Day: June 14, 2008

I won’t be struggling up the Tourmalet this year, but I’ve added L’Ã’tape du Tour to my mostly-in-my-head life list. I’ve heard about various tour companies which help you ride along the Tour de France course. But it wasn’t until I read the NYTimes blog The Climb that L’Ã’tape crossed my radar. I strongly recommend the blog; it’s reaching its final weeks of life, as this year’s Ã’tape is July 8th.

L’Ã’tape is one full Tour de France stage open to 8,500 amateurs a few days before the pros come through. The roads are closed, and you ride the exact course…if you can finish it. The time checkpoints are ruthless, apparently, and the organizers make a point of picking one of the legendarily difficult stages each year.

I enjoy climbing, but I’m not blind to the fact that my training would need to ratchet up to about double what I’m doing now before this fantasy race would be realistic. Convincing the wife to join me in France wouldn’t be hard, despite her personal revulsion at the catalyst for such a trip.

If you really want to soak in the ethos of cycling, specifically climbing, enjoy the guest post from former pro rider and current team director Jonathan Vaughters. Read the whole thing for tidbits like this:

…the most important parts of bicycle races are always uphill. The tactical genius of those who stealthily hide behind the dolt plodding away into the wind up front is lost on hills. Hills put bike racing back into the realm of Darwin and the grunting cave man. The laws of nature rule on the hills, and only the strong will survive.

and

Training and techniques will make you suffer slightly faster up hills, not suffer any less.

Next Sunday, I’ll try to suffer as fast as possible on Mt. Diablo. I rode the course and the extra grueling 4.5 miles up Summit Road this morning. Glad to have the lay of the land, but I’ll be thrilled to stop before Summit road next weekend.

A few weeks ago, I stepped inside Costco for the first time in years. I avoid most of the impulse purchases which inflate the bill (exception: dried blueberries, with added sugar… blech). But for less than $10, I couldn’t pass up the bundle of The Pink Panther and The Curse of the Pink Panther on DVD.

After watching The Pink Panther, I realized that most of my memories (Cato!) must be from one of the other Sellers-as-Clouseau films. Still, the Inspector’s inspired clumsiness amuses throughout. The costume party at the end included this groaner, which I loved:

[At a costume ball, a police sergeant costumed as a zebra drinks from the punch bowl]
Inspector Jacques Clouseau: Any more behaviour like this and I’ll have your stripes! (via)

Now I have to find out which is the right Panther film to match my remembered laughter more exactly.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull earned a Metacritic score of score of 65. I had to see it because Raiders is one of the best movies ever made. And because I find myself sharing the phrase “He chose…poorly” from Last Crusades all too often.

Not much more to say than Roger Ebert already did.

I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you.

I am curious to see if these movies grab the kids the same way. USA is running the first three all weekend, which doesn’t hurt…but it’s still too early to indoctrinate them. So just our guilty pleasure.