#5 in the World!

Date: June 12
Mileage: 33
Ride type: Road
Bike: Blueridge
Temp: 75, windy, sunny
May mileage:
Year to date: 633

i had a good title, or at least thought of one about 25miles into my ride today, but given the lack of miles in the legs, those last 5 miles or so become all 'uphill'. i really ran out of gas after the 2 hour mark. it had been a while since i was on the bike for an actual ride. i've been jogging some and lifting some weights, but no rides, so tired legs all round. interestingly enough, it seems that sometimes, when i haven't been on the bike, my back or butt or arms give out; today they got tired but i actually felt my legs cramping a little, on just 33 flat miles. portends a tough time this weekend in Maysville (during the wedding). endless half-mile, .75-mile steep climbs out of creek and river valleys. sometimes i can imagine that it's somewhat like Flanders. the climbs vacilate between .5 mile and 2 miles, but boy are they endless. i'll get a ride in tomorrow and Wednesday and see what happens. i know of one 30miler or so up there which goes by a buffalo/bison farm. i'm comfortable with that route and there's nothing terribly scary save one or two climbs. one prob has always been that the in-laws live on a ridge, one that you have to fall down going north or south.

today's route took me on several of our Olmstead Blvds, including Eastern Pkwy, Algonquin Pkwy, Southwestern Pkwy, and Cherokee Pkwy. Oh, and i crossed Douglass Blvd, which i've read is supposedly part of the original Olmstead Plan. i was not surprised that some of the park areas in Shawnee Pk. weren't really well taken-care of, but i've mentioned that the city wants to greatly expand the park acreage of the city. this simple Q, can they take care of it? frankly no.

the first shot if of downtown from the RiverWalk trail. to the left is a nice, new condo. then we have the nasty GaltHouse hotel monstrosity. tucked in the corner is the new Muhammed Ali Center. this next week includes the Micheal Graves-designed Humana Building and the Aegon Tower, a company my dad worked for back in the day.



and how 'bout World Cup result today. Stellar! one of the worst first-round results of the first matches. terrible. a team well-hyped and hoping to recreate the magic of '02 sent to the basement with that result. think that goal differential may matter in the future? after seeing Italy's solid win against Ghana, the true answer is "No". the US has NO chance of getting out of group, and my prediction is that they end with 1 point for a draw against Ghana. if you look at friendly scores of late, it's pretty obvious that this team can't score. Landon Donovan is touted as Mr.US Soccer, but they said today he's played something like 1200 minutes without a score, even though he's touted as mid or certainly forward. and the defense with superbeing 'Gooch'. i'm pleased as ever that a legimate athlete from the US (Nigeria) over AmericanFootball. there's no way US soccer will ever be anything of note as long as it's purely a suburban, adult-organized league format. kids don't go out and just play, and just create, and just learn the playful,elegant skills that so many of these others have. yes, they should remain better than many Asian, African and American teams based purely on resources and demographic talent, but we're not Close to the big leagues. oh well, there's always 2010 (i'm fair weather, can you tell?)

and here's the new 'Baggins Banana Bag' from Rivbike.com. good stuff, and good for some summer jaunts. maybe i'll actually use it more than just today.