A Good Omen

A good omen? This wooden bicycle sculpture was on display as I entered terminal A at Philadelphia International Airport. The bottom photo provides the name of the artist. Cool, no?

I had an uneventful flight and the Brompton sailed through in its suitcase. I did not have an opportunity to ride today (with a brief exception that I will get to below.) That means my June mileage is finished at 659.5. That could be the highest monthly total of my career, or right up there anyway.

While in route I received the text message that Floyd Landis's appeal was turned down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. I must say I was surprised. I thought Floyd had really made a case that the handling of his samples was bungled from the beginning. Whether that means he did or didn't dope we'll never know. But the court disagreed and quite vigorously. So vigorously in fact that they charged him a lot of money to pay the costs incurred by the UCI! While the fairness of the whole system still remains in some dis-repute, the bottom line is that he has exhausted the system and remains guilty. Having read the history of the Tour De France "Blazing Saddles" on the plane ride, I'm more inclined to believe that doping was so pervasive in the peloton that Floyd's story just doesn't hold up. But it isn't up to me, and the authorities of spoken.




We are staying in a wonderful house in Woodland Hills, CA. The views are spectacular. Which, of course, means that we are on the top of a hill. And I mean hill! The car has trouble getting up, let alone a cyclist not trained for the Tour and riding a Brompton. Yes, I know, I managed the Manayunk Wall, but that was only less than a kilometer. This climbs steadily for a good couple of miles. Curious to see how I'd do, I went out and rode down about half way and turned back to climb up. I really couldn't make it. I could have done better but I wasn't in good clothes and I didn't want to kill myself the way I did on the Hill Climb. In other words, I gave up.

So we will have to find another route to ride and probably drive down to it.