Snoo-zer. Aside from the final five seconds of the race, the most exciting part of Thursday's Stage 4 in the 2007 Amgen Tour of California was the scenery. Relatively undistinguished topography and the desire of most riders to save themselves for tomorrow's critical individual time trial turned yesterday's stage into little more than a placeholder in the week-long tour.

It was a day of defensive rest, with everybody working extra hard to do the least amount necessary to maintain the status quo and playing it as safe as possible while doing so.

There was some nominal bad weather to keep the racers on their toes, a lukewarm breakaway led by Hilton Clarke of the Navigators Insurance team, a minimal response from Discovery Channel and the peloton, and a rather pedestrian, if not historic, sprint finish capped by Paolo "the Cricket" Bettini's (Quick Step-Innergetic) technically brilliant track throw to nip Gerald Coilek (T-Mobile) at the tape. Other than that, we loved it, thanks for asking.

That big storm that was supposed to hit yesterday is finally here. Which you could probably guess by the fact it's looking a little crappy out there-- it's grey, slightly cold, windy, and rain drops are falling on our heads. The storm is actually, as of this minute, pounding the North Bay and is about to pound San Francisco. ...

The SFPD has put out a missing persons bulletin on a local Noe Valley family, who haven't been heard from since last week. James and Kati Kim, along with their two daughters Sabine and Penelope, drove to Seattle to spend Thanksgiving with James's family. The Kims were scheduled to be in southern Oregon last Saturday night, and had called the inn where they had reserved rooms and asked for a key to be left at......

The best professional road cyclists in the world are competing for the maillot jeune on the rolling plains and brutal mountain passes of Europe right now, but this weekend, we've got our own battle for cycling supremacy going on right here in the Bay Area.

Today through Sunday, road cyclists from Pro down through Cat 5 and beyond can compete in the Cougar Mountain Classic on and around the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. As an added bonus, the Cougar is playing host to the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. That's the Nationals baby, right here, almost within sight of Mt. Tam, mountain biking's Hoboken.