Beantown

This was my second trip to Boston and I've got to say it's a great town to visit. Tuesday I managed to scrape together some time and visited the battlefield at Concord. I'm a history buff, and one of the periods of time that interests me most is the 1700's, so I'm like a kid in a candy shop living on the East Coast. I just finished reading "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett Fischer for the 2nd time in preparation for this trip. Walking portions of the battlefield, it's easy to imagine swarms of pissed off colonist's laying into the British Regulars. These men had a completely different worldview than what the vast majority of Americans possess today. They recognized that their rights as Englishmen, rights they held sacred, were being violated in principle. If they allowed those rights to be violated in any degree, it set a precedent for further violations. If they could see "us" now, our Founding Fathers would be on a spit, turning in their graves.

If you ever venture to Boston, be sure to make time to tour the Sam Adams Brewery as well! It's a great tour and it's very interesting to see how they brew beer. Plus, at the end of the tour they do a "tasting"! Viva Sam Adams Imperial Stout (a very dark beer they're developing)! I was in a room full of people who'd run the Boston Marathon a couple of days before. I had a nice conversation with a couple of guys from Minnesota and a dentist from Berlin.

The airport in Boston is easy to get in and out of, and there's some pretty good restaurants scattered about. I've taken a liking to Lendy's Deli in Saugus, where I've been staying. Jimmy's Steerhouse is very good as well (try the beef tips!). My Magellan GPS unit is absolutely teriffic! It continues to drop me on the doorstep of every appointment on my schedule. Boston is a great town to work in and I look forward to coming back often.

Score!

After a great weekend in New Jersey, I hopped a plane to Chicago for a fundraising seminar last week. After lunch one day, it was announced that one of the attendee's had an extra ticket to the Cubs game that night! When she announced it, the guy who had the ticket happened to be looking right at me. I instantly staked my claim and two hours later I was sitting in a great seat at Wrigley Field!

The Reds were in town and the atmosphere (as I assume it always is) was electric. I quickly grabbed a "Chicago Dog", bag o' peanuts, and an "Old Style" and settled into my seat. Aside from the two lesbians mawing each others faces two rows down, it was a great night. Ken Griffey Jr. went yard for the Reds, and Derek Lee absolutely crushed an Aaron Harang pitch into the left centerfield bleachers (he went 3 for 5). The Cubbies turned a couple of slick double plays whilst pounding the Reds 9-5. Cubs fans really let Dusty Baker have it each time he ventured from the dugout! It was crazy! Wrigley is one of the most unique baseball experiences I've had. I've not witnessed that kind of passion out of a group of fans before.

Last weekend I pounded out rides of 28, 38, and 30 miles! The weather was perfect and the legs felt great!

Finally!

My sciatic nerve problem has subsided enough to where I was able to get in a few miles on the bike this week. With the exception of a 25 mile jaunt one day with my son, I haven't been on the bike since the beginning of February. I've done rides of 16, 26, 37, and 28 miles this week and have felt great every time out. Tommorow I fly to New Joisey for a couple of days, then to Chicago for a seminar until Thursday. I'll be distracted by thoughts of my bike the whole time no doubt.

Hopefully, I can catch Paris- Roubaix on Versus this Sunday. I'm looking for a Boonen/ Cancellara showdown. Although you can't overlook Freire or Gilbert either.

Oscar Freire threw down an amazing sprint to take Ghent- Wevelgem Wednesday. What a stud!

How does it feel?

To win the Tour of Flanders whilst wearing Belgian colors?

Stijn Devolder had the race of his life and will never have to buy a beer in Belgium again!

Special thanks to the early risers at Podium Cafe for giving "play by play" to those of us who won't cough up the dough for Cycling TV. Y'all are Vin Scully's with keyboards!

My Children

I can't believe my oldest son is 17! His birthday was Friday. My wife and I took him and his girlfriend out to dinner at Bistro, a nice Italian restaurant. It's amazing and fun to watch your children grow! God has truly blessed me with some terrific children.

My oldest is now 17. He's a very sharp, responsible, young Christian. He gets good grades (geez he's sharp!) and has just been made a crew manager at work. He also has a conscience and I'm always impressed at what a genuinely nice young man he is. He's very athletic. Baseball is his first love (as it was mine at his age), but he's developing a real interest in cycling. Cycling wise I think he'd make a very capable climber. I bought him an great old Cilo about a year ago.

My second son turned 15 in February. He's a great kid! He has a real love for God, history, and current events. I'm quite certain he knows more about Constitutional government and history than most adults. He has very high standards when it comes to friends, and carry's himself quite well (quite confidence). He's very athletic and is a vacuum cleaner with a baseball glove. He can really handle a basketball. In fact, he beat me two of three games at 21 yesterday (and swatted the crap out of me one time!). He'll make a good cyclist as he's got quite an engine (I need to find him a bike).

My oldest daughter is almost 12. She's a gem! She's very sweet, pretty, and smart. She's making honor roll in her honors courses at school (A's and 1 B+). She is an exceptionally talented artist and has had several pieces displayed in school art shows! She just made her middle school soccer team as well. I love that she'll watch my favorite British comedy "Keeping Up Appearances" with me and enjoy it as much as I do! What I love most about her is that she's a genuinely nice, caring young lady.

My youngest daughter is 7. She's such a delight. She's quite cute and at her age she's probably more advanced than my other kids were. I imagine it's from having older siblings. She acts way older than other kids her age. She's takes advanced courses at her school and is still bored with them (so she tells me). She reads and speaks like she's 10 or 11 years old. She plays soccer and has an ear for music that we really need to develop. She has a great sense of humor and can make us all laugh hard! What I love most is when she asks me to say a prayer with her every night. It's very sweet. We love to share an apple as well.

There's nothing I love more than spending time with my family! It's what life is all about as far as I'm concerned. Whether it's just sitting around talking, going to the gym, a ballgame, or on a family trip, I love being their father. I'd do anything for them. I guess that's what being a dad is all about.

I pray they'll always enjoy all life has to offer, and have many great memories.

What will it take?

Doping sucks! Having questions about who may be "juiced up" has taken much of the fun out of watching competitive sports. What the hell is wrong with people? Where are our morals?

Alexi Grewal winning Olympic Gold in 1984 was my introduction to competitive cycling. He was always one of my favorite cyclists. I'm proud of him for having the courage to discuss this part of his life. It takes a real man to admit his mistakes in the hope of keeping others from falling into the same trap.

Kudo's to you Alexi!

http://www.velonews.com/article/74053/an-essay-by-1984-olympic-gold-medalist-alexi-grewal

Will others will have the courage to do likewise?

Tour De Trump

I was moving some stuff around in the garage this morning and stumbled across a box of old VHS tapes. Amongst this treasure chest of nostalgia are some classic videos of the Tour De France and Paris- Roubaix from the mid to late 80's. I used to tune into the coverage every weekend and mash the record button. Nothing says "80's cycling" like watching Sean Kelly pound the cobbles of Paris- Roubaix and Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault sore up Alpe D'Huez! All set to great commentary by Phil Liggett and John Tesh! However, one video gem in particular is priceless. That's the 1990 Tour De Trump. Yep, the Donald was the primary bankroll for what was actually a great East Coast race for a couple of years. The Coors Classic had gone by the wayside a couple of years before (what an awesome race that was) and the Tours of California and Georgia weren't around. It was with absolute delight that I killed a couple of hours this morning watching this blast from the past.

Many of the great Euro teams were there fighting for some very decent prize money. PDM (Holland), Panasonic (Holland), Carrera (Italy), Lotto (Belgium) and "Z" (France), were the most notable. The "Commies" sent an amature team over and one of there riders sported the leaders jersey (Why Hot Pink?) for several stages. America was represented by the much accomplished 7-11 team and a number of primarily US based squads such as Coors Light, Crest, Spago, Subaru- Montgomery, and the US National team. Even the Postobon team from Columbia was there.

These were the last of the bygone days of toeclips, downtube shifters, massive helmets (if you weren't wearing a leather hairnet), and Oakley Factory Pilots.

PDM's Mexi- stud, Raul Alcala bided his time and finally put the USSR's young Vladislav Bobrik to the torch on a very tough ("Hell's Kitchen") stage 13, Catskill mountains- Albany, NY. OUCH!!

I always thought Alcala was a great cyclist and a really decent guy. He won the coveted "Malliot Blanc" (white jersey) awared to the best rider under 25 for the 1987 Tour de France. He also won Tour stages in 1989 and 1990. I'm glad he at least got the overall in this race.

I think I'll dig around in the garage some more. I'm quite certain I have a couple of years worth of "Winning Magazines" in there, somewhere, as well.