I started blogging part way through 2002. I have gone on and off in my frequency of posting, but I have maintained this blog the entire time. The reason why I write a blog is to keep friends, family and the occasional passerby informed, up-to-date and entertained. I have always had comments that were open and I have read everyone, although not always responded and I have been a bad blogger in that regard. I have a sunset on when comments can be posted to any post which is only necessary to cut down on the amount of comment spam I get. I have extended that to a full year, allowing someone who finds any post to drop me a line if they so choose.

If comments have ever been closed on a particular post, I have always included a way to contact me, generally via email in the form of my contact page, but I have in the past few months included all of the other social networks that I am a part of. The comment form is probably the quickest way to get a hold of me, although, hitting me up with a message on any of the other means I provide are probably just as efficient.

I have removed a single post from this blog. It was written in anger and hurt the feelings of a colleague whom I value. It was work related and after initially sticking to my guns about posting, I recanted, realizing that the value of the vent was outweighed by the possibility that it could lead to professional trouble. Everything else that has been written, either of a serious nature or not, has been authentically me. I have been very harsh on people, but I have never shied away from the fact that they were my opinions and I would gladly stand by them.

A particular post has garnered a lot of attention lately, mainly with snarky off-site comments. It was written just under a year ago, so the comments are still open. I would gladly entertain any comments that are written, I have in the past 6 months removed all forms of moderation for comments, they get posted directly. I can understand that after posting a comment, a commenter could think that a I would delete their comment. I have only done that to spam comments, ones hawking Viagra or herbal Cialis The fact that I have included those words in my post, means I will now become the target of more spam.

The particular post I wrote was written when I was still an angry, questioning Catholic. I was researching and becoming familiar with Buddhism and its tenets and wrote the post with a half understanding of several parts of both the topic and philosophical method in which I wrote about the topic. Esther, my wife, can attest that I was a very angry man and since converting to Buddhism, my outlook and my temper have change greatly. Catholic Jered would have responded to comments that were contradictory to his beliefs with a fury, finding some flaw in his opponents logic, possibly going so low as to attack his opponents character and the things they love.

Buddhist Jered is willing to own his mistakes. I have written about plenty of things that have been heard second hand, work and personal. Buddhist Jered is also willing to admit that he doesn’t know everything, although some days at work it feels like that.

Finally, Buddhist Jered is willing to admit that 365 days can be a long time, and with the recent news that a terminal condition in one side of my family, and a health scare on the other, holding on to things in the past are futile and lead to suffering. Am I sorry for anything I’ve written, no. Not even the single post I deleted. Am I willing to admit that I don’t know everything, yes. Am I willing to make amends or atone for things that may have hurt someone, yes, that is the essence of living a fulfilling life.

If I have hurt anyone’s feeling, I would ask that they contact me in as direct a manner as they feel comfortable, either on this blog, via the contact form or in some other forum. If email is the best, please contact me: jeredb [at] gmail.com

Edited for formatting

Image via Wikipedia

Intro

Today brings the start of the 2008 Tour de France with 197.5 km (122.7 mi). The stage winds from Brest to Plumelec and the last time this stage was run, it was won by Eric Zabel, who is racing today. Today’s stage is quite different with no Prologue time trial, this first stage is a real road race. This means that the man who crosses first wears the yellow jersey. This is unlike other years, and it will make for a more aggressive start. Breakaways can spoil the day, not only for the sprinters, but also for the General Classification contenders.

Stage 1

The course is fairly unremarkable, except for the uphill sprint finish. The last few hundred meters of this course cross a narrow bridge and then uphill to the line. This could kill the sprinters, or it could be good for a stronger sprinter like Thor Hushovd.

Note of Interest: When looking at the names of the category hills, Côte and Col are prefixes on most of them. After some research I have learned that a “Col” is a saddle between two higher points and “Côte” is a hillside.

Today’s Race

With Cadel Evans starting with number 1 (due to last years winner not being allowed to defend his title due to the shady past of his team, Astana), the 180 riders who started today will be looking to put their man in yellow today. Does it make sense for one of the favorites to win the Yellow today and paint a large target on themselves and their teams? An early show of strength could lead to a blow out later in the race.

An attack seven minutes into the race saw 8 riders pull away from the peleton. The breakaway includes Lilian Jegou (FDJ), Thomas Voeckler (BTL), Stephane Auge (COF), David De La Fuente (SDV), Ruben Perez (EUS), Arrieta (ALM), Lequatre (AGR), Bjorn Schroeder (MRM). The French will be happy to see their man Thomas Voeckler out in front. It is possible that he could hold onto the yellow into the second week. He probably won’t be a real GC contender, he usually blows up after Bastille Day.

The breakaway manages to put 2 minutes between them and the peleton, prepping to take the early King of the Mountains points as well as the intermediary sprint points. With 4 category climbs and three intermediary sprints, this will create an early lead in the other jersey competitions.

After the first climb, 1st going to Bjorn Schroeder (MRM), 2nd to Thomas Voeckler (BTL) and 3rd to David De La Fuente (SDV), Credit Agricole and Liquigas take over the front of the peleton and start to turn up the speed to reduce the breakaway’s almost-eight minute lead. Near the second climb, Rabobank and Caisse d’Epargne take over pulling the peleton, trying to get their GC men into a better position to finish.

The second climb points went to Thomas Voeckler (BTL), Bjorn Schroeder (MRM), and Geoffroy Lequatre (AGR) respectively, with the first sprint prizes going to Geoffroy Lequatre (AGR), Lilian Jegou (FDJ) and Ruben Perez (EUS). Remember, no time bonuses this year. How much is this going to effect the General Classifications? Have the time bonuses had a huge effect?

Fast forwarding to the feed zone, the first crash of this year. Herve Duclos-Lassalle goes down and is forced to pull out of the race with a wrist injury. 179 riders left.

An hour after the first crash, a second happens at the tail of the peleton. Goes to show that Paul Sherwin’s adage of the back is where the crashes happens is more right than wrong. Riders going down include Fabian Wegmann, Jimmy Casper, Yaroslav Popovych, Frank Schleck and Sylvain Chavanel, all who manage to rejoin the race.

The peleton starts to pick up the pace trying to reel in the escaped riders. By 151 km, they have reduced the gap to two minutes and 55 seconds.

As the gap drops, the attacks with in the breakaway start. This always seems like a stupid idea. Breakaways have a hard enough time keeping away from the peleton when they are organized, but internal fighting means there is no chance of them staying away. Gerolsteiner takes the front of the peleton, putting the pressure on the breakaway.

The breakaway has fallen apart, only two men Jegou and De La Fuente are away from the pack. With the 20 km to go, Team Columbia takes the front and starts to pull the escaped men back. As they get closer and closer to the finish various teams take the lead of the peleton, QuickStep and Silence-Lotto. As the breakaway is about to be pulled in, another crash splits the peleton, this is a big one that will keep the large group divided until the finish line.

The finish was crazy. Several attacks came and went, with Kim Kirchen appearing to get the better of the day, but in the last turn, up the hill Alejandro Valverde shot from across the gap to Kirchen, over taking him in the last 100 meters of the line.

Conclusion

All in all, a great start to this years race. A big change, forcing riders to be more aggressive, the only danger is the crash. While they are fascinating to watch and an improvement over the traditional time trial start, the crashes can be devastating to a rider or a team.

With each team knowing that they aren’t going to be able to establish large leads by starting time trials, it has forced the GC contenders to come out early, which will provide a much more interesting race. We’ll see how it works out tomorrow.

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