Vuelta wrapup, and my newest adventure

And so...the Vuelta ended TODAY (Sunday). At least here in my house anyway....I FINALLY got to watch the remaining stages! Stage 20 was the LAST chance for anybody to make any GC moves. Contador had it pretty well locked up baring disaster, leading Froome by about 1:19 and Valverde by a bit more....JRod was even farther back so he wasn't even seen as a credible threat at this point, no matter how many attacks he and his teammates make. Have to admit that I REALLY enjoyed stage 20 (as I did ALL the summit finishes this year). For this final road stage there were FOUR ranked climbs...a cat 2, a 3, a 1 and an ESP (HC in Tour lingo). Everybody knew it would come down to the final climb...and it was a beast. That would be where any moves would happen.

AC had his team on the front a large part of the day, as the GC leader should. Then Sky finally took over, and the 4 man break (which had been reduced to 3) was starting to get reeled in quick. AC, Valverde and JRod all sat behind Froome as team Sky plowed thru the countryside. The final climb didn't disappoint either...JRod attacked as expected, though earlier than I would have thought...very gutsy of him. The GC guys all let him go and held their pace. He had up to 30 seconds or so at one point, but seemed doomed from the start unless he had magic legs (which he didn't). He was eventually reeled back in with steady tempo and solid riding on the long final climb.

Froome took over on the front and Alberto sat on his wheel, knowing where his true threat lie. They dropped Valverde and Aru (who has really been a breath of fresh air this year) as they couldn't match the pace. All the break riders were sucked back and then it was Froome and AC. He tried valiently a few times to get a gap on AC, which wasn't to be. AC didn't look like he was in distress at all, just matching Froome's moves time and time again. And finally just inside the final 1k Froome made his last desperate attempt. AC not only matched it but attacked on his own immediately after Froome dropped to his regular pace.  A small gap quickly opened, to which Froome could only watch. AC stood on the pedals and danced his way to a nice little gap and held it all the way to the line, winning his second stage in grand style, confirming HE was the man. The rest came in exactly the order of the overall GC standings amazingly....Froome, Valverde, JRod and Aru. Can't recall EVER seeing such a finish. I guess it just shows they finished exactly where they belonged.

The short ITT for Stage 21 (very odd that it was SO short) didn't have any real surprises in store, other than the weather kicked up for the final riders as they finished in driving rain and wet roads. This all but sealed the fact that none of the GC guys would even be able to go all out, and they all finished WAY back in the overall standings, but not affecting the GC placements at all.

We can only wonder how this amazing race would have played out had Horner been allowed to race, and if Quintana not crashed out early. Could Horner have matched the top 3 in the climbs? I have no idea, but he claimed his power numbers were good, even with the chest infection. As to Quintana....sure he was going to lose time in the TT to Alberto (and typically Froome, which oddly wasn't the case this year). In the off season he will really have to work on that skill if he wants to be a true GC man for the Grand Tours. That's JRod's crux....he can't TT very well so no matter how awesome he is in the climbs, he loses the race in the TT's. I'd have thought he'd have fixed that by now...maybe he just isn't a TT kind of guy...not everybody is cut out to do well in that discipline.

No matter though...it was a GRAND race from start to end. Sure the video is lacking as compared to it's big rich brother Le Tour...but as Susie has said...at least they are able to show picture in picture...something le Tour needs to learn. I was really warming to the commenting team...don't really know anything about Gogo...but it was mentioned several times he used to race....and he did have great insight...AND he wasn't annoying. I have to wonder if anybody will pick up Jensie (or Horner if he doesn't get a racing contract with somebody) next year...it was a real travesty that he wasn't able to defend his title. That's a very hard blow to a man looking for a contract, Grand Tour winner or not. And with the merging of Giant/Shimano and Trek, well...that's just another team lost for jobs. More bad luck in the pro peleton...and undoubtedly due to the doping past and sponsors shifting their dollars to less volatile sporting arena's where they don't eat their young alive. Such as the NFL...with their squeaky clean image (NOT).

And so...the cycling season is almost over. The Worlds are happening as I type....Team BMC with one of my FAVORITE riders (TJ) has claimed the Team Time Trial gold. That it rained and got windy for the final teams had no effect on the outcome (according to TJ....they would have won regardless). Yep...just another reason I don't like that guy. Whether it was true or not, it's VERY boastful and not really in great sportsmanship if you ask me (which nobody has). It's the World Road title that most interests me of course...lots of real contenders for that one...I'd love to see Fabian pull it off...but he will have a very difficult group of contenders to beat to do so.

As to my newest adventure (btw, I'm still working on the backpacking writeup...still need a copy of Greg's pictures before I can finish) this Wednesday morning I'm heading south to the LA area (for work).  I'm to be working with our PTS division  (Payload Transportation Service) picking up and delivering a Govy- spacecraft to Vandenberg for launch later this year. The PTS team has already been down last week and dropped off the GINORMOUS container (called the SCTS...for Space Cargo Transportation System). Effectively this, the largest of our payload containers, is the same size inside as the Space Shuttle cargo bay (which was originally designed to carry government spacecraft into orbit). The SCTS container system is an amazing thing...a totally self contained clean-room environment, self-provided power, temperature, humidity, etc...to keep it's MOST precious cargo safe and secure when it's not inside a cleanroom, or inside a fairing for launch, or lastly safely on orbit.

The factory will be loading the vehicle into the container early this week, and we will be transporting it in the dead of night to the backside of LAX and finally inside special gates, where our two specially modified C5 aircraft will be waiting nearby. The convoy of vehicles is something to behold...the mammoth SCTS container, propelled by it's "Prime Mover" (a specially designed huge diesel rig with all-wheel steering, created to tow the container on the streets, and also up/thru/and finally out of the modified C5 aircraft). The clearance inside the C5 is literally a few inches getting the container in the aircraft...we have a special "mockup" building modified to the exact specs as the inside of the C5, where our team can practice this maneuver (which is not an easy thing to do) prior to every mission. At the aft end of the container is the "bogey" which is a one-off specially designed vehicle of it's own right (somewhat similar to the back end unit of a fire department ladder truck,with it's own driver and steering)...it also has lots of wheels, all wheel steering, and it has lift/drop capability so when the prime mover / container start to go up the ramp into the aircraft, the bogey can lift the rear of the container up so it goes in almost level. There is a line running down the middle of the entire cargo bay and there are cameras in all the vehicles so they can be assured at all times they are driving dead-center in the bay. It's quite the complex job, but our PTS guys are the best in the world at what they do.

In the end sometime the following week the C5's and all of the crew will meet again at Vandenberg (where we typically work our 'day jobs') and unload the container/spacecraft, and eventually convoy it out to the waiting payload center (also in the dead of night). The loaded container typically travels a max speed of about 5mph on the streets, and with the modified tractor and bogey at the back it is capable to making 90 degree turns and even taking reasonable size hills, although it is a complex move. PTS guys will be on headsets all around the container walking the entire route (much like secret service agents outside the presidents car). The route thru the streets of LA is all pre-approved, and lots of off-duty police/sherrifs/highway patrol vehicles will be blocking traffic for us at all times. And there are actually a lot more people than you'd think out in the middle of the night, all wondering what's going on as we pass I'm sure.

I'll be riding probably 2nd vehicle back from the container in our special electronic 'monitoring' vehicle chock full of equipment (I'm not part of the actual PTS crew, I'm with the spacecraft). When the container is loaded on the aircraft we will load some of our equipment on-board also, which makes the flight with the precious cargo. I have to assume that only the finest pilots make this kind of mission....spacecraft aren't designed to be lying horizontal in gravity and take any kind of stress. They do go horizontal during construction quite often...but that's a far cry from that position in a jet takeoff/landing....the only real stress they are built to handle is in the vertical position (for the immense pressure/vibrations/etc of launch). I'm guessing these special pilots are capable of taking the largest airplane in the US arsenal and kissing it down on the runway so softly that you aren't aware you even landed.

I'll also end up working 12 hour nights in our electronics vehicle for a while after we arrive back at Vandenberg, and that will go on until the spacecraft is safely inside the payload facility. After that we hand the safety/security of the vehicle off to other hands and get back to our day jobs (and speaking of day jobs, mine is KILLING me of late). We have been short handed for a LONG time now....and last week they announced another round of layoffs...more WORKERS gone, leaving even more managers to do whatever it is they all do all day while we the working class KILL ourselves. Very frustrating to say the least. But hey....I'm sure I'm not the only one less than satisfied with their job these days...and at least I still HAVE a job. Thankfully things like this mission and other trips come up now and then, giving me a break from the short-handed drudgery of daily life.

OK. Back to my chores here at home...trying to get all my backpacking gear stowed and packed back into the attic for next year...which is among the many job's I've assigned myself for today. Busy busy busy... no rest for the weary.

Have a GREAT week!

Cheers!