The Mind Of OverlordTomala
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A Taste of the Mountains in Stage 7 with Moselle Wines!

Hello once again meh hearties!  We should have another exciting day of racing on tap here at the Drunken Gaming Corner!  Today’s leg, Stage 7,  from Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles is 123 miles long and includes medium mountains, so we may end up with so may end up with new leaders by the end of the day!  Can Fabian Cancellara keep the yellow jersey?  The finish is quite steep (14% grade) so it should be interesting!

Cadel Evans had a quick rear tire change when the coverage first started, but he was able to catch up quickly with the peloton.  They are just past the feeding station at Laveline Devant Bruyeres.  Lovely traditional pale buildings with red roofs in this area.  I love the sunflowers in France!!!!

 

 

Peter Sagan is in the lead as they approach the sprint at Gerardmer.  Seven riders are in the lead by about five minutes. 

Oh mys, 17 riders have withdrawn from the Tour due to injuries, and 27 riders have been injured!!! Ouchies!!!!  The Tour is also dangerous!

At 57 miles out, the peloton is 4:41 minutes behind.  It looks like Matt Goss is having some problems with his gears at the sprint and he ended up losing the sprint to Peter Sagan, awwwws!  Goss could have won!

Oh mys, someone is waving a flare around and it’s creating big clouds of smoke that are hovering over the course.  Somehow, I don’t think that is helping any of the riders perform better – LOL!

Now they are heading up some real hills towards Col de Grosse Pierre as Peter Sagan really looks like he’s working here as they collect points for the polka dot jersey.  Lots of spectators are crowding along the mountain road to cheer on the cyclists!  Wheeees!

They pedaled past a cool ski area at about 50.5 miles.   They continue to cruise along towards Col du Mont de Fourche to another Category 3 hill climb.  Now they are really working up the hill!

Yays!!!  Now Bob Roll is in ad riding inside the Oscar Meyer WeinerMobile!!! Wheeeees!!! Go Bob Go!!!

Tyler Farrar has lost contact with the peloton due to his injuries.  He is really hurting!  Ouchies!  Hopefully he can heal up a bit on the upcoming rest day!

They are getting closer to the top of this summit, with the cheering crowd gathered along the road!  Wheeees!  The peloton is within 4 minutes now of the leaders as they go over the top!  Now the peloton is snaking its way downhill as they speed along at about 45 mph into the sun.  The black and white cows in a field are running away from the peloton – LOL!!!!

 

 

Awwws, college students in yellow waving at the Tour!  Yays – Farmers welcoming the Tour to town!

The Area of a Thousand Lakes sure is beautiful, about 20 miles from the finish.  The peloton is about 3.5 minutes behind the leaders now.

On through La Grand Croix with a man in a yellow hat standing on his roof and apparently oblivious to the camera watching him – LOL!

The riders are taking things up a notch with the peloton within two minutes of the leaders.   A minor crash along the side of the road who was taken out by a press car.

About a minute behind the leaders at miles out from the finish.  Many riders are falling back now including Mark Cavadish.  The crowds are gathering again to cheer them.   Jurgen Van den broeck had an issue on the hill so he’s trying to catch up now.  The riders are really stretching out now.

Alejandro Valverte had a problem too and was stopped along side the road and is trying to catch up.

The peloton has split!  They are climbing up the hill now and getting steeper!  The guy in the red shirt looks a bit crazy as he runs uphill like a maniac – LOL!

Lots of people are gathered here and they had walk or ride a bike for miles uphill to take their place along the road to cheer on the riders. 

Just a mile to go, with Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans, and Chris Froome going head to head!! Who will get there first?  Who can dig deepest for the win?  Who wants it most?  Aaaanddddd Froose takes it!!!!  Bradley Wiggins has taken the Yellow Jersey from Fabian Cannellara!

 

 

And today’s Beverage of the Day are wines from the Moselle area, which are lovely when available in the States.  These are often wine shop items or at grocery store with an excellent selection.  The roses are particularly refreshing, crisp, and yumm, especially on a sunny day!  Buy and drink whatever you can find since most is consumed within the region!!!

Thank you once again for following the Tour with Drunken Gaming Corner Tram!!!! Wheeeees!!!! Haz the funz meh hearties tram!!!!

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You Can’t Do That On XBox Condensed! The Tsar’s Tour (Gehn Shard)

Coverage of the Tsar’s Tour from June 29th 2012.

To check out more of their stuff go to check out The Guild Of Writers website.

As an aside, this is a good time to point out that we have our own youtube channel now! All of our videos in the future will be posted through here.

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Champagne Day on the Tour and it is Epic Tram!!!!

Yes indeed, here we are, meh hearties, on Tour in the lovely district of Champagne in northeast France!  Epernay is one of the primary towns in the Champagne area, along with Reims and Ay.  I hope to visit all three someday!

Of course, in honor of the Tour travelling through these scenic chalky lands, I’m enjoying the epic 2002 Bollinger Grand Anne!  Sooooo yumm! 

It smells rich and complex on the nose, with the characteristic aged wood and aged bread dough and yeast, with lovely, rich, complexed aged bread, bread dough, and yeast on tongue, with a bright band of tart green grape and apple flavors with a splash of crisp and bright yet aged citrus.  This Champagne also has the trademarks of a fine Champagne with complex flavors woven throughout, small persistent bubbles that do not overwhelm, and a finish that drops off as one swallows it and seems to evaporate from one’s mouth.  Simply an amazing beverage!!!! 

Yes, after drinking a bit of it, the wonderful persistent acidity makes meh wonder, “How can I drink Champagne without eating my fromage?”  This is a true food Champagne!  Fermented in aged wood barrels, giving the resulting beverage more concentration and complexity.  Oh mys, I just detected a hint of the sort of agedness that indicates that is time to drink this Champagne before the entire flavor profile turns to agedness.  So drink this puppy now tram!!!

 As yet another race day begins, everyone wonders if Fabian Canellara will retain the yellow jersey for the 7th day in a row, and who will win the stage today?  Canellara?  Sagan?  Cavandish?  Where are you, Cadel Evans dear?  And will Mark Cavandish get into yet another accident?  He has been getting into crashes every day for several days now!

 The TV coverage here begins well outside of Epernay.  A bit ago, I saw some beautiful fields of yellow sunflowers as they move eastward towards Metz.  The buildings all have red roofs here and slightly darker brown siding.

Awwws, their countryside is their art!!! And this lil blogger loves it and appreciates it!  Thank you, Francois peeps!!!!  nomnomnomnom!!!!!  Champagne, foodz, and fromage for all meh hearties tram!!!!

Oh my, this Champagne goes to one head, as the tour approaches the sprint area.  Now the buildings have brighter white sides with the red roofings.  It was a close Sagen victory for the sprint after much frantic pedaling.  The peloton is now 2.5 minutes behind the leaders as they zip through the narrow traditonal streets a traditional French town!

Now they pedaling uphill in a wooded area with lots of spectators cheering them on!  Yays!!!!!  Now they are racing downhill and the road has dried out after earlier rains.

Oh noes, a bunch of people crashed up hill and blocked the peloton so now a bunch of riders are waiting around and drinking some water.  The peloton is also bunched up in a narrow area with spectators stacked up behind the barriers.  Sagen had to have his tires adjusted or something as he cruised along beside one of the team cars while a mechanic made an adjustment.

Now the peloton is getting back together as it cruises downhill and into Woinville, another red-roofed, beige-walled town that they zipped through.  The peloton is almost 2 minutes behind now.

 Zip zip zip through yet another lil town and an orchard!

 One rider gets sprayed by the team doctor in a convertible as they both cruise down the road – LOL!

 More treed area as they haul ass eastward tram!  A minute behind at 28 miles to go tram!

The Cadel Evans team says that they are more relaxed because their team is stronger overall and that they will come into their own further into the race, and I certainly hope that is true!  It’s not so important who is wearing the yellow jersey now as opposed to who is wearing the yellow jersey in Paris, just like last year tram!  In this year’s race, perhaps the biggest issue is just staying out of the crashes – LOL!!!!!

 Hallos, Peta Todd, beautiful English partner of Mark Cavandish!

Wheees!!!  Black and white cows in the field galloping along with the cyclists tram!!!

 The canal heads towards the Black Sea as it goes through fields and green countryside.  They crossed the Mosel River as it heads to Germany.

Another crash as one rider grabs his leg and several riders need new rear wheels.  This happened in the tail of the pack.  This is mayhem as riders have gone into the ditches.  Oh noes, Frank Schleck can’t find his bike and probably can’t win the Tour now.  25 km to go after this accident.

They speed towards the finish towards Metz with the peloton is just 15 seconds behind the leaders.  The roads are narrow.  One rider just abandoned as a result of that crash!!!

I just saw a high-speed train, I couldn’t tell if it was the Eurostar, a magnificent passenger train that I have crossed under the English Channel in!  Beautiful cars, beautiful train that travels up to 200 mph on the one-piece tracks through France and Europe!

 A few riders swung a bit wide around a roundabout during a left-hand turn.  The peloton has broken up into two main groups after the big accidents a bit earlier.

The leaders are riding like heck to keep the first group of the peloton at bay.  I can see some faces of pain!

 They are closing in on the finish!  Fast 200 degree turn in Metz!  And Team Lotto and Andre Greipel rallied hard at the finish yet Peter Sagen in bright green with overtaken him right at the finish!  Nicely done, Peter Sagen!!!!   He is meh new favorite to win tomorrow since he’s unstoppable tram!!!  Yays!!

 

 

Awwws, one of Sharp riders came in over 12 minutes behind the leader with his sleeve scraped off during the crash!  It is inspirational that he will ride again another day tram!!!

Fabian Cancellara retains the yellow jersey while some of the crash victims are effectively barred from winning the Tour this year!  Oh mys!!!  It was Make or Break Time on the Tour today tram!!!!!

Thank you for continuing to following the Tour de Underpants through France in the Drunken Gaming Corner!  Haz all the funz meh hearties tram!!!!  Wheeees!!!!

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More Spills + Duval-Leroy Champagne!

Welcome Back to the Drunken Game Corner, where we will continue our exciting coverage of the Tour de Underpants in France!!! Yes indeed, we have more thrills, chills, and spills waiting for you!!

Today’s race, Stage 5, starts in Rouen and finishes in the ancient Roman town of Saint-Quentin.   This is the flattest stage so far, travelling due east.  It is raining at the finish line, so look out for that!

 

 

The cyclists are riding through the Picardy area of Northern France, which includes some of the vineyards in Champagne!  Therefore, today’s beverage is Duval-Leroy Non-Vintage Champagne!  It’s my favorite party Champagne since it’s a tasty and relatively affordable Champagne with a bit less acidity than many of the food Champagnes, so it’s perfect by itself or with a meal.  Plenty of effervescence and lemon, fruit forward green grapes and apples, light yet flavorful on the palate, with a nice clean chardonnay-like finish.  It truly is a delicious beverage!!!

 

 

Who will win today?  Will it be Cavadish?  Greipel?  Sagan?  Cancellara?  Or maybe even Cadel Evans?

We start off with the coverage beginning with the peloton ahead by about 5 minutes with 4 riders in the lead.  Many beautiful fields here as they make their way towards Saint-Quinten.

 Fabian Cancellara is going back to the team car for a chat to relieve the boredom, apparently tram!

 Now they are cruising along past another wind farm area.  Now they are grabbing the food and water bags.  nomnomnomnom!  They are picking up the pace now as they head for the sprint.  I can see the Dutch influence in the architecture here tram!

 Bernie Isen is winning the sprint so far as he pedals hard!  They are attacking!  In the end, it ended up being Ladagnous, Urtasun, and Simon for the intermediate sprint!  Wheeees!

 Oh noes, it’s starting to rain a bit there!  And helmet change time!

 Oh yes, Clean Bottle, with the nipple on top!!!  I just saw a pizza shop there that I would like to visit!!!! nomnomnomnom!

Things have cleared up as they continue on.   Nice bicycle sculpture on the lawn!

Awww, a graveyard with both British and German soldiers from WWI & II.

Epic fields of hay with some turrets in the background!  Now the peloton is catching up, just over two minutes behind at about 30 miles outside of the finish as they crank it up a notch!

 The road has split as a few drops of rain have started.  They are back together on a very narrow stretch with some interesting architecture coming up! 

 Wow, nice squares of farmland among the wind turbines!  Interesting sugar mill and gravel pit!

Here again, one can see the Dutch influence on some of the buildings with the different colors of brick in the same building and such.  Pretty!  This area also has several canals that are still used as a shipping lane and such.  Cool!

The peloton is once again speeding up as they wind themselves around roundabouts and narrow town streets.

Well, that was nice!  Mark Cavandish’s teammates are rallying around him as they get closer to the finish.  Wow, beautiful fields of yellow!

The peloton is in sight of the leaders as the pedal down a veryyyyyyy long straight road through the farming area, just about a minute behind at 10 miles away from the finish line.

 LOL!  At the finish line, before the riders got there, they had some fake race horses going across the line, along with a whole parade of blow-up figures!!! Wheees!!!!

The peloton is behind by 44 seconds at the 6 mile mark!  And another mile done!  And now uphill a bit!  Awwws, nice depiction of a bicycle using a bunch of different colored tractors!!!!! Wheeees!!!!

 Cute kids riding around a sign that says “Long live the Tour” !  Yays!

5 km to go with 29 seconds to catch the leaders!  How ironic, a sudden traffic circle split with a sculpture with some impaled bicycles on the top of it – LOL!

Oh noes!! After a peaceful and scenic day of racing, suddenly there is an accident right at the end!!!  Jonathan Cantwell went down, oh noes!  Some shoulders were touching and down they went tram!

 

 

 

The remaining cyclists continue to pedal their butts off up some narrow and turning roads, along the edge of the canal towards the finish as the gap closes to 10 seconds behind the leaders.  Can the peloton catch the leaders?  They are all pedaling like crazy and then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Andre Greipel comes from the peloton to suddenly take over for the win!!!!!! Wow!!!!  What a sprint!!!!  How exciting tram!!!!!

 

 

 

Awwws, ‘Le Tour’ is spelled out in different colored canoes on the water!  So cute tram!!!

Whew!!!  Thanks again for reading meh latest post about the Tour de Underpants!!! It has been sooo epic to be covering the Tour with all of you tram!!!!  Have tons of funz out there meh hearties!!!

 

 

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Day 5 Crashing + Cider!

After working on meh Pacific Northwest sunburn, I’m back inside for the 5 p.m. coverage of the 4th leg of the Tour de France!

I’m wondering if Fabian Canellara can keep his yellow shirt or if Frank Sagen will win the stage again, or if someone else will manage to win!!!!

Today’s coverage of the stage from Abbeyville to Rouen started about the feeding station.   Today they are riding along the beautiful Alabaster Coast, here at Ste Marguerite sur Mer!  Super scenic, not including the guy with the swimsuit thing going up his butt crack!!!

Ste Marguerite sur Mer

It turns out that one of the riders broke his hip yesterday during one of the crashes but it didn’t hurt him much yesterday, and he didn’t realize that he had broken it until an X-Ray showed it at the hospital!!!!

Yann Hugo had to stop and change a tire right after the feeding station.  The peloton turned away from the misty coast and through a woodsie area.  Oh wait, he had to have another tire changed!  Catch back up!

Now they are heading back along the coast along the English Channel and through some open fields and fields of hay in Veules-les-Roses.  Beautiful!

Yes indeed, the beverage of the day should be traditional cider!!! I lovvve a great cider!!! Get whatever kind is available in your area, whether it’s French or English, it should be totally yumm!!!!

 I love the huge modern wind turbines, also in Veules-les-Roses!  Beautiful!

 Veules-les-Roses, France

Oh noes, I just saw the update about yesterday’s crashes and appeared to include 8 or 9 injuries including a broken tibia, a separated shoulder, chest contusions, a concussion, a huge gash down the front of Mark Cavandish’s leg, and more!!! Oh noes!!!  Take care, everyone!!!!

Now they are heading through Fecamp.  Three riders are in the lead with the peloton a bit over 7 minutes behind.  Yukiya Arashiro is in the lead at the moment and he lives in France year-round.

Ahhhhs, someone is sharing the love with a huge yellow shirt on the lawn, awwwww!!  I loved the Gingerbread Man of hay that appeared earlier too!!!

One of the Dutch cyclists needed a new tire and the mechanic was all fumbling about with the longest tire change so far in the Tour, as the peloton goes riding by!  The little girl outside of Faconne was so thrilled to see the tire change so I suppose it was all worthwhile!

Ohhhh, the Benedictine Palace is beautiful!!!!  So epic!!

Now some the cyclists are getting foodz to share with their teammates!!!   Nice tram!!!!

Wow, someone in meh neighborhood is really having funz with the fireworks at the moment, as someone had issues with his bike helmet and got a new one – Yays!

Nice huge fake giraffe at it starts to rain a bit, and around the roundabout in their brightly colored jerseys and helmets!  Rain water on the camera lenses with some blue skies with clouds off in the distance!  Wet roads in a little town and now some open fields!  Hello Team BMC and Cadel in the peloton!  The leaders of the peloton are having a chat now as the pedal through the tree-lined road!  Oh, there is flourescent rezzing for a few seconds – LOL!

Now the peloton is a bit over 4 minutes behind outside of Alloveyea.  Great fields as the peloton stretches out!

Oh noes, a new crash towards the rear of the peloton as the water bottles go all over and a few wheels about.  Most seem ok through a bit of chaoes.  The road was very narrow here and a few bicycles ended up on the grass to the side of the road.

The LiquidGas team has the word ‘fizik’ on their butts and it cracks me up – LOL!

Awwwws, a football field with a large pink sculpture of a bicycle!

OK, now picking up the pace along the river Seine, the same river that runs through Paris, of course!  The road seems to have dried out now, making it much safer for the riders.  The peloton is almost 2 minutes behind the leaders as they rapidly approach the finish.

Oh cool gate and gardens!  Oh yes the Clean Bottle with removable bottom tram!

 Who will win, Cavandish or Sagen?  The Route de Duclair is a beautiful area as just about 8 miles from the finish with less than a minute behind the leaders as they race through some country side here.

 They are rolling up towards the finish now as the fireworks go off.  Now we see the ancient Abbey from the 12th century as they line up the hill.

 24 seconds behind now, hello firemen display!!!

 The peloton is catching up, uphill at six miles from the finish!  Pedal pedal pedal!  Fireworks go boom here as the frantic pedal mounts!  They are closing in and in sight!!!  It’s every rider for themselves now!!!!

 LOL!  A few almost crashed into the center island, while one rider rode right on the middle of the traffic device, just like he was in Amsterdam!!!

Yes indeed, Rouen is a much larger city than the prior towns they were in, with large bridges across the river Seine.  Looks like a wonderful place to visit tram!!!

Now the peloton is pedaling their asses off tram!!!   Oh noes in front of the shopping!   Someone towards the front of the peloton crashed!!!   Here’s Mark Cavandish on the pavement!  This is probably going to prevent him from winning this stage!!!

 

 

 The aftermath of Robert Hunter crashing right at the finish! 

 

 

 

 

Some riders towards the front were able to carry on towards the finish!!!  900 meters to go over the bridge!!!  Swing hard around the corner towards the finish!!!!  Pedal pedal pedal!!!  And Andre Greipel wins it!!!!  Nicely done!!!

 

 

One nice thing about watching the coverage later in the day is that there are more photographs available on the Interwebs, but the coverage in the evening contains less actual footage and more interviews and profiles of the athletes and more hype in general.   I like the raw coverage in the morning but not getting up at 4:30 a.m. or so to see it – LOL!

Ok, thanks again for reading, meh hearties!!!

~Ettetram, from the Drunken Gaming Corner Tram!!!!

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Slack Day on the 4th of July with the Tour de Underpants!!!

Happy 4th of July, meh hearties tram!!!  I hope all of you dears are having lotz of funz out there!!!!

Thank you for following meh this far through the Tour de France!  I was more fatigued than I thought, so I managed to sleep in a bit this morgen, and when I got up, I discovered that there was no Tour de Underpants being broadcast in meh area until 5 pm!!!  It was quite distressing!  So meh post will be delayed until I am able to view the Tour and make meh goofball commentary!!!  Borkers!!!!!

 In the meanwhile, check out meh Tour de Underpants!!!

Wheeees!

Welcome to the Tour de Underpants, Amsterdam!!!!   Get a tiger butt!!!!