Thursday, July 8, 2010
STAGES 4, 5 and 6: LISIEUX and CLAIREFONTAINE
STAGES 4-5-6
quick summary because we're at clairefontaine and management was kind enough to lend us this computer ... Stage 3: Evreux to Lisieu 68 km, current total 308. That's 130 miles. First half "voie verte" the Green Way, and also the long way to avoid traffic, built over an old railroad track and passing by the old stationhouses, some of them left as monuments and others converted to homes, mainly through woods, gloriously easy and after 46 km, 40 of which were voie verte, we arrived at one of the "most beautiful villages" of FRance: Le Bec Hellouin, with 11th century abbey, time of William the Conqueror.
In the second 46 km we paid the consequences of the easy half, with a trip through the magnificent but hilly Normandie, with three Long climbs. Normandy is like this because rivers have cut deep gorges.
Stage 5 next day, no appreciable kilometers as we only bicycled around town and to the track. Also got interviewed for the local newspaper.
At night, Lisieux, small country track, sometimes with Tbreds but this night with trot races. No problem: play the horse for course. I know you find it hard to believe that handicapping everywhere in the world is universal, but it is. I got 27-1by combining the only two horses for in the third race. I played the "place quinella" because I didn't have my computer stats to look back at all the horses' histories, but my combo finished first-second and the win quinella paid off at 100-1.
Stage 6 Lisieux to Deauville for attending the races at Clairefontaine, an exceptionally beautiful track.
quick summary because we're at clairefontaine and management was kind enough to lend us this computer ... Stage 3: Evreux to Lisieu 68 km, current total 308. That's 130 miles. First half "voie verte" the Green Way, and also the long way to avoid traffic, built over an old railroad track and passing by the old stationhouses, some of them left as monuments and others converted to homes, mainly through woods, gloriously easy and after 46 km, 40 of which were voie verte, we arrived at one of the "most beautiful villages" of FRance: Le Bec Hellouin, with 11th century abbey, time of William the Conqueror.
In the second 46 km we paid the consequences of the easy half, with a trip through the magnificent but hilly Normandie, with three Long climbs. Normandy is like this because rivers have cut deep gorges.
Stage 5 next day, no appreciable kilometers as we only bicycled around town and to the track. Also got interviewed for the local newspaper.
At night, Lisieux, small country track, sometimes with Tbreds but this night with trot races. No problem: play the horse for course. I know you find it hard to believe that handicapping everywhere in the world is universal, but it is. I got 27-1by combining the only two horses for in the third race. I played the "place quinella" because I didn't have my computer stats to look back at all the horses' histories, but my combo finished first-second and the win quinella paid off at 100-1.
Stage 6 Lisieux to Deauville for attending the races at Clairefontaine, an exceptionally beautiful track.
Monday, July 5, 2010
STAGE 3: COMPIEGNE
COMPIEGNE, where you can't tell where the forest ends and the race track begins, an idyllic setting for racing, small homespun grandstand, classic wood and stone architecture, a festive small town atmosphere, and a feast of racing, even though a notch in class below the Parisian tracks. The World War I armistice was signed in the Compiegne forest, and when France fell to the Nazis, Hitler had the armistice revoked in the same forest. Compiegne is an elegant city with vintage styles of architecture, a living testimony of France's sense of historic preservation.
We entered this stage with 140 km (87.5 miles) and added 68 km (42.5 miles) for an accumulated total of 208 km (130 miles). But more than the miles today, it was "contre la montre" (against the clock, as they say in the Tour de France). We had to bike at sustained speed to make it from the train station at Pont-Sainte-Maxence on the Oise River to get to the first race and featured race on time, and then we had to reverse the process to catch the train to Paris from Pont-Sainte-Maxence.
The whole route was along the Oise River, and half of it was bike path, so it was a case of "scenic doping". If any doping happens on our alternative Tour de France, it will be performance dis-enhancing substances, such as red wine.
A typical scene in France is poppy flowers growing wild in wheat fields, and here, the poppy has romantic symbolism rather than its reputation for a source of dope. Only obstacle besides the clock: we took a wrong path in the woods and to get out, had to walk our bikes on a hopelessly narrow path along an electrified fence that protected a corn field from scavengers. At one treacherous point, Alan got a shock.
Handicapping Lesson
As I've been writing, American handicapping methods can be applied across the globe. Today I hit a MULTI (you have to pick the top 4 horses in any order, better than a superfecta because a longshot in fourth place has the same value as if it were to finish first). This bet is only for fields of 14 or more.
The method, which I call "the Short Form", in honor of the IRS, truly simplifies the selection and elimination process, and it works well for Tbreds, jumpers and trotters.
In this case, I got a 25-1 payoff in a simulcast trot race from Vichy. All I did the night before was find a race where most of the trainers had less than a 5% win rate, and eliminated them all, with one exception. An eliminated horse is restored as a contender if it has overachieved at today's race track.
The method works great in the USA as well, and in fact, that's where I derived it (I'll explain in detail in a longer report). But with smaller fields in the USA, I can eliminate trainers with less than a 12% hit rate. There is also a class filter, and horses that are proven losers at today's class level are eliminated.
I also collected on the quinella, where I used the two horses-for-course. I got shut out when trying to play the only American bred (in honor of July 4th weekend) in a 2-year-old field when I saw the late betting action. He won.
The body is not just a physical specimen, like, say a poppy flower. The mind has its say. After collecting on this bet, I found it much easier to cycle full speed ahead from the race track to train station two hours away.
Alan and I are doing this trip at our own expense. So far we've been able to pay for some of our expenses thanks to the horses, and if these horses work so hard to give us thrills, including the ones that lose, then when they must retire, they deserve to be spared from the slaughterhouse. It's so simple. We don't kill off any living being just because it can't work for us anymore. That's about our own humanity.
mc
PS. Tomorrow is a longer stage and we may collapse before being able to file a report. Please stay tuned for the next report, and support the cause.
We entered this stage with 140 km (87.5 miles) and added 68 km (42.5 miles) for an accumulated total of 208 km (130 miles). But more than the miles today, it was "contre la montre" (against the clock, as they say in the Tour de France). We had to bike at sustained speed to make it from the train station at Pont-Sainte-Maxence on the Oise River to get to the first race and featured race on time, and then we had to reverse the process to catch the train to Paris from Pont-Sainte-Maxence.
The whole route was along the Oise River, and half of it was bike path, so it was a case of "scenic doping". If any doping happens on our alternative Tour de France, it will be performance dis-enhancing substances, such as red wine.
A typical scene in France is poppy flowers growing wild in wheat fields, and here, the poppy has romantic symbolism rather than its reputation for a source of dope. Only obstacle besides the clock: we took a wrong path in the woods and to get out, had to walk our bikes on a hopelessly narrow path along an electrified fence that protected a corn field from scavengers. At one treacherous point, Alan got a shock.
Handicapping Lesson
As I've been writing, American handicapping methods can be applied across the globe. Today I hit a MULTI (you have to pick the top 4 horses in any order, better than a superfecta because a longshot in fourth place has the same value as if it were to finish first). This bet is only for fields of 14 or more.
The method, which I call "the Short Form", in honor of the IRS, truly simplifies the selection and elimination process, and it works well for Tbreds, jumpers and trotters.
In this case, I got a 25-1 payoff in a simulcast trot race from Vichy. All I did the night before was find a race where most of the trainers had less than a 5% win rate, and eliminated them all, with one exception. An eliminated horse is restored as a contender if it has overachieved at today's race track.
The method works great in the USA as well, and in fact, that's where I derived it (I'll explain in detail in a longer report). But with smaller fields in the USA, I can eliminate trainers with less than a 12% hit rate. There is also a class filter, and horses that are proven losers at today's class level are eliminated.
I also collected on the quinella, where I used the two horses-for-course. I got shut out when trying to play the only American bred (in honor of July 4th weekend) in a 2-year-old field when I saw the late betting action. He won.
The body is not just a physical specimen, like, say a poppy flower. The mind has its say. After collecting on this bet, I found it much easier to cycle full speed ahead from the race track to train station two hours away.
Alan and I are doing this trip at our own expense. So far we've been able to pay for some of our expenses thanks to the horses, and if these horses work so hard to give us thrills, including the ones that lose, then when they must retire, they deserve to be spared from the slaughterhouse. It's so simple. We don't kill off any living being just because it can't work for us anymore. That's about our own humanity.
mc
PS. Tomorrow is a longer stage and we may collapse before being able to file a report. Please stay tuned for the next report, and support the cause.
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