I can't help myself

We could talk about the Giro, or Tom Boonen's coke problem, or my lack of riding, or the perfect Spokane weather for riding, or the explosion of cycling information via Tweeter, or even about organized rides coming up, or races coming up, or my own lack of racing, or new equipment I am talking myself into needing, but instead, I find myself thinking about the ubiquitous Lance Armstrong again.

I had doubts about his ability to come back at age 37 and in a new environment including more testing and the passport control, but I am beginning to believe he is going to be an impact player in the Tour this year. First, he is not far off the pace in the Giro and is indeed getting stronger as the race progresses. Second, he definitely had to pace Levi up the climb yesterday, showing an eclipsing of form from one to the other. Third, Bernard Kohl seems to have proven that the passport program is as easily defeated as the prior systems, so that shouldn't be a stumbling block. Fourth, the serendipitous collapse of Astana will allow Bruyneel and Armstrong to reconstitute the team around LA's gi-normous marking potential and, showing that he could be the least lucky rider in the world, allowing them to dump Contador just a few weeks prior to the TdF, providing the all-for-Lance, Lance-for-him approach that they favor. I think this all ads up to LA on the podium. Yet to be seen if he can make it 8, but in January I scoffed at the notion. Today, I'm not so sure.

On the topic of LA, however, I have to ask: what is the deal with his bikes? Aren't they getting crazier and crazier? Does he need a new custom painted or custom decaled bike for each race? And if so, why not for each stage? Let's really get to it and starting having LA ride a different bike every day. In fact, why not individually decorate and have him ride every production Madone 6.9 in his size and then sell those as one-off custom bikes through Trek dealers? For an extra fee he could run off a few bikes on sizes up and down, just for people making enough of a donation to Livestrong, no?

Here is the latest "creation" in the world of art meets sport meets mega-conglomerate marketing (and we know it's working because we are talking about it - next up, what is the deal with Kate & Jon?):

From Misc Bike Pics

From Misc Bike Pics

And, of course, you have to have a matching helmet, right?

From Misc Bike Pics

Maybe next they could set up a poll and ask fans what graphics they would like to see on LA's next bike. Any suggestions?
Rider 3

PS - Happy 20th Anniversary to Rider 3 Wife!