T-Minus Uno

Friday, June 30, 2006

One more day of gathering papers, power adapters, language phrasebooks, and our wits before we hit the road (or jet stream, rather). Beth's itinerary has been printed and bound (seriously), and we're just about ready to go!

Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso pulled from Le Tour!

Friday, June 30, 2006

The Tour de France's two favorites, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, were ejected from the Tour in the wake of a Spanish doping scandal. The two riders, expected by many to finish in first and second (I have my own opinions of this as well), were suspended by their teams in the face of evidence brought to them by investigators for Operación Puerto in Spain.

This is big news. According to Velonews, the Tour has been "thrown into its biggest crisis since the 1998 Festina scandal." 51 other riders were named on the list, including other notables Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile), Joseba Beloki (Astana-Wurth), Marcos Serrano (Astana-Wurth), Roberto Heras (Liberty Siguros-suspended), Tyler Hamilton (Phonak-suspended) and Francisco Mancebo (AG2R). CSC's team manager Bjarne Riis says this:

I think it's a huge blow for everybody. I'd rather be here because Ivan has won the tour. Right now it's not the case. It's a hard situation for all of us, but this is life. But you have to stand up and face it. It's easy to sit down and cry, but you have to be responsible for your own life. The only thing I want to do is be responsible for my team.

I have no other choice.

The timing of this investigation is just uncanny. With just one day before the start of what could have been (and still could be) the most exciting Tour yet, this is a huge blow. The Tour organizers take these allegations very seriously, and so do the teams. Here's what a friend had to say about it:

But I hate this, and regardless of what comes out of this, Jan definitely had contact with that sleazy doctor, and Jan definitely lied about it. Innocent until proven guilty, but if you're T-Mobile, and staring at a very likely Tour de France victory, everything you've dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into for the last five years, you don't pull Jan out of the Tour unless you've seen some pretty hard evidence. And then for CSC to pull Basso AFTER Jan is already gone? Ivan Basso was nearly guaranteed a free ride to the Yellow Jersey with Jan gone, so don't tell me CSC didn't see something scary.

This Tour was shaping up to be very exciting now that Lance has retired. There was a feeling that it was wide open, that it was anyone's race to win. Now that some of the biggest players are now out, that feeling is stronger than ever.

Update: Francisco Mancebo has now retired!

T-Minus Tři

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

That's three to you and me. I just realized that we'll be in the Czech Republic during Independence Day. We may just have to have a Budvar at Amigo's or Buffalo Bill's. What's with the Czechs and Tex-Mex restaurants?

Not to worry, I'm sure that we'll find a way to celebrate in our own way.

T-Minus Four

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

I find myself thinking more and more about our first stop in Prague as I take care of last minute details leading up to our trip. Each stop will have something unique and special to offer us, but I can't help but to feel that "the golden city" will be the highlight of our trip. This multi-ethnic and storied city sits on the fringe between eastern and western Europe, straddling the line between the old and new worlds (and just about everything in between).

I cannot wait to experience one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of architecture virtually untouched during the World Wars, and take in the diverse culture of its four main boroughs: Hradčany (the Castle District, west and north of the Castle), Lesser Quarter (Malá Strana, south of the Castle), Old Town (Staré Město, on the east bank opposite the Castle) and New Town (Nové Město, further south and east).

Four short days cannot do this city justice, but we'll do our best to soak it all in.

Thanks, Wikipedia!

T-Minus Five

Monday, June 26, 2006

Welcome to our new travelog. Beth and I are mere days away from our adventure in Europe, and I thought that now would be a good time to get this thing set up. Our goal is to find an internet cafe in each city that we visit, so check back every few days for updates on our travels.

We're pretty excited about getting off the continent to explore Europe for the first time. Neither one of us have been, so I imagine that the whole experience will be an eye-opener. We can't wait to immerse ourselves in the languages, culture, customs and food!

Thanks for joining us on our journey. You'll hear from us again soon!