Happy Birthday America!

I love seeing the red, white, and blue flags and hearing the patriotic music. I love the barbecues and the fireworks. The 4th of July is great. I watched the Capitol Fourth celebration (because the Boston Pops weren't on TV), and you gotta love Stevie Wonder. But what's Michael Bolton doing there singing Frank Sinatra songs??? And where is Ronan Tynan, the Irish tenor when you need him? I don't particularly like the Yankees, but one awesome thing they do is have him sing God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. During the 2001 playoffs and World Series after 9/11, he sang it before the game if I'm not mistaken. He does such a great job.

Stage 3 of the Tour was a killer. 99 degree temperatures and 8 short but biting climbs in the last half of today's stage. Yesterday, Matthias Kessler tried to break from the field near the end, but was caught with about 100 meters left. Today, he tried again, getting away after the last climb with 2000 meters to go. This time, he was able to get the victory, sweet redemption from yesterday. Tom Boonen is the new race leader, leading Thor Hushovd by one second. But the big news is that Alejandro Valverde, one of the overall contenders, is out with a broken collarbone after crashing today. He, Freddy Rodriguez and Erik Dekker are all out. 3 very good bike riders they are and they will be missed.

Back to work tomorrow, kinda weird it being Wednesday already and I haven't been there in 4 days. Lovin the short week!