Auto repair

I have now, oh, hundreds of hours of riding a bicycle, almost all in a pretty urban environment. This means many, many iterations of pulling away from a stop sign next to cars doing the same, passing cars and having them pass me. Here is one really strongly enduring observation: How can people drive a car with bad wheel bearings? The noise bad bearings make is unmistakable and, at least to a bicyclist, penetratingly obvious.

Just an observation.

The weather site I read today gave a good explanation of the current weather pattern. The explanation is that a large air mass has stalled just to the west of us. With the mass stagnating we see the same pattern repeating every day. We continue to come under the influence of the counterclockwise rotation of the mass which produces southerly winds. The winds keep bringing up more moist air from further south. The moisture content is not extremely high, therefore the effect produces alternating "slots" of rain and shine. Today I was home for a dry slot. I got to ride my bike.

It was the last ride of the month and like the flat land contingent, I often have several round numbers that I find myself trying to attain at the end of each month. Not many rides at the end of this month so I missed out on most of the round numbers but I did get to one of them, a quite satisfying one at that. Month over, tomorrow I start anew.The rain has been spectacularly good for the corn. It looks to me like it has grown about an inch a day for the past week.

Puddles

Both yesterday and today had extended periods when it was pretty nice. Both days those periods occurred when I was cooped up on the fourth floor of a lowertown office building. By 4pm both days the wind came up and clouds moved in. And both days it eventually rained pretty hard. No ride again today.

The rain is doing very well by the corn. There are very distinct green rows visible when I drive past in my car. Perhaps tomorrow I will get over there on my bicycle and I can share.The last France picture was Parc Monceau while it was lightly raining. This picture was taken later on that day in a more famous park. The puddles remain from the morning rain. An interesting tidbit is that the guide is visibly in this picture. That is her shadow in the left foreground. She holds the universal photographer's pose and snaps her parental units casually acting as though being in the Tuileries on a sunny day in May is no big deal.

Twins 10, White Sox 4

Emily took us to the baseball game.Photo courtesy of Jimboy.

We were in the Genmar corporate tickets, fourth row, slightly stage right of home plate. Close enough to judge what the pitches were. Fastballs pop the cather's mitt, a curve ball is noticeably slower. It was fun.

Thank you sweetie.

Correct choice

I often say you make the decision based on the best information you have available at the time you have to decide. Then you live with the consequences knowing that you did the best you could in making the decision.

So I did not want to go. The morning's fuss over the race had the effect of heightening my interest and I found myself wanting to stay and watch. But the sky was absolutely clear, absolutely gorgeous blue. The temperature passed through the 60 barrier and I found myself knowing that I would be sorry if I did not ride. I got on my bike and rode out.

Really, really nice ride. It was 71 as I pulled back into the garage. And low and behold, it rained in Indianapolis. They are on a rain delay on lap 113. So I saw almost 40 laps before I went and I will see the last 87. So I made the right decision.

Here is a cemetery in Roseville all decked out for Memorial Day. There is nothing unusual about that. This is a pretty common scene all around the country. If anything, this one looks a bit underdecorated compared to many. And it should. If you look closely you will notice that the front two stones commemorate Coco and Bon Bon and that the engravings on the stones are poodles. This picture is of my bicycle in front of the Roseville Pet Cemetery. Yesterday from Ligue 1: Lyon 3:1 FC Nantes. The season is complete and the next game Nantes plays will be against Ligue 2 opposition.

Speaking of France and tulips, I searched around in my photo folder as I thought I had one that might do justice to the Quincy Street tulip farm. I don't think I succeeded but this is the most tulips I had in one image. This photo is from the gardens at Chateau de Villandry. This Loire chateau is famous for its decorative gardens, but mostly for intricately planted and trimmed hedges. I think they also plant these tulips to provide entertainment early in the growing season before the main attractions completely fill out.This photo was taken during our drive across France in late April 2006.

They are getting ready to re-start that race thing. I think I will go watch. I note Tony Kanaan as the current leader and Ashley Judd's husband running fifth. Milka Duno is out of the race. What happened to her? And what health problem is Jim Nabors recovering from which rendered him unable to sing?

Three kinds of weather

It was quite an unusual day today, featuring at least three distinctly different weather conditions, perhaps four.

When I got up this morning the day was mostly clear and cool. There were some clouds and that is the pattern that dominated early. By 8am it was completely cloudy and extremely threatening. B. Babe wanted to ride today but when she rolled out of bed the prospects were for cold and rainy and she eventually deferred her season opener until nicer weather. That was plenty good with me because I wasn't riding either.

Around noon it got worse as first a heavy sprinkle arrived and shortly thereafter a slightly more persistent rain. It did not rain for long and it never rained very hard, but definitely weather condition number two, rain.

But by 3pm it was clear and the sun came out and warmed the afternoon to 70 or so. The wind and sun dried out the pavement. Out the door I went.

It was windy, tres windy, but the 70 held on until I was nearly done. I was warm enough, overall I am going to say it was a plenty nice ride.

The wind was blowing hard though, extremely hard out of the south and west. This necessitated a route I don't often ride. This is the hard wind out of the southwest route. It goes much farther west than my normal south route, taking me into Minneapolis, through the UofM campus, across the Stone Arch Bridge and up the river road to the northern terminus of that street, just beyond the Broadway Avenue Bridge. This section of Minneapolis has changed enormously through the years I have lived here, from a railroad yard and industrial area to townhouses and riverfront park. One thing has not changed, however, and that is the Grain Belt sign.It has been a long time since I had a beer but there was a time when Grain Belt Premium was near the top of my list. The brand was sold to G. Heileman, a LaCrosse based brewer and, to my palate at least, the beer lost its signature flavor. Mr. Wold, help me out with this if you are here (gee, I guess I doubt that) but G. Heileman beers, with the notable exception of Old Style, were a little more acidic, maybe even sweet, while the original Grain Belt Premium was a very grainy tasting beer. The brand was later acquired by the people running the Schmidt brewery after it was no longer the Schmidt brewery, Minnesota Brewing I think they called themselves. The brewmaster, I think I have this right, was the former brewmaster from when the brewery was still Schmidt and Grain Belt came to taste a lot like Schmidt, never one of my favorites. Eventually the brand was acquired by Schell's, I think the last remaining regional brewer, located in New Ulm. I suspect the more full bodied Schell's taste may suit Grain Belt Premium more than the Heileman or the Schmidt recipe. But I don't really know.

And this is the end of the road, the farthest north you can get on the river road on that side of the river in Minneapolis. That is the Mississippi River above the Saint Anthony dam. That's a railroad bridge, I think the Soo Line, probably now the Canadian National and a fairly undeveloped looking but not park shoreline.It is Memorial Day weekend and tomorrow is the Indianapolis 500. With the first selection in the driver draft, a selection I traditionally reserve for myself for no other reason than that I hold the draft and therefore deserve the first pick, I select Ashley Judd's husband.

Santini, you are on the clock unless Bianchi Babe beats you to it. Jimboy to follow, again, unless B. Babe gets off a choice. Emily, you can participate if you like. So can Adam and Kelsey, Nancy too, if she wants to. But watch out, at some point if you have not all made a selection I am going to make a second pick and the second round will have begun. My second pick is likely to be A. J. Foyt.

Let the carnage begin. No wait, Jim Nabors has to sing. Then let the carnage begin.

Finally back on the bike

Sunny and 70, a light breeze, a very, very nice day, although it has cooled off pretty rapidly since the sun has started down. After three days away I finally got back on the bike. Just exactly as the adage says, I did not forget how to ride. I had forgotten, or at least failed to remember how nice it feels to feel really fresh and strong after a few days off. I didn't push at all, just rode easily but it was fast and I did feel strong. It was fun again.

This is a picture of one of the places in Saint Paul where I once lived. That's Section 5, Kirk Hall, on the campus at Macalester. My bike is trying to hide in the shadow there in front of the window but that's my window. Charley Welton and I shared a two bedroom suite. Those two windows to the right of the entrance are the two windows in our living room. There are two bedrooms on the other side of the living room, facing out onto the street on the other side of the dormitory. My bedroom was the one on the right, next to the arch.

Welton had a TV, I had a stereo, the suite came with a couch and a couple of chairs. Also, this is the first place I had my own phone. The number was 698-1777 and the last people to have that number before me were the Allegrazas and we still got an awful lot of calls for them.The world of professional bicycle racing is in the process of coming apart at the seams. The sport is being undone by a growing scandal which began with an aggressive prosecutor's pursuit of a doping doctor in Spain. The scandal, which has already swallowed up last year's winner of the Giro, has now spread to Germany. The T-Mobile team, formerly known as Deutsche Telekom, is being exposed by its riders as a nest of doping. First Jan Ullrich was implicated in the Spanish probe. Then yesterday multiple Tour de France green jersey winner Erik Zabel admitted to the use of the performance enhancer EPO. And today Bjarne Riis, 1996 winner of the Tour de France while with Telekom, the rider who dethroned Miguel Indurain, and the current director of Team CSC, admitted that he was taking EPO during the 96 tour. This is horrible, horrible news for a sport reeling from the positive drug test of last year's Tour de France winner, a test result still being protested by the ever more guilty appearing Floyd Landis.

I went to the VeloNews website message board and found the following analysis of the 1996 tour, the first after 5 straight wins by Indurain:

What would this list look like if we took out all the dopers?

1996 Final results for General Classification as reported by CyclingNews:

1. Bjarne Riis (Den) Telekom 95.57.16
2. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom 1.41
3. Richard Virenque (Fra) Festina 4:37
4. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Festina 5:53
5. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) Carrera 7:07
6. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti 10:03
7. Piotr Ugrumov (Rus) Roslotto 10:04
8. Fernando Escartin (Spa) Kelme 10:26
9. Abraham Olano (Spa) Mapei 11:00
10. Tony Rominger (Swi) Mapei 11:53
11. Miguel Indurain (Spa) Banesto 14:14
12. Patrick Jonker (Aus) ONCE 18:58
13. Bo Hamburger (Den) TVM 22:19
14. Udo Bolts (Ger) Telekom 25:56
15. Alberto Elli (Ita) MG-Technogym 26:18
16. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Spa) Mapei 26:28
17. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Refin 27:36
18. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina 32:11
19. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MG-Technogym 37:18
20. Yevgeny Berzin (Rus) Gewiss 38:00

Let's see how it breaks down....

1. Bjarne Riis (Den) Doped
2. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Doped, but will he ever admit it?
3. Richard Virenque (Fra) Doped
4. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Doped
5. Peter Luttenberger (Lux) 5th in '96, never again approached that result, suspicious.
6. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Probably doped, ex-Festina rider
7. Piotr Ugrumov (Rus) Doped
8. Fernando Escartin (Spa) Probably doped, team Kelme
9. Abraham Olano (Spa) Olano could have been clean. Mapei was pretty adamant about their program, but see Rominger, also a Mapei rider.
10. Tony Rominger (Swi) Many suspicions of doping.
11. Miguel Indurain (Spa) Anybody really believe he won 5 straight in the era of EPO without doping?
12. Patrick Jonker (Aus) Could be clean, but rode for ONCE so who knows?
13. Bo Hamburger (Den) Doped
14. Udo Bolts (Ger) Doped
15. Alberto Elli (Ita) Doped
16. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Spa) Best lifetime result, never again placed this high.
17. Leonardo Piepoli (ita) Still active, but the length of his career makes you wonder.
18. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Doped
19. Michele Bartoli (Ita) La Gazetta today reported link to Operacion Puerto doping scandal.
20. Yevgeny Berzin (Rus) Doped

Indurain's doctor for 4 of his tours was Padilla. He left him to go to the Spanish football club Valencia FC where a few of the team players tested positive. After Padilla Indurain used Conconi, regarded as the father of modern oxygen vector doping and teacher of Ferrari and Checchini. Ferrari is the doctor convicted by an Italian court of involvement with doping. Draw your own conclusions.

The Giro d'Italia continues for another week. One wonders if anyone will care.

Still raining

I took a good look at yesterday's picture. If you click on the picture it enlarges and you can read the sign on the fence behind the models.

Velos interdits.

No bicycles allowed here either. It rained all day long. It had stopped by the time I got home and I suppose it was getting sort of dry and maybe I could have given it a try by about 5:30 pm or so. But I didn't.

It reminded me why I usually try to ride every single day when it isn't raining. Because the weather intervenes and provides rest days. Like today. The weather has once again made velos interdits.

Another rainy day

I admit that the picture was not taken here today. This is Parc Monceau in Paris, described in Lonely Planet as "an English style park". It is located a bit more than a kilometer northeast along Avenue Hoche from Charles de Gaulle Etoile in the 8th arrondissement on the border with the 17th. That would be about three blocks from the Arc de Triomphe.It is relevant today because, just as it was raining that day in Paris, it is raining here today. In fact, we currently have a severe weather warning.

Champions League final from the Olympic Stadium in Athens, AC Milan 2:1 Liverpool. Hand ball on the first goal anyone?

A brief follow-up on the Roland Garros story: While we were wandering seemingly aimlessly through the 16th while using the Galleries Lafayette poster to try to find the tennis stadium, one of the things which confused us was stadium lights which were visible from the Metro. That stadium turned out to be not a tennis stadium but a soccer stadium, Parc des Princes. I have only recently learned that Parc des Princes is the home stadium of Paris-Saint Germain and also that it was the national stadium of France until the construction of Stade de France for the 1998 World Cup, which was won by . . . Bueller? Correct. The home team, France.

Auckland rule

Today was another day of strong winds from the south. I felt a bit tired and really not in the mood to battle the wind. But I invoked the Auckland rule. The Auckland rule as propogated by the only person I know who has biked in Auckland is that if you don't ride in the wind you don't ride. I do claim to ride, ergo, I have to sometimes suck it up and go out and ride into yet another 20mph headwind.

But as usual, when I finished I was glad I had gone. It was hard work and yet I feel considerably less tired than I did before heading out.

After my comment the other day about rarely riding in Minneapolis I consulted a map to see just exactly where the boundary between the cities is in that little corner I ride through on my way to the river. So I turned on Frontenac instead of riding Saint Anthony all the way down to River Road and headed into a neighborhood where I have never been before. There's a street called Curfew and one called Desnoyer and another called Emerald. There are the backsides to the big River Road mansions and little stucco houses across the street. There are a couple of dead end streets, at least one of which I am pretty sure deadends at the city line. And eventually there is a street that leads back out to River Road.I was able to approach this sign from the Saint Paul side and while I have not yet confirmed my thesis by examining the map again, I think I did not ride even a single pedal turn in Minneapolis.

I have added a link to Les Bobos by the French entertainer Renaud as interpreted by the Paris blogger King Negrito. It comes complete with subtitles for all of us who are French impaired. I like it anyway. Les Bobos, Les Bobos, Les Bobos. Je suis aussi un bobo. I also include, for perspective, a link to what looks to me like the official artist video.

A cold day, and then . . .

The weather gadget says 50, Yahoo says 52, the Weather Channel says 53. This is a pretty cold day in comparison to what we have had lately so I was thinking that there would be no ride today. I just went outside to check to be sure that it was really as cold as all the indoor electronic media said it was. It was indeed pretty coolish but the crowning blow was that as I stood in the driveway assessing the situation it started to sprinkle. Cold and then rain? No ride today.

I salute you Nantes even as I read the unsettling news from Beaujoire stadium as originally reported by Reuters and posted at EuroSport:

The last home match for Nantes in Ligue 1 was marred by confusing scenes which symbolised the downfall of the once great club. Their penultimate match of a disastrous season, at home to Toulouse, was heading towards a 0-0 draw when it was abandoned in the 87th minute after hundreds of angry fans had invaded the pitch.

The fans placed the blame for the season squarely on the new owners, displaying a banner that read, "Dassault rends les armes." which Reuters translated as Dassault (the new owner) killed us.

Also, commenting earlier on relegation, Nantes defender Franck Signorino said, "People have fought for decades to make this club one of the greatest in France and now we're going down, I feel ashamed to have taken part in this disaster."

Fabian Barthez has vowed to play on even as he commented on the debacle of a season. "It has been difficult at Nantes because people of the club started rumours, they called journalists to tell them to write wrong things about me. But I did the maximum I could and I still can look at myself in the mirror. Maybe I invested myself too much in the dressing room, I should have concentrated myself on my performances rather than talking to the guys. It wouldn't be a problem for me to play on, I want to start a human adventure. I love France, I love Ligue 1."

Allez Nantes. Follow the link to read the story in French at the team website.

This is the very elegant Place Royale near the center of Nantes.I watched the Louis Vuitton again today and I found it more interesting in a train wreck sort of way. The team sponsored by the rich Americans melted completely down. First the skipper, after meeting with the head of the syndicate, either stepped down or was sacked. In any case, BMW Oracle brought in a new leader for what turned out to be its final appearance. They went out on the water and the Italian Luna Rossa again outclassed the American boat to advance to the challenge round finals. I am trying to keep track here but I admit that I am starting to have some difficulty keeping straight which New Zealander is sailing for which syndicate. *sigh* The travails of the excessively wealthy. I wonder if I won the lottery.

Twenty-five percent

Today featured the first morning ride and a little bit of recycling. A morning ride is a sure sign that summer is upon us. It was warm enough this morning to give it a try but weather conditions made a morning ride unlikely. It was still dark when I got up (from the overcast) and it stayed dark as I went about my morning tasks. But about 8:30 it started to lighten up and suddenly the sun appeared.

I geared up and got out into the garage. I noticed the sky was still a bit threatening but I decided to try it anyway. When I was about a mile out from home there was a peal of thunder. Ooops. I headed for home. As I neared home it didn't seem so bad after all so I veered slightly off course while still maintaining a homeward course. Ooops. Another peal of thunder. I hurried for home.

I sat in my garage and lubed my chain (which actually needed it pretty badly). Sure enough, there was an episode of sprinkles, enough to almost but not quite wet down the driveway. I went into the house to give the lube time to penetrate the chain links. After about an hour I went back out.

By now weather radar indicated the rain had passed and there should be a lengthy window of opportunity. I finished up the chain maintenance and set off. It ended up being a pretty nice day.I discovered that it rained a fair amount along the river in Saint Paul. The road still had some damp spots and even a couple of pothole puddles.

I hardly ever ride in Minneapolis. Well, that isn't quite accurate. I ride through about a tenth of a mile of Minneapolis every time I ride to the river. But I don't ride in Minneapolis very much. Today I crossed the Ford Parkway Bridge into Minneapolis and detoured to Minnehaha Park and this view of Minnehaha Falls.

Lots of Euro sports today. The Giro enters its second week without much in the way of resolution to this point. The race seems to be marking time waiting for the arrival of the mountains. The racing so far is just setting the stage for Tuesday when there is a big mountaintop finish which is the first stage of the meat of the competition.

In England the FA Cup went to extra time. Didier Drogba scored in the 116th minute to propel Chelsea to a 1-0 victory over league champion Manchester United. The game was played in the new Wembley Stadium. The new stadium was built at a cost of 750 million pounds. That makes it a 1.48 billion dollar stadium. I hope it is nice.

Nantes has Toulouse at home in its final home game as a member of Ligue 1. The game is underway as I type, no report of any score yet. The league season closes next Saturday at league champion Lyon. Lyon has already clinched the championship, its sixth in a row.

I watched a little Louis Vuitton today but I think I came in too late in this round. There wasn't much in the way of competitive tension in either of the semi-finals and I had a hard time getting very interested. Both series are pretty much settled already.

The corn is up. It came up overnight last night as these little rows of green were not there yesterday. The rows are not very distinct yet. I couldn't get a picture from the vantage point I intend to use. I had to get down close to the ground to get an image but I think it is clear that the corn is growing. At the other end of the grounds the soybeans are already up as is a grain which I cannot yet identify but which I suspect is wheat.

EDIT: Final score from Ligue 1 - Nantes 0:0 Toulouse

Look 8,015

As of today I own a bicycle that has been ridden for more than 8,000 miles.

And that seems like a lot to me too. I have another bike that I have ridden more than 7,000 miles but it has been a while since I started a previously unridden thousand. Obviously about 8,000 miles I guess.

I own a bike with 8,000 miles, a bike with 7,000 miles and a bike with 6,000 miles. I have bikes that I have ridden more miles than a circumnavigation of the globe. It seems like a lot of miles.

8,000 is significant for more than the miles. When I bought the Trek which started me down this path I set a goal that I should ride it a number of miles equal to a multiple of the dollars the bike cost. I did that and moved on to another bike. I have reached that multiple for every bike I have owned save one (my vacation bike, which is being judged by different criteria). Today I reached that multiple for this bike.

Does this look steep? Because it is steep. This is Ramsey Hill, a real hill by any measurement. It is also a fairly busy street so I don't ride it very often. The Saint Paul Bike Classic on the second weekend of September each year closes the street so the riders can climb the hill unmolested and then awards buttons at the top to any bicyclist who comes up the hill.Very, very few actually ride the hill, almost all end up walking. But they give a button to every person who makes it to the top. This somewhat dilutes the significance of the button, I suppose, but human powered is human powered and I don't personally mind that everyone gets a button. I get a button every year by riding to the top of the hill.

Today I visited the hill. I am far from prepared to ride it. Pretty much my entire schedule between now and September has an at least secondary purpose of preparing me to come up this hill. I never avoid any hill on any of my rides. I am not fast, but I can be strong, if I work at it. I work at it.

It was a warm day, 81 at ride time. The wind came up again, strong out of the south, 18 mph, gusting to 25. Riding in the wind is very hard work but it was such a nice, warm day, that it ended up being a nice ride.

Horses

I forgot. Yesterday I saw horses.

Actually it isn't that unusual. I ride past the Fairgrounds fairly often and nearly every weekend there is a horseshow at the Coliseum. I have seen horses with riders dressed in formal dressage costume, riders in cowboy costumes, a show with riders in all manner of outlandish costume party costumes and even an Arabian horse show with riders dressed as, well, I guess they intended to be Arabs. Last week I saw harness horses with fancy carriages. Horses are common.

But yesterday I saw horses walking up the sidewalk at the farm campus. Yup, walking on the sidewalk. Next to the street, but walking on the sidewalk. They had riders and the riders had costumes, blue ones. Police uniforms.This is the Ford Dam, built in 1917 with the hydroelectric plant completed in 1924. The dam has provided all of the electricity to power the plant ever since and continues to be one of the principal assets of the company at the site. The hydro plant will almost certainly continue in operation and its 18 megawatt production (enough to power 10,000 homes) will continue to be put to some as yet unknown use.

It was 71 today with a light breeze from the south. It was one of the prettiest days in the history of days and it was a pretty nice ride.

Cross chaining at Giro

The cyclingnews live report of today's stage of the Giro reported a vicious case of cross chaining. According to the update posted at 17:24 CEST, Julio Pérez of Ceramica Panaria-Navigare, the stage leader at the time while attempting a late breakaway on the final climb to a mountain top finish, was using his 53x29 gear. This would be, of course, big ring in front (farthest outside), largest cog in the back (farthest inside). Completely not recommended. But since Perez is a professional I presume he just said, "Don't try this at home!"

It was only 58 at the time I headed out today with a 20 mph North wind. But upper 50s, lower 60s just happens to be a temperature range for which I have appropriate clothing absolutely nailed. It was too windy and then in an unfair twist, the wind shifted to from the West without losing any velocity. This made the ride out and part of the ride back into a very strong headwind. But the sun was out, it was a pretty day, and I was dressed appropriately. It was a hard ride but a nice ride.

Here is another pretty little spot which is not a lake. This is Willow Pond.I have checked and it is not listed on the official inventory so it is definitely not a lake. It is located across the street from the high school, behind the district offices.

Where have all the flowers gone?

Catchy title, no?

Yesterday was too hot and too windy and threatening rain. It was 90, I think, and although 90 is marginally doable, 90 at this point in the year is too hot. So today was 59, almost as windy and even more threatening. It never actually rained yesterday and it didn't today either. So I rode my bike.

I rode to the north and there are a couple of spots that I have been waiting for the right combination of blossoms and sunlight to photograph. Particularly there is a double row of flowering crabs at Saint Odila. Well, I waited too long, the flowers are gone.

I was convincing myself that the flowering season is over until I passed these on the way home.The fruit trees may be done flowering but there are plenty of other bushes now coming forward to fill the void. Lilacs are everywhere and there is suddenly a second wave of white flowers. These look like they may have been originally planted as a hedge.

There's a story about yesterday's picture. It was our first trip to France. We have only very, very rudimentary French skills so we were extremely dependent on the Guide. Well, at the time of this trip she was still a college student and she had to go back to Nantes before we had to go back to Roseville. We were on our own in Paris for a few days.

That night I looked up Roland Garros in the Lonely Planet. The Paris Metro is, just as widely advertised, very user friendly so we had no trouble figuring out the appropriate Metro line and stop and the next day we successfully navigated to the neighborhood surrounding the stadium. From that point I learned a valuable lesson. Do not, repeat, do not try to navigate your way in Paris with a Galleries Lafayette map. It is more like a poster than an actual map and it made the few blocks from the Metro to Roland Garros into a much larger adventure than it needed to be.

We wandered down a couple of streets and eventually found ourselves walking along next to a fenced enclosure. Soon we could see that there were tennis courts on the other side of the fence. I expected that soon enough we would come to some sort of main entrance and that then we would either pay an admission and be admitted to the grounds or else we would discover that the club was closed and that the peek we were getting through the fence was as good as we were going to get.

With this in mind I was pretty excited about walking along the fence and having a good view of the courts. Not the stadium, but real courts, the outer courts where most of the French Open is played. A few steps later we heard hitting. Soon we could see someone practicing on one of the courts. Perhaps not professional quality practice, but good players striking the ball with authority. At this point I was completely satisfied with the experience. I had located Roland Garros and I had seen someone playing tennis on one of the outer courts, all without the benefit of the Guide. Pretty good stuff, no?

We kept walking to the corner of the grounds, turned left and walked across the end and left again and started back up the other side. The result of trying to navigate with the Galleries Lafayette map was that we had completely missed the front entrance and were going to have to walk pretty much all the way around the grounds before we got back to the front entrance. So we kept walking.

Halfway up the second long side we could see an access road leading on to the grounds. It had a gate, to be sure, but the gate was standing open. What the heck, the worst that could happen is that I wouldn't be able to speak any French and an exasperated French person would escort me off the grounds, right? So we walked in and wandered about among the outer courts. From inside the fence we could now easily see the people practicing and we could see that we were now approaching the stadium courts. So we walked towards them. We passed Court Suzanne Lenglen and soon arrived at the plaza between Philippe Chartrier and the original stadium, now referred to as Court 1. The original stadium has the names of winners of the tournament on a ring around the outside top. The plaza is Place des Mousquetaires and it has a replica Davis Cup and statues of the Four Musketeers of French tennis, the heroes of the sport who first won the Cup for France and successfully retained the trophy for six straight years at a time when the Davis Cup was a world championship of significance similar to that which is now accorded the World Cup of soccer. Borotra, Bugnon, Cochet and Lacoste, each in bronze in the plaza with their names on the rim of the stadium above and also on the replica Cup memorializing their accomplishment.This shot is from in front of Philippe Chartrier facing towards Court 1 in the background. The statue behind me is Borotra, the Bouncing Basque.

At this point I was way, way pleased with the whole Roland Garros experience. I had gotten in, which I wasn't sure I would be able to do. I had seen all of this stuff and I had been able to do it undisturbed, with no other tourists about.

We were just looking around and the passageway under the stadium to Philippe Chartrier was open. So we started to walk down it. No gate, no fence, no security, no nothing. We walked out the other end of the passageway at court level to an opening onto the court. We walked out and my wife took my picture and that's the story.

Good story, no?

Too hot, too windy, threatening to rain

No ride today. Two days in a row without a ride. It feels a little strange.

This is the red clay of Paris.April 26, 2004, standing on the playing surface at Court Philippe Chartrier at Stade Roland Garros. Neither Wilson nor any of his relatives were present. Nor any fans.

Mothers' Day

Two mothers I know.

Photo taken on Banyan Street on February 16, 2007.

Giro d'Italia

Team time trial today. The Giro only rarely has a team time trial, the Tour de France almost always features one. This year no TTT in Tour, Giro has TTT first day. Liquigas crosses with the best time putting Enrico Gasparotto in the leader's jersey (Maglia Rosa) although the real leader is team leader and second across the line Daniel Di Luca. Astana second (former Discovery team rider Paolo Savoldelli), Team CSC third (Fabian Cancellara). A flat stage scheduled for tomorrow, chance for Milram and Alessandro Petacchi to shine.

Obviously I meant Arden Hills. Hazelnut Park is in Arden Hills. On New Brighton Boulevard, but in Arden Hills. We did play in New Brighton that year but it was a weekend tournament. The cities represented in our league were Roseville, Arden Hills and Shoreview. We played at least one game in Shoreview in addition to the Arden Hills games.

And this is Oasis Park in Roseville.This is where we played as 3rd and 4th graders. We also practiced there as 5th graders. This is the site of the team record for home runs. The 4th graders were the undefeated Rangers featuring that year's best female 4th grade softball hitter in Roseville, Tiffany Schreifels. Our batting order that year was Knutson, Sventek, Miller, Schreifels. Tiffany had a game that year where she had a 3 run homer and 2 grand slams, back to back grand slams at that. Tiffany hit them so far that other teams were in disbelief. Coach Knutson and I would stand at the bench and comment to each other, they are probably going to want to play a little deeper than that. But they wouldn't. And then Tiffany would come up and paste one way, way over their heads. It was almost unfair.

This is also where Leah had a bad run of outfield while Tiffany was batting in batting practice. Usually in batting practice there wasn't a heck of a lot to do. Shag the occasional ball that comes to you but mostly just stand around and contemplate. Leah got caught in the outfield several practices in a row when Tiffany was taking hits though and that always involved chasing down a plethora of long balls.

This is also where the star of yesterday's post had one of her most ignominious moments. When she was a fifth grader we had an actress on the team. The actress was at that time appearing in a Children's Theatre Company production of Alice in Wonderland as . . . Alice, who else? Yesterday's star was playing catch with Alice and somehow or other Alice ended up with a black eye. Ask her, she can tell you about it.

Fishing opener this weekend in Minnesota. I rode out to Lake Vadnais and the road was parked nearly completely full with cars. There were more people there than I have ever seen there before, happily fishing and kibitzing away.

The news of today's ride is that once again I dressed for yesterday. I went with base layer, sleeved jersey and arm warmers. It was fine at the beginning but about half way through I had to pull the arm warmers down. But then, the last few miles before reaching home had the return of the cloud cover and I had to pull the armers back up. So my choice of clothing was vindicated in the end.

Squirrels are vermin.

Nantes relegated

Today I made one of the classic blunders made by people who work indoors and then intend to get some exercise outdoors. I dressed for yesterday.

It was about 75 when I set out. I checked the weather channel and Mikey J's. I knew it wasn't going to be as warm as yesterday but I expected a gradual cooling. I should have paid more attention to Mikey J's as, in retrospect, there was definite evidence of an arriving front. Much to my chagrin it rolled through in the middle of the ride.

The weather went from sunny and pleasant to overcast and windy within minutes. It was overcast for about half an hour and then it went back to sunny. Only now it was sunny and cold and windy.

But I endeavored to perservere and it was okay, not perfect, but okay.

This is Hazelnut Park in New Brighton. This is the site of a family record. The record was set by a member of the 8th grade softball team. That team, as every one of those teams except the very first one, was pretty good. Also like every one of those teams except two, we were not quite championship quality. I think this year was one of our many second place finishes.Anyway, games we played in New Brighton were always against a New Brighton team so we weren't familiar with any of them and they weren't familiar with us. But as the vagaries of recreational league schedules go, we were the home team in their town.

They got I think 3 in the top of the first and their fans were getting downright rowdy. We answered in the bottom of the inning with our usual batting order, recite it with me now, all of those of you who know this, Knutson, Sventek and Miller. Knutson and Sventek got on, Miller drew a walk and eventually came around to score the tieing run.

We held them without a run in the top of the second and that's when things started to get interesting. We had two outs with Sventek on base, Miller at the plate. The New Brightoners were playing a four across outfield (we always, ALWAYS played three across and a short fielder) and might have been a tad shallow, particularly against our number 3 hitter, a spot in which most opponents would assume that you have a pretty good hitter. Emily roped a shot over the right center fielder's head which rolled nearly to the fence. By the time it was retrieved Emily had circled the bases for a two run home run and we had the lead. The rowdy fans began the journey to glum.

On Emily's next plate appearance we still had the lead, in fact, had expanded it some. This time both Knutson and Sventek were on base. The outfield played the same and Emily hit another shot to the same place, this time for a three run home run.

Back to back home runs, but that still wasn't all. On her final at bat of the game, Emily stepped in with Knutson, Sventek and one other teammate aboard. That's bases loaded for those of you unfamiliar with the terminology. Well, she did it again, over their heads, grand slam, or as known on ESPN, the grand salami.

And that's the family record, back to back to back home runs, a two run home run, followed by a three run home run, followed by the grand slam. As Wendy's Dad said, a lot of teams would have played their outfield deeper after the first couple. But they didn't and she kept hitting them.

I met Scott, one of the three commuting bicycle mechanics from County Cycles while on my way home today. Note to road biking snobs, Scott, who rides all year round and therefore way more miles than any of you fancy wannabe racing types, greeted me by ringing his bell. He said, "Hey Gene" and I said, "Hey Scott". It was a kinda nice reminder that this whole bicycling thing is not nearly as anonymous as it sometimes feels.

And finally, in Wednesday night's game, Nantes did the best they could to stave off relegation, defeating Bordeaux 1-0. However, both of the teams which they still had a chance to overtake also won, Nice defeating Paris-Saint Germain 1-0, and Valenciennes defeating Saint Etienne by the same 1-0 score. With only two games remaining and therefore only 6 points available, Nantes is 7 points from safety. In some ways it should please me. I am now the owner of a jersey for a French second division team. A jersey for a second division team is even more obscure than a jersey for a French first division team and I usually prefer obscure things. But I am saddened from afar. Allez Nantes, begin to prepare to win promotion back to Ligue 1, where the team representing so fair a city obviously belongs.

Autumn Grove

I have spent many a weekday evening and many a Saturday morning here. This is Autumn Grove, the southwest field. For some reason very few other coaches ever wanted to practice at Autumn Grove so we were always able to get practice time here.This is the site, if I recall correctly, of, "Sara, is that the absolute fastest you can run?" and numerous other memorable moments.

The ride today was another good one. Usually the second day after a breakthrough isn't as fast as the first day, and today wasn't. But it was still the second fastest day of the year. And further, today's conditions were not quite as ideal as yesterday's, so some fall off was probably inevitable. Today was warmer than yesterday, a gorgeous summer day, but a wind kicked up about half way through the ride and eventually proved just a tiny bit troublesome.

But it was a good ride and when I got home Wireless was still home after stopping by to pick up some pants and a volleyball. So that was very nice. She has some news but I won't rain on her parade, she can toot her own horn. She is a most excellent dafter.

Fast and strong

I have been a bit worried about average speed. I do not race, even against myself, but a comparison of average speeds so far this year to average speeds for most of last year was starting to make me feel, well, slow.

Today it got all better and in the process reminded me of why it got all better. I am a whole lot faster when there are no issues of heating and cooling to be dealt with. For example, staying warm takes energy. I have always found that I am slower when I ride in the cold. The converse is also true, overheating takes energy. I don't like being cold, probably I overdress. I don't overdress enough to perspire but I do overdress enough that it saps my energy. I am slower when I am overdressed.

Today was the first day when it felt like summer and when there wasn't any problem with staying warm or with staying cool. It was warm enough that I was dressed in only a sleeveless jersey and shorts, cotton socks and shoes, helmet and gloves, sunglasses. It was warm enough that no base layer, no jacket, no arm warmers, none of that stuff was needed. It was warm enough that I got that evaporative cooling thing going so I was not overheated.

I was fast. I was a full 1.1 mph faster than my previous fastest average speed for so far this year. WOOHOO. I feel fast, I feel strong. I came home, walked into the house and burst into a nice sweat. It felt very good.

I rode the full southern route, all the way to the Highway 5/West 7th Street Bridge across the Mississippi. Here is Fort Snelling, the Mendota Bridge and I am guessing a Northwest Airlines flight landing.The corn has been planted. I did not bother to photograph it because the only evidence that is visible is a new set of tractor and planter tracks in the field in a distinctly row pattern. There is no mistaking that work has been done in the field, but no green shoots poking though the soil just yet. I think it won't be long now, though. If I recall correctly from my tenth grade biology seed sprouting assignment, that corn will be fully sprouted within just a few days and should be peeking above the ground within 2 weeks.

Chelsea 0: Manchester United 0. Both sides presented something less than their top squads and played an apparently uninspired scoreless draw. After all there was nothing of consequence to contest today so they will wait to test each other in the FA Cup final.

A rain day is a rest day

I got a pretty late start today and as a result the sun was hurrying towards the horizon by the time I was hurrying towards home. This collection of color is located right at the end of my street. I think the angle of the sun makes a nice effect.I was reminded by today's ride that a day off always makes me stronger. I felt very good, I felt strong, I felt fast. And that is always fun.

I got a "nice bike" today. I am not sure it counts towards the running total of bicycle compliments though. It came from a group of skater kids who I am pretty sure were playing a game of "who can get the most adults to acknowledge them?" The skater girl who came up with "I really like your bike" scored a point in the game as I gave her back a "Thank you." However, it has since occurred to me that she may have been sincere. After all, my bike is black and I believe black is one of the basic skater colors. So maybe she really did like my bike, in a skater sort of way.

Check out the May 8 post at this blog. Separated at birth?

It wasn't raining in Florida

But it is raining here.Port Charlotte, February 16, 2007. I think it WAS windy that day.

Wind advisory

I became convinced fairly early on that there would be no rain today. Even so I was firmly parked inside the house. The National Weather Service issued a severe weather warning for straight line winds. It was in fact blowing very hard here but it never reached dangerous conditions, in my opinion. Except possibly dangerous as a cross wind for a person on a bicyle.

But around 1pm there was a noticeable diminishment of the howling and by about 2 I was feeling as though I should be riding. So out I went.

It was way too windy.

But I rode on anyway. There was only one time when I came out of the shelter of a building and caught a cross wind that nearly blew me over that it seemed even vaguely not a good idea. It was way too windy but it was fun being out there, just riding along. I concede that I did ride past one tree that had been blown over by the wind. However it did seem to me to have a bad case of dry rot of the trunk, so it was just standing there looking for an excuse to fall down.

An observation is that the white flowers come first. Another observation is that they are already starting to leave. Here are a couple of nice white flowering crabs with some pink flowering crabs in the background. These are at Commonwealth Terrace on Como Avenue.There are lots of lilacs about to reach full bloom and plenty of other signs of late spring/early summer out and about. It was windy but it is always good to be out there to see what is happening, what is changing.

Sarkozy has apparently been elected President of France. Royal has conceded and Blair and Bush et al. have telephoned congratulations. Washington can "count on our friendship," Sarkozy told hundreds of cheering supporters, though he added that "friendship means accepting that friends can have different opinions." So that seems good to me.

Arsenal 1: Chelsea 1. Manchester United clinches the league championship, unseating the two time defending champions, Chelsea.

Nantes 1: LeMans 1

I knew I could make it rain today if I tried. And eventually I did. As long as I stayed in the house the storm stayed just to our west. I was pretty sure that if I got on my bike and started down the road that it would begin to rain. I got a little more than a mile from the house before the first drops hit and managed to get home without getting very wet.

Nantes stays alive, but barely as Claudiu Keseru scored in extra time to rescue a 1-1 draw at LeMans. As best as I can determine from the game story on the FC Nantes website (in French) Nantes dominated play early but went to the half down 1-0 and were somewhat fortunate to keep it at that score until the late tally drew them even.

With only 3 games remaining the only sides outside the relegation zone still within mathematical reach of Nantes are Nice and Valenciennes. Nice now leads Nantes by 7 but did not improve themselves in losing 3-0 at AS Nancy. Valenciennes leads by 8 after falling 1-0 at Sochaux.

In England Manchester United wins the latest renewal of the Manchester Derby by defeating Manchester City at City 1-0. Chelsea is at the Arsenal in the Sunday game requiring a victory to keep the league chase alive until Wednesday's game when Manchester United visits Chelsea. Chelsea is 8 adrift with games at the Arsenal and home to ManU and Everton, needing all 9 points to overhaul ManU. ManU finishes at Chelsea and home to West Ham needing just a single point to clinch.

The FA Cup final still looms, of course, May 19 at Wembley.

Tulip time

This isn't up to the standards of tulip time in Holland by any means but when I scan through the "My Pictures" file on my hard drive I come upon this shot which in that file is labelled "Tulip Time in Tuileries". The software identifies the date the photo was taken as April 25, 2004. This is our guide wearing her Oakeys. The picture was taken near the reflecting pond at the Louvre end of the gardens and that is one of the wings of the Louvre in the background. The Jardins des Tuileries are so named because the site before becoming the location of a palace and later of these gardens was a clay pit. The kilns (or tuileries) located at the pit baked clay into the tiles which were used for the roofs of many of the buildings in the oldest sections of the city.

The photo appears here today because it prominently features a flowering tree and therefore fits into the recent theme and because it is raining here today (no bicycling).

Crown Jewel 7,722: Look 7,747

I had a CLE today which means that I was downtown at the Bar Association CLE center. That meant I was able to have lunch with Wireless. She showed me the ropes at Au Bon Pain, a soup and sandwich joint in the City Center and then we walked through Dayton's and looked around a tiny bit before she had to go back to work. She was looking very IDS today and quite springlike in her new flowered blouse. Thanks for lunch sweetie, your Daddy loves you.

This is, I am pretty sure, Boyd's house. No, obviously not those Boyds. This is Paul Boyd, a guy I played softball with for many years on the Saint Anthony Park Lutheran Church fast pitch softball team. Roy pointed out the house to me when we were stopped on the street one day last fall (me on my bike, Roy on his way to Speedy for some carrots). These Boyds live in the Park, as the locals call it. On my southern route I ride over the highest hill in the Park and then downhill past Boyds before I head out south along Raymond towards the river. It looks to me like the Boyds have one of those maples that has the reddish leaves, a Schwedler maple, I think.The Look passed the Crown Jewel today for the most miles I have ridden on any bike. This is quite significant, obviously, and it reinforces yet again that the Look is my bike. When I first got it I was only thinking that I would ride it a bit and then revert to the Crown Jewel. The Crown Jewel is a spectacularly nice bike and I never imagined that I would ride anything else. I only got the Look because it was such a good deal and because I wanted to have a carbon bike before I got too old to have a carbon bike. I had no idea that it would be such a spectacularly nice bike. It is a great, great bike. I used to have bike lust fairly regularly but it seems to be gone. I already have a spectacularly nice carbon bike and I already have one of the nicest steel bikes ever made. I look at other bikes and all I can think is that I already have two bikes way nicer than any of those, why should I bother?

Also today the Look passed the Axis for most miles on one bike so far this year. It was a mileage milestone day.

And today for the first time I rode hard enough to make it hurt. Up until now when I got tired I just went ahead and gave in. But to get stronger at some point you have to stretch, you have to try to do the work even in the face of fatigue. Today I got tired and I went ahead and pushed anyway. It is a good kind of hurt, but today it hurt.

It was a beautiful day for a ride. I had fun.

Cooling through the 60s

68 and sunny should be warm enough. And it was warm enough at the start. But cooling through the 60s is not as nice a day as warming through the 60s. Again today I was right on the edge of not being warm enough when I got home. Getting the right gear on is tricky in the spring as the rapidly changing conditions leave you guessing at least a little bit. I must admit I was surprised to find that base layer, jersey and arm warmers were not quite warm enough for two rides that began each day with the temperature at 68.

I wasn't going to start putting the shrub pictures up until they are in full bloom. But I rode past the bush that had the very first flowers that I saw and the white flowers are gone. This reminded me of how brief this burst of color is. And there is also the issue of whether I will be back past these trees again before the bloom is over.

So here is a pair of trees on the regular route in Shoreview. I have seen them more beautiful but they look pretty good today.I thought that was it for today but then as I rode through the farm campus on the way home I came upon this large bed of tulips. Upon reflection I believe that the intent here is that these tulips be viewed as maroon and gold, the school colors. I must admit to me they look mostly yellow and red. But here they are anyway, Goldy's Tulips.
Sharp eyed observers may notice a return appearance by one of the cow statutes in the upper left corner of the photo.

AC Milan proved too big an obstacle for Manchester United, winning today 3-0 in Milan. Milan's Brazilian superstar Kaka had the first goal after scoring both goals for Milan in last week's 3-2 loss in Manchester and may well have clinched European Player of the Year and maybe even World Player of the Year.

Liverpool v. AC Milan in the final, I believe May 23 in Athens. Manchester United and Chelsea still have two big games against each other, May 9 at Chelsea in the penultimate game of the regular season, and May 19 in the FA Cup final at the newly reconstructed Wembley Stadium.

Hooray, hooray

Theme day it is then.The west face of the Cathedral at Chartres.

ADDENDUM: We have tulips here too. Probably not as nice as Tulip Time, but still a nice sign of spring. Lots of flowers are now out, the lawns are green, the trees are starting to fill out. Soon enough . . .It wasn't as nice as it seemed, coolish but sunny. The wind was out of the north however and it picked up during the ride. For the first time in a really long time I wasn't dressed warmly enough. It wasn't terribly uncomfortable but the stretches into the wind were just not quite warm enough.

Major football news today, in Champions League semi-finals, Liverpool defeats Chelsea 1-0. This produced an aggregate 1-1 tie so they played extra time and eventually penalties before Liverpool prevailed. The four trophy quest for Chelsea is over as Liverpool advances to the final. The other semi-final second leg is tomorrow in Milan where AC Milan tries to overcome Manchester United and a 2-3 goal deficit.