This Looks Fun.....

I found a nice vid of the descent down my favorite mountain stage. This was filmed with a steady cam mounted on the handle bars.This is part one and lasts about 6 minutes. The descent is about 9 miles long, so he is probably hitting speeds of 55 mph or higher. If you like roller coasters I think you will love this.

Pyrenees Mountains....

The Pyrenees Mountain stages start tomorrow and are famous for very steep climbs -some of the steepest in the Tour- and blisteringly fast descents with speeds reacing over 55mph.

The top picture is a descent down Plateau-De-Beille. You think there is any room for error? They won't have to worry about that, as this is the mountain top finish fpr tomorrow's stage.

The bottom picture is part of the climb up Plateau-De-Beille and gives you a sense of how close the crowds are and what the riders experience during all this. They get so close that at times riders cannot see the road ahead.

These photos are copied from pezcycling.com (top) and steephilltv.com

I added thickbox to my pictures so you can click the thumbnail for a larger image. Many thanks to Terry for all his help. If you like what you see why not stop by his site and add it to your blog? Thanks for reading.

My Favorite Stage in the Tour De France

Alpe d'Huez is the most famous mountain climb in the Tour De France. While the tour route varies from year to year, l'Alpe d'Huez has hosted a stage finish almost every year since 1976. The Tour de France first finished a stage on l'Alpe d'Huez in 1952. That stage was won by the Italian Fausto Coppi. The climb up Alpe d'Huez is 13.8 km at an average gradient of 8.1% with 21 hairpin bends marked with panels honoring the winners of each stage that has finished there. Having finished there for the 22nd time in 2001 the authorities have had to start again at the bottom with a double panel honoring Fausto Coppi and Lance Armstrong..
As the most legendary climb in recent Tour history, the Alpe has been the scene of chaotic crowds in the past 10 years. In 1999 Giuseppe Guerini won the stage despite being knocked off his bike by an over-enthusiastic spectator who stepped into his path to take a photograph (the photographer later sought out Guerini to apologize). The 2004 Tour De France route featured an individual time trial up Alpe d'Huez, which became a chaotic scene crowded with nearly a million fans, some of whom could not resist pushing their favorite rider toward the top. Armstrong won the stage and his time was only 1 second slower than the official record set by the late Marco Pantani of 37 minutes, 35 seconds.

Unfortunately this stage is not on the Tour this year. Usually after the descent from Galibier the riders climb Alpe D'huez, but this year they veer their way into Briancon for the finish.

Le Tour De France just finished the Alp mountain stages with a climb of Col Du Galibier, which is one of the toughest this year.

Taken from wikipedia:

The Col du Galibier (el. 2645m, over 9000 ft) is a high mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphine Alps near Grenoble. It is often the highest point in the Tour De France. It was first used in 1911.

The climb to the summit in today’s stage is 18.1 km (about 10 miles) long at an average of 6.9% (height gain: 1245m). The maximum is 10.1% at the summit.


To watch these riders climb these is absolutely amazing. And to think they have the Pyrennes on the horizon.

A Couple Hand Histories, As Promised

My table from the othere night was filled with calling stations and maniacal fish, luckily for me! I think I played badly on this first hand by not betting the turn because the villain is a fish who bets the river with nothing quite often. All comments are welcomed, because I'm not an expert.


Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 6 Players - (LegoPoker HH Converter)



SB: $22.15

BB: $49.45

whodatdare (UTG): $24.65

MP: $29.10

CO: $25.00

BTN: $9.50



Preflop: whodatdare is dealt 7 7 (6 Players)

whodatdare raises to $0.85, MP calls $0.85, 3 folds, BB calls $0.60



Flop: ($2.65) 8 9 K (3 Players)

BB checks, whodatdare bets $1.80, MP folds, BB calls $1.80



Turn: ($6.25) A (2 Players)

BB checks, whodatdare checks



River: ($6.25) 5 (2 Players)

BB bets $3.00, whodatdare calls $3.00



Pot Size: $12.25 ($12.25 Rake)



BB had 2 J ([2d Jd] Ace King high) and LOST (-$5.65)

whodatdare had 7 7 ([7c 7d] a pair of Sevens) and LOST (-$5.65)


Another hand wih the same villain. He's tilting because UTG out drew him for 2 pair on the river when he had TP. I was hoping UTG would stay in as he was calling very light.


Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 4 Players - (LegoPoker HH Converter)



whodatdare (SB): $54.65

BB: $32.95

UTG: $66.30

BTN: $23.65



Preflop: whodatdare is dealt 9 9 (4 Players)

UTG raises to $0.50, BTN raises to $1.85, whodatdare calls $1.75, BB folds, UTG calls $1.35



Flop: ($5.80) 2 9 K (3 Players)

whodatdare bets $2.80, UTG calls $2.80, BTN raises to $9.00, whodatdare raises all-in to $52.80, UTG folds, BTN calls all-in for $12.80

Uncalled bet of $31.00 returned to whodatdare

Uncalled bet of $0.00 returned to BTN



Turn: ($52.20) 7 (2 Players - 2 All-In)



River: ($52.20) 6 (2 Players - 2 All-In)



Pot Size: $52.20



BTN had A A (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$23.65)

whodatdare had 9 9 (three of a kind, Nines) and LOST (-$23.65)

The Start of Something Good?

Hopefully. July is starting off pretty good for me. I played a short 320 hand session and made just shy of 3 buy ins. I applied some of the things Mo and I discussed about post-flop play and it's working very well so far. I timed my aggression better tonight by not c-betting every single hand and I stilled got paid off on my big hands. I'll post some of those here and in this blog as well. Until then good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand.

Just a quick note today for now. I really haven't played too much since the Dyansty member game. I must say that was one great game to play in. It played like no other game I've played at the 25 NL level. Open raising, no limping, and lots of 3-bets pre-flop.

I did figure out some things about my game by actually thinking about some of my weaknesses that were exposed. They stuck out to me in that game, but wouldn't have been exposed by playing with regular 25 players, so it was worth it to play. Thanks to MO for some timely advice as well on how to immediately improve on post-flop play.

Linkin Park & Jay Z

So I'm searching around for a cool video to post from a certain artist next month, on what would've been his 65th birthday, and run into this gem. I always like when artists put a spin on the original song to show how diverse it can actually be. I really think the song is beautiful and I hope you enjoy.