Tour De France 2011- Spot Clean Bottle Mascot Contest

Adding this as at the suggestion of another follower. If you are playing the Spot Clean Bottle Mascot on the side of the road at the Tour de France, please leave a comment below. I will not update the list myself or be able to answer questions, so review the comments below for updates and if you post a sighting please be sure to specify the Stage or Date and exact answer for the contest (ie beginning of the intermediate Sprint, Slope of ______ mountain, Feed Zone, etc.) Thanks in advance for the contributions!

Here's the contest link: Spot Clean Bottle!

Introducing: Tighty Whitey's "Skid Markx"

Skid Markx Blog

In response the popularity of this blog each July (over 31,000 visits so far this month) I will moving all my Tour de France and Sweepstakes Code Words to a new blog, called SKID MARKX after this year's Tour.  You're all welcome to keep visiting TightyWhitey if you'd like, but I wanted to offer a place dedicated to cycling and the TDF Sweepstakes Code Words.  This will also you to subscribe to the Blog and RSS Feeds without having to get updates about my family and friend during the other 11 months of the year.  Check out my first post on SKID MARKX, take the poll, and subscribe now and I'll see you all there in 2011.  Thanks for visiting this year!

TDF Cadillac Lead The Pack Sweepstakes Code Words

Last Year (2009) I posted the Code Words for the Tour de France Cadillac Ride of Your Life Sweepstakes and received a tremendous number of visitors and comments on this blog. So, even though Cadillac changed the name in 2010 to Lead the Pack Sweepstakes , I'm going to try to do it again . I will try to post the daily the code words shown during the Versus telecasts, Bicycling.com, and Twitter Also, I included the two code words from Versuswap (which apparently do not change.)

If you're a visitor and know a code word before I get to review my DVR and post an update, feel free to leave a comment with the code word, stage number, and where you found it (especially if it's from some other source). Also, I've noticed over the years that this sweepstakes recycles code words, so feel free to look back at last year's words and try them out. Older Code Words from previous years or from commenters to this blog can be found by clicking here. Good Luck Playing and thanks for visiting.

Prologue (7/3/2010) PODIUM - ROTTERDAM - SPEED

Stage 1 (7/4/2010) ENERGY - SPRINT - DRIVER'S CAR

Stage 2 (7/5/2010) SADDLE - LEAD THE PACK - CTS SPORT SEDAN

Stage 3 (7/6/2010) DOMESTIQUE - COBBLESTONES - SRX LUXURY CROSSOVER
Stage 4 (7/7/2010) POWER - LEADOUT TRAIN - AUTHENTICITY (Correction Tweeted late)
Stage 5 (7/8/2010) GAP - HELMET - CTS SPORT WAGON

Stage 6 (7/9/2010) PELOTON - DRIVING DYNAMICS - SUPERCHARGED V8
Versuswap Code Words (7/9/2010) MOBILE - TEAM RADIOSHACK

Stage 7 (7/10/2010) TEAM CAR - CERVELO - HIGH DEFINITION

Stage 8 (7/11/2010) ECHELON - CLIMB - HANGING ON

Rest Day (7/12/2010) PEDAL - DRAFTING - VERSUS

Stage 9 (7/13/2010) ONSTAR - DISC WHEEL - ICONIC BRAND

Stage 10 (7/14/2010) TEAM DIRECTOR - BREAKAWAY - BICYCLING

Stage 11 (7/15/2010) GRADIENT - EPIC CYCLE - 556 HORSEPOWER

Stage 12 (7/16/2010) DIRECT INJECTION V6 - GEARS - CADILLAC

Stage 13 (7/17/2010) PROVEN PERFORMANCE - CTS COUPE - SPOKES

Stage 14 (7/18/2010) FEED ZONE - HYDRATION - HAMMERING

Stage 15 (7/19/2010) CRAFTSMANSHIP - DESIGN INNOVATION - (no Twitter or FB word today)

Stage 16 (7/20/2010) CADENCE - HEART RATE - DESCENT
Rest Day (7/21/2010) V-SERIES - TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED - TOUR

Stage 17 (7/22/2010) WATTS - ATTACK - (repeated Twitter and FB words today)

Stage 18 (7/23/2010) AERODYNAMIC - GREEN JERSEY - RPM

Stage 19 (7/24/2010) ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE - TIME CLOCK - WHITE JERSEY

Stage 20 (7/25/2010) YELLOW JERSEY - PARIS - CHAMPAGNE

Sweepstakes Issues Acknowledged by ePrize

The following email was sent this morning to those who logged their issues on the Cadillac Lead The Pack Sweepstakes website:

Hello,
We are currently working to resolve the issue.  We will email once the
issue is resolved.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
ePrize Customer Service

UPDATE: Later today the following email was broadcast out:

Hello,
We apologize for any inconvenience you experienced. The promotion should now be functioning correctly.
Thank you for contacting us regarding this promotion. Should you need additional clarification, or have any other questions regarding this promotion, please reply to this email.
Sincerely,
ePrize Customer Service

Hopefully, this has resolved everyone's technical problems.  Good Luck!

Technical Problems Plague Versus Cadillac "Lead the Pack" Sweepstakes

SCROLL OR CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF CODE WORDS

Many people participating in the Versus 2010 Cadillac "Lead the Pack Sweepstakes" are experiencing problems with the online sweepstakes application, which runs as a promotional campaign during the 3 week Tour de France event.  Despite the sweepstake's terms of a 74 Code Word limit, contestants are being denied submission of valid code words after the entry of only 37 valid code words (exactly HALF of the allowable words), with a mesage stating "You've entered all the code words you can."  With this year's Tour de France only halfway completed, it will be interesting to see if if Versus and/or Cadillac will get this corrected before the peloton arrive in Paris on July 25th.  If not, the problems will increase as more viewers/contestants hit the limit and become disenchanted which will no doubt have a negative impact on Versus viewership and web stats, not to mention poor marketing ROI for Cadillac.

I have personally played this sweepstakes during the Tour for years without error.  However, early Wednesday (9/14/2010) I hit my 37 word limit too.  Like many of you, I have submitted my issue to the sweepstakes administrator and received an email stating that I would be contacted within 3 business days (as of 7/17 I have still not been contacted).  Based on the comments left on this blog by others, that may not actually happen, so I've re-registered with an alternate email address.  Based on my interpretation of the rules, as long as you don't play a code word twice for the same individual or exceed the 74 code word limit, this should be OK.  I hope that under the circumstances Versus and Cadillac will permit it.

If anyone else has any insight, recommendations, or has received feedback from the sweepstakes administrator, please leave your comments below.

OTHER TDF Cadillac Sweepstakes Code Words

Many people now visit my blog during July for the TDF Code Words and many commenters add words they've guessed or found elsewhere.  To make searching for these easier, I've decided to maintain a seperate list of them here.  Reminder, my main interest is keeping the daily list updated with each day's code words from Versus TV, Bicycling.com, and VSCycling Twitter feed (3 sources I'm checking daily).  Any others are welcome, although I have no way of verifying them.  Finally, although I know that the Code Words can be submitted at any time durring the Tour, I cannot confirm or deny that timing of their entry has an affect on your chances to win.

ADDITIONAL CODES FROM 2010 COMMENTERS TO THIS BLOG:
IGNITION (possibly the word in the August edition of Bicycling Magazing)
FRANCE - CADILLAC - CERVELO - BICYCLING - CTS Sport Wagon

LAST YEARS CODE WORDS (2009):
Independence Day - Monaco - Sprint - Accelerate - Energy - CTS - Chain - Saddle - Team Time Trial - Garmin Slipstream - Domestique - Peloton - Power - Pace Line - RPM - Team Columbia - Gap - Ascent - Astana - Musette - Climb - High Definition - Team Car - Cervelo - Hanging On - Echelon - Versus - Drafting - Peddle - Performance - Disc Wheel - Breakaway - Bicycling - Saxo Bank - Team Director - Bobke - Gears - Gradient - Pursuit - Shift - Epic Cycle - Chasers - Throttle - Hydration - Hammering - Feed Zone - Gear - Rest Day - Hydration - Fuel - Descent - Cadence - Heart Rate - Cadillac - Spokes - Bonk - White Jersey - Watts - Time Clock - Green Jersey - Lead out - Aerodynamic - Attack - Polka Dot Jersey - Ventoux - Yellow Jersey - Paris - Champagne

SOME OTHER OLDER YEARS CODES (including some unverified codes):
Alp D' Huez - Alps - Arch De Triomphe - Armstrong - Born Fron Jets (this was an OLD name for the SAAB sweepstakes) - Brunyl - Cervelo - Champs Elysses - Climb - Contador - Crash - CSC - Cyclism - Drafting - Efficiency - Etapes - Fans - Feed Zone - Finish - First Class - Fly to the Finish (this was an OLD name for the SAAB sweepstakes) - Garmin - Helmet - High Road - Hors Category - Jet Engine - Jet Inspired - King of the Mountains - KOM - Lance - Ligget - Livestrong - Mobile - Monaco - Peloton - Podium - Polka Dot Jersey - Power - Prologue - Pyrennes - Ride of Your Life (this was an OLD name for the sweepstakes) - Road Rash - RPM - Saxo Bank - Slipstream - Spain - SportCombi - Sprinter - Stage - Summit - Swiss - Team Director - Team Time Trial - Throttle - Time Bonus - Time Clock - Time Trial - Winner

2009 Tour de France - Attack on Mont Ventoux

I know that most of my regular readers (both of you) are not really interested in cycling, but the 2009 Tour de France has been very exciting this year. Mostly because Lance Armstrong is not only back after a four year retirement, but he is doing very well. Lance is currently in 3rd place and 3 minutes and 50+ seconds behind the leader, which is a lot of time that will unlikely be made up, so nobody is expecting him to win. However, Lance's Team, Astana, is winning in the team category and his team mate, Alberto Contador (2007 winner) is solidly in the race leader's Yellow jersey and is a shoe in to win.

This year has been especially fun to follow online, because the Tour Organizers, Teams, Team Directors, Commentators, and riders are all on Twitter. Lance himself is a prolific Twitterer so you get an amazing inside look at the race and the daily lives of the riders. You can also get minute by minute updates during the stages, so I can get instant status on my smart phone as things are happening and see results in near real time. I also read that Versus, the channel that covers the Tour in the US, has seen an 80% increase in viewership. In fact, because I've been keeping a running list of contest code words on my blog, I have seen over 5,000 visits to my blog just this week (click the Site Meter link at the bottom of the page and check it out.)

Although the Tour officially concludes on Sunday with the final stage ending in Paris with laps around the Champs Elysee, this is generally regarded as a ceremonial stage for the overall winner (however the Sprinter award is still hotly contested), who is typically so far ahead in overall time that it would be difficult to lose in Paris. However, there is still an epic 20th stage coming up this Saturday racing from Montelimar to Mont Ventoux. Mont Ventoux is a monumental climbing stage that has been the scene of many dramatic racing moments in the past. It's also one Lance Armstrong has some regrets on, so you can expect him to go all out there. So, if you haven't been following the Tour, I recommend you set your DVR or tune in on Saturday to watch an amazing show down. Veve le Tour!

TDF Cadillac Ride of Your Life Sweepstakes Code Words

If you're playing the Versus - Cadillac Ride of Your Life Sweepstakes, where are the daily codewords. There are at lease 3 per day (one from the Versus broadcast, one from the online widget, and one from the Bicycling eZine. I f you see that I'm missing one, please leave me a comment and I'll add it. Thanks.

Stage 1, July 4: Podium - Independence Day - Monaco
Stage 2, July 5: Sprint - Accelerate - Energy
Stage 3, July 6: CTS - Chain - Saddle
Stage 4, July 7: Team Time Trial - Garmin Slipstream - Domestique
Stage 5, July 8: Peloton - Power - Pace Line
Stage 6, July 9: RPM - Team Columbia - Gap
Stage 7, July 10: Ascent - Astana - Musette
Stage 8, July11: Climb - High Definition - Team Car
Stage 9, July 12: Cervelo - Hanging On - Echelon
Rest Day, July 13: Versus - Drafting - Peddle
Stage 10, July 14: Performance - Disc Wheel - Breakaway
Stage 11, July 15: Bicycling - Saxo Bank - Team Director
Stage 12, July 16: Bobke - Gears - Gradient
Stage 13, July 17: Pursuit - Shift - Epic Cycle
Stage 14, July 18: Chasers - Throttle - Hydration

Stage 15, July 19: Hammering - Feed Zone - Gear (not sure about Gear)

Rest Day, July 20: Rest Day - Hydration - Fuel
Stage 16, July 21: Descent - Cadence - Heart Rate
Stage 17, July 22: Cadillac - Spokes - Bonk
Stage 18, July 23: White Jersey - Watts - Time Clock
Stage 19, July 24: Green Jersey - Lead out - Aerodynamic
Stage 20, July 25: Attack - Polka Dot Jersey - Ventoux (sorry for the previous typo)
Stage 21, July 26: Yellow Jersey - Paris - Champagne

THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG FOR CODE WORDS THIS YEAR. ALSO, THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SHARED CODE WORDS VIA THE COMMENTS AREA. PLEASE COME BACK NEXT YEAR AND WE WILL DO IT AGAIN. VIVE LE TOUR!

Whooo Weee! Lance is BACK, Baby!

http://www.livestrong.com/lance2009/

Above: Lance rides in Augusta, at the 2005 Tour de Georgia.

Olympic Cycling Results - Men's Road Race

Disappointing results for team USA in cycling today.

Medals went to:
Gold - Samuel Sanchez (ESP)
Silver - Davide Rebellin (ITA)
Bronze - Fabian Cancellara (SUI)

Here's how our boys did:
11th - Levi Leipheimer
17th - Christian Vande Velde
40th - George Hincapie
121st - Jason McCartney
143rd - David Zabriskie (LAST PLACE!)

Carlos Sastre wins the 2008 Tour De France

Carlos Sastre (ESP), of Team CSC, wins the 2008 Tour De France.

This year's Tour lacked the same type of excitement as I've seen in year's past, but it was still a great three week event. Enthusiasm for the Tour has suffered from years of doping scandals and the resultant exclusion this year of Team Astana, which included last year's Tour winner, Alberto Contador, and third place finisher, Levi Leipheimer (USA).

This year all eyes were on Australian, Cadel Evans, who finished in 2nd place in 2007. However, Carlos Sastre took control of the Yellow Jersey on Stage 17 in an impressive ascent up Alp D'Huez, the Tour's most famous climb. His closest contenders either failed to attack or didn't have the legs to do so as effectively. Although many folks seemed to think that his 1 minute 34 second lead would be lost in the Stage 20 individual time trial, it was not so. The power of the Maillot Jaune (Yellow Jersey) gave Sastre the motivation to concede less than half a minute to Cadel Evans.

Perhaps the best part of the 2008 Tour was the debut of two new US Teams to the Tour, Team Garmin-Chipolte and Team Columbia (with 5 stage wins). Both did extremely well and should provide for some exciting international racing in the upcoming years.

Vive Le Tour!

Photo Credit: Bjarte Hetland, July 27, 2008

Mountain Biking at Tsali

During the Jones Family Reunion last weekend, my brother-in-law, Amos, and I were able to squeeze in some world-class mountain biking at the Tsali Recreational Area on the South side of Lake Fontana and Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

George (right) and Amos at Tsali

George on Tsali climb

Pereiro In Yellow (14 Months After Finishing the 2006 TDF)

From the Associated Press (via ESPN.com)

MADRID, Spain -- Oscar Pereiro finally got his hands on the winner's yellow jersey from the 2006 Tour de France on Monday.

"Finally, we have a winner and it's Oscar," Tour director Christian Prudhomme said. "Oscar, you have won the Tour out on the road."

The Spaniard moved up from second to first after the disqualification of Floyd Landis for doping.

The International Cycling Union formally declared Pereiro the winner on Sept. 21, one day after a U.S. arbitration panel voted 2-1 to remove the title from Landis for using synthetic testosterone during the Tour.

It's the first time in the 105-year history of the race that a winner has been stripped of the title.

Click here for the entire article.

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

Saturday was National Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, so I did. Here are a couple of pictures of Grant riding the practice course before we took to the trails for 5.5 miles of single track.

Around the cones...

...and over the logs. Righteous, Dude!

Congratulation Oscar Pereiro (real winner of the 2006 Tour de France)!

From The Associated Press

U.S. cyclist Floyd Landis found guilty of doping
Updated Thu. Sep. 20 2007 3:25 PM ET

PARIS -- Floyd Landis lost his expensive and explosive doping case Thursday when arbitrators upheld the results of a test that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory, The Associated Press has learned.

The decision means Landis, who repeatedly has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, must forfeit his Tour de France title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to Jan. 30, 2007.
The ruling, handed down nearly four months after a bizarre and bitterly fought hearing, leaves the American with one final way to possibly salvage his title -- an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

If Landis doesn't appeal, he'll be the first person in the 105-year history of the race to lose the title because of a doping offence.

Tour de France race director welcomes decision to uphold Landis positive doping test
Updated Thu. Sep. 20 2007 5:36 PM EST

PARIS (AP) -Tour de France officials finally got what they wanted Thursday - a new champion.
With American cyclist Floyd Landis' guilty doping verdict just hours old, the president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) said Landis would be wiped from the record books, making Oscar Pereiro the new champion.

"According to our rules we will be stripping him of his title and awarding it to Pereiro,'' Pat McQuaid said by telephone. "He has the chance whether to appeal or not. ... But there's nothing to stop us now from stripping him of his title.''

Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour.

Click here for more info.

Mountain Bike Upgrade Time

I've been riding my mountain bike alot over the past week. 12 mile this morning, 9 miles each yesterday and Tuesday, and about 24 miles last weekend. Hence, I've decided I need to upgrade my almost-10-year-old bike. Unfortunately, I currently don't have the disposable income necessary to do so, so I was browsing the American Express Rewards website to see if I could cash in some rewards points towards one. I didn't like their selection of bikes, so I thought I'd shop for accessories instead...helmets, shoes, hydration packs, bells, etc. That's when I saw the helmet pictured below (the one at the top of the list.) Man, if I wore that thing out riding, I would definitely be turning some heads...and apparently toasting mine at the same time.

Saturday Morning Bike Ride

Well, I've stayed up way to late, but I decided to "blog a new post" anyway (Thanks for straightening me out on the lingo, Rick.) I really should be in bed, since I have my 7AM Saturday bike ride in the morning. Most people, even here in Columbia, are unaware that we have an awesome trail system right in our backyards. Harbison State Park has over 2000 acres with more that 16 miles of trails. Although there are some good beginner trails, many of them are technically challenging. If you're in Columbia and looking for a fun place to go to bike, hike, trail run, or launch your canoe, check it out.

Click here for Directions via Google Maps.

Saturday Morning Update: My ride was gruesome. Perhaps I need a hobby that's more appropriate for a guy my age. Is watching TV a hobby?

Dopes who Dope in the Tour de France

Well another pro cyclist has tested positive for doping during this year’s Tour de France. Iban Mayo tested positive for using EPO, a performance enhancing drug, during the last week of the three week race. Also, there are rumors that Tour winner Alberto Contador may be linked to last year’s doing scandal, Operation Puerto. I’ve now lost count of how many doping related incidents have come up in this year’s tour, but it’s around a half a dozen individuals plus two entire teams.

Now, I’m not a traditional American sports fan. It’s not that I dislike the ball-based games (foot, basket, base) or NASCAR, but I just don’t follow any of them closely. I AM, however, a huge cycling fan for years and have been very disappointed by the scandals involving Ivan Basso, Alexandre Vinokourov, race leader Michael Rasmussen this year. Add to it the doping admissions of notables like Bjarne Rjis (CSC team director), Frankie Andreu, and Erik Zabel earlier in the season, and you’re left wondering if anyone is actually “racing clean.” I have tried to maintain faith that Lance and Floyd (in the photo with me above at the 2005 Tour of Georgia) would never cheat, but seeing how epidemic the problem really is has made me begin to have doubts about them too. It’s an “arms race”, so they’re all doing it just to keep up. It has shattered many fans’ faith in the sport.

It seems so unfathomable that someone would be so stupid to gamble an awesome dream-career of being a professional athlete on the world stage. But just when I’m wondering how these guys could do something so foolish, I remember that I struggle with sin every day and have more Eternal things at risk. I’m just thankful that God is a more loyal fan of mine (even when I test positive for sin) than I am of my sports heroes. Vive le Grace!