I think Lance's bike for Sunday's ceremonial stage into Paris was pretty cool.

The Peloton today went through some lavendar fields before ascending to the Mont Ventoux, the Giant of Provence. I have been wondering if the sunflowers were in this year's Tour, because I just did not remember seeing an image of the cyclists amid the yellow-and-black flowers. Alas, I found one, courtesy of a British newspaper. Copyright is owned by Getty Images.

In Lance We Trust, 2009: Team of One

Yesterday after the ITT Lance announced the formation of his new ProTour squad, Team RadioShack. Very exciting news. So far, Lance is the only confirmed rider on this team, but speculations abound that his close friend and long-time directeur sportif, Johan Bruyneel, will leave Astana soon to manage this new US-based team. If that is the case, look for teammates like Chris Horner, Levi Leipheimer, even German Andreas Kloden, to jump ship as well and ride for the new Team RadioShack.

Not to be missed is the fact that Lance has basically indicated that he will return to compete in the 2010 Tour de France. Psych!

One cool aspect about this new partnership with Radio Shack is that Lance's Livestrong will become the exclusive charity of the title sponsor. This will give Livestrong an additional outlet to spread its cancer-fighting message, which is critical.

I also wonder, does this mean Radio Shack will now sell the yellow Livestrong bracelets?

Tour de France Withdrawal....

It is like a migrain that you can see coming. Two stages left in this year's Tour de France, I am going to wake up Monday morning and wonder where is my Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.

I have been negligent in not posting in the past few years. I am a little shocked to see that the last post was when Lance Armstrong got engaged to Sheryl Crow. Man, that was OLD news. Seriously. Of course, Lance has moved on, both in term of his "sweetie pie" and his mode of communication, and I follow him on Twitter these days. This blog thing feels a bit, hmm, outdated.

Back to the problem at hand...I do have this year's Tour de France recorded via TiVo and DirecTV DVR (in HD), and as long as I don't screw up in file transferring and how I unplug & re-plug the external HDD, I should be able to enjoy the recorded Versus broadcast at my convenience. That should at least take me until mid-August, when we leave for Paris. Our annual visit to Paris should do wonders for this TdF hangover. I am so ready for Paris. Seriously.

In Lance We Trust

"While I'm absolutely enjoying my time as a retired athlete with Sheryl and the kids, the recent smear campaign out of France has awoken my competitive side. I'm not willing to put a percentage on the chances but I will no longer rule it out..." - Lance Armstrong

Furthermore, Lance was quoted saying "I'm thinking about it," as he told The American Statesman's Suzanne Halliburton. "I'm thinking it's the best way to piss (the French) off," he added.

Congratulations to Lance and Sheryl Crow on their engagement!!!

No Reservation

Have you seen Anthony Bourdain's new show on the Travel Channel? We caught a recent rerun of the Paris episode. For the first time, I got to see what the Rungis market (the relocated les Halles now in the Parisian suburb) is like. Ah, we couldn't help but feel wistful about not being in Paris this summer. Heck, we were wistful for not being in Paris, period. I have seen a few episodes of Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" on the Food Network, but the one-hour "No Reservation" on Paris was well-done. The surprising "star" turns out to be chef and freelance food writer Louisa Chu, a Chinese American born in Hong Kong who has been training and cooking in Paris (at present, she cooks at the Michelin two-starred restaurant Les Ambassadeurs under Jean-François Piège at the Hôtel de Crillon). She is an articulate lady who knows her stuff (and speaks damn good French, too). Anthony is his usual cranky self, though he did go to several interesting-looking restaurants or bistros that we are dying to try out on our next trip.

Party is tomorrow

We drove up to Noe Valley this afternoon for this couple's house warming party. They used to live in the City during Dotcom Days, then moved back East so that the husband could attend business school. They are back (with their baby boy) as he got a new job with Google. We got to their neighborhood and found parking a block away. I thought, "Hmm, for a party that started at 1:00 o'clock and is supposed to go to 6:00 p.m., parking this close to the hosts' home is almost too good to be true..." As R rang the door bell (and there was no sound on the other side of the door), I felt a fleeting moment of panic, "oh no, the party is really next week. Silly us, we mis-read the invitation..." Our hostess opened the door, with a smiling but puzzled look on her face. I said, "How come it is so quiet?" "Uh, the party is tomorrow," she replied.

Friends from near and far are sharing their photographic memories from the recent Tour de France. Here are two awesome shots: The top photo, of Lance on the cobbles of the Champs-Elysees (with Bobby Julich of CSC trailing) in Paris, was sent to me by Keely Henderson (Colubmia University). The bottom one with Andreas Klöden, Popovich, Hincapie, and Lance was taken by Ted, a client of this year's Dude Girl adventure cycling tour, before the German rider from T-Mobile suffered a fractured wrist and was forced to abandon.