Babies and Bicycles

I went to a baby shower for my niece yesterday evening.  Although I had been dreading it, it actually turned out to be quite nice.  Almost everyone attending was family - all from my husband's side of the family since I have very few living members on my side of the family.  But it was pleasant to see my three nieces again, as well as my sister-in-law and collateral cousins and other female relations.  I did leave fairly early though, I was exhausted because it was a very long day.  The baby gate that I purchased for her gift (she had it on her gift registry) was well received - she said that her husband had particularly been wanting one of them.  So I'm pleased that I was able to get her something that they truly wanted.  She got a lot of very cute things, as well as some larger gifts that people pooled together to purchase. 

Andy and Frank Schleck

Yesterday's Le Tour de France was a crash-fest in the dirt.  Cobblestone sections were introduced to this year's tour.  It's not that bicycle races don't have cobblestones as part of their route, but Le Tour has never had them in recent memory.  They are simply brutal - hard on both the bikes and the riders.  There were several major crashes, one of which took out Frank Schleck from Team Saxo Bank with a broken collar bone.  Collar bone breaks are a common injury for bike riders, but it doesn't mean that they aren't painful.  That pulls him out of the Tour this year.  This will make things harder for his younger brother, Andy, because Frank often was the person who would pull Andy through and push him on to excel.  I like Andy as a rider and want him to do well this Tour, but without Frank, that will be much harder for him.  Today's stage will be for the sprinters - it is relatively low-relief with no unexpected turns and twists to cause major crashes.