Today was a killer stage. Lots of aggression. I love aggression in bike racing, especially when it's played out in one-on-one fashion. Like a prize fight with all the marbles at stake. When you're in second place in the Tour de France, with the summit of the final climb nearing and your opponent, the man in yellow, is with you but on the ropes... well, you know what needs to happen. You need to KO the dude. Knockout time.

Contador reminds me of a welter weight champ. He's my favorite rider of the Tour, now, simply because you can see the spirit of the fight jumping around in him like fireworks going off. I wanted to see him blow up the yellow jersey. Tinkerbell was looking more like Gumby, rolling around trying to absorb the blows. Meanwhile, Vino showed another style. He gave a demonstration on how to win, pure and simple. His recipe is similar to what Jens Voight cooks up: First, Pound the field into a small group. Crush breakaway one by one. Add salty sweat, grind remains into submission. Sautee. Finish alone.

Something you notice about Contador is his skeleton. It's very rigid. When he stands up the power is transmitted into motion in a more direct manner than the other riders.

Why the Doobie Brothers album? Last night I went to their concert in town. The number of hits those guys have had is.. it's just stupid. Put it this way: You know their stuff by heart, even if you don't know they're the ones that did it. As fate (and connections) would have it, I spent time after the show talking with Tom Johnston. He formed the band, wrote much of their stuff, and does lead vocals and guitar on those songs that are burned into the folds of our brains. It's funny to hear him talk about air time on the radio, as if they're never sure they'll get enough. I said "Man, don't you get it? They can't NOT play your stuff. It's forever. It's done." If he had my attitude about their stuff, they wouldn't have done the volumes of stuff they have, apparently. They guy was born in '48, and he's more conscious than ever about the need to stay healthy and strong. It shows in his music.

The music of your youth scores into you like a hot branding iron. Probably because a 5 or 10 year old mind is so spongy. It was cool to be able to let the person largely responsible for doing that to me know it. It's even better when they reciprocate how cool it is for them. Johnston and the Doobie Bro's will last as long as there are people on Earth. Now that's a Legacy. Music is the Doctor, my brother.