Where'd The Week Go?

Lot's of work this week, not much time for anything else.

E has been racking up the Flyer Miles and seeing lots of cool stuff.

The Tour is coming to a close, great stage today. Parts of the tour (Green Jersey competition, Thor's Stage 17 breakaway, Columbia owning the flat stages, Lance's return) have been a lot of fun to watch. Other parts (Contador looking "too good", no real competition for the overall) have been a little disappointing. Thor Hushovd has been the highlight of the race for me. He has built a big lead in the points competition by riding aggressively and intelligently, to the point where Cavendish was penalized for Columbia trying to box him on Stage 14.

The problem I have with the tour is that it's become more of a measure of the best climber than the best bike rider. Alberto Contador has been dominant this year, winning in the mountains and in yesterday's time trial. I'm admittedly not a fan of his, but I really hope he's racing clean. It's sad that the state of cycling has me questioning every result. But when the 5'9" 140lb Contador is beating Cancellara in time trials, even with some questionable motorpacing, it's enough to raise some eyebrows.

Coming on the heels of DiLuca's positive in the Giro, it would be catastrophic to have to tour winner caught doping. I don't like even raising the suspicion of it, but Contador's performance certainly demands attention. If this were baseball or football no one would care, even open cheaters get away with trivial punishments. But Cycling cares about doping, and since Cycling catches and punishes its riders it is viewed as being a bigger problem.

If he's clean, you would think that yesterday's effort will leave him vulnerable for tomorrow's stage up Ventoux. We'll see, hopefully it will be an entertaining stage.

Kim Jung Il still needs a hug. Seriously this dudes need for attention is off the charts. You never know whether stories like this are true, but the keep the little dictator in the headlines.

Colbert's Health Care Hell-Scare - Die-agnosis: Mur-DR

Remember Iran? You know the millions of people that were in upheaval over a fraudulent election. Well, even the death of Michael Jackson didn't stop them (it just caused the media to stop caring). They're still fighting.

The World according to Pravda. Funny stuff.

I'll leave you with this bit of awesomeness: