Sacre bleu!

It appears Lance and the Discovery Channel team is discovering there's some other riders in the TDF besides them. The Ballon D'Alsace is proving to be a tough Cat-1 climb, and Lance and the peloton are dragging a little ass.

TVOR

I woke up to the bright orange glow of a just-rising sun this morning. But I couldn't help but think of what Londoners were waking up to a few hours earlier.

Having to go on about one's life in the face of clear and present danger requires a resolve that not every human possesses. My own personal experience, though, is that the British have it in ample supply.

Throughout years of IRA/Protestant bombings, the Brits maintained a stiff upper lip and went about their daily lives. For every explosion, there was the promise of even more -- always unpredictable and deadly. Even now, they are taking public transportation to work in London and its boroughs. With steely determination, they prove that terror cannot suppress the human inclination to rise above powerfully negative circumstance.

Characteristically reserved and earnest, the British endured German bombing in WWII in the same way. It is common to think of Winston Churchill's gritty steadfastness in the face of Nazi tyranny, but many more residents of Britain showed their resolute nature as bombs fell on their towns every night. They buried their dead, rebuilt their churches and houses, and ploughed forward, ultimately providing the firmness that was the key ingredient in stopping the third Reich on many fronts.

I know that their actions today and in the days ahead will prove their mettle once again.

So, I return from my morning ride to find that London has been the target of attacks that are presumed to be terrorist attacks. My first thought is that this must be a result of the Olympic announcement yesterday, or perhaps the G8 Summit in Scotland this week.
Isn't it remarkable how, in the shorthand of modern disaster reporting, it has become so automatic to begin talking about claims of responsibility? I expect that Aljazeera will be receiving an audio tape via brown envelope any time now.
It's important that people of responsibility and conscience everywhere fight the tyranny of terrorism at its source -- the founts of evil, fundamentalist/extremist poison that spawn violence and fear around the world.
TVOR

Howdy.
Well, I'm headed out to play Lance Armstrong this morning. Just a little 14-mile ride, though. No yellow jerseys involved. I'm trying to raise the old V02 level somewhat and build strength, not to mention losing a little weight. TVOR's tipping the scales at a hefty 206 -- hefty because a person with my body structure looks pretty silly with the gut that I've been hard at work developing. Sometimes, hitting the bike is hard, but I always enjoy it when I'm on it. Around here, you've got to watch out for the rednecks on their way to work.
I'm kicking around ideas for my first column, the subject of which will be a constitutional amendment banning flag-burning. It's easy to rag on that, so I hope it will stimulate verbalization.
In the cd player this morning will be some Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs and some other assorted alternative favorites, including Blink-182. Finding workout music is a science, you know?
TVOR

ONE LAST THING FOR THIS EVENING:

Lance is the shiz-nay. An animal. An absolute freak. I am in awe, even if he is a jerk. Let the EUROs fight over those silly jerseys with polka-dots (?). Yellow matters.

TVOR

Yes. That's my mouth. Note the filling in the upper right next-to-last molar. Note the slight discoloration of the top right front tooth (sorry, dentists, about the complete lack of dental terminology in this blog.)

My teeth are crooked. But my brain is straight, and I see things that others don't see.

So there.