Phil Van Valkenberg's blog

Pee Oui is older.  Alpe d' Huez is older.  Even Steven?  Not.  Alpe d' Huez wins.  Pee Oui at 68 is slower.  Alpe d' Huez is no easier.  Pee Oui had fine tuned his S&S coupling  Schwinn Paramount to a fair-thee-well.  His bod was as good as it would get. 

Pee Oui had struggled against the steep pitches on Mt Ventoux for over an hour in 2003.  As he ground around another hair pin corner a curse barked from his dry throat, "You bastard, you killed Tommy Simpson, but you won't kill me." 

There have been many hairy descents in Tour de France over its 100 episodes as this vintage photo by Henri Lartigue shows.  One descent in the Pyrenees took the life of Lance Armstrong's teammate, Olympic Champion, Fabio Casartelli in 1995.  He crashed and went head first into a concrete barrier block someone thought was good road furniture to keep vehicles from going over a cliff.

In his unending effort to answer all cycling questions, Pee Oui headed for the California coast to investigate the controversial resurfacing of Highway 1 by Caltrans, their version of the DOT.  In the meantime, he managed to sip, eat, hot tub and soak up lots of sun.

America’s top stage race, the Tour of California, kicked off on Sunday in Escondido, north of San Diego. It attracts some of the best pro cyclists in the world for eight days of racing, at least those who don’t want to risk running themselves down by riding the concurrent Giro d’ Italia for three weeks.  This year the race runs south to north, which is the wrong direction in California as the coast wind is relentless, usually blowing from the north.  Usually.

This July the Tour de France will again contest the slopes of Alpe d' Huez and, for the first time in history, climb it twice in the same day!  This will be made possible by climbing beyond the normal finish line up over the col du Sarenne then descending on an obscure road back into the valley of the Romanche River to do the climb again for the finish.  This will take place on Thursday, July 18, three days before the Tour finish in Paris, so it is sure to be decisive.

The 2013 Paris-Roubaix is shaping up to be an epic challenge for professional cyclists.  One of the oldest races, it is arguably the toughest and most prestigious one-day contest in cycling. 

Northern France is basically flat.  Paris-Roubaix’s difficulty comes from 21 sections on narrow cobblestone roads, the pave’, that come near the end of the race.

Lance Armstrong's reputation my be lower that a punctured sew up, but what about Pee Oui's?  Maybe you'll call him naive, stupid, gullible or just plain Pee Oui, but he swallowed the Lance denials hook, line and lager.  And why?  Read on.

Oprah:  Pee Oui, did you ever see Lance Armstrong use drugs?

Pee Oui:  No, not never, not ever.

Oprah:  Did you ever see him drink beer?

Pee Oui:  Yes, many times when he was shilling for that Missouri swill Michelob Light.

You know you can rely on me for real practical advise on cycling questions.  Many people are aware that Santa, saint though he may be, is also human and vulnerable to the mental stress brought on by the holidays.  In recent years he's had a relief valve as his character becomes morphed into hundreds of Santoids who vent his pent up rage by pedaling bar to bar in Milwaukee on the annual Santa Cycle Rampage.

A lot of people just put some air in every week or so and don't even think about it.  I'm more fanatical.  I run different pressures at different times.  I puzzle over ten pounds pressure like someone standing in front of a microwave trying to decide if they should punch a minute 28 seconds or a minute 36.  Sometimes over thinking has gotten me in trouble.  At least over thinking that led to a dumb ass decision.