Tour de Farce....

Lets put this in context quickly...for the last 5 years, I have been absolutely hooked, enthralled, entertained, addicted and caught up in the hype of the Tour de France. I don't watch cycling per se, but when July rolls around, and the Tour starts - the television remains fixed on the cycling, and hour upon hour of couch time gets racked up. Yes - for three weeks during the cold winter month (which also happens to perfectly coincide with K's year end) you will find me glued to the action taking place in "le tour". The commentary of Paul Sherwin and Phil Liggett are familiar voices that echo throughout the lounge each year, and provide intense and exciting accounts of the days action. There is just nothing that describes the kick that I get out of this most dramatic sporting event - claimed to be the toughest endurance sport on earth.
So...imagine my dissapointment this afternoon at reading that the two favourites this year have been suspended from racing, on the eve of the start of TDF2006, for their involvement in a doping scandal. Jan Ullrich, who has won the event only once (1997), and come runner up to Lance Armstrong on 5 occasions, and was set to give it one last stab before retiring - and Ivan Basso, who was runner up to Lance last year, and winner of the Giro de Italia by more than 9 minutes - both suspended by their teams today. Truly, truly dissapointing as this would have been an epic battle without the dominant presence of Lance in this years race.
So, with Ullrich and Basso out of contention this year, I'd have to place my money on Phonak's Floyd Landis to take the podium in Paris. Landis is a former team mate of Armstrong's, and Phonak's lead rider in this years race. South Africa's Robbie Hunter is one of the support riders who will be helping Landis to take the lead in the General Classification, so I guess that's another reason to support Landis. There is still a lot of fierce competition to contend with - so its definitely not a one horse race just yet. The likes of Cadel Evans (the Aussie), Alexander Vinokourov (not sure whether he will race either - same doping scandal has resulted in his team having their sponsorship dropped - although he is not implicated at this stage), Francisco Mancebo, Paulo Salvodelli (still with Armstrong's Discovery team) and Jose Asevedo (another Discovery rider) are all strong possibilities.
Still, my money sits with Landis. The Tour starts tomorrow...I've placed my bet. Lets see how my prediction turns out in 3 weeks time.

Whistle Stop trip to the Mother City

How's this for a great day.
Wake up at 5am on Wednesday (ok, 5am is early - and that's not the great part, but wait - it gets better), get ready and get dropped off at the airport at 6am. The mission - go down to CT for a 1 hour meeting with one of my biggest customers.
I check in with 2 minutes to spare...no queues. Go straight to the gate to board the plane - 5th last person to board. Again, no queues.
Proceed to the back of the plane - aisle seat, with nobody sitting in the middle seat, and Vanessa Carreira (ex Miss SA) sitting at the window seat.
Pleasant flight down - offered some gum by Ms Carreira after touching down. Politely refuse, but thank her anyway (I have my own gum in my top shirt pocket).
Proceed to car rental counter - get keys to car, and make my way (traffic free) to the offices of my meeting. The directions that I have been given are dead accurate.
Arrive 15 minutes early for the meeting - settle into the comfortable couch at reception, and enjoy a cup of coffee (my second of the day - which is unusual for me, as I don't normally drink coffee).
Ushered into the meeting room, and get on with the meeting. Its a big deal for me. Could potentially solve a whole lot of frustration if this customer accepts our proposal (its for a hardware upgrade - a big upgrade - which will lead to a new web application being developed - a big web application). Meeting goes better than expected. Decision is made that the upgrade will take place. Make some mental notes to update the proposal - have a 2 week deadline for this, as the IT Manager will be going on leave and will only be back to sign in 2 weeks.
Make my way to our office in CT. Pick up my CT based project manager and another colleague. Its my turn to treat them to lunch.
We head off to a place called "Wakame" in Mouille Point.
Order a bottle of Louisvale unwooded Sauvignon Blanc. Goes perfectly with our sushi platter. Get the bill, part ways with the project manager and colleague (they took their own car), and head back to the airport.
Arrive 20 minutes early - return the car, and proceed through the checkpoint (I checked in once, at Jhb - so no need to check in at CT - aisle seat again).
Head for Exclusive Books (my second favourite shop, after Musica, and before Cape Union Mart) and purchase a copy of this months Bicycling magazine. I get it becasue it has a Tour de France stage schedule, and preview of this years race. I'm a big fan.
Proceed to the British Airways lounge, help myself to a drink and watch 5 minutes of the football.
Finish my drink and start making my way to the boarding gate - again, no queue.
Make my way onto the plane and find my seat. This time, its Kobus (and not Ms Carreira) who I have the pleasure of sitting next to. I find my magazine very interesting.
Flight lands 5 minutes before schedule - all I have is my laptop, so step off the plane, walk through the terminal, and who should be waiting for me right outside the front door - my beautiful wife.

A better day I could not have asked for.