Tour de France goes internationale
It's been a bad week for France. First, a recent survey points to the French as the world's worst tourists, a title I thought (based on my personal experiences) would easily go to Australians. (Sorry, Australia.) However, luckily for Australians, they have a slightly better grasp of the English language than the French, a distinction that this survery apparently considered quite important.
And, second, I also just found out that a good chunk of this year's Tour de France (translation: Tour of France) is not actually in France. Yes, folks, Lance and company started off the most grueling race in the world in Monaco (not France). By stage 6, the race, much to the delight of Spanish riders, had dipped into Spain (also not France), going all the way to Barcelona after a ride along the coast. And then stage 7 brings the riders from Barcelona into the Pyreneees and to the principality of Andorra, a tiny country that is still not France.
Meanwhile, a few hundred miles west of there....
Death in the morning
Sorry to disrupt the normally irreverent tone of this blog for a moment, but July 10th's encierro (running of the bulls) in Pamplona has resulted in thedeath of Spaniard Daniel Jimeno Romero, 27, the first goring death since 22-year-old American Matthew Tassio was killed in 1995. Romero's death will, no doubt, cast a pall over the weekend's festivities, much like Ray Ducharme's paralyzing injury did when I attended the festival in 2006.
On a more positive, albeit rehashed note...
As mentioned in one of last week's blogs, cycling duo Mark and Jeff Siepker will be kicking off their tandem bicycle ride from Omaha to St Louis to benefit the Ollie Webb Center, an organization that helps support people with developmental disabilities. You can see them off at the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge or donate a few dollars to help their cause at firstgiving.com.
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