More Odds 'n' Ends
First, there is definite color in the tomatoes. (happy dance). The initial four and the two others that have gotten the most sun are definitely yellowing. In most things "yellowing" is not good. In this case, it bodes well. Maybe another week to the first pluckings?
Second, I didn't do a Tour Brief yesterday as Floyd Landis cracked pretty badly on the second mountain stage and I thought he might be stick-a-fork-in-him done. Well, he might have cracked but he didn't break. He rode a hellacious final mountain stage today to win the stage and get to half a minute off the lead. He is in third place but with a fairly level road stage and an individual time trial left, he is in good position to ride for the win. Landis is a very good trial rider.
I'm really peeved that the Phonak team did a suck-rotten job of supporting Landis in yesterday's stage. If one of the other riders (Axel Merckx, I'm looking at you!) had gutted it out and sacrificed himself to tow Landis in the later parts of the stage, he would not have lost as much time as he did and he probably wouldn't have lost the maillot jaune. But he rode one of the "greatest escapes in modern Tour times" (quoting the OLN web page on today's stage) today. And he deserves praise for it.
It has been a great race this year.