johnguinness's Diaryland Diary
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Those of you who've been buddies here for a while know I once spent a semester in England. I've watched several seasons of Big Brother UK on a daily basis, and the past few of X Factor. I know about Big Brother's Little Brother and the bonus shows connected to reality series, and I'm a big fan of Cheryl Cole, DaVina and Holly Willoughby.
That said, nothing I've encountered prepared me for season one, episode one, of Geordie Shore. In some ways, I'm not sure I'll ever recover, and the lovely British friends I've had here for years are all now suspect:-)
I've had no more attempted communication from the landlord, so that's a good thing. I've also not heard a peep from the Township people, so I made a $26 payment to the power company to go with the $25 yesterday.
One of the "baby" eagles at the Decorah Eagles web cam has either learned to fly, or to go invisible. I haven't taken time to surveil it yet, but sometimes I can see it, and some times I can't, and I'm quite certain that it's not holding it's wings in front of it's face and saying "peekaboo!" in eagle. It's fun when you remember when they were just an egg, and you've watched them grow up.
Today was a great day at the Giro, even though I slept through the early bits, and was web surfing through a bunch more while I listened to the Eurosport guys. Last year Alberto Contador rode on Team Astana with a guy named Paolo Tiralongo. Tiralongo, 33, is a domestique, which means he's spent his whole career riding for other guys to be successful - blocking the wind up front, fetching water bottles and rain gear, doing whatever he can to help other guys be successful. He'd never won anything as a pro.
This week Astana gave him the green light to try for a bit of success on his own. Alberto must have known that, because they'd talked things over during the really long stage. Alberto, who stars for Saxo Bank Sungard, tapped Paolo on the shoulder with just under seven kilometers of a mountain climb to go, to let him know it was time for him to attack. He bolted off, as Contador stayed behind with his competitors. But we viewers didn't know any of that at the time.
Five kilometers later, some guys went chasing after Tiralongo to try to get the stage win. After the third or fourth one took off, Alberto sprinted up the hill after them. It was beautiful - he flew past them one after another up the hill. He reached Tiralongo and offered encouragement. They rode for a while, with Alberto keeping an eye on the guys behind. When they started to get too close, Alberto passed Tiralongo on a curve, and looked back to make sure he'd gotten into his slipstream. Contador sped him up the hill, building a big gap in front of the chasers, then let Tiralongo go past him for the win. Alberto tucked right behind his wheel as they crossed the line, then caught up so they could slow down with their arms on each other's shoulders and huge smiles on their face. Tiralongo started crying when they interviewed, and he told the story of what happened. For his part, Contador said that there was no gift, that Tiralongo won with his strength.
There's a guy who writes what's meant to be a humorous blog about cycling for Eurosport. He's been blatantly anti-Contador, especially since the clenbuterol/steak thing started last September. But today, he wrote this:
"Given his on-going Clenbuterol storm, Contador would be madder than...if he were taking any risks with illegal products or training methods this year.
As such, we can be pretty assured that Contador is riding this race as clean as a hound's tooth. And with that in mind, we can all enjoy just what a phenomenal rider he is."
Please enjoy two minutes of the end of the stage. Tiralongo is in the sky blue of Astana. Contador is wearing the pink jersey as Giro d'Italia leader. Keep in mind that this is day 19, they rode more than a hundred miles earlier, mostly in the rain, and this is a steep climb.
Have a great weekend.
4:26 p.m. - Friday, May. 27, 2011
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