from the stands. The FC Nantes website features a photo of "les Vertaviens" loosening up on the field at Stade de la Beaujoire.

The website also features an interview with Nantes midfielder Frédéric Da Rocha. Da Rocha says that le Coupe de France is special and that the team will take the challenge of the amateur side very seriously as advancement to the next round is of paramount importance.

For those who do not know, FC Nantes has won the French Cup on three occasions, 1979, 1999, and 2000. The current holder is FC Sochaux Montbelliard. Sochaux is currently 19th in the Ligue 1 table, in danger of relegation to Ligue 2, so it is not farfetched to think that one of the top Ligue 2 teams has a shot at winning the Cup.

Nantes is also, of course, an eight time champion of France, having won Ligue 1 in 1965, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1995, and 2001. FC Nantes is in fact the last club other than Olympique Lyonnais to be the champion of France. Lyon has won the league the past six years in a row and are currently once again comfortably atop this year's table.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

8 am, 22 degrees

Thanksgiving Day morning, 8am, 22 degrees F, minus 6 C.Meanwhile, 3pm Paris time, predicted high of 55 and partly cloudy.

Perhaps more later, if not, a happy and safe holiday to all.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Proper flurries

We had proper snow flurries today. With the temperature hovering around 30 snow flakes hovered in the sky for most of the afternoon. It is still flurries, though, not yet a snow fall. Of course gravity continues in force and many of the flying snow flakes settled to the ground. Today for the first time there were enough flakes and the ground was cold enough that collections of flakes started to gather on exposed grassy areas (and on the windshield of my car parked at work). But still only flurries.

From the FC Nantes website, Nantes season ticket holders are reminded that the Coupe de France game on Saturday is a Vertou home game and that season ticket holders do not hold priority on their regular seats. Also the game has attracted the interest of not only the local media but France 2, one of the national networks. The big network has sent a crew from what I assume is a regular show, Foot, to cover the preparations for the game.

Allez Nantes.Ms. Wireless will be in Paris tomorrow, strikers willing, that is. Here she is with Maman at a quintessential Paris landmark in 2006.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Football news


FC Nantes is in the midst of a two and a half week break from Ligue 2. The team is currently in training at Les Sables d'Olonne. Meanwhile, Vertou is still active in its league. In the absence of Nantes football news, the Nantes website featured a report this week on the Vertou game. Vertou played La Baule to a 0-0 tie. Insert *yawn* here. The little tiny photo at the left is from the Nantes website and shows the scene at the Vertou home pitch with banners for Vertou and Nantes promoting the upcoming clash.

In what passes for actual Nantes news the game against Guingamp originally scheduled for December 23 has been moved to December 22 for the convenience of the cameras of Eurosport. **yawn**

Tickets for the Vertou-Nantes matchup are on sale at the stadium and at E. Leclerc. Sideline seats are 10 Euros, seats behind the goals are 5 Euros. Expectations for the crowd are modest, with one reference which I did not completely understand citing the possibility of Vertou playing before 12,000, which would obviously be 20 or 30 times larger than their average crowd.

Monday, November 19, 2007

200 posts

The counter on the archive to the left and on the dashboard when I log on report 199 posts. That must make this one number 200.

Yesterday I had a picture of the Hill Mansion. Next door from 1887 to 1959 was the Amherst Wilder Mansion.

In his architectural guide to the Twin Cities, Larry Millet says that this was the finest among 60 or so lost mansions on Summit Avenue. He calls it probably one of the two or three grandest houses on Summit Avenue.

Wilder, whose fortune continues to finance good works in Saint Paul, lived in the house until his death in 1894. The Wilder mansion later became the property of the Catholic Archdiocese. For 41 years, the Wilder served as the Archbishop's house until its last occupant, Archbishop Gregory Murray, refused to live there... "too ostentatious", he said. Instead of being preserved, it was torn down in 1959, in what Millet calls, "a great loss to the city."

So that's all I got for today. 162 rides, 200 posts, 4,000 miles, as Wireless said back in the beginning, this bike thing is totally bloggable.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Very cold day for biking

I think today was as cold a day as any when I have ridden for at least a couple of years. It was cold. I changed the hand coverage from yesterday but my fingers still got cold. My trunk never warmed up, I was always cold. I was warm enough to not be uncomfortable, but I was always cold.

I rode over to the Cathedral and as I passed the James J. Hill Mansion I noticed that the driveway gate was open. The house is owned and operated as an admission required museum by the Historical Society so the gate is always closed and locked. I seized today's opportunity to duck through the gate to get a picture.The house was built for James J. Hill, the Empire Builder, the founder of Great Northern. The house was completed in 1891, constructed of reddish Massachussetts sandstone. It appears much darker due to the effects of over a century of accumulated air pollution. The Hill house is still the largest private residence in the city.

It was very grey and cold but I never even thought about the conditions that suddenly appeared as I rode into the driveway. I was startled when stuff started to hit my jacket, my absolute first indication of rain. It ended up being real rain. It eventually rained enough to completely wet the street, real rain, not just sprinkles. So it wasn't cold enough to snow but if I had gotten myself caught out in a rainstorm it would have been a considerably more miserable ride.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Some things still open, some closed

It was cold today. There were a few bits of water in its solid state floating around in the atmosphere this morning. It wasn't actually falling to the ground, but it was the most significant appearance by that substance so far. It was for me the coldest weather that I have ridden in so far this season.

It was 36 when I started out. I have been out at 38 and I thought I could just tweak the 38 costume and be good at 36. I went with a heavier helmet liner, balaclava and stuck a thin knit glove under my bike gloves, covered with the Craft winter bicycling gloves that I have been wearing. The tweaks were successes except for the knit gloves. They actually ended up making my hands colder as I did not have sufficient room to wiggle my fingers. You need a little room to move and I took the room away from myself. My fingers got cold but it was tolerable, I was never extremely uncomfortable.

With 8-12 mph winds from the NNE I headed off towards the northeast, towards Lake Vadnais. Once again I discovered that the park is still open but today for the first time ever I was the only person there. Two or three cars drove through during the time I was off the bike at the picnic area but I was the only human being actually out in the cold. I have been to Vadnais many, many times. Today is the first time I was there alone.

I was the only person there and here is what everyone else missed:

There were some big white birds swimming in the middle of the lake so I tried to get a picture of them.I was having a little difficulty making a positive identification. I thought I knew what they were but I just was not sure. I hoped that they would swim a little closer so I could get a better picture and eventually they did. Even then I wasn't sure, if they were what I thought they were they are a species only very rarely seen by me in the wild. I just wasn't positive but I came home and Googled the species that I suspected and there just is not any doubt.

Swans. Swans don't come to town very often.Eventually I gave up hope of anyone else coming along to share the experience and started on home. It was a little warmer with the wind behind but the sun made only occasional brief appearances and it never got very warm. The Rice Street A&W has a sign saying closed for the season and a thermometer across the street saying 39.

The Roseville par 3 golf course (Cedarholm for those of you who know) is also closed for the season with protective tarps laid out over the greens.

But the absolute oddest thing is this: I have ridden in colder weather than today's in those years when I rode completely through the winter. But today for the very first time ever I went for a bicycle ride and did not see a single other moving bicycle. No road bikes, no mountain bikes, no comfort bikes, no commuters, no kids navigating the neighborhood, no moving bikes period.

I thought it was a fine day for a ride.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Today's menu item

Bon voyage to the traveller. Have fun, sweetie.

It is now official, USSA Vertou and FC Nantes will contest the 7th round of le Coupe de France at Stade de la Beaujoire on Saturday, November 24 at 2100. I followed some links I found at the FC Nantes site and did a little Googling and discovered that Vertou is often referred to as Vertou (DH) because they play in the Division d'Honneur.

The structure of French football has at its top the two professional leagues, the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 with 20 teams each. Next in line are a number of leagues run by the Fédération Française de Football.

At level 3 is the semi-professional Championnat de France National, again a league with 20 teams.

At level 4 is the amateur Championnat de France Amateurs, which is divided into four parallel regional divisions, each with 18 teams, a total of 72.

Level 5 is the Championnat de France Amateurs 2, which is divided into eight parallel regional divisions, 16 teams each, a total of 128.

Underneath that are many more regional leagues and divisions. If I counted correctly there are 24 regional leagues, each divided into divisions. The top division of each is the Division d'Honneur, usually 14 teams. It is in this sixth level of football that USSA Vertou competes, in the Ligue Atlantique.

Stay with me a minute here, Nantes is currently second in Ligue 2, making them arguably the current 22nd ranked team in French football. In the top 5 levels there are 20+20+20+72+128 teams, a total of 260. There are 24 regional leagues, Vertou is 4th in the one they play in, making them, oh say, 73rd amongst that classification. Vertou is approximately the 333rd ranked team in French football, being given an opportunity to play at one of the biggest stadiums against one of the most storied teams in France.

It is no wonder that the Vertou chairman has said that the amateur club is honored to be playing at la Beaujoire. It is 6th division against 2nd division, number 333 getting a shot at number 22.

I found a Vertou fan website. It is in French but I try to follow along. One of the comments left by a fan is this:

N'ayant pu servir les "merlus" au beurre blanc, il est à souhaiter que les "canaris" soient préparés au Muscadet pour un excellent spectacle auquel un grand nombre de vertaviens devrait se déplacer.
Allez l'U.S.S.A. nous sommes tous avec vous

I don't get all of that but I am pretty sure that he is saying that Canaries are best prepared in a sauce of white butter and Muscadet, that it makes an excellent spectacle for a great number of vertaviens? (Vertou fans?) to enjoy. Allez (Vertou), we are all with you.

This could be fun.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I am a bike geek

Winter approaches and temperatures fall. Each trip out the door of the house requires an assessment of gear, what do I need to wear to keep from getting cold?

For me, first comes the vest, usually in mid-September. The coverup continues through light jacket, heavier jacket, heavier jacket with some kind of hand cover, pretty soon maybe a hat, serious hand cover, and so on eventually to mid-winter gear of scarf, heavy winter coat, full down mittens, head cover appropriate for wind and temperatures of the specific day.

Right now I am at the final stages of heavier jacket (fleece) and serious handcover. Today was a bit colder and I went to FC Nantes scarf, winter jacket but without the heavy liner installed yet, hat and gloves. I deemed it cold enough for serious gloves but not quite cold enough to require mittens.

So what passed for serious gloves?

Well, I have a nice pair of Specialized Sub-Zero full finger bicycle gloves, complete with ulnar nerve pad, that I am not using for biking any more. They make fine driving gloves (and at the same time shield me from the dangers of ulnar neuropathy).

My name is Gino and I am a bike geek.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

What the definition of is is

A thoughtful commentator should rather quickly concede that the verb "to be" is highly nuanced. Any scoffing dismissal of an explanation couched in this nuance should itself be firmly rejected.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Rasmussen admits deceit

At a press conference in Denmark on November 9, former Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen admitted that he lied.

Rasmussen spoke aware of the fact that an independent investigation commissioned by team sponsor Rabobank had completed an investigation and would be revealing its findings this week.

Speaking for the first time about the events leading up to his firing by Rabobank and dismissal from the Tour, Rasmussen admitted that he has not been telling the public the truth about his whereabouts in the period during which he missed crucial out of competition drug tests.

"I would like to clearly state that I was not in Mexico in June. I have therefore misinformed both the UCI and the public."

This week the Rabobank investigators reported that Rasmussen "deliberately provided incorrect whereabouts information on multiple occasions and could therefore deliberately not be tested for a given period. When an athlete is deliberately out of reach for doping testing organisations during a specific period before the Tour de France, and does not provide a credible explanation, this creates a strong suspicion that he may be using substances from the forbidden doping list."

Monday, November 12, 2007

160th ride

It was a very grey day today. The morning was about as warm as yesterday but today I stalled around instead of heading out early thinking that today might warm up as satisfyingly as yesterday did.

Alas, by noon it was obvious that grey was the dominant color of the day. And by that time I pretty much had to get out there if I was going to finish before dark. I jest, but barely, sunset is 4:37 today.

One of the hallmarks of the season for me is my appearance at the gates of Lake Vadnais to discover that the county parks department has shut the road down for the season. I thought that today might be the day. Nope, still open but very nearly deserted. And grey, very grey.The ride was, however, my 160th of the year, so that goal is attained. Pretty much anything that was possible has been accomplished, I guess from now on I ride for entertainment.

Without the sun the day remained very cool. I rode past the temperature display at the A&W on Rice Street and it said 50. However, just before I reached home the sun poked through. The sky was blue and I extended the ride.
I got this shot for contrast with yesterday's picture of Sheldon Street. This is Albert Street, one block west of Sheldon Street, again looking north from Frankson. The trees on Albert Street are just a little bit more bare than the oaks on Sheldon.

Having gotten that far off my originally planned path I continued along down Frankson and eventually crossed Snelling into the Fairgrounds. This path led me back through the farm campus and back towards home. I noticed that the fields have been cultivated and I briefly considered a photo of the corn field. There really isn't much to see, though. The stalk remants are mostly gone and there are shallow furrows, really not much to see.

There was plenty to smell, however. What the farmers on the farm where I briefly toiled as a high school student used to call the honey wagon had been out and made several substantial deposits. Ah, the smell of manure.

FC Nantes is on a three and a half week break from Ligue 2 competition. The team will travel today to Les Sables d'Olonne for training and what the website calls regeneration. The only scheduled fixture before the resumption of Ligue 2 is the Coupe de France game against Vertou which will be either Saturday the 24th or Sunday the 25th at the big stadium in Nantes.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Armistice Day

It was nice enough today to ride my bicycle. Actually, it was way nice enough. I headed out at about 10:30am into 46 or so degree temperature with light southerly winds. The haze cleared off, the sun started to shine, the temperature quickly rose through the 50s so that it looks as though the high temperature for the day will be above 60 before the sun goes down. As I commented to another cyclist who rode up alongside me as I waited for the light at Summit and Lexington, you don't get many days like this at this time of year.

The picture at left was taken today. The location is in Saint Paul near Como Park, about 2.5 miles from home. It is Sheldon Street, looking north from Frankson. The street is lined, both sides, for the entire block, with oak trees. The oaks have not completed the color change and as perhaps we all know, they will be the last to drop their leaves, possibly hanging on until mid-winter before they go bare.

I took a longish ride, intending originally to ride to the Cathedral but as I cruised down Summit it occurred to me that today is the actual Armistice Day as opposed to tomorrow's Veterans Day Observed. Yes, I am old enough to remember that when I was a child some of the older folks referred to the day as Armistice Day, a reference to its true significance as marking the end of World War I. The war to end all wars ended with a cease fire at the 11th minute after the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918. It was only after civilization managed to arrange for a second World War that the necessity came to recognize another group of veterans and therefore to change the name to Veterans Day.

Wikipedia reports that as of today there are 22 surviving veterans of WWI, including in the USA only three who had completed training and served in the Army before the Armistice. Of the other three, 106 year old Frank Woodruff Buckles of Charles Town, West Virginia, is the last US veteran to complete training and serve overseas. I am also old enough to remember when Albert Woolson, the last surviving American Civil War veteran, died (in 1956), and to remember that he was a resident of Minnesota at the time of his death.

I suspected there might be ceremonies at the veterans memorials on the State Capitol grounds and so I changed my destination to check on the ceremonies.They had a band, a color guard, and a rifle squad to fire the 21 gun salute. The main program was at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial before moving to the WWII and Korean War memorials for the firing of the rifles.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

The Gates of Hell

It was a very November day today. It started dark, got wet and windy, stayed dark, proceeded through a gray period, got darker, and has just recently gotten really dark. It wasn't really too cold, but it never dried out. It was always dark and raw. It was November. But it wasn't really nasty enough to consider today to be the gates of hell.

The post caption refers to more artwork. Because it got a mention yesterday I today include my picture of the bronze copy of la Porte de l'Enfer from the garden at the Musée Rodin. The museum itself refers to this work as Rodin's monumental masterpiece. At least 10 of what today are considered to be individual works by Rodin, including both yesterday's Thinker and le Baiser (The Kiss), were originally conceived as elements of this work. The Kiss was removed after Rodin realized that the state of pure happiness portrayed in that sculpture did not really fit in with the rest of the composition of this work. However, the Thinker remains, set into the upper panel.

I had to wait for the photo as most photographers were getting a companion photographed with the work (for scale I assume). As I waited the Italian lady standing next to me breathed, "Bellisima". I speak less Italian than French but I know that word and I offered for comparison the English words, "Beautiful, indeed."

Rodin began the work on a commission in 1880 with a scheduled delivery date of 1885. He never finished, and would continue to work on and off on this project for 37 years, until his death in 1917.

The plaster original was restored in 1917 and is displayed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. A series of plaster casts illustrating the development of the work is on view at Rodin's workshop in Meudon. Also in 1917, a model was used to make the original three bronze casts of which this is one. The others are at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia and the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.

Subsequent bronzes have been distributed by the Musée Rodin to a number of locations, including Zurich, Stanford University, and the Rodin Gallery in Seoul, Korea.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Le Penseur

I see that there is now an accepted protocol which allows me to take inspiration from someone else's blog for details about my own post.

OK, I noticed that Legend had a photo of her office including a bronze of "The Thinker" by Auguste Rodin.

Le Penseur was modelled in 1880-1882 for la Porte de l'Enfer (The Gates of Hell), and exhibited in its original size (height 71.5 cm, about 28 inches) in Copenhagen in 1888. It was enlarged in 1902. The statue was the first work by Rodin to be erected in a public place. It was inaugurated in front of the Pantheon on 21 April 1906 during an intense political and social crises which turned this sculpture into a socialist symbol. In 1922, using as a pretext that the statue created an obstacle during ceremonies, it was transported, with its pedestal, to the garden of the Hôtel Biron which had by then become the Musée Rodin. It was photographed in that garden in May 2006 with the Babe for scale.

The dome visible over the shrubbery is the Eglise du Dome, the tomb of Napoleon, located across the street from the museum grounds.

In Friday night Ligue 2 football, Nantes used a second half goal from Czech international Marek Heinz to forge a 1-1 tie with Angers. Angers is only about 50 miles upriver from Nantes which perhaps facilitated the large turnout of 31,370, a new high for a single game attendance for Ligue 2 this year. With a game starting a half an hour earlier, homestanding Le Havre had set the bar high with 2-0 victory over Châteauroux. Last week's 4-0 loss for Nantes comes back to haunt them as this week's results place the two teams equal on points but with Le Havre assuming first place in the general classification on goal differential.

The Nantes-Angers clash of neighbors is small potatoes, however, when compared to the news from the drawing for the 7th round of la Coupe de France. La Coupe is open to every organized football team in France, including all teams playing in the three levels of professional leagues but also all of the teams in the various descending classifications of amateur football. The lowest level of amateur teams begin play in the first round and as the rounds go on teams from higher classifications are gradually added to the mix. As long as you keep winning you keep playing making it theoretically possible for the most lowly side of butchers and shopkeepers to reach the finals in Paris against, perhaps, one of the giants of French football.

The teams of Ligue 2 enter the draw for the first time in round 7 and the draw was held earlier this week. Nantes has drawn amateur side FC Vertou as its opponent. What makes this big news is that Vertou is a Nantes suburb. Vertou plays in the amateur Ligue de l'Atlantique, the District de Loire, where it currently occupies fourth place. Vertou being accorded what even its own website calls the privilege to host Nantes is akin to the Dundas Dukes being named to host a game against the Minnesota Twins, a game that is not an exhibition, but a game that is a real contest on the road to an important trophy. The Vertou players are being given the opportunity to live a dream.

Vertou has drawn the role of host. The side plays its home games at several different sites around their town, none of which are equipped to handle all of the Vertou supporters who are likely to turn out for such an event to say nothing of the 31,000 who attended tonight's game in Nantes and might be expected to also show up for the first foray of this season by Nantes into la Coupe de France. Indeed, the main field in Vertou visible on Google Earch is only about 10km from the Nantes stadium, perhaps not even as much as a 15km drive. No doubt most of the Vertou supporters are also Nantes supporters, fans of the local side on the weekend but also supporters of the major league team in the big stadium just up the road.

Vertou as the host has the option of naming the field where the game is to be played. In connection with this the following announcement was made today:

Sous réserve de l'accord de la Fédération Française de Football, le FC Nantes et Vertou se sont entendus pour évoluer au Stade de la Beaujoire à l'occasion du 7ème tour de la Coupe de France.

Subject to approval of the French Football Association the game will be played in Nantes at Stade de la Beaujoire, the Nantes home stadium. It is as though the Dundas Dukes have been granted the right to be the home team against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome in a game which might lead to one or the other of them qualifying to play in the World Series.

Allez Nantes! Allez Vertou!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Well, sure, as a matter of fact

While we were waiting to curl, the traveler who is going to France next week asked me if I happened to have any Euros. It is useful to have a few on hand when you arrive in Europe so that you are not completely helpless until you locate a cash machine.

What are the odds that any person in that building actually had some Euros? And that the person had the Euros with them, not in a drawer at home?

Well, sure, as a matter of fact, I do, I replied. And opened my wallet and handed over the 35 Euros I have been carrying around since we last left France, May 2006.

Yup, prepared for any emergency, that's me.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Curling night

I felt OK this morning and gave work another chance. It was OK, but I am glad that I didn't have to curl in the early session this evening. Usually I curl twice on Wednesday and although a day at work was acceptable I am not sure that a day at work followed by curling twice would have been that good an idea.

Anyway, curling at 9pm is still on so the following bit of news will have to suffice. Only a small number of my regular readers will grasp the significance of this but . . .

In the 4 Nations Cup today from Ejendals Arena in Leksand, Sweden, Erica McKenzie scored the 3rd goal for the US National team in a 4-0 victory over Sweden. McKenzie skated on a line with Gigi Marvin and Jinelle Zaugg. Anya Miller took a regular shift on defense.

That's all I got.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

No blues

I think the high for today is going to be 33 but at least no sleet. It is dark and dreary with a cold wind blowing. It feels like November.

This morning I considered myself to be still not well enough for work but by this afternoon I felt like I should try to venture out to vote. I walked across the field to the community center and exercised my franchise. It was a quiet election day in my town as the only contests on the ballot were for seats on the school board.

Having voted only for one despite the option of voting for up to three I then walked to the grocery store hoping to procure bananas. They had only extremely green and hard bananas, I passed. I checked the blueberries. The price for 125 grams (about 4.4 ounces) has newly risen to $5.99. I passed. The raspberries were on sale. I got raspberries.

In French football homestanding Sedan defeated Le Havre 2-1. Le Havre stumbles in its best chance to date to acquire outright possession of first place. The team from Normandy sustains only its second loss of the season, the last team in Ligue 2 to be so burdened. Nantes retains its what had become tenuous grasp on first place in the table. After today's completion of the 15th round of 38, the Canaries stand in first place by 2 over Le Havre and clear of 4th place and thus in the promotion zone by 8 points. Nantes and Le Havre are now even on goal differential. I am going to have to find out what the second tie breaker is. I wonder if it might be away goals.

For any number geeks who might be reading along, 11,946 was the announced crowd in Sedan. That is now the 12th highest attendance of the year in Ligue 2 and Sedan now has 4 of the top 12 crowds (numbers 8, 9, 10 and 12). Also, prior to the game the Sedan average attendance was only 3 behind Le Havre for second place in the league. This crowd will raise the average by about 200 making Sedan now the second highest average attendance in Ligue 2. I note that Sedan would stand 18th in Ligue 1 with this average attendance. 18th is, of course, in the relegation zone and Sedan would be facing relegation. Sedan, Troyes and Nantes are the teams that were relegated at the end of the 2006-2007 season. Sedan looks to be where they belong. Nantes belongs in Ligue 1.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Amid all the lasts, a first

Travels to the north of France have been hazardous thus far this season for FC Nantes. The Canaries had suffered their only previous loss of the season at Le Havre before journeying to Boulogne for a Monday night encounter. Boulogne is a bottom half of the table team featuring the second leading scorer in Ligue 2, Grégory Thil. Thil thrilled the home fans by dominating the game as he notched the hat trick and Boulogne throttled Nantes 4-0. The result may spell the end of the Nantes run at the top of the table as it imperils not only the points lead but also the goal differential lead which has made the difference on those occasions when points have been level.

I was home today, suffering a bit of whatever it is that Wireless and TOPWLH have recently processed. I was reading the newspaper at the dining room table about noon when I glanced up at a slight change in the pitch of the howling wind. Look carefully at the chair on the deck.The first appearance of water in one of its solid forms.

I also had a chance to spend some time browsing a new website that I discovered today, an English language site hosted by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. There is a section of game attendance which provides plenty more evidence to show that Nantes will not be in Ligue 2 for long.

Ligue 2 has played 140 games coming into today and have drawn more than 10,000 on a total of only 17 occasions. Nine of those games have included Nantes. The top seven games in attendance are the seven games Nantes has played at home. The top attendance at a Nantes home game was 31,310, the seventh highest was 18,333. The eighth highest for the entire league was 17,404 (at Sedan). Nantes also played in the 11th highest attended, 12,748, at Le Havre.

Nantes ranks first in average attendance at 24,320. Second place Le Havre is also second in average attendance at 10,548, Sedan is third at 10,545.

In all French football Nantes ranks eighth in attendance, trailing the likes of Lyon, Paris SG and Marseille but ranking ahead of thirteen of the Ligue 1 teams.

Modern football in France, just as in the USA, is a business. Success in football is dependent upon success in the business. A measure of the business success is number of people coming out to buy your product. Attendance predicts success.

Clearly as a business Nantes is in the top ranks of French football. It is quite reasonable to expect that next season the team will be competing against its peers, the other successful football businesses of France, in Ligue 1.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Falling back creates confusion

Yesterday I headed out the door at 10:30am with the temperature about 36. Today I hung around waiting to see if TOPWLH was going to be able to ride. Finally about 10:30 we determined that she didn't have the proper attire for the conditions. I determined to set out on my own. TOPWLH commented that I was leaving at about the same time as yesterday's departure. I agreed and added that conditions were better, that it was about 8 degrees warmer.

Doh!!! Classic DST confusion. It was, of course, an hour later at 10:30 today and therefore no surprise that the day had warmed to about the same temperature that it was yesterday at 11:30.

I headed off to the north, towards the 8 lakes. But I rode to some places that I don't usually ride instead. I crossed Highway 96 and continued on up towards the Rice Creek preserve for a turn around. It ended up being pretty nice and I got in a longish ride for this time of year.It really doesn't look much like a creek. There is water in there, and it is flowing, but mostly it looks like a swamp. The creek flows into the north end of Sucker Lake and then on into the north end of Vadnais.

I bypassed Sucker and Vadnais on the way home and instead rode through Grass Lake. This involves about a mile on a limestone path, something I don't ordinarily do on my road bike. But the ground was good and hard, there weren't any wet leaves or patches of gravel. The ride itself was not a problem. Grass Lake itself was an intense blue in the parts of the lake with open water. Light conditions were not conducive to trying to get a photograph.

As I stated a couple of days ago, surpassing last year's mileage total was a fairly simple task and I completed it today. This leaves only a couple of things that I have thought about that I still might try to accomplish this year.

I set out trying to complete a ride on 160 days. With today's ride I am at 158 so that looks pretty doable. I have done 180 some years in the past but I will be completely satisfied this year with 160.

With yesterday's ride I surpassed 11 miles ridden for each and every day of the calendar year. I have occasionally considered if 12 would be possible. I suppose it still might be but I doubt it, that accomplishment would require another 300 miles. I suppose it might still be possible but I doubt it.

I caught a tailwind downhill at Snail Lake again today and registered 32.1 on the maximum speedometer. This is a tiny bit below the recent 33 but still pretty fast. It was a nice day for a ride and I am glad I was able to do so.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Brrrr

I joined the rush to ride in temperatures in the 30s today. Somewhat surprisingly, it wasn't too bad.

I wanted to ride this morning so I could watch a webstream of the Minnesota-Wisconsin women's hockey game this afternoon. I had to head out at about 10:30 in order to be back in time for the opening face-off. The temperature when I headed out the door was still only 36. I donned pretty much the full winter costume including mittens and booties. The sun was out, I wasn't cold, it was a pretty nice ride.

I often ride all or nearly all of the daily mileage without seeing anything that strikes me as being worthy of being photographed. Today I didn't even get turn the pedals a single time before the camera came out. This is the field next to our house. All of the grain must have been gleaned from the nearby fields as the geese have returned to their mid-summer dietary choice, grass.I think this is the most geese I have seen on the field in at least a couple of years.

Then about six miles into the ride I came upon unmistakable evidence of what comes next.Langford Park hosts two outdoor hockey rinks during the winter. The boards have gone up. Winter draws nigh.

By the way, Minnesota 3, Wisconsin 2.

And in France, Le Havre AC 2:1 Guingamp as the pursuers from Normandy draw back to within two points of FC Nantes. Nantes is next in action on Monday when the Canaries travel to Boulogne.

Friday, November 2, 2007

FC Nantes 2:1 AC Ajaccio

Nantes secured a solid grip on first place in Ligue 2 with a 2-1 victory in front of a crowd of nearly 28,000 at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes on Friday evening.

Ajaccio led 1-0 at the half. Nantes equalized in the 57th minute on a goal by David de Freitas described as a copy of his game winning goal on Monday in Niort. It appeared that Ajaccio had escaped with a tie until Nicolas Gousse rose above the goal mouth crowd to score on a header in the 90th minute. In keeping with the wacky finish earlier in the week at Niort however, the game had still another exciting moment as time ticked away. The 4th official allotted three minutes of extra time. Deep into the extra time, in what the Nantes website describes as the 94th minute, Ajaccio appeared to have equalized. Surely this must have been the last action allowed by the referee before his whistle ended the game and Ajaccio's hopes were dashed at this very final moment. The goal was not allowed for reasons unclear to this English speaker. Here's the description from the Nantes Live Update, someone help me:

EGALISATION d'AJACCIO..... hors jeu !!!! Serge Dié est sanctionné pour contestations.

"Hors jeu"? Except "jeu"? Isn't that play? Or something similar? Whatever the reason an Ajaccio player received a yellow card from protesting the decision. I suspect it must have been an offside call or something similar, a judgment call with which M. Dié did not agree.

As I used to tell the basketball team, you may think it is a foul, it may feel like a foul, but it isn't a foul until the referee says it is a foul and once he says it is a foul there isn't going to be any changing the decision. The referee's decision stands and Nantes wins.

Allez Nantes!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Bicycle blues

This is a bicycle blog but I am also an informal participant in two different blog rings or events. One I stumbled onto myself, the Daily Photo blogring. My favorites are Paris Daily Photo and Arradon Daily Photo. Now Ms. Wireless has challenged the lot of us to participate in National Blog Posting Month. The Daily Photo ring has a theme day the first of each month, this month the theme is "Blue". The National Blog Posting challenge is to post to one's blog each and every day of this month. So this post has to fill all three niches, it has to be about bicycling, it has to have a photo featuring blue, and it has to be the first of 30 this month.

Well, first of 30 is a done deal just by making this post. Here's a picture to complete the other two:Today I made my season mileage goal. When I started out this year I had hoped to complete the miles before the end of October. That stretch of crummy weather early in the month is the primary reason I failed but being as this is only one day into November the failure does not sting. Always in the past the goal was to complete the mileage before the end of daylight savings time. The extra week this year means that I made that goal. The next goal for this year is to pass last year's total. I need 54 more miles for that. Any miles at all at this time of year is no sure thing but I think 54 more is within pretty easy reach. The picture is of my front bicycle tire pointing down a line in my driveway. So far this year I have followed that blue line on the side of my bicycle tire for 4,000 miles. The picture of the blue side walled tire represents bicycling and it represents blue.

By the way, if Joe Valentinetti is reading this, Joe, note the composition, the bicycle tire exactly in the crack of the concrete.

Today was the last ride of the year after work I feel certain. There is still tomorrow but tomorrow is Friday and as the season ends and the daylight fails I have fallen out of the habit of riding on Friday. I probably will not ride tomorrow, today is the end.

And the end had some symmetry. Today on the ride I saw the tall bike guy. I think this is the third sighting this year, the first was on one of my very first rides. The tall bike guy and I exchanged our usual greeting and I once again failed to get a photograph.

And here is the person who told me that this biking thing was totally bloggable.She was over yesterday to help with the trick or treaters. I knew this blue thing was coming today and she was wearing her France football shirt. It is blue and I got the photo not knowing for sure if I would find any other blue thing to photograph. Nice ears and glasses, don't you think?

Allez Bleu!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Fall at the Falls

It doesn't really qualify as an after work ride. A brief explanation: Yesterday was an extremely nice day and I rushed away from work hoping to get in a few miles. But I ended up in idle chit-chat with the painter after the bedroom got painted. By the time we were through . . . Well, anyway, no ride yesterday on a spectacular late October day.

But today might have been even nicer. So I took some time off and left work early. I really, really wanted a chance to ride.

The traffic conditions, wind direction, and desired mileage all aligned in such a way that I ended up at Minnehaha Falls.The Falls have been pictured numerous times here and at TT but it is a location that still stands up to another look.

I call this one: "Fall at the Falls".

Monday, October 29, 2007

Wild and wacky in Niort

FC Nantes won today in Niort, 1-0 to once again edge past Le Havre and back into first place.

I tried to follow the action on the live update page at the FC Nantes website. I don't speak French but the zaniness transcends the language barrier.

The game was 0-0 deep into the second half. Someone check my French. Here is the entry from the 73rd minute:

BUTTTTT DE DAVID DE FREITASSSSSS !!!!! Le milieu de terrain nantais file côté gauche du terrain avant de s'infiltrer dans la surface et d'ouvrir son pied dans un angle très fermé. Le petit piquet enroulé du Canari trompe Simon Pontdeve pour la première fois de la soirée.

I think David de Freitas, the Nantes midfielder infiltrated down the left side of the pitch and found an opening from a sharp angle. The small "piquet" from the Canary player eluded Pontdeve, the Niort keeper, for the first goal of the game.

74th minute: David De Freitas est sanctionné pour avoir manifesté sa joie irrégulièrement...

The goal scorer receives a yellow card. He is sanctioned for expressing his joy in an irregular manner. In American football this would be called excessive celebration.

In the 91st minute: Michel Der Zakarian donne de la voix en cette fin de rencontre pour recarder ses joueurs et notamment Jean-Jacques Pierre qui avait "déserté" son poste...

The Nantes coach complains to the referee about the many yellow cards Nantes has received.

Et l'entraîneur de Nantes se fait expulsé du banc !!! Mr Auroux demande au technicien nantais de suivre la fin de rencontre depuis les vestiaires...

The coach is expelled from the bench! The referee demands that the Nantes coach spend the end of the game in the "vestiarires".

Not over yet, 92nd minute: Et carton rouge pour Aurélien Capoue !!! Nantes va terminer à dix suite à un second carton jaune pour un accrochage avec Denis Tsoumou. Fin de match houleuse au stade René-Gaillard...

A second yellow card for Capoue, two yellows is a red card, carton rouge. Nantes will finish with a ten player side because of a dust up with Denis Tsoumou. An exciting end to the match at Rene-Gaillard Stadium.

And then: Denis Tsoumou est également sanctionné...

Tsoumou also receives a yellow.

I don't speak the language but it seems clear to me that it was a wild and wacky finish.

Allez Nantes.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Above average fall day

We had an at least unofficial freezing temperature overnight and a chilly morning but it was glorious this afternoon.

I took a short ride. The buzz is that the fall color peak is past here. Someone forgot to tell these maple trees lined up along the east side of Langford Park.On the way home I heard a car accident. I was coasting up to Garden and Snelling, expecting to cross, looking behind me to check traffic, when KABOOM. No life threatening injuries but two police squads, an ambulance and a fire truck convened. The ambulance did get used by the passenger in the smaller car who looked to have an arm injury which was causing some pain. The fire guys casually did a little sweeping and made sure after the tow that no gasoline had been left on the street. One of the officers asked me if I saw it. I told him I was there but I was looking the other direction.

The rest of the day will be devoted to raking.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Weekend solo

There was a hockey game this afternoon so I had to try to get in a ride this morning. It was only about 42 when I headed out. TOPWLH has been a bit under the weather so I rode alone.

I have tinkered with the layers a bit but I had just exactly the right combination for today. I was warm, I was dry.

I have a different base layer than I have used in the past but I also have switched from fleece under the jacket to a windstopper vest. I am uncertain which of these changes to ascribe the effect to but in any case this is a set up which is now fine down into the low 40s.

It was a pretty day, the sun was shining. The breeze was mild out of the NW. This picture is taken shortly after the turn around. This is Sucker Lake, next upstream from Vadnais and always passed on the 8 lakes tour but pictured far less often.It seems obvious to me that the reason why this lake is pictured less often has not a single thing to do with whether or not it is deserving of a photo. It is a pretty nice spot.

I think I achieved a season high today. The road to Snail Lake goes abruptly downhill. I routinely achieve 30 or 31 mph on this hill. Today I turned to go down the hill and I also had a slight tail wind. It felt fast on the way down. When I checked the computer a few miles later and flashed through the various settings I was a little surprised to see a maximum speed of 33 mph. I don't keep track of such things but I think I would remember and I do not remember going that fast any time earlier this year.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Calmer crowd

Curling yesterday, hockey tomorrow, today's ride is the last after work ride for this week, and just possibly for the year. Only a week of daylight savings remains but even with the clock change there is barely enough daylight being saved to allow for very many miles after 8 hours at the plant. All it would take is a bit of inclement weather or some emergency at work and the after work opportunity would just not present itself again. Truly the season is nearly over.

There are good things about the end of the season. The end of the season crowd is all that is riding now. Racer boy has pretty much disappeared from the streets. During the time when racer boy is out and about there is an aggressive rudeness which bubbles up all over the city. Racer boy has gone inside and the remaining riders are actually cordial to one another, greeting each other with a raised hand or a nod, civilities which completely disappear during the heat of the summer.

I don't miss racer boy.

It was 57 today, a disappointment to some as the forecast high was for something in the 60s. But the average high for this date is only 54 so it was an above average day. The wind was tolerable, the ride was nice. We have had frost but have not yet had an official temperature reading of freezing or below so it seems possible that we will get out of October without seeing our first snow flurry. Knock on wood though, a lot can happen in 6 days, including snow.

My route today was to the south and the return took me through the campus. Here are the cows in probably their last appearance for this year. I call it "Cows in Repose in Fall".Life is good.