The right thing, the right way

I feel like a rock star right now. I'm kicking it in Louisville, KY doing some crit racing this weekend and cashed in on some points for a free night with Holiday Inn. If you aren't a member of every hotel chain's rewards program then you are missing out! I spend the fall and and spring accumulating points and the whole summer cha-chinging 'em in. When you rack up a ton of points you end up with a cool code name like "platinum status" or "gold member" or something along those lines. Well, anytime you check in or use points for a room you end up getting treated just a little better than "the little people." Ha, just had to say that, anyway.....

Back to the rock star thing, well usually all that means is you might get a nicer room and a bag with bottle of water, some Oreo cookies and maybe some real chocolate treats (mmmmm). Today though I am greeted with a card to the 10th floor; a private floor, one where you have to use your room card just to get off the elevator to your floor. Nice! Not that it's really special at all when you think about it, but when you imagine "private floor" your mind gets all excited as if you're special when really you're not. Whateva' suckas!

Speaking of Louisville, there are a handful of Nashville area racers up here competing, but not enough. All of you would benefit greatly from making the 2.5 hour drive up here occasionally to challenge yourselves. The fields are usually big, 50 to 60 riders, and the level of competition is always very good. Even if you end up not placing well it's good to gain experience in larger fields with riders as good or better than you. If you get a result then even more the better, but if you get a result and you're on a private floor then BAM! (both happened to me today!)

Moving on.....what do you want to know about? I'll tell ya'.....

So you wanna be an Olympian?
She's down to the final straw to qualify for the Olympics, so read it to find out if she'll be going to Beijing.

Greatest Individual Rivalries
Some of these I agree with, but no Lance-Jan or McEnroe-Connors or Bradshaw-Staubach? Come on!

Boulder Cyclist Hurt After Hitting Bear
If you think this is the first time, think again. It sounds like both the rider and the bear had an, "oh sh..." moment.

Cool thinking saved victim after bear attack
Thankfully the little girl is going to be OK in the long run, but imagine having to worry about bears every time you rode. Oh man, I'll take the cars instead.

This has got me to thinking about saving lives and being prepared if duty called. Last week I went through another CPR training class for certification, and I have to say that learning CPR is something all adults should invest in doing. Fortunately I've never had to use it in the five years that I've been certified, but I'm prepared and confident that I would know what to do if the situation arose.

Where can you do this?

American Red Cross or the American Heart Association are great choices to become CPR certified. I've been through both courses and each one is very good. Considering as many bike accidents we see at races and through training it's wise to be CPR certified because life changes in a matter of seconds. If you're prepared then it just may save a friend's life.

Cyclist killed on U.S. 290 remembered as great coach
It's very sad to read about this unfortunate accident, but according to a friend he had his priorities right in my book. This from a post-it note given to friend, "'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight.'"

I'm not ashamed to say it; He is the only one I put all my faith in to get me through each day. My eyes cannot see the things He is preparing me for. Therefore, I put my faith in Him and my life in the palm of His hand. There, I am secure.

Scientists warn U.S. unprepared if asteroid strikes
Well duh. How do you really prepare for something like this anyway? Star Wars?! I don't think you do. (see comments about Him above)

Report: The End of the Internet Is Near
To think that some kids today have never lived without the Internet or cell phones. As sad as it would be for you to lose the ability to see the NashvilleCyclist.com website everyday I think it would be a welcome relief for it to be gone for awhile. Imagine the horror of having to write letters, call people, meet face-to-face, oh the horror!

As Web Traffic Grows, Crashes Take Bigger Toll
As the article alludes to I suppose if someone really wanted to create chaos they could target locations filled with web servers to knock sites offline. There's more than one way to skin a cat, right?

Packed 'Fireworks Express' leaves hundreds behind
As you all know I'm a big fan of the Music City Star, but they really dug themselves into a hole over their 4th of July fireworks train to downtown. They received an overwhelming response to take the train to Nashville for the fireworks, and were over already over capacity when they started in Lebanon. The result is the train flew by the rest of the stops, leaving would be riders shocked as they were left behind, and then didn't go back to pick them up! Unbelievable. Lesson learned they say, but mistakes like this do not help your cause.

Back to cycling.....

Cyclingfans.com
Stuck at work and can't watch the Tour live? Don't get Versus? This website has several links where you can watch the Tour de France LIVE every single stage for FREE! Knock yourselves out. I've been watching it some in the mornings, and while the video feed isn't the best stream it is at least a stream! It's a little slow but you know what's going on and get plenty of graphics.

Robin Farina (Cheerwine) defeats breakaway companion
NashvilleCyclist.com diarist and native Nashvillian gets a stage victory at a premier national event, Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic, Stage 3. The finish was up a hill no less, so congratulations to Robin!

Robin Farina (Cheerwine) ... The face says it all!

Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic - Full Results
Win a stage and you'll find yourself standing on the podium like Robin - see! For those of us who have followed Robin's racing the last few years it's great to see her succeeding and helping her team lead the NRC women's standings. She's come a long way and deserves a huge dose of praise!

Stage winner John Murphy (HealthNet) celebrates his victory
Uhhh, who is the finger for John? Put the envelope in your pocket next time, ha. John isn't from Nashville, but has raced quite a bit in Tennessee over the years.

Masters Nationals photography
Action photos from the action all week in Louisville where quite a few national championship jerseys were won. (also just noticed he posted some crit action from today too!)

Let's keep cycling exciting!
Finally the French have something to be excited about at the Tour. Sylvain Chavanel writes in his diary that he doesn't think there's been enough aggression in the Tour yet, but when you read Fresh Korn you'd think it's a grueling slugfest. Maybe this has to do with the fact that Chavanel has some Tour experience, 2007 only I believe, while Frischkorn is going through his first one.

Double-amputee Pistorius fails again to qualify for Olympics
Wow, I'm a big believer in that if you're a tough competitor then you'll play up to your competition when given the chance. Oscar Pistorius may not have qualified, but he did shave off a full second on his 400 meter from last week. He's still got a few more opportunities to qualify in other events, so I'm pulling for him.

Jim Abbott - an inspiration to athletes to overcome their disabilities
I never had the opportunity to play against him or see him pitch in person, but I sure wish I had. However, I did follow his progress throughout his career starting from when he pitched at Michigan University. Growing up I can recall vividly how older players influenced my career and how much I wanted to emulate their abilities. I can only imagine how Abbott's influence has touched thousands to aspire to overcome. He played 10 years in the big leagues and also won the gold medal game in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Talk about an amazing platform to advance a cause huh?!

Like I wrote about in my post "Let them play" there are kids out looking for guidance and inspiration to be better than they are today. Some are able bodied while others have disabilities like Jim Abbott. You may not be aware of this right now, but I can promise you there's someone looking up to you and wanting to follow your footsteps. As sure I'm sitting here, trust me, somebody is watching you and learning. They may never say a word and you may never meet them. Though if you're lucky, one day they'll let you know about their admiration.

All that to say.....always be doing the right thing, the right way.