Velogal's Blog

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Thanks to the folks who wrote me - Nope, I haven’t fallen into a cycling black hole. Just needed a couple of days for R&R. I did do a podcast - I was way behind on that, too... I just needed to Adapt, Improvise and Overcome - I learned those words to live by from my great spinning instructor, Pete, a few years ago. Life is constantly presenting challenges, as we all well know...

So Lance was “completely exonerated” by the Dutch investigation of the Le Creep/WADA allegations about doping in the 1999 TdF. But, of course, Dick Pound is still WADA-Mouthing off. I think that guy is a nut-case and a disgrace. The Dutch report recommends an investigation of WADA, but how likely is that? Can you say “whitewash and cover-up”, boys and girls? Can you say CYA? Can you say it in French?

Wow - I saw that Saul Raisin is working out on his trainer! Is that guy gutsy or what? Good on him - he gets the Courage Award for the Year in my opinion. He exemplifies the Never-Give-Up determination and perseverance that is the hallmark of a champion cyclist. So by damn, he is a Champion Cyclist, doesn’t matter what races he’s won....

And Bravo to Tom Danielson, who also showed great courage at the Giro, riding while he was sick and weak, to support Savoldelli. Tom only stopped when his body was all but shut down with fighting a virus on top of sinus and bronchial infections. Tom is a good guy and full of P&V - we’ll see him on the podium quite often in the future. The Discovery Channel directeurs sportif know just how to bring a potential champion along - I hope that Tom stays with them for the next few years....

And thanks to everyone who is buying Podium Girl Gone Bad books and merchandise. This is really helping to keep my Lance fans and Discovery fans websites up and running... I’ve had to shut down three of my other sites, due to the monthly hosting expense. Remember, if you click through any of the icons for Amazon, Discovery or Sirius and purchase merchandise, I also get a small commission for each sale.

I have Donate icons up on all my sites, including this blog, but I must say that only a couple of folks have donated. I do not charge a subscription for this blog, nor my podcasts - I started my websites and Velogal’s Tour Talk and fan reports almost six years ago, and I have never been paid one cent for anything I’ve done. I’ve covered all expenses on my own. Incidentially, so far, I’ve earned zilch from the Tour de France for Dummies book.

One of my faithful readers periodically donates, and he explained that he considers it just the same as subscribing to any other cycling publication. If everyone who reads this blog would have sent in even $5 or $10, I could probably have been reporting to you from the Tour de France again this year. But, No Dough, No Go.... So, for the future, your help will be appreciated - a little goes a long way when it’s from a lot of people...

Saturday, May 27, 2006

this is an audio post - click to play

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Yikes!! What killer weather for Stage 17 - freezing cold, rain and snow at the top of the mountains. The start was delayed by the riders and officials negotiating. The stage was shortened - the Passo delle Erbe was bypassed, and the last 5k of the Plan de Corones was cut off. The newly paved section to the top just deteriorated into mud - cars and trucks got stuck there, right in the middle of the road. The entire finish had to be moved downhill.

Cycling.tv showed images of snow and windy conditions - really ugly. The riders all suffered so much today from the cold. Piepoli took the stage, with Basso right on his wheel. Ivan didn’t contest it at all - it was the right thing for Ivan to do - Saunier Duval had worked hard at the front, and CSC had not... This is part of the unwritten code of the peloton.

Savoldelli lost his third place to Simoni - they changed places in the GC. Paolo looked like he was really suffering, and his faithful lieutenant, Chechu Rubiera, towed him in. Tommy Danielson slipped even further down in the standings...

Think about all those hard-core fans who headed up the Erbe, God knows how early, and stood around in the freezing cold for hours, only to find out that the race wasn’t even coming by them... Talk about being pissed... I bet there was steam in the snow on that mountain - and it was from the ears of cold, irate fans.

At least the fans who were at the top of the Corones could slog down the last 5k to get to the finish. I noticed that, on cycling.tv, there were some photographers rushing down from the top to the finish line - too late to catch Piepoli and Basso crossing the line. Basso looked like he was freezing on the podium....

Talking about suffering, by coincidence, I was interviewed via phone yesterday by a guy who is writing an article for National Geographic. He had found the paper that I wrote about 5 or 6 years ago, called “Cycling in the Zone”, and wanted to talk with me about cycling and the zone. In that paper, I said that transcending suffering is the zone for cycling, rather than the usual perception, at that time, about the zone being a high or euphoric experience. Certainly, every rider who finished today’s stage had to find some way to get past the cold and suffering, and focus on finishing, rather than their misery.

My paper was published in Athletic Insight - The Online Journal of Sports Psychology. You can follow the Link to their site. But I don't know if my paper is still in their archive or not. It was one of the first papers that they published.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006


An awesome Stage 16 this morning... Ivan Basso just breezed up that last climb - Monte Bondone. What power and grace! He was using a fast, small gear - took off - left Simoni and Gutierrez, and never stopped spinning his way to the stage victory. He is so solid in the maglia rosa now. He looks like he’s got a lot left in his legs for the big climb tomorrow, but not I’m so sure about Simoni, Gutierrez and Savoldelli. Simoni kinda looked like he blew up a bit when Basso took off, but he found his legs again. He’s a fighter. However, he is 9.24 down in the GC and Savoldelli is a whopping 9.17. Gutierrez held his second spot at 5.24 down. Chechu was the only Discovery rider who was able to stay with Paolo to the top. Tommy Danielson was in trouble and lost a ton of time - came in way back.

I’d like to say, speaking of grace, that Ivan Basso had more class than to drench the Podium Girls with the bubbly. He briefly sprayed the obligatory champagne out toward the crowd, and put the bottle down. You could tell that the Podies trusted he was not going to spray them - they didn’t jump back out of the way, like with some podium winners.

So tomorrow should be one hell of a stage. I go spinning starting at 6 am, and either I am going to have to blow it off, or rush back to catch the end of the stage. Hmmm - what do you think I’m gonna do....

The photo of Ivan is from the 2005 SF Grand Prix....

I shot off a note to Anthony and Brian of cycling.tv. Told Anthony to call me Velogal, not Velogirl - dang it....They didn’t know that I had co-authored Tour de France for Dummies - so they want a copy. Which, of course, I’ll send them. Did I tell you that the TDF for Dummies has come out in a German version, and my name is misspelled... Oh well, it goes along with the other errors in the book - none of which are mine.... Like screwing up the French in my acknowledgment/thank you part of the book. Duh... Who in the Hell did that? Pas moi....

Will cycling fans in Germany really want to buy the book, with a forward by Lance Armstrong? To me, trying to sell that book in France, Germany, Italy, Spain or Belgium is like that ancient saying about carrying coals to Newcastle. Those folks are raised with cycling and it’s a part of their life.... They are gonna buy a book that explains cycling? Obviously, nobody at Wiley and Sons asked me, but I’ll be surprised there are big sales in Europe. It would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath.

Monday, May 22, 2006

The sprint finish in Stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia was not as exciting as past stages, but Bettini finally won his stage of the Giro. As you know, he’s raised his arms when he was second, and looked kinda chagrined. This time, I saw Bettini hesitate and look over at Pollack to see if Pollack had his arms up, before he signaled victory. And he only raised one arm. It seemed like Bettini didn’t want to embarrass himself again, just in case he really didn’t win.... No victorious pumping his arms in the air and yelling on this one... And I think this was one of the last two sprint stages - from now on, most of the stages are grueling, lung-busting climbing.

Jan moved up to the front at about five kilometers to go, but he wasn’t really a contender for the win. Basso, easily in the GC lead, stayed safe and protected. Word is that Paolo Savoldelli is over his bout with an allergies, but he's also over five minutes down, in third GC. I think Basso will have to have some bigtime problems before he loses his lead to Il Falcon, but who knows?

It sounds like it is official that Leif Hoste will sign a two-year contract with Davitamon-Lotto. It makes sense - he’s ridden for them before, and knows Marc Sergeant well. Also, he’s living in Belgium, so more home-time for him...

Guess that Lance received an honorary degree from Tufts University when he did their commencement address. So now he is Dr. Lance Armstrong - as he said, he barely made it through high school, but that was for lack of interest rather than intellect...

Saturday, May 20, 2006


So, I slept through Stage 13 of the Giro this morning - What can I say? GC is Gutierrez, Basso and Savoldelli, with Danielson in 7th. Basso is looking like a winner to me. Some tough climbing yet to come, and maybe Paolo can keep the maglia rosa, but I think we may well see Ivan in pink.

I see that the Discovery Channel DS have picked a tentative list for the Tour de France: Azevedo, Ekimov (my Iron Man), Gusev, Hincapie, Martinez, Padernos, Popovych, Rubiera and Savoldelli. The surprise to me is Gusev - I didn’t think he has had that much experience with three-week stage races, but I haven’t looked at his palmares, either. Off the list of “regulars” is Beltran and Noval. I think I recall hearing that they weren’t going to renew Triki’s contract this year, but that Lance wanted him back.

OK - What will PR folks think of next to use the Lance Armstrong name? In the Ludicrous Publicity Top Ten List, this certainly has a place. Here is an excerpt from a press release that I just received this morning:

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2006--Arby's asked and America had a clear answer: Lance Armstrong is the greatest natural athlete of all-time. Arby's created the survey vote to celebrate the launch of its full menu line of natural chicken - Arby's Chicken Naturals(TM).

From March 31 - May 1, 2006, consumers voted at www.arbyschickennaturals.com for the athlete they felt exhibited the most natural athletic ability and character. Arby's partnered with the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA), whose members selected the top ten finalists for the poll. There were no guidelines regarding the gender, era or sport for the athlete submissions.

"Lance Armstrong was the clear winner of Arby's Greatest Natural Athletes of All-Time poll," said Debbie Pike, chief marketing officer, Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. "Lance, along with the rest of the finalists, represents the finest natural athletic achievement and ability in the history of sports and we're proud to honor him."

James (Jim) Thorpe and Muhammad Ali finished second and third, respectively. The remaining finalists consumers voted from included: Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain, Babe Didrickson-Zaharis, Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, Jesse Owens, Deion Sanders and Jim Thorpe.

Arby's Chicken Naturals is a full menu line of salads, sandwiches, wraps and chicken tenders, that start with 100 percent natural chicken breast that is not altered or injected with added water, salt or phosphates. The result is better tasting, higher quality chicken.

My question is this: what did Lance receive as winner? Naaw... couldn’t be... And, yes, I do belong to the NSSA, but I didn’t vote.

Oh, forgot to tell you that the gossip rags are saying that Lance, on his bike in Santa Monica, chased down a purse-snatcher, knocked him down, and returned the purse to the woman. Purse-snatcher got away from the scene, but Lance and his Trek bike were the crime-fighter heroes. Story unconfirmed by the Capital Sports Entertainment folks...

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Whoah... Der Kaiser showed his stuff today in the Giro Time Trial. He said it was just a test, but when he realized that he was doing do well in the first half, he decided to really pour on the gas for the last half of the TT. Suprised himself, as well as everyone else. Basso is also cooking, and the Giro is really "hotting up" with the climbing that is coming.

It was pretty cool, watching on cycling.tv, to see the guys ride past the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Something messed up and I didn't get to see Jan or the final guys ride. I had a phone call, and when I got back to my computer, Stage 6 was playing...

The Fed Ex guy just came by and told me that his boss told him that Lance and his kids were here in SJ, staying at the Hotel Valencia a few weeks ago. Gee, I guess Lance forgot to call me.... Yeah, right. I didn't quite get to Washington, either...

Wednesday, May 17, 2006


Yikes! Too long since I’ve posted something... I can’t begin to tell you how much time it took to process all the images I photographed at Cats Hill, so I won’t.... The Velogal’s Smugmug Podium Gallery has had over 14,000 hits, and total hits for all the Galleries since I put them up on Monday is about 20,000. There have been four very small purchases, so far... Go Figure. If I was on the podium for winning a prestigious bike race, I’d damn well order the poster size image - maybe two or three!

And yes, Bette Davis was there. She became quite famous when spotted by a photographer for the SJ Merc news. Sounds like she is going to make the newspapers soon. Also, thanks to a heads-up by Jamie, Bette Davis has now entered (using one of my photos) in the nation-wide Gap Mascot contest. You can follow the Link to the Bette Davis Does Cats Hill Gallery. Be sure to read her comments below her photos....

She always wears a Podium Girl Gone Bad Doggie Tee to all bike races, but unlike PGGB, Bette Davis is not interested in the spandex boys....

Sunday, May 14, 2006


The 2006 STBikes Cats Hill Classic was a huge success yesterday. Below is a press release from Josh Kadis and photo is from the Men’s Pro/1/2 race. All Podium photos will be up this evening on my Smugmug gallery.... I’m heading out for a ride this morning.... Here's a press release from Josh Kadis.


THORBURN, JACQUES-MAYNES TAKE SECOND CAT'S HILL WINS

Los Gatos, Calif. (May 13, 2006) - In today's 33rd running of the ST Bikes Cat's Hill Classic, Menlo Park's Christine Thorburn (Webcor-Platinum) and San Jose's Ben Jacques-Maynes (Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada) took their second wins in this classic Northern California race, which pits cyclists against the short, steep grade of its namesake slope.

Jacques-Maynes' win - his second in three years - came along with a third place finish for his Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada teammate Jackson Stewart, the defending Cat's Hill winner.

In the early going of the pro men's race, Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics Cycling) jumped away from the field just after the start of the 90-minute race, and held a small lead until Jacques-Maynes bridged up shortly after the halfway point.

The pair worked together smoothly and lapped the field inside the last 10 laps, shortly before the race was neutralized while emergency vehicles tended to a rider injured in a crash.

After the race was restarted with 2 laps to go, Jacques-Maynes easily outsprinted Wohlberg, and Stewart finished off a small chase group.

"Once Eric gave it everything on the hill and couldn't drop me, he acquiesced to the reality of the situation," noted a loquacious Jacques-Maynes, who added that he supported the officials' decision to neutralize the race.

In the women's race, Thorburn captured her second-straight win by solo breakaway, although the 2004 Olympian described it as, "much harder than last year."

Riding without any of her Webcor-Platinum teammates, she had to outmuscle a large contingent from the McGuire Cycling team that had the race's fastest sprinter, Laura Charameda, as their ace in the hole.

After a solo break by McGuire's Taitt Sato was reeled back by the Palo Alto Bicylcles/TIBCO team, over the last six laps Thorburn powered away, chased by Jenny Eyerman (Morgan Stanley/24Hr Fitness/Specialized), Brooke Miller (PABW powered by TIBCO), and Melodie Metzger (McGuire Cycling).

Although the pack never really challenged Thorburn, it did catch the chasers on last lap, as Charameda took the sprint for second followed by Miller and Eyerman.

"It's very satisfying to win Cat's Hill and I was very motivated today," said Thorburn.

Other winners in the day's earlier races were Jeff Angermann (Team Spine) in the Masters 35+ 1/2/3, Kurt Bickel (Team Spine) in the Masters 35+ 4/5, Alejandro Mordines (California Giant / Village Peddler) in the Category 5 race, James Badia (Webcor/Alto Velo) in the Category 3 race, Amanda Eaken (Metromint) in the Women 3/4 field, and Patrick Ruggles in the Category 4 race.

In the Juniors fields, race winners were the Davis Bike Club's Joseph Iannarelli and David Vuilleumier in the 17-18 and 15-16 age groups, Webcor/Alto Velo's Kelly LaFleur in the women's 17-18, Katrina Vorris and Davis Bentley (Team Swift) in the 13-14 age group, and Kendra Higgins and Dustin Benton, both of Team Wolfpack, in the 10-12 age group.

In all, 674 racers took part in the ST Bikes Cat's Hill Classic, which also served as the opening race of the Northern California/Nevada Cycling Association's 2006 NCNCA Premier Series, which continues next weekend in Stockton with the Pacific State Bank Grand Prix presented by Anderson Homes.

Contact:
Northern California/Nevada Cycling Assoc.
Josh Kadis, marketing director
(415) 516-1277
josh@kadisco.com

About the Northern California/Nevada Cycling Association
The non-profit Northern California/Nevada Cycling Association (NCNCA) oversees regional racing in the largest and most vibrant cycling community in North America. The organization’s mission is to promote competitive cycling at the grassroots level. The NCNCA is the U.S. Cycling Federation’s local administrator for a territory that includes the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Fresno, Reno, and coastal areas from Monterey County to the Oregon border. For more information about the NCNCA, please visit www.ncnca.org

Friday, May 12, 2006


The STBikes Cat’s Hill Classic is tomorrow - it’s gonna be a beautiful day for the race, so come on out! We have almost 600 pre-registered riders, and will get dozens more tomorrow, so there will be a ton of exciting racing. And don't forget the fun race for the little kids at 12:30!

Most of us in the Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club work our fannies off to put on this race, particularly those of us on the Cat’s Hill Committee. This evening, we all show up to prepare the course for tomorrow’s race, sweeping the course (that’s always what I do), hanging up signs, placing the barricades and hay bales on the corners so we can put them up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. We get everything in place so we can set-up as quickly as possible in the morning.

I shot an email to Anthony of Cycling.tv about the STBikes Cat’s Hill race this morning, and he gave us a nice plug on the Giro webcast. He always calls me Velogirl instead of Velogal, in spite of all the emails over the past two years. Local cycling fans sometimes think it is someone from the Velogirls Cycling Team that is emailing him...

Another McEwen finish at the Giro Stage 6 - exciting and rough. A couple of crashes in the run-in. One looked like a Discovery Channel guy, but I couldn’t find out who it was and if they are OK. And I saw a T-Mobil rider go down - hope it wasn’t Jan - kinda looked like him... Pollack is now in the maglia rosa. Remember he was the guy who I thought was a jerk for soaking the photogs with champagne at the Tour of California... He sprayed everyone this morning, but didn’t soak them, nor the podium girls. Paolo soaked the podies at the beginning of the Giro - I just think it is not cool to do that....

The photo was taken during the 2005 Cat’s Hill Classic, when I had a moment away from doing the Podium shots.... I’ll be out on the racecourse starting at about 6:30 tomorrow morning and we’ll probably finish taking down the barricades, announcer’s stand and cleaning up the course by 7 pm or later tomorrow night...

If you’re in the Bay Area, come on down to Los Gatos for a great day of racing...

Thursday, May 11, 2006


What a great TTT in Stage Five of the Giro d’Italia this morning. Loved the coverage on OLN/Cycling.tv. There were some great team rides, but CSC really kicked A over Discovery, and barely squeezed by T-Mobil by one second. The TV cameras had a great close-up of Ivan Basso, grinning from ear-to-ear right after the finish line. Ivan now leads Paolo Savoldelli by nine seconds in the GC - Ivan is 5th and Paolo is now 6th. T-Mobil’s great ride put Serguei Gonchar in the maglia rosa, with Jens Voigt of CSC in second and Michael Rogers of T-Mobile in third.

I was a little confused with seeing T-Mobile going thru the finish line with only four riders (I thought). Anthony of cycling.tv said there were only four... Kessler blew up, lost the wheel and got left behind. I thought that would DQ their result, but I guess it is only the TTT result, not the GC result. I bet Kessler feels like crap right now - he came in two seconds behind his team. However, I don't think they even knew he had dropped back... But, there's no way his team could have backed off at that time - they were charging full speed ahead, with victory in their blood...

The pic above is Velogal and Ivan Basso at the 2005 SF Barclays International. That’s where Ivan told me when he won the Tour this year, that I had to tattoo “Go Ivan” on my right leg... And I think he’s gonna do it, too....

Those guys really give it their all in the TTT - Charlie Wegelius was riding at 95% heart rate - really red-lining it.

I see that Leif Hoste may be leaving Discovery Channel team at the end of the year, for a higher paying team. There are several teams bidding sky-high, I guess. Discovery doesn’t usually get into the bidding game, so not likely that they will meet the offers... Look at the top riders who used to be with Johan....

Monday, May 08, 2006

Wow! What a finish of the third stage of the Giro! I hoped that Chechu could hang in and take the stage, but Shumacher of Gerolsteiner just hammered to first. So a Discovery Channel rider (Chechu) on the podium in the second spot, but Savoldelli loses the maglia rosa to Schumacher by thirteen seconds. Gerolsteiner will have the job of defending the jersey tomorrow, and then Wednesday will be rest day.

Poor Pettachi got his knee whacked in his fall... He really looked like he was suffering and blood was pouring out of his wound, in spite of three treatments from the Giro doc. He came in eleven or twelve minutes back. A deep infection is always a worry on wet, dirty roads, especially if it's a run-off from pastures and fields of livestock.

As I watched the last of the stage on OLN/cycling.tv, I winced when I saw rain and all the slippery paint on the road - lane stripes and diagonal stripes and arrows all over the place. It's a wonder that there weren't more crashes.. Chechu fell earlier in the stage, and there were several other minor crashes. It was ugly weather for riding, for sure...

Sorry, I didn't listen to the Lance Armstrong Sirius Faction show last night,so I don't know if it was new or a re-run....

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Happy Birthday to Il Falcon, Paolo Savoldelli... Second stage of the Giro d'Italia- Paolo stays safe with the Discovery Boys protecting him. McEwen takes the second stage sprint..

I'm out the door to be on the bike around the Morgan Hill area....

Saturday, May 06, 2006


Sweeet! Il Falcon, Paolo Savoldelli, smoked the Time Trial of the Giro d’Italia this morning. He was eleven seconds faster than the second place Brad McGee. The Discovery Channel Team must be totally stoked right now. If that doesn’t send a message to the rest of the teams, I don’t know what would. Sean Yates and Laurenzo Lapage are riding in the team cars as head honchos, and I’m sure that Lance will show up, too...

In case you don’t know, Jason McCartney is writing a daily blog on OLN TV. In yesterday’s posting, he says he has learned that other riders recommend urine for bee stings or mud - Jason wonders if a paste of the two might be the remedy.

Well, if there was a live-streaming of this stage, I guess I missed it. I woke up early and went to cycling.tv and nothing was there. I went back to bed and fell asleep - when I woke up, Savoldelli was on the course. I caught that on the live updates from VeloNews and Cyclingnews.com, but didn’t find it on cycling.tv. So then I thought that maybe one has to tune into the live-streaming from the OLN TV website, but I couldn’t find it there, either. If you watched it this morning, let me know where you found it... I paid my $19.99 and I wanna see it all!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006



The Lance Armstrong Fan Club site is on Outside Mag's media list, so whenever they run any kind of artice about Lance, I get a freebie copy of that issue in the mail. So the June Outside issue arrive in a plain, brown wrapper yesterday.

Inside Outside ('scuse me, I couldn't resist), there's an article entitled, "High Rollers", by Bill Gifford. The lead-in says, "Meet the Champions Club, an elite group of bike-crazy execs who are richer than Croesus. can hammer with Lance, and are donating millions to ensure a gold-plated future for U.S. cycling". You might want to check it for the inside (or is it Outside?) scoop on the big poobahs who hang out with Lance. The cover says, "The Next Lance - Inside the Billionaire Bike Club".

Hey Gang - Remember, I'm only telling you about the article - don't flick me for it....

The issue also has a short article about Boutique Bike Hotels, for those who want to spend some big bucks to recover in luxury after that hard, or maybe pampered, ride...

Actually, I like Outside Mag - maybe they'll send me a whole year's subscription for this plug... Yeah - sure...

Monday, May 01, 2006



Obviously, I didn't shoot cycling this past weekend. This is a shot of a couple of Sumo athletes at the Cupertino Cherry Blossum Festival. These are a couple of the Amateur Sumo athletes who competed at the US Sumo Open in April in Los Angeles. These guys were pretty impressive - the US team recently won gold medals in New Zealand,. I think...

You can head on over to Podomatic to listen to my latest cycling podcast. Follow the Link below.