I Don't Mean To Gloat.

But I warned you about Landis. I also don't want to come across as happy about this. I thought it was a great thing for US cycling when he won the Tour. Now the whole thing appears to be a farce. For those of you who aren't aware of what I am talking about, Floyd Landis was suspended by his cycling team today after testing positive for doping. The rumbles actually began yesterday when rumors leaked that a top finisher in the Tour De France had failed a drug test. Shortly thereafter Landis unexpectedly pulled out of two events in Denmark. I was hoping this was because of his hip. Now it appears that it was because he didn't have a job anymore. I don't really feel bad for Floyd at all. I think I have made it clear that I think the guy is a complete jerk. I do feel really bad for his family, they appear to be genuine people, and don't deserve the hounding they will certainly get. The real shame of the thing is what this will do to pro cycling. What Landis did was gutsy. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers in last year's Tour are banned from this year's Tour for doping, and Landis just keeps on shooting up. Amazing. The entire reputation of the sport is now virtually shot. I'm sure Landis will come up with some ridiculous excuse, just like Hamilton did a few years ago, that no one will believe. The whole thing just stinks. Is it impossible to believe in hero's anymore? I'm even beginning to believe those rumors about Armstrong. Anyway, I was going to post some honeymoon pics for you, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

So, I Got Married. . .

. . . and that was fun. Really, I had a great time and I hope that all of you did as well (patented thank you card line). Maybe I'll post some pics later. Now that I am going on six consecutive days of marriage I thought I would drop some knowledge on you unmarried folks. I initially anticipated that I would get yelled at more after getting married. This hasn't really happened yet. There was some yelling on Day 2, but that has since subsided. The prize for best wedding advice has got to go to the dude at my local bike shop. He told me to take everything my spouse said and did in the two months leading up to the wedding, and pretend that it never happened. He said that the woman I knew during that time period was not the woman I proposed to and would not be the woman I married. "There is something about weddings and babies that make women go nuts." He was correct. I should by him something. Or not. Maybe I will stop telling people that he can't adjust a derailleur to save his life. That would be nice of me. I was pretty grumpy for a day or two leading up to the wedding, and I wasn't really sure why, because I was actually pretty excited to get married. I think it was all of the extraneous trappings that go along with getting married. It really is a bunch of excessive crap that does little to enhance the occasion. I could have assembled a panel of man friends and had the whole event planned in 30 minutes for a much lower price and had a guarantee that there would be no left over alcohol to worry about. However, those are some pictures I would not want to post. My point here for the guys is that there is a good chance that you will be miserable for a short time period leading up to your wedding. My Dad told me that he experienced the same thing. Hang in there guys, the spirit of the woman you love returns to inhabit her body somewhere between the dressing room and the altar. And from my nearly six days of marriage experience, she sticks around for awhile.

Now that I am married it is apparent the the title "The Fiance" is no longer an adequate descriptor for my spouse when blogging. I am officially announcing a contest to give my spouse her new blogging title. Just leave your entry in the comment field and I will pick a winner.

Also, I'm off for a trip around the World visiting such exotic locations as Mexico, North Carolina, and New Jersey. Isn't it strange that North Carolina and New Jersey actually used to be exotic places? Anyway, if you don't hear from me by the end of August you should just count me among that old fated crew that attempted to inhabit Roanoke Island, but instead found only Zombies!!!!

I'm a Little Ticked

On Friday I was working on a Tour De France post where I stated that George Hincapie was my man to win the Tour. I got busy with work things and never really had the time to finish it. Today George took the Yellow Jersey and now, instead of looking insightful, I look like a bandwagoner. Anyway, Big George is my man for this year. Despite today's performance, and the exclusion of Ulrich, Basso, and Mancebo, I still think he's a bit of a long shot. The logical choice would be Floyd Landis of Vinokourov, but I have a feeling about George. He's solid and has heart. Vino is unpredictable and Landis is a self centered jerk. Beyond George, my #2 man is another American, Levi Leipheimer. Levi's been around for awhile and had always been a respectable Tour rider, but this year he seems to have lit a fire under his rear. Anyway, before the doping scandal my Tour prediction was going to be about how the Americans would dominate the top positions, but none would actually win the whole thing. Now I'm thinking that there is an incredibly good chance of seeing another overall winner from the US, and an outside chance of Americans taking the top three positions. Either way, expect this Tour to be filled with excitement and cutthroat attacks from beginning to end. Also, Landis' little monkey friend Zabriskie also falls into the "self centered jerk" category.

Final thought. This one is mainly for Matt, Jason, and Brecthy. Now that Ronaldo is out of the World Cup and Ulrich is out of the Tour, who will down the most pies in the next two weeks?