That is exactly what I'm calling Piti's weak-ass sock selection. What sport is this? Tennis? Shit even tennis players are wearing real socks these days and not the ankle panties Valverde is sporting. I CAN'T STAND IT! And now I'm seeing all these euro-fools go low on the sock. It reminds me of that scene in Good Morning Vietnam when the bartender is telling Robin Williams how he loves the curve of the soldiers ankles in their combat boots. But I digress on that tip. Weak. I think hey should all just go back to wearing the pom-pom ankle socks my sister wore in '82.

So let's inspect some style. Who else to go to but our main anti-doping advocate and style maven, Geoff Kabush. OK, so he's Canadian, but I won't hold that against him (D'oh! Kidding Kabush!). But seriously, this is 2007 and there is style to be applied to your ride.

Let's study this pic for a bit shall we? Here we have Geoff killing it in some race. Anywhoo, Geoff has embraced 2007. Note the white saddle. I guaran-frickin-tee you he's got white grips under those hands. Any self respecting bike style junkie's got to match the saddle and the grips (mtb)/tape (road). C'mon! You're squirming in your chair right now wasting time reading this blog 'cause you agree. Shoes: White. C'mon! You know you want white shoes. You need white shoes you bitches.

And the piece de resistance? You know it: Brandon's Limited Edition, 6" Tall boy PINK Doper's Suck socks with stylish T-Mobile Magenta embroidery . Made just in time for Bjarne's confession AND the Giro! What timing! They're just high enough to be uncool, just low enough to be rad. Balance. Don't be weak. Say no to ankle panties.

Kabush photo from CyclingNews

I had lots to do today. Heavy duty spin and then weights for 3 hours in the AM, kid play all afternoon then unpacking all the boxes from Verge and re-packing into individual bags for all the team-mates today. Thanks to our Devo team for assisting! They basically ran the show! One other thing was to visit BCS and pick up my new Rock Lobster for next season. (Don't ask me why i had it built up. It's sort of like having a bad case of blue balls I suspect. I needed to 'release' and see the thing built up).

It came out sweet. With Mavic Open Pro/Hugi's, a bunch of Ritchey WCS (although I'll have other wheels this coming season to race on) and the Alpha Q, this Easton Ultra Light is 18lbs. Not stupid light (my Scandium RL with the FSA's is 17.3 pounds) but light enough. I am 6'2 and about 180 when I race so I figure I can skip a couple-a Newcastles before I get stupid light equipment.

An interesting twist was related to the Alpha Q. I had this fork on my Scott Team CX this season and while on ,it had a significantly longer steerer. Problem: When you buy and install Alpha Q's, they are essentially on THAT bike for life. Why? You cut the carbon steerer, then permanently glue in this Aluminum shim which holds the star nut in place with the same shit they bond rotor blades of Apache's with. So, I'm thinking I am humped and have to buy a new fork. D-Wayne (THE MAN) at BCS called True Temper directly and got the green light to cut RIGHT through that shit! Good as gold. He cut through the carbon and on through the aluminum shim, pushed down the star nut and voila, correct steerer length for this bike.

I blinged out this bike with some carbon fiber love. Some FSA CX carbon cranks (175 x 110BCD) and a 42t FSA ring. Note the carbon chain guides. Hand made by Joe De Paemelaere of Primus Mootry here in town. Dope. Super stiff.

Lastly, Brandon waranteed a few Fizik Arione saddles for me. The guys at Fizik were cool and swapped out the seats I broke this CX season (2 of 'em). Apparently there was some flaw that cracked right at the flex points directly through the middle of the underside of the saddle....obviously exacerbated by 'cross regardless of how smooth your remounts are. I run 'em on my road bikes and love 'em so I wanted to try for 'cross. C'est la vie. I'm going with 'em again this season.

Finally, to my earlier point, the 07 uni's are in and they are sick. Verge nailed the design spot on.