  The title of this post doesn't explain anything, I know. Well, it does to me, but that's not really the point. What the title means is what cycling means, or, rather, part of why I love it so much. I've been sick recently (sick enough to manage only part of a big trance-filled weekend ... My $70 VIP tickets did not, in fact, go to waste.
I did get to watch Armin spin. But that's a post for another blog, or something. I'll just push my other obsessions out of here for now. ) and so I've managed to miss live coverage on both Thursday (when I slept through most of it) and Friday (out of town). I woke up in time to read the live coverage (somehow I missed that the official urlLink Giro site (English version) has live video) on urlLink cyclingnews , so I knew what was going to happen before urlLink OLN 's coverage started (not that I don't love OLN, because I adore them.
I want to work for them, please. Um. Right, back to point). So, at four (I was at the store at 3:30) I turned on OLN and settled into bed to watch. Well, even though I knew Gibo hadn't won the stage and Fabian had (thankfully! ) managed to win the Maglia verde, it was pretty exciting to watch. The crowds totally blew my mind. I had no idea how close they were to the riders (like Gibo and Damiano). It reminded me, of course, of the TdF. In more ways than one, actually. And the Vuelta, although that was because I managed to miss the live video feed on the Vuelta site as well.
But the excitement was similar to the last day when I, being the loyal Baden!girl that I am, followed along at cyclingnews and listed to Bob, Phil, and Paul on OLN and then watched the final stage later in the afternoon. It was just really fun to watch the race, even though I knew who won. It was really interesting to see all the Italian fans yelling and screaming and getting in the way of both the motor bikes and the cyclists. Scary stuff. But, oh, I'd love to be up there some day. As for the stage itself? I spent a lot of it hoping Damiano could keep the Maglia rosa without taking away Fabian's Maglia verde. My friend and I spent much of the last parts of the stage trying to figure out how many points Damiano needed and who was in front of him. In the end, though, it worked out perfectly. Although not for Gibo. Three seconds and he would have been second.
And then there was all the stuff he said to Damiano the previous day, although Paul or Phil mentioned that he apologized. I can't imagine that Damiano will stay with Saeco for long, though. Too many top riders on one team and you'll end up like T-Mobile. A team that I love, but a team that pisses me off. I suppose I should explain that, later, though. Regardless. Tomorrow is all about Petacchi. Although I'm pretty sure I wouldn't complain if, oh, one of the Gerol!boys managed a win. Or even that Brad McGee guy. Right. Nine wins would be amazing, though. I suppose I can't go too wrong tomorrow. 
