Long Weekend Recap

No point even waiting till Monday to do the long weekend wrap-up. Clearly there won't be a ride tomorrow.

Giro: Most Exciting Grand Tour in a Long Time
If you haven't been following the Giro d'Italia you've been missing one of the best Grand Tour starts in a long, long time. Frankly the Tour de France has been more the Bore de France lately, a boring clinical procession whose outcome seems a foregone conclusion almost before it even starts. Many of the experienced pros are saying this has been the most difficult first week of a Grand Tour that they've every ridden in. There are tactics and intrigue and just bad luck. The big teams have confounded the pundits driving a huge pace on what were supposed to be easy stages, catching out a number of GC contenders pretenders. There are always crashes, but these have been particularly bizarre. Contador, Aru, and Porte seem very well matched with Uran just behind. Porte lost unexpected time to Contador and Aru in the opening TTT, but is the better time trialist of the three with the 56km time trial to come. And instead of just sitting back, the big three seem to never pass up an opportunity to attack. Sportsnet is broadcasting live every morning.

Saturday Recap
The forecast improved throughout the week and in the end it was a beauty: 13C wind SSE 16 to start, 18C ESE 19 to finish. 29 riders, a number of strong new ones, and a guest from Ontario. The fast group started with 9 with a few dropping back later to a much larger main group. About 15 riders in the two separate groups completed the Cooks Creek loop.