3 weeks in July

(Warning: This post will probably not make sense to many of you. Brad, I know you will totally get it!)

July 2009 has probably been my most favorite July ever. Each year, Tim & I get very excited when it's Tour de France time as it means 3 weeks (minus 2 rest days) of cycling and something we love to watch on tv (and we usually have a Tour party - not this year though!). This year's tour brought lots of excitement. Cole was born on the first day of the tour - the prologue. I had joked months ago that perfect timing would be for me to watch the prologue, Cole be born that night and then be back home in time to watch the Team Time Trial on Tuesday. Well, that's exactly what happened! He was born Saturday night and we were home on Monday. It was so nice hanging with Cole this month, watching the Tour live every day. It definitely helped me relax and recover as I didn't mind sitting on the couch for half the day. 

Now for the actual Tour, loved it! There was the soap opera drama between Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador on Team Astana. I'm sure the media overplayed it but it was obvious on the podium in Paris that there's no love lost between the two. I mostly enjoyed watching Team Columbia HTC (love George Hincapie). I haven't enjoyed watching sprinters so much since the days of Mario Cipollini and his Acqua-Sapone lead out train. Columbia executed every sprint lead out to perfection and Mark Cavendish is truly the fastest man in the world on a bike. The final sprint on the Champs Elysses was spectacular and definitely put his stamp on the race. Unfortunate things, hated the day that George Hincapie didn't get the yellow jersey (dang Garmin Slipstream team - more soap opera drama) and when he fell - hopefully his collar bone isn't broken. Hated that Levi Leipheimer broke his wrist and was forced to abandon the tour. But overall, it was a very enjoyable Tour for me. The mountain stages weren't as exciting but the sprints and time trials sure were. Next year will be interesting to see what team Lance builds with the new sponsor RadioShack. I'll enjoy following it all, seeing how the team develops and looking forward to 3 weeks in July 2010.