Wednesday, July 5. There were 11 riders on hand in Phillips for the July 5 ride hosted by John Hendricks. Riders making an appearance for the evening were John, Kyle, Mark Peterson, Megan, Mark Wenzel, Scott, Todd, Julie, Joe Coyle, Ken, Bryan and we had a new rider join us.

The route for the evening was the out and back on County Highway F to Highway 70. As the wind was from the north, this route made perfect sense. Todd, Julie Ken, and Bryan turned around before Highway 70. The rest of the group made the entire circuit.

Bryan was doing his annual Salute to the Bikes of the Tour De France. Bryan rode his vintage Motobecane. The Motobecane brand was ridden to victory by the great Luis Ocana in the 1973 Tour.

Also on a sweet ride was Todd Zumach who was setting the style pace in his brand spanking new Trek 5200. The fully Ultegra equipped bike weighed in at a light 20 pounds for the 62 centimeter size. That is a very respectable weight.

Also showing Tour Fever were Bryan and Joe Coyle who were resplendent in their La Maillot Jaunes.

Of course when John Hendricks hosts a ride, going out for the ride is nice. But the real treat is the post ride meal which is always expertly prepared by John’s wife Lou. And once again, Lou did not fail to deliver food fitting of a five star restaurant. The menu for the evening consisted of grilled chicken, a pasta salad, bread, and a sweet potato salad. The sweet potato salad was very interesting and quite delicious. I’d say that the salad had a bit of an Oriental flavor which I would not have expected to have complimented the sweet potatoes so well. The John Hendricks hosted ride remains one of the high points of the riding season.

Tour Talk. As I’ve mentioned to a number of people our satellite provider is giving us free OLN for the month of July. Hence I’ve been able to tune in to the daily coverage. Every month various bicycle magazines get gushing letters about how their publication encourages the writer to ride their bicycle. What a bunch of hot air. I find the Tour TV coverage to be much more motivating. Watching the professionals effortlessly motor along at 27 MPH is much more motivating that a glossy magazine picture.

Like the Superbowl, the Tour coverage has its share of commercials that are good and that quickly become irritating. The best commercial is the Capital One credit card commercial where the barbarian tells how they’ve become summer camp counselors. The commercial then goes on to show a big rock landing on a car after being slung from a catapult, a barbarian leads a campfire song about pillaging, another barbarian is eating the bait (a bucket of worms) instead of fishing with them, and finally one of the barbarians has the campers out in a boat paddling while he sets the tempo by beating on a drum.

The other good commercial shows a bunch of young kids in full motocross dress saying, "I want to ride." The kids do get to ride along side of the great Jeremy McGrath. The background music may have all of the lyrical content of the 1970’s disco classic Fly Robin Fly but the music is pretty catchy. At the end of the commercial Jeremy does a great one foot on the peg, swing the other foot over the saddle, mid air trick while looking at the camera. Say what you will about kids on motorcycles, but I’d rather have them doing that then sitting around playing video games.

Then there are the bad commercials. The Saab commercial where the jet turns into an SUV ala a Transformer looses its entertainment value after the first showing. However, your average ten year old probably stills likes it after the 50^th viewing. But ten year olds don’t buy cars. Maybe McCauly Caulkin, but I’m not certain of that. I like the little disclaimer that the makers of Saab cars and Saab Jets are no longer affiliated.

The other thing that is getting tiring is the Pete Sampras and World Team Tennis commercial. If you think cycling has trouble attracting viewers, just try tennis. Thanks to carbon fiber rackets and serves that go unreturned, tennis now generates about as much interest as a soy burger at a cattlemen’s barbeque. I suppose with Pete cashing the World Team Tennis checks he stays out of soup kitchens, but this has to be a real yawner none the less. Pete may want to spend a little of the money he makes on a hair restoration product. The old noggin appears to be thinning out.

OK, next week I promise I’ll actually talk about the race itself.