Here’s something that is worth a minute of your time.  Add your name to this petition to convince Google to add a “bike this route” function onto Google Maps.  This button would give you the fastest bike-friendly route to your destination, using the existing network of bike lanes, designated bike routes, and secondary roads with shoulders.  Google has the capacity to make it happen with relative ease, and honestly it’s a win-win situation for all involved.  The alternative transportation tax credits that Google would be able to take could pay for the development costs.  Visit this link to sign the online petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/petition.html

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The Tour of California is over.  It was again a terrific event, in spite of the horrific weather.  I spoke with Mike Abrams, our regional manager at Specialized, who was in California for the week, and he confirmed that it was miserable, cold and wet.  But there were some amazing bright spots in the week:

George Hincapie opened his post-Discovery career with a fantastic stage win, powering a long breakaway, containing multiple attacks, then winning the sprint.  Great to see George in charge of his own destiny for a change.

Levi Leipheimer showed that he was the class of the field, cementing his overall win with a stunning time trial victory over the best in the world:  World Champ Fabian Cancellara, British champ David Millar, and US champ Dave Zabriske, not to mention a legion of other time trial talents.  Incredible.  Team Astana’s exclusion from the Tour de France will only cheapen that event, as the best stage racers in the world will be at home, falling asleep in the middle of the VS late night coverage.

Three English-speaking riders on a Protour podium.  Who would have dreamed it?

Slipstream/Chipotle showed that they are world class, with 2 riders on the podium, Tyler Farrar’s day in the leader’s jersey, among other highlights.  They’ll be keeping the Protour interesting this year.  It’s promising to see the cleanest team in the sport doing well, riding competitively, and winning.

Amazing sprinting, with Boonen, Haussler, Ciolek, Cavendish, Rollin, Haedo, Farrar, Bettini, and of course Cipollini keeping it fast.

Mario Cipollini came out of retirement at age 41, and proved he’s lost nothing, except for a team capable of slinging him into the front of the fastest field sprints.  He was impressive, finishing 3rd to Boonen and Haussler on stage 2, and duking it out in nearly every fast finish.  That first win is going to come soon - can’t wait to see it.

The buzz at week’s end was that the Tour of California is too hard for the early season.  Hard?  The riders make it hard by racing hard.  They’re trained to handle the terrain, and of course the weather can’t be controlled, so why ruin a great event by making it easier?  Levi and Millar had some excellent answers.

So after a week of staying up late to watch the race on VS, I’m fried.  Tonight I’m heading to bed early, and hopefully getting caught up on some sleep.  I purposely tried to keep the cats awake all day so they won’t bother us tonight.  The lack of sleep has really taken it’s toll.  I was completely stale today when I got on the trainer, but after an hour I felt pretty decent.  These dark, chilly, rainy days sap all the energy out of me.  I had hoped to take the Tricross out for a ride on the D&R Canal towpath, but just as I was getting ready it began to rain steadily.  Hypothermia is no fun, so I bagged it and hit the trainer instead.  Jen came down and joined me for a half hour, which was a nice diversion.  I’ve watched the 1995 Tour de France too many times; does anyone have any VHS cycling videos they want to trade?

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When the weather in California starts to look like the weather in Belgium - 42ºF and raining - the hardmen come to the fore.  Boonen takes the win on stage 2.  My boys at Specialized have to be happy, with Tarmac SL2s in 1st and 2nd, and S-Works helmets in 2nd, 3rd, and 5th.  The most notable aspect of this photo is 3rd place, on the far right - Il Re Leone, Mario Cipollini.  Have to cheer on my fellow 40-year-olds.  Can’t wait to see Cipo take his first big win.  It’s coming, and it’s coming very soon.

More good news - the Bonz is back!  Check out his new S-Works carbon fiber accessory!

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Check out this article about Tommy Godwin, the annual cycling distance record holder.  Seventy five thousand miles in one year? I’m speechless.

Tour of California started today.  I spent the evening driving home from visiting my sister-in-law north of Boston, a long wet nasty drive, so I missed it.  But there’s more fun on the way.

Looks like we won’t be sleeping much this week.  Here is the Versus broadcast schedule:

2/17/2008 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
2/18/2008 1:00 am - 2:00 am
2/18/2008 11:00 pm - 12:00 am
2/19/2008 11:00 pm - 12:00 am
2/20/2008 11:00 pm - 12:00 am
2/21/2008 11:00 pm - 12:00 am
2/23/2008 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
2/24/2008 1:00 am - 2:00 am
2/24/2008 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
2/25/2008 1:00 am - 2:00 am

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The weatherman lied.  Not only won’t we see 40 degrees today, but it won’t break the freezing mark.  Nor will my bike make it out of the garage, as it’s barely 20ºF, grey, snowing, and blustery.  Looks like I’m condemned to another session on the trainer, watching “A Sunday in Hell” for the 427th time. 

The Bonz stopped in yesterday to say hello.  He’s actually working a bit, being a one-armed chiropractor.  Broken wrist, separated shoulder, loads of cuts and abrasions, and the remnants of a concussion.  Ouch.  He’s probably the luckiest man alive, in a twisted sort of way.  That was a close call.  But he’s dying to get back on the bike.

My friend Mathias sent me this link to the Vermont 6-Gaps Ride.  Looks like a true classic, definitely worthy of a road trip.

And the Drake sent over some fun stuff to tease me, since he knows I’m dying to carve some turns on the new Tarmac.

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Arch called me from the scene of the accident while I was eating lunch, and he was clearly rattled.  He and Bill had ridden out to Middlesex to visit Jennifer Swearingen’s new café, Gourmet Expressions.  They were rolling into town, moving along at 23 mph, when a van pulled out and hit Bill head on.  He hit the windshield headfirst, then flipped over onto the road 20 feet away.

He’s alive, and lucky to be so.  Archie said that Bill was conscious, but asked at least 20 times if his bike was OK, forgetting the answer as soon as he heard it.  He was in shock, so he wasn’t totally aware of his body and didn’t really feel much pain.  Arch told me that he was sure his wrist was broken, and his knee looked badly damaged.  He was transported to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, where he’s spending the night tonight.

Dr. OKB, his handle on BikeJournal.com, stands for Dr. OverKill Bill.  The master of one-upsmanship managed to crash more dramatically than anyone else could muster.  Bill, you score big points for doing big damage to the van.  We’re all thinking about you and hoping for a speedy recovery.

Oh yeah, and when the insurance claim is processed, there’s a new S-Works Tarmac SL waiting for you at the shop.  Sounds like the bike didn’t fare quite as well.

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Yech, it was an ugly day.  49ºF and drizzly, damp, and clammy.  Manny and I were going to meet up for a ride in the afternoon, but he got called back to work for another shift, and I just didn’t feel like getting cold and wet.  So I went for a tempo run instead.  Long warmup building into race pace at the end.  Great run all around, although it’s the first time I have run fast in a while, so I felt a little choppy.  Plus I’m carrying some winter tonnage, so I was definitely not smooth.  But it felt good to move fast.

My new Specialized Tarmac Pro came yesterday, so I went in to the shop today (we’re closed Tuesdays) and built it.  I love the ritual of building a new bike the way I like it, giving it all the secret touches that most mechanics don’t have a clue about.  There are amazing subtleties to the tuning of a racing bike that you just can’t comprehend unless you ride a lot.  I’m really picky with the setup of my brakes and front derailer, especially.  And cable routing is really important, too.  I love that first ride when everything is perfect.  Unfortunately, the first ride was limited to a slow, damp spin around the block on slippery, greasy roads.  Maybe this weekend I will get the chance to rev it up.

The Drake just talked me through setting up a wireless gateway in my house, so now I can sit on the sofa and blog, rather than being off in my office.  It’s about time I got to use my laptop for something other than playing solitaire.  Hopefully this means I will be writing more often.

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