Op-Ed - A Holiday to End All Wars - NYTimes.com

TODAY is the 90th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War, and it will be commemorated very differently on each side of the Atlantic and across the borders of Europe. It’s a reminder that not all “victors” experience wars in the same way, and that their citizens can have almost as much difficulty as those of the vanquished states in coping with the collective trauma of conflict.

For Americans, Veterans Day celebrates the survivors of all the nation’s 20th and 21st century wars. In France and Britain, by contrast, the mood is altogether more somber. In these countries, it is the dead who, since 1919, have been the focus of the ceremonies.

Why this difference? After all, for citizens of all three countries the date marks a shared victory. In the jargon of the time, Nov. 11, 1918, was the day of their soldiers’ triumph over “Prussian militarism,” the vindication of a “fight for civilization” and the successful finish of a “war to end all wars.”

I wonder what it will really take to end all wars … why can’t the memories of tragedies past keep our world’s nations from continuing to wage battle causing countless meaningless deaths? Over what? Religion and ethnicity, primarily. Land, oil and money secondarily.

On this Veteran’s (or Armistice) Day, let’s take after our French and British brethren, and remember the dead, rather than celebrate the victory; for what have we won?

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly.
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

  — Lt. Col. John Alexander McCrae (1872 - 1918), Canadian soldier who died in Belgium, January 1918

Drove up to Heber early yesterday for race #2 in the Utah Cyclocross Series. The forecast had called for overnight snow, but when I woke up yesterday morning the ground was still dry … where’s our snow???

Going over Parley’s Summit, it started snowing fairly hard, and I had high hopes for the rest of the day, but it wasn’t to be … it was snowing for the first race, but not terribly hard, and actually started clearing up later.

The new schedule seems to be working for people; there was only one issue of someone warming up on the course during another race, and that was only because the rider involved was wearing headphones and didn’t hear the announcement that the course was closed.

Terrific battle between Chris Pietrzak and Ali Goulet in the Men’s A race until the last lap, when Chris pulled away. Bryce Young, who dominated the singlespeed race earlier in the day, rode to a strong 7th place (IIRC) finish, still on the same bike.

In the women’s A race, Dayna Deuter pulled away from Kris Walker and Tiffany Pezzulo for a brilliant solo victory, while Jennie “the Firecracker” Wade threw down an explosive sprint to take 4th place against Chantel Thackery.

Field sizes in the first race of the day are still making getting accurate results on the first go around challenging. We need longer and more technical courses, to string the field out a bit more …

After tearing down the course, I headed over to Mama T’s for some homemade chicken soup, yummy pastries and cakes and cornbread, fabulous wine, and good laughs.

Then back through blinding (but not sticking to the road) snow conditions over Parley’s Summit on the way home … I managed to stay awake for a couple of hours after I got home before crashing for 10-hours of blissful sleep, interrupted only by the 5:00 am alarm that I forgot to turn off last night … and awoke this morning to the blanketing of snow that we were supposed to have yesterday.

Winter is coming; we will have more opportunities for races in true CX conditions.

VeloNews | Contador wins the Vuelta

With his third grand tour victory in barely a year, Alberto Contador has quickly grown from cycling’s boy wonder to the peloton’s new alpha male.

The 25-year-old Spanish climber lived up to expectations to win the 63rd Vuelta a España to complete cycling’s “triple crown” and becomes just the fifth rider to win all three grand tours.

“Now I am the winner of the Vuelta. Before I crossed the finish line I didn’t dare say it before, because today there was a crash with 3km to go and was just able to get around it,” Contador said at the finish line in Madrid. “I still don’t realize what I’ve achieved. It’s been a long three weeks and the race was difficult to win. I haven’t had a chance to reflect, but I am sure in the coming weeks I will have a chance to enjoy it more.”

Unless my mind is slipping, I believe this is also Contador’s third consecutive Grand Tour win in his last three starts, beginning with the 2007 Tour de France, the 2008 Giro d’Italia, and now the 2008 Vuelta a España. If I recall correctly, Contador did not start the 2007 Vuelta.

Has anyone else won the three different Tours in three consecutive starts (albeit in different years)?

Mark Cavendish wins fifth stage of Tour de France - Times Online
Jeremy Whittle, Châteauroux

Cometh the hour, cometh the Manxman. Mark Cavendish, 23, emerged from the jostling mêlée at the climax of the 232-kilometre fifth stage of the Tour de France to support his claim as cycling’s top sprinter with an irresistible dash to the line in Châteauroux.

Cavendish made his Tour de France debut last year, when the race started in London, and had cut a dejected figure when a crash en route to Canterbury denied him the chance of success on home soil. But yesterday the rider from the Isle of Man made amends, securing his maiden victory in the Tour and leaving his rivals for dead as he took the first British stage win since David Millar’s victory in Béziers in 2002.

“It’s the biggest thing to have happened to me and to do it so young is massive,” Cavendish, of Team Columbia, said. “I came here with the intention of winning a stage and I would have gone home disappointed if I hadn’t.”

What an exciting finish … Nicolas Vogondy (the current French National Champion) sure looked like he squeaked out enough of a lead in the last kilometer to hold off the field until the finish, but Team Columbia (formerly Team High Road) pulled hard on the front, and the Manx Express popped out of the middle of the pack to fly away with the stage.