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In 3 days the IOC will announce whether Chicago will be the host of the 2016 Olympic Games and man oh man do I really want us to get the bid.

To all of you people who don’t want the games: I understand how you feel. It’ll be a giant hassle not only during the Games, but also before & after. It may bankrupt the city. And yes I get that the money could be used for better things.

But still I want us to get the Olympics.

Update: According to this article in the NYTimes Chicago is the odds on favorite for the bid. However, don’t read past the 1st paragraph. Really. It just get’s depressing

and if you haven’t already check out Aleem’s blog from the Beijing Games

(Thanks BenVC for alerting me to this awesome photo from Pez)

I ended up being completely wrong on who would be wearing a special jersey in Paris. Oh well. On the plus side both Japanese cyclists completed Le Tour! Congrats!

I went to San Diego recently. I’ll be posting pictures soon, but in the meantime check out my flickr for a preview.

Check out Dana’s website. She’s been writing not only about her time running the marathon, but also all the prep that’s gone into it.

This weekend was the Boston Marathon and it was a huge success! I tagged along to watch Dana crush the race with an amazing time and help out anyway I could. It was pretty fun and I also got to see a lot of the Boston area Kaos.

- Originally I was going to take my bike but it felt like way too much trouble considering our hotel was in the suburb of Revere and the green line of the “T” doesn’t allow bikes.

- I found a spot that was about a mile away from from the “T” stop near the 16 mile mark and rang my Team Pegasus cowbell & took pictures.

- The entire time I was able to use my iPhone to get Dana’s splits every 5k. 3G coverage in the Boston area is excellent, much better than Chicago

- I have been in quite a few crowds this past year (Beijing Olympics, San Diego Comic Con, Obama Acceptance Rally, Cubs in the Playoffs to name a few) and while Boston during the marathon wasn’t the worst it was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

1. It really is a lot of people (Wikipedia claims 500,000 people)
2. Lots of other stuff is going on (Red Sox, Celtics, & Bruins were all active)
3. The “T” while easy to use is got really over crowded
4. The vast majority of people are tourists
5. Point to point races are tough to spectate.

- Everyone was extremely friendly both locals & tourists.

Every week the writers for The Onion AV Club answer a question. I thought I’d share my own answers to one of their previous Q&A’s.

This week for me is: What’s your most-rewatched movie?

If this question only related to the last couple of years than it would be Boogie Nights and by a lot. When I was at school living in the dorms Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece was on all the time on HBO and there was seldom a day that we didn’t turn on the TV and end up getting roped into watching it again & again. Even to this day I still put the DVD on when I’m cleaning my apartment. But no, I’m afraid my most re-watched movie by a long shot is The Three Amigos. When I was a kid my family would rent the VHS cassette every single weekend despite my sister’s protests. All I can say in my defense is that The Three Amigos is a great film that still to this day makes me laugh.

Pictured above is my S&S Travel Bike in its newest incarnation. The Thylacine Tephra road frame always had S&S couplers, but I recently had Matt Kaminecki replace the vertical dropouts with horizontal ones. He also added removable cantilever brake studs. This gives me a mind boggling number of possible variations:
- Fully geared (2 x 10)
- Singlespeed
- Fixed gear
- Road
- Touring
- Cyclocross

And of course with each of these options I can pack it up in a case & check it as regular luggage. Next step is to build a set of matching wheels, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Right now I have it setup as a fixed gear bike perfect for cruising around Boston while I watch Dana run the marathon. Special thanks to Team Pegasus members Cale, Katy, & Andy for all their help.

(Stripping off the old powdercoat)

(The Thylacine in its original form)

I was almost three for three on yesterday’s Paris Roubaix.

     - Long Li did not win the race and sadly did not finish the race.  The Chinese rider was unable to make the cut at the 100km mark in the 259 km long race. Then again almost half of the racers who entered were unable to finish the punishing race.
 

      -  Tom Boonen won! 

 
(2005 photo by flickr user hamburgr)

     - I, however, was incorrect about it being a boring race.  I had invited some friends over to my apartment to watch and I was on my feet quite a few times yelling at my TV.  It was a thrilling end with a select group getting whittled down by crashes & attacks until there was just Boonen crossing the line in the Roubaix velodrome with plenty of time to hold up 3 fingers for his 3 wins.  If you haven’t seen the race you can check out the finish on youtube.