Sometimes, the more you learn about an athlete the more one-dimensional they can become. The focus required to become the best in the World made everything else go away. That is not the case with Kristin Armstrong. I've heard of her for years, but I didn't know more of her story until this weekend, when DeFeet's sponsorship coordinator Kim Cunningham brought more of her story to our attention.

Kristin successfully defended her National Individual Time Trial championship on Friday at Seven Springs, PA. Her team, Lipton, has had a challenging season so far, to say the least. For Kristin, performing where she is, relatively unphased, says a lot. It seems Kristin is no stranger to adversity. Coming from a triathlon background (she competed in Iroman Hawaii), she had to battle osteoarthritis. She was a Junior Olympian in swimming. She still finds the time to coach swimming and is an ambassador the YMCA in Boise, ID. She has a degree in sports physiology. In 2006, she was a World Champion in cycling, as well as National Champion in the road race and time trial. In 2004, she was the top American finisher in cycling at the Olympics.

That paragraph above does not do justice to Kristin's achievements. She is simply 'off the charts' in the things that she's done. Anyone can see that when she applies herself, she goes World Class in short order. DeFeet is proud to have ridden along on Kristin's National Championship, last week. We wish her great things to come.

Four out of five of the Women's National Championship Time Trial podium rode in DeFeet socks.
















Today is a rest day at TdF. Tomorrow the finish is in Briancon. I took this image on my first visit to Briancon in 1987. This is just before the descent into town begins. I had to shell out a lot of prize money to buy the Canon EOS 650 that I took this with. '87 was the year the EOS was first introduced, and I had to have one.

As you can see, tomorrow is another major alpine stage. That sheepherder's walkin' some sideslope.