Tour Sweepstakes Key Words

Here are the Fly to the Finish Sweepstakes key words for today:

bobke (not a misspelling -- refers to one of the beloved commentators, Bob Roll, affectionately known as Bobke)
gear
cervelo

Enter here.

I realize most Americans don't have too much interest in the Tour de France. But if you want to get a quick glimpse into what a phenomenon this event is in Europe -- you can do this sometime in the coming week, the last week of the Tour.

Why? Because the Tour heads into the Alps in southern France -- and the peaks chosen for this year's Tour are said to be particularly brutal. But here's the cultural part: people come from all over Europe -- they are there now -- a week or more ahead of time to get a spot on the high mountain roads. They park their campers and cars on the edge of the mountains, or walk to the top and pitch a tent. They buy supplies in the mountain villages and eat, drink, paint the roads with their favorite riders' names, paint themselves, put on costumes -- all for the opportunity for a few minutes of seeing the riders pass by. The crowds fill the roads leaving only enough room for the lead motorcycles to get through, and even less room for the single file ant-trail of bike riders as they labor up the sides of these huge mountain. They wave flags, scream at the top of their lungs, and seem to use the event as an annual opportunity to go completely nuts. The Alps stages of the Tour are totally different from the flatter stages which can be rather boring as the riders race at high speeds over flat roads and then sprint for the finish line -- four hours of boredom concluded by 30 seconds of pandemonium at the end.

American has no sporting event to compare with the Alps stages of the Tour de France. You don't need to watch all three weeks of the Tour -- but you should watch one of the mountain days this coming week just to experience this cultural event.

Here's how:

As I've mentioned, the Tour is carried in America only on the Versus network. Go to the Versus homepage and enter your ZIP code and you'll be told what channel(s) on which TV systems carry Versus in your area. (For instance, on Time Warner Cable in Charlotte it's channel 74.) The live broadcast starts early every morning -- so that's out since folks are at work. But it's replayed every evening on Versus at 8:00 p.m. So you can grab a chance to see a day in the Alps one night this coming week. (Except for Monday night -- Monday is a rest day in the Tour, so no racing on Monday.)

I hope I'm not disappointed, and hope you won't be. All my experience with the Tour has been during the years when Lance Armstrong was the reigning champion for seven years in a row. And the Europeans loved to hate this American -- so the crowds in the Alps (where Armstrong was at his best) were particularly boisterous when he rode. But there's a tight three-way competition going for the lead in the tour this year, including one American rider, so perhaps the loonies will be out in good form despite the absence of Lance Armstrong.

Last and Lost (As Usual)

There is an annual bike ride from Charlotte to the NC beach every year in support of Multiple Sclerosis research. (I think it may be nationwide -- rides held in lots of places.) It's around 150 miles, taking two days, and is fully supported with road crews and support stations along the way.

In anticipation of that annual big ride (which I'm not doing), there are weekend training rides held in the weeks leading to the MS Ride to the Beach -- one of which was today. I attended the one today -- a 62-mile ride held about an hour east of Charlotte (an hour from my house). There were around 100 riders who participated. It started at 8:00 a.m and I arrived just as the group was getting final instructions and heading off. So I was at the end of the bunch from the beginning and gradually got further behind. I missed several of the road markers and managed to get totally disconnected from the group and lost. Ended up in a small town I was unfamiliar with, bought a map at a convenience store and got some directions from a couple of good old boys who were hanging out, solving the problems of the world. I eventually made my way back to the elementary school which was the staging area for the ride, working my way through a series of small towns east of Charlotte.

By the time I got back (only a few cars left in the parking lot) I had covered 59 miles so I missed the full 62 mile ride by just a few. But it was a good experience -- you learn something every time you step outside life's safe zones -- and I got a colorful jersey for making a contribution to the MS Race cause. So that was a nice "been there, got the jersey" surprise. (Update: tried the jersey on and it's way too small. It's yours if you want it.)

Another "frustrating" day on the bike -- but I'll keep at it. I don't want to win -- but I do want to get better. And doing these group rides is one way to measure one's own progress against those who are much better. My goal is to be able to keep up and gain the aerodynamic advantage of riding with the group. When you're riding in a group, the experts say you gain a 25-30% advantage over riding alone (where I usually ride) in terms of reduced energy consumption -- higher speed while burning less energy.

So -- another of life's disappointing moments, but every reason to work harder and smarter for the next opportunity.

Flash of Genius

Just watched the trailer (several times) of what looks like a great movie coming in October: Flash of Genius. It's PG and based on a true story -- a David vs. Goliath story in the spirit of two more favorite movies of mine, The Insider (Russell Crowe) and A Civil Action (John Travolta). And this one stars one of my all-time favorite actors, Greg Kinnear. If you watch the trailer, look for the split-second scene where Kinnear's movie-daughter says, "Don't do it, Dad" -- don't give in to Goliath -- we can win this!

Men don't always have the experience of their family standing behind them when they're hanging by a thread -- but this guy does (at least in the trailer). Awesome.

Tour Sweepstakes Key Words

Here are the three keywords for today:

tour
power and control
jet engine

There is a new phenom in the Tour de France, the 23-year-old sprinter from the Isle of Man off the coast of England, Mark Cavendish (riding for the AMERICAN team, Columbia!). He has won four sprint stages so far, with more to come. He'll never win the Tour de France itself as a sprinter (he barely survives through the mountain climbs), but he is untouchable in the last 200 meters of a bunch sprint. Really amazing.

Here's the video of him winning today's Stage 13. This is a foreign-language video (sounds like German? -- the only one I could find), but listen to the commentator mention "Cavendish" -- and at the end, "Cavendish der speedball!!!" What a hoot.



Here's an English video of Cavendish winning yesterday's Stage 12 spring -- his third victory. You get a better feel in this video of the speed and power of the peloton (main group of riders) and how these sprinters put their lives on the line to battle for the win at the end. The sprinters hit the line at around 45 m.p.h. -- and that's after riding 120 or so miles to get there:

At Least He's Honest

Following is a quote from Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, the eminent general surgeon at The Cleveland Clinic who pioneered groundbreaking research into curing heart disease with a plant-based diet:

I once asked a young interventional cardiologist why he didn't refer his patients for a nutrition program that could arrest and reverse their disease, and he replied with a frank question: "Did you know that my billed charges last year were over five million dollars?"

Give the guy credit for honesty, at least.

Today's Fly to the Finish Key Words

Here are today's Fly to the Finish key words:

gradient
CSC
throttle

Enter here.

Letter to Diane Rehm

Following is the email I sent to the Diane Rehm Show (heard daily on NPR) today as a suggestion for a future show. It was in light of the sad program presented today with five "experts" from the medical field discussing the high costs of cancer treatments. It was really depressing. So I sent the following suggestion for a different show.

I doubt if it will have any impact, but the least we can do is try to make and suggest changes to those who are in positions of influence:

Dear Friends at the DR Show,

I am presently listening to today's (Thursday July 17) show with the panel of MD's covering the same sad ground that is covered periodically on the DR Show and elsewhere: the no-answer approach to cancer (and other diseases) offered by the AMA and Big Pharma. Doesn't Diane ever get embarrassed at hosting these shows that offer nothing except bromides like, "We've got to work together to get our hands around the cost of care and patients inability to pay" -- etc., etc?

If you want to have a show hosted by eminently qualified experts on the subject of disease PREVENTION and CURE -- things people can get their hands around and implement in their lives, then I suggest you host a show with the following two guests:

1. Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, MD -- for more than 35 years on the staff of the renowned Cleveland Clinic and author of the recently published Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. (http://www.heartattackproof.com). His impact on cardiac patients -- including many physicians of the Cleveland Clinic and their loved ones -- is unparalleled by any other approach.

2. Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PhD -- emeritus professor of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University and head of The China Study, the most comprehensive study of health and nutrition ever conducted. His recent book is The China Study that reports the finding of the study by the same name. (http://www.thechinastudy.com)

The two men are more qualified in terms of their own primary research and results than most "doctors" you have on your program. And what makes them unique is that their approach to disease prevention is exactly the same: a plant-based diet -- the exclusion of all animal and dairy products from the human diet.

I am 60 years old, have two master's degrees and most of a doctorate, and am not easily deceived. I have studied the research of both these men and can verify that their approach is scientific and results-based.

If you wanted to add two more M.D.'s to the panel you could invite Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. John McDougall, both of whom follow the same plant-based protocols in reversing disease in their patients.

The problem with this suggestion is that Diane would run the risk of offending the AMA and Big Pharma as well as the meat and dairy industry by devoting a show to these men -- and for that very reason I don't believe Diane will have the courage to follow my suggestion.

Each of the above-named men has endured the scorn of their peers, but they have done so on the basis of science and LIVES SAVED. I would think Diane would have the courage and integrity to buck the trend and tell the AMA and Big Pharma critics that she is committed to seeking and finding what works, not what sells.

Again, I won't hold my breath -- but I hope you'll consider this suggestion. (P.S. -- I don't get to listen to the show every day, so if Diane has already devoted a show to any of the above, or similar, individuals, then I thank you for doing so -- and I stand corrected on my presupposition concerning Diane's willingness to follow the trail of truth and results.)

Sincerely,

William Kruidenier

"Garden" Experiments

Just a few updates on the "garden" (such as it is):

My four tomato plants (three pictured here) have grown but have been very slow to flower and even slower to fruit. I'm doing a couple of things to try to speed the fruiting process:

1. Vigorously shaking their cages daily (which shakes the plants). Because tomatoes are self-pollinating, this has the potential of causing pollen inside the flowers to be distributed. And it stimulates root growth. (Lots of nursery growers run their hands over the inches-tall seedlings in their trays daily to simulate high winds battering the plants, which stimulates root growth in the seedlings as the plants try to anchor themselves against natural forces.) AND, I read recently (this is in the hocus-pocus category), if plants lead too calm a life, they aren't motivated to reproduce, i.e., bear fruit (seed). They think, "Life is good" and aren't motivate to do the hard work of reproduction thinking their lives are going to be good forever. So rattling their cages daily serves as a wake-up call that life is about to get more difficult and if they want to leave a legacy they'd better get their reproductive organs in gear. We'll see.



2. Also, to stimulate fruiting, I prepared a mix of water, household ammonia, and vinegar (to which I also added sea water). Some sources even recommend adding a bit of Coca-Cola (not sure why). I don't know the science behind this mix, but it is supposed to stimulate flower reproduction on tomatoes like crazy. I've foliar-fed the four tomato plants with this spray -- using an electric misting machine I bought a couple of years ago that atomizes liquid into super-fine droplets that cling to the leaves. While I'm waiting on the tomatoes to respond to this application, I did notice this morning that one of my decorative shrubs (don't know the name) that sits right next to one of the tomato plants, is putting out tons of white flowers! It got wet with the overspray from the tomato plant next to it and is showing flowers just in that section of the shrub. (I have three of these large bushes and there are no flowers anywhere else except next to this tomato plant where it got over-sprayed.) The little white flowers are hard to see --



I now count NINE avocado trees coming up in the front beds! I'm at a lost as to what has caused this sudden germination, but think it must have something to do with the amount of rain we've had lately. Last summer's drought may have kept the avocado pits dormant, but they have sprung to life this summer. Several of the nine are tall and spindly as they are reaching up for sunlight amidst the thick growth of shrubs. I hope they'll make it -- here are two that get good sun:





I had a large organic sweet potato in my vegetable basket that I hadn't gotten around to eating, and it dutifully began to sprout at the top end. Rather than take the time to follow Daniel's excellent rooting instructions earlier this year, I decided to take the potato and plant it in the ground where I used to have my compost bins. I have been stacking my used wheatgrass root-beds in that same location the last few weeks in anticipation of restarting some compost bins. Several of the beds had decomposed nicely, so I planted the sweet potato vertically with the sprouts sticking above ground, then used the decomposed wheatgrass beds to make a "collar" of support around it. We'll see what happens.

The overview:



Closeup:



That's it from the garden for now. I'll report on the tomato flowering foliar spray in due course.

Sweepstakes Key Words

Here are today's Tour de France Fly to the Finish Sweepstakes key words:

supersonic
slope
bicycling

Enter here.

Sweepstakes Key Words

Today is a rest day (no racing) in the Tour -- only two key words available:

domestique
heart rate

Enter here.

Tour Sweepstakes Key Words

Fly to the Finish key words for today are:

ascent
drafting
attack

Enter here.

Tour Sweepstakes Key Words

Only two keywords today:

hanging on
descent

Enter here.