Break in the clouds

I spent the first half of the ride with any eye out for something interesting to photograph. I spent the last half of the ride hoping for the sun to come out when I was somewhere near something colorful.

The sun sorta came out as I passed the University Horticulture demonstration plot. I settled for pink flowers.I don't always read Bike Snob NYC but I did read it today. And discovered that the the blog was right, completely on on Monday. The NY Times has a blogger who intends to ride L'Étape, a citizens ride following the exact route of a Tour de France mountain stage. BSNYC is outraged in a fairly snobbish sort of way but it is pretty good stuff. Follow the link.
I did some research to determine just exactly which year Jan Ullrich won Paris-Roubaix and discovered some interesting facts. For example the race is known as l'Enfer du Nord (Hell of the North) not because it is held over hellish roads early in the spring when the weather is also often pretty hellish. Actually the term was first used to describe the route of the race when it was run immediately following the the Great War, or World War I. The course followed the front lines of the war and passed through the ruins, craters and destruction. Journalists covering the race that year dubbed the race l'enfer du Nord.

This is the race poster from one of the years when Ullrich did not win the race, 2006, the 104th running. The slogan is something along the lines of "the hard one of the hard ones". That saddle looks uncomfortable.

Herr Ullrich, although indisputably a winner of the Tour de France, not only never won Paris-Roubaix, he never rode the race. Still, I totally understand the reference to riding on bad roads in a big gear. Totally appropriate.

I watched the three speeches last night. It was interesting to see 3 people in a row essentially declare themselves to be the victor of the primary season. For me, I cannot bring myself to think that any of the three would actually be the kind of President that the country needs right now. I am able to establish a preference but that doesn't mean I think he will be any good, only that I think he would be the best of three poor choices. But as to the speeches I thought Hillary gave the best speech. She was focused and controlled and by not conceding delivered a powerful thank you to her supporters. Obama I think has already started reading the punditry comparing him to McCain, particularly the sections siting their comparative strengths and weaknesses. He sees that his perceived strength is his oratory. I thought he spent the whole speech with his head cocked back as if to say, "Watch this, I am a great orator." The problem was it wasn't much of a speech. McCain was the worst. Public speaking is not his strength. He is a heroic figure who has sacrificed much and it looks to me like he is being called upon to make one final sacrifice, to get drubbed by the Democratic tidal wave which seems to be forming.

Of course, this is just my opinion and I could be wrong. The time forward to election day is just as long as the time backward to the Iowa primary. As of today, Obama leads.