It is finished. As quickly as it began it has come to completion. The 2008 Tour de France is over, and I’m heartbroken. The pre-race favorite, and one of my favorite riders, Cadel Evans, did not win. He placed second, for the second year in a row. Carlos Sastre from team CSC won. I was able to watch all 21 stages this year. It was a great month.

It seems Brooks is a little bummed out as well. After it was over he pulled out some of my cycling magazines to read through…I guess it was his way of coping.

Until next year…

As you know we live in the city of Cardiff. Cardiff has a population of about 350,000. When you think of Cardiff it’s helpful to think of it much like you do New York City, actually Manhattan. Manhattan is broken down into little areas like Soho, Greenwich Village, the lower east side, China town, etc. Cardiff is much the same. We have Roath, Whitchurch, the Bay, Grangetown, Riverside, and Butetown to name a few. We live in Grangetown. It’s not the safest of neighborhoods, and is considered to be among the poorest neighborhoods in the city. I came across these stats and thought I would share them with you…it might give you a little glimpse into life here in “Grange”.

LOCAL FACTS
Population: 14,367
Households: 6,230
Welsh-born 74%, English 11%, elsewhere 12%.
Average age: 34
Working full-time: 38.8%
Of the unemployed – long-term: 32%
Type of house: Terrace (59%), flat (15%), semi-detached (14%)
Renting home: 35%
Not owning a car: 39%
Ethnic group: White (77%), Asian (13%), Black (4%), Mixed (3.76%).
Welsh-speakers (or some knowledge) 14%

Pretty interesting…
Cheers.

We’ll see if this holds true. I’m not holding my breath, but if it does I might let out a little chuckle to all my friends and family in Texas.

Cheers.

Well, ride #2 is on the calendar. I’ve entered the Autumn Epic on October 5th. It’s 150km (94 miles) long and will include around 3000m (9,800ft) of climbing. This event was voted the best cyclosportive in the UK.

Now it’s time to start training again…

Cheers.

Many of you know the feeling come September. For weeks (or maybe months) you think about sitting in your favorite chair or sofa, turning the TV on, and hearing the familiar sounds of college football. Well, we don’t have college ball here in the UK, but come July we have daily live coverage of cycling’s greatest event…Le Tour de France! Just like the rain is a regular fixture in Wales, so has been the daily watching of Le Tour de France, or “Tour de Paw” as Brooks coined last year. Now, I do have to clarify before I go on that I do not nor have I ever got excited about college football starting and I’m not really all that excited about Tour de France. But, since Brad gets so happy, I tend to think I am as well. And this coverage is not your average American Saturday half to one hour coverage highlight tucked into the unwatched hours of 2-2:30pm. It is live coverage of every race at every stage with another highlight recap narrated by Phil Ligget in the evening. And Brad just loves it. This is probably what gives him the motivation to get out of bed in the morning when day after day is full of rain in July and something tells him, “It should be sunny and hot.”And I know this is what gives him the motivation to wear those tight legging pants and ride all over South Wales on his racing bike.

And for me. Well, every year it brings me back to my youth and memories of my dear brother, Paul, who will undoubtedly receive a phone call reminding him of what he used to do for the “love of the tour”. Long before Lance Armstrong made Le Tour popular amongst Americans, my brother faithfully awaited July in the 1980′s and that half hour/hour highlight special shown each weekend. And he didn’t just sit and watch….he became the tour. He donned his cycling cap, got his water bottle filled up, moved the stationary bicycle in front of the television and while watching, started to pedal and pedal. He became the tour. If it was an especially lucky year he would tape record the TV coverage and watch it back, or better yet listen to it taped on earphones….and he would cycle. King of the Mountains! He became the tour. Just think what it was like in our household when my mom got her hands on a copy of John Tesh official Tour de France music? Over the years, my brother’s interest in the tour greatly diminished, but this yearly event for me serves as a wonderful reminder to the creativity and greatness of my brother, Paul, who became the tour.

Julie