Drinking a new tea

This afternoon we (Jean and I) infused the 2009 Meng Hai, Shu Pu.  Jean is surprisingly fast Glad to report improvement over the initial tasting back 2010 in Dongguan.  No disappointment, Rich-Full body Shu Pu .. The infused tea has the rich deep colour of ebony-mahogany with a long after taste that lingers on the palate with no mouth drying.

Only down side, I only have this one cake.  I’ll arrange to have more ready for me when I get back into Dongguan.

Some new 5 year old tea to try

Meng Hai, 2009-June 6th.  Shu Pu .. a gift from the owner of my favorite tea shop in Dongguan City.  Today after watching the bike racing it was time to open and prepare this cake.  I opened the cake and put the pieces into a wooden caddie. I’ll let it sit for a day, just to; air and settle before infusing tea.

A good looking cake, nothing special to set it apart, except a prior tasting back in 2010, when I commented that it was “Fair and did not leave a dry mouth feeling”

2014 Tour Finale and First Chinese Rider

July 2014, Sunday in Paris, Tour de France winner: Vincenzo Nibali. Bringing up the rear of the pack: the “lanterne rouge” 红灯  Hóng dēng.  Cheng Ji,  first rider from Mainland China to ride the tour, 6 hrs. behind the winner.

PARIS (AFP) — Chinese rider Ji Cheng said he wants to get away from cycling for a while after completing the Tour de France on Sunday. Ji was a visible member of the peloton over the last three weeks, relishing his role as the “breakaway killer” for his Giant-Shimano team.  And although the 27-year-old did not set the world alight with his performances, he did gain cult status over 3,659 kilometers of racing around France.

But he’s had enough for this year.

Asked what he would do now, he said: “I have no idea. I will try to relax because I got married but 20 days later I came back to Europe for a training camp and then racing and it’s been eight months now since I’ve been home. “That’s really long, I will try to relax and not think any more about cycling.”

It’s not been easy for Ji, who was expected to ride at the front of the peloton day after day to control breakaway groups and ensure his Giant team would be able to reel them in later so sprinter Marcel Kittel could finish off his work.

Kittel won four stages in total while another German sprinter, John Degenkolb, finished second in two others in which the lumpy run-ins weren’t suited to Kittel’s raw straight-line power. But Ji’s also had his own challenges to overcome, having suffered from a knee problem.

“The hardest moments were just the first week and the last week,” he said. “The first week had more sprint stages and we had more chances for victories so I was working hard to control the group and working hard on the front. That was a hard week.”  “And the last week because I was injured in the left knee. Already I wasn’t looking forward to the mountains because of my injury which was so painful. “But the second week was nice for me, I had more time to enjoy the race.”

Enjoyment would be a curious word for a race that lasted more than 90 hours. And in Ji’s case, he rode for more than six hours longer than winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), in so doing managing the biggest gap between first and last since 1954.

Ji, who was 164th, also finished more than 50 minutes behind the second-to-last finisher and crashed on the final stage on the Champs Elysees, even suffering the ignominy of being lapped by the peloton as it completed eight circuits of the famous avenue. But every day, Ji managed to get inside the time limit. And it’s not the first time he’s completed a grand tour.

He finished 175th (last place) at the 2012 Vuelta a Espana, although sickness prevented him from completing last year’s Giro d’Italia.

While the native of Harbin in the northeast of China may be the Tour’s “lanterne rouge,” the rider who finishes last, he at least finished, which is more than what 34 other starters managed, among them defending champion Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, and Mark Cavendish.

All three crashed out and Ji says that’s one of the risks in cycling.  “In cycling sometimes dangerous things can happen like a crash, or you can get sick or have a fever,” he said. “It’s normal, last year at the Giro the same thing happened to me. I got very sick before stage five and couldn’t start it.

“It’s really sad but it’s like this. Maybe next year I’ll have this situation. I was pretty lucky really, I didn’t crash or get sick or anything.” Having made history as the first Chinese rider to compete in the Tour, Ji said he hopes to be a pioneer for his countrymen, but said it will take more than just him to change things.

“I hope so but a cycling project in the country cannot be one man like me,” he said. “Maybe I can show them something but I cannot change anything.

“I hope they can see it’s possible to build a team or train riders to be top professionals. That’s what I hope.”

Tour de France – Quantum of Solace stands at Zero

With temperatures hovering at 40c (104F) racers try to cool down after crossing the finish line. During the race you seek solace in any form.

Tour de France – Picture Postcard Day

En-route south from Bourg-en-Bresse to Saint Etienne, Located near the French  - Swiss / Italian  borders at the western base of the Jura mountains.

Tour de France – Post Rest Day

With the early exit of the “Top” names in Professional Cycling and various others pulling out of the Tour in pursuit of personal goals, we are left with an uninspired peloton.  Despite the efforts of; Tour organizers and various interested factions .. This Tour has lost its Panache ….

A rider questioning where his wages will come from (? your name here) 

Tour de France–“Rest Day” Anticipation

Rest Days are anything but Restful .. A full agenda faces all connected with the Le Tour ..

A mixture of; Rumors, Conjecture,  Facts and Fiction.

The worlds Press work every available angle to dig dirt and inside stories. 

I anticipate an interesting story surrounding Condador’s crash and broken bike frame.  A cause or result ??  By Caley Fretz Published Jul. 14, 2014:  “Contador’s bike broke in the lower third of his down tube and on the top tube just in front of his seat tube. Both tubes were broken clean through, with just a few fibers holding the two pieces of the frame together.”

Tour de France --- Major Departure

Stage 10 claims Alberto Contador, crashing and sustaining a severe knee injury. Now the top two contenders, Froome and Contador,  for this years Yellow Jersey  have crashed out!  Tomorrow is a “Rest Day”. .. Much speculation and strategy changes will abound .. We now have the potential for a Wide Open race.  Many will endeavor to gain their stripes.  I cannot remember a TdF with so many major contender losses in the first 10 days. 

Can Vincenzo Nibali, 2014 Italian champion and 2013 Giro d’Italia winner,  take the 2014 TdF ? .. Seen here wearing the Magli Rosa in 2013..

Tour de France – Profile of a “Ballbuster”

Stages 9 and10 .. Pictorial definition of a: “Ballbuster” … All in a days’ work for the Pro Rider.  Stage 10 on: La Fête Nationale (Bastille Day, July 14th.)  "The Storming of the Bastille" by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel, the arrest of: Bernard René Jourdan, m de Launay (1740-1789)

Tour de France … What is Road-Rash???? + Update

Last Years winner, Chris Froome lands in France, HARD !  Road-Rash .. When the moving meets the unyielding road Chris took this fall on Stage 4. Next day ,on the wet and treacherous roads of stage 5, Chris would crash two more times and had to abandon the race.

2014 Tour de France–UK stages

This news feed picture conveys the sensation of a road race: ( Haworth, West Yorkshire)   Best Route Map: (stage 1)  Team Lotto-Belisol, reconnoiter the road ahead:…. abroad in the Yorkshire moors  Lotto-Belisol .. 2014 TdF team:
Lars Bak (DEN)
Bart De Clercq (BEL)
Tony Gallopin (FRA)
Andre Greipel (GER)
Adam Hansen (AUS)
Greg Henderson (NZL)
Jurgen Roelandts (BEL)
Marcel Sieberg (GER)
Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL)