Tax Day

Taxes are due today. I can't wait to see a few broadcasts tonight showing people dropping off their forms at the post office at midnight. Why are these people not filing their taxes online?

I thought a Ronald Reagan quote was appropriate for today ~

Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.

Tour of California - 2008

Stage 1 - 2008 TOC. Awaiting the field at the sprint spot in Tamales, CA. (John, Mike, Rob and Tyler). We rode from Sausalito, 55 miles.

Criminal Law Final - DONE!

Our first final was last night in Criminal Law. We had 3 questions to finish in 2hrs and 15 mins (45 min each) and the test was worth 70% of the overall grade. It felt like it went really well as I completed it with time to spare (to clean up the test and fix mistakes) and after talking to my classmates I felt that I hit all the issues and with some depth to my analysis. Hopefully I did good enough and it would be great if I did really well.

Now I have a few months until my Contracts and Torts finals.

Midterm update and Finals prep

We have got all our midterm grades back now and here is my breakdown. Just a note: the midterms are only worth between 25% to 30% of the overall grade and the remaining 70-75% will be left for the final. So a poor midterm won't really break your chances if you do well on the final. By the same token, you don't want to do so poorly on the midterm that you are forced to do overwhelmingly well on the final (which seems impossible).

I passed my Criminal Law midterm and did the best on Contracts. Torts, however, I did the worst on and I am at the low end of passing. I made some stupid mistakes on the Torts midterm, so that grade is very much salvagable. Also, the Torts midterm was only 25% and therefore the final is big.

On February 6th, I have my Criminal Law final. I am feeling prepared. We are encouraged to turn in previous exams to our professor and he will grade them. I've been getting high B's on them, so now I just need to transform that to the actual test. Wish me luck!

Midterms are over

I passed my criminal law midterm, Yippey! I just finished my contracts and torts midterms and I suspect that I passed...or maybe I hope I passed. OMG, what if I didn't pass. Okay, I have until January to relax and not worry about school. Then it will be full-bore studying for my first FINAL in criminal law the first part of February. Wish me luck!

First Midterm down - 2 more to go

We had our first midterm this past weekend in Criminal Law. It was a fun 2.25 hrs and 3 questions. I really feel that I did well and I felt good while taking the test. I was prepared and only the time constraint was going to hold me back. The more I think about the test the more I think about mistakes I made or something I forgot and that is making me go crazy. I think I did well enough to pass, and really for me that is the goal. If I was going to school full time and not working maybe I would try to be the brain of the class. But with work, kids, personal problems and school, I'm just looking for a chance to be around in 4 yrs to take the BAR.

I have two more midterms in December - Torts and Contracts. Those will prove to be tough, I know. I'll post on my Criminal law results when they come in.

Tyler

One Month and much less sleep

So my first month of law school is about over and here is what I have to report. I'm sleeping a lot less and starting to get used to it. I'm getting acclimated to working and studying and not sleeping. (did I mention something about needing sleep?) I haven't been exercising enough and only getting to do my "prison workout." [the prison workout entails doing push ups and sit ups or crunches in my room between reading].

The hardest part is learning how we are expected to study and learn. We have definitions of crimes, torts or contracts (disputes) and you have to know these by heart - forwards and backwards. Once again I'm enjoying what I'm doing, but as of yet I haven't had a test so that will all change I'm sure. Most of my classmates are nice and I've found a small group of people that are really cool and smart. Of course, doing the work is more than conferring with your classmates and hard work is what I have to do.

So the theme is; I'm getting a lot less sleep and I hope I can maintain this pace. Wish me Luck!

Study Hangover

I was up until 1am studying, or at least trying to re-learn how to study. Then a little after 7am the house was bursting with kid noises and so we went to the waffle barn for breakfast. I might have to take a nap today, but I'm back at the books already and its not even noon here yet. Contracts is basically done for next week and so I'll be moving on to Criminal Law. I figure with work and family, I'll have to pound the books on the weekends. My poor Tivo is really going to miss me.

Due to my late night, I didn't get a bike ride in today. My old teammate and friend, Mike Dempsey, was wanting me to do the Mt. Tam hill climb later this year. There is nothing quite like have a 50 yr old lady pass you half way up the climb, so maybe I'll not embark on that one this year.

First week update

The first week of Law School is complete and it's going to be tough. The good thing is that I've met some nice people in my class but they aren't going to be taking my tests for me, so I'll have to be studying hard. There is lots of reading. Lots.

Law School anyone?

Have you heard the horrible news? I'm going to law school. I'm doing an evening program with that will take 4 yrs instead of the usual 3 yrs of hell. Honestly I'm freaked out about it, but also very excited at the same time.

My first year classes are:
Contracts
Criminal Law
Torts
Legal writing

I'll try to write a bit about what I'm doing for the sake of those interested. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Tour de France - 2007

You can see stage by stage video highlights of this years tour at the cyclingnews.com website. Even with all the drug issues and speculation I still enjoyed the drama and the racing. The Discovery team has officially disbanded as of the end of this season, and so the winner and the 3rd place riders are now looking for work.

Stage 15 Recap

Stage 15 recap video.

Stage 14 Recap

Stage 14 highlights.

Disco is back in fashion

Well we probably won't see the return of platform shoes, Bee Gees and Disco ball but "Disco"; The Discovery Channel Cycling team, took it to their rivals in the Tour de France today. Alberto Contador won the stage in a mtn top sprint over Yellow Jersey wearing Michael Rasmussen and then we saw Levi Leipheimer come in 4th just 40 seconds behind.

What impressed me today was the poise and maturity with which Levi rode today. It was obvious to me that following the first 2 big attacks that Levi wasn't intereted in chasing them down IMMEDIATELY but rather just accelerated a bit and then rode back to the group. The desparate chasing of any attack by Cadel Evans eventually spelled his doom as he couldn't hold the pace by Rasmussen or Contador and not only drifted off their wheels but slip backwards past the chase group of Levi, Sastre and Soler. I believe that if Evans had held a more controlled and possibly smarter sense of riding he would have been in with Levi and quite possibly been contending the stage win after helping Sastre bridge back to Rasmussen and Contador.

Levi's tactics were even more savy as he forced Sastre to Chase as Levi wasn't going to chase down his own teamate. There is still about 400 km to race in the giant mountains and yet today we saw riders reacting like it was the last mtn stage of the tour. This will only play into the hands of Levi who appeared to do the least amount of work today of all the favorites, only lose 40 seconds and moved into 4th place overall. Well, he still has to catch Rasmussen.

Alpes Recep: Stage 9

Video update of Stage 9

2007 Tour de France - First 3rd Review

The first 1/3 of the 2007 Tour de France is now complete and I feel a bit lame for not posting a thing about it. Of course, my hundreds of readers (Mike, Rob and Matt) probably don't really care. Okay, but I like posting big flashy pictures of cycling and making predictions for all to read, so I'll try to get this up to speed for the following 2 weeks.

As expected the peloton this year is suffering from what Discovery Director Johan Bruyneel calls the "Postal virus." What he means is that for the past 7 yrs (not counting last year) postal took control of the race when it hit the mountains and only allowed attacks that it deemed as non-threatening. The evidence of this control was probably the great escape of Floyd in stage 17 of the 2006 tour where it's been documented that the big teams only put on a concerted chase for under 20km allowing Floyd to appear God-like and give credence to his positive test. But I digress. Another factor in making this race so wide open EVEN as we now leave the Alps is that besides the prologue TT, we haven't undergone the proverbial individual TT that shifts around the top 10 in the first week. We still have about 110 km of TT racing still to come along with the monstrous Pyrenees mountains.

Revelations of this Tour:
Alexandre Vinokourov - Vino had a nasty fall that required stitches in both knees and has been suffering ever since to hang on. It looks like the Astana captain might be conceeding his leadership to Andres Kloden who sits in 8th place just 3:50 off the lead

Denis Menchov - Although Menchov was considered for a top 5 in my opinion, I wasn't looking towards the Russian to win this years tour. But I didn't expect him to crack so quickly in this years tour. Much like Astana, the leadership is shifting at Rabobank also from Menchov to Michael Rasmussen. But unlike Astana, I don't think Rasmussen has the TT ability to actually win the tour like Kloden does.

Alberto Contador - The young Discovery rider has the most amazing kick when he attacks up-hill and so far he looks deadly and all others should be worried. But this is only his 2nd tour (finished around 35th in 2005) and he is not sure how his body will react in the 3rd week.

General classification after stage 10
1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 49.23.48
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.35
3 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.39
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 2.41
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.08
6 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 3.18
7 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 3.39
8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 3.50
9 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.53
10 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 5.06

The Oscar Pereiro pick

Oscar Pereiro sits on the precipice of being awarded the 2006 Tour de France and yet I find myself begrudgingly adding him as a top 10 07' Tour contender. It's not out of spite from the Floyd Landis affair and the fact that Oscar has made some comments that weren't that sporting but more to do with what I see as the biggest gift ever in professional cycling.

Before I break down Oscars previous tour results I will state that we saw two Oscars in the 2006 Tour. The first Oscar found himself in 46th place at 28:50 behind the Yellow-clad Floyd Landis after 12 stages and one brutal day in the Pyrenees. The 2nd Oscar held onto the yellow jersey (after being allowed to gain 29:57 on stage 13) and did a valiant job of staying with the leaders of the tour until that fateful stage 17 where no one could stay with Floyd.

Oscar has only done 3 tours: 2004, 2005 and 2006 finishing 10th, 10th and 2nd. Hey, that is pretty good and it shows the progression in ability, maturation and fitness you'd expect from an upcoming tour contender. Or does it?

The 2004 Tour Oscar finished 10th over 23 minutes behind the then six-time winner Lance Armstrong. When you look deep into the stages you will see that Oscar had some good results in the flat stages as well as a few very good results in the mountains including a 6th place on stage 12 and a 14th on the ITT up Alpe d'Huez. But oddly Oscar couldn't take this result and build on it for 2005. He drifted to 30th after the Alpes and was allowed to drift off the front with a big group, eventually getting 2nd place to George Hincapie but gaining over 5 minutes. In the next few days Oscar would win a stage while being allowed once again a big leash in gaining 3 minutes and then another day of gaining 4 minutes. By the end of the 2005 tour Oscar secured another 10th place at 16 minutes behind Lance Armstrong. If he was a true contender he wouldn't have been allowed 12 minutes leeway from the Tour Patron, Lance Armstong.

The 2006 Tour was heading the same direction as his previous tours until the in fighting and decision by Oscars former team (Phonak) to let him take the jersey and the pressure off of Floyd.

In the end this whole experience may have created a new Oscar and another Claudio Chiappucci type rider, or maybe we are just seeing the biggest gift in cycling since Maurizio Fondriest lucked into the 1988 World Championship title? This I am sure of, Oscars days of gaining big minutes in the Tour while others watch is over.

Cycling Update

Floyd Landis Arbitration Trial
Sorry I didn't post anything concerning Floyd's arbitration trial. It was quite interesting, enlightening and depressing all at the same time. The best coverage of the trial can be found at the Trust but Verify blog.

Giro
The Giro brought out more TV viewers in Italy than what they have had in quite a few years. I found the Giro enjoying, but not overly exciting. Danilo Di Luca was a worthy winner and I think I would enjoy seeing the climbs on DVD. Andy Schleck, just turning 22, was the true surprise of the tour finishing 2nd and under 2 mins behind the eventual Pink Jersey wearer Di Luca. It reminds me of a young tour 2nd place finisher in 1996 who went on to win the next year and take a ton of 2nd places during his career - Jan Ulrich. Maybe I'm jumping the gun on that one, we shall see.

Drugs
Speaking of the 1996 Tour, winner Bjarne Riis has now admitted to being doped with all sorts of stuff and especially EPO during that time and that tour specifically. The UCI is clamoring that Riis give back his title (they can't do it however as the statute of limitations has run out - 8yrs). But let's review the podium for the 1996 Tour:

1. Bjarne Riis
2. Jan Ulrich
3. Richard Virenque

Jan Ulrich was part of the 1996 Deutsche Telekom team that is all but admitting to mass doping and Jan retired in disgrace with possible ties to Operation Puerto. Virenque was implicated in the 1998 Festina doping scandal and admitted later on that he doped. So who gets the title? I guess you could hand it to Frankie Andreu - oh wait, he admitted to doping in prep for the 1999 tour

Tour de France
The upcoming tour is probably more open this year than last year and here are my preliminary favorites, in no particular order

Alexandre Vinokurov
Levi Leipheimer
Andreas Kloden
Tom Danielson
Denis Menchov
Carlos Sastre
Alejandro Valverda (pending Operation Puerto investigation)
Frank Schleck (Andy's older brother)
Oscar Pereiro

I think Oscar doesn't have a legitimate chance at making the top 5 and I would think a top 10 is about the best he can do. But since he got 2nd last year (thanks to a 30 min gift) I must put him on the list.

That's all for now - TJ

Intervals?

This week I embarked on a set of intervals up a small and very steep hill about 40 mins ride from my house. Since I'm not in that great of shape, this little hill repeat is quite brutal and I've been using my 39x26 (yes, 26) gearing to get thru it. I'm just getting myself into the groove of doing these and therefore I only did 4 this week. Profile shown below:

Back to Cycling

I've been back to cycling a bit more and possibly I'll be racing this year some more. Thanks to my friend Rob Zabrecky for the tip to this really cool website, Bikely, that I can track my routes and see the elevation profile, all my routes will be available to view soon. Here are two rides I did this past week.

This ride is one through Rocklin, a ride I used to do with the Spin City group every Sunday:

And here is a fun ride to the foothills in Penryn, near Auburn.