Things Just Getting Good.

Stage Four - Abbeville to Rouen

Ok, so I didn't watch the stage last night. I had every intention to. I figured that there was no better way to welcome in my 33rd year than sitting up late, bleary eyed, willing my body to do things it doesn't really want to do. Some basic maths - and the TV guide - indicated that the stage would finish around the same time that I was born - 1.27am - and that I'd officially be a little bit older just as Mark Cavendish crossed the finish line.

Incidentally, I probably should've been born a little earlier - perhaps even on the preceding day. But my dad wouldn't let that happen. He kept urging my ma to keep her legs cross, to hold on just that little bit longer. He just didn't want his first son to be born on the 4th of July.

I went to bed around 11. I thought I'd read Franny and Zooey for a little bit, then fall asleep. But I kinda got caught up with the Glass family. There's this bit where Zooey talks about them all being so critical, how they all judge people so harshly, that they are all guilty of scanning the room for unbelievers. I've been guilty of that in the past, and was thinking about how it's impacted throughout my relationships. That's the kind of thing that keeps a guy up at night. I didn't get to sleep til around 4.

When I woke up I reached for my computer and looked up the highlights on YouTube. It didn't look like a great stage - when the most exciting thing that happens is a crash, it's a sure sign that it hasn't been one for the ages. Not even the highlights were particularly thrilling - they showed Cav on the ground without showing how it happened, and they showed Greipel taking the win without the preceding ten minutes of leadout chaos. I figured I hadn't missed much. It was, however, now my birthday. The text messages were rolling in and my mum had called. I didn't have much planned for the day, but KO hit me up for lunch, and that helped fill in the time. Tonight I'll likely miss stage five as well, because Hurley is in town, and he's insistent I party like it's my birthday. I'll let you know how that works out for us.