Today’s Stage 5 time trial in Bakersfield should shake up the standings. Going into the time trial, Peter Sagan has won three straight stages and holds a 16-second lead over Heinrich Haussler. But Sagan is doubtful he’ll remain in yellow after the time trial.

“This race is very hard for me,” Hagen told Velo News. The long climbs and the time trial are not so good for me. I’ll try very hard to stay in the jersey for another day. But I don’t think I’ll keep it after the time trial.”

Fred Rodriguez is fifth at 36 seconds back, while Americans Chris Horner, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer and David Zabriskie are sitting in a big pack at 40 seconds back.

NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) is airing live coverage of today’s time trial at 3:30 p.m. CDT and will reair the stage at 11:30 p.m. CDT. Check out the TV schedule for more coverage. You also can follow the action live at the RadioShack Tour Tracker.

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Did you miss the deadline to order the new Illinois Share the Road vehilce license plate through the League of Illinois Bicyclists? Do you still want one?

The Illinois Share the Road plate is now available through the Illinois Secretary of State office’s Pick a Plate service. Just click on the type of vehicle you wish to license, then select Share the Road. You also can visit the a license facility near you.

You can see the fees for the plate at the Secretary of State’s main website. LIB receives $17 of the fee for the initial plate and $20 for each year you renew it. LIB will use proceeds from the plate for bicycle education programs in Illinois.

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You can find an event near you by visiting the Ride of Silence web site, In the St. Louis area, Trailnet will be leading three Ride of Silence events at these locations:

• Missouri History Museum in Forest Park in St. Louis.

• O’Fallon Family Sports Park, 301 Oberneufemann Rd., O’Fallon, Ill.

• Frontier Park, 500 S Riverside Drive, St. Charles, Mo.

All of the Trailnet-sponsored Ride of Silence events begin at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour and time for remembrance. The memorial for cyclists begins at 6:30 p.m., and the ride begins at 6:45 p.m.

The St. Louis events will specifically honor Jennifer Cole and Sam Scott, who died while cycling in the St. Louis area in the past year. Jennifer died last July when she was struck by a sport-utility vehicle near Jerseyville, Ill. Sam died in February when he was struck in University City, Mo.

Sadly, there is one more recent death to remember this year. W. Thomas Beltz, a cyclist and attorney from Colorado Springs, Colo., was killed Saturday while bicycling on the MCT Schoolhouse Trail in Pontoon Beach. Tom was attempting to cross Illinois Route 111 when he was struck by a vehicle.

Let’s also remember these people who either died or were injured while bicycling:

• Mike Katz, who died in July 2005 when he was struck from behind while bicycling in Creve Coeur, Mo. In the 1990s, Mike was a regular rider with the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society.
• Phil Smith, who was killed in June 2006 during a cross-country trip led by the Adventure Cycling Association. Phil was killed while bicycling near Davenport Wash. I got to know Phil while on the Cycle North Caroline and the SABBRAW rides that were being serviced by Bubba Pampered Pedalers.
• Gerry Frierdich, who was paralyzed from the chest down when he was struck from behind by a pickup truck in August 2007 while cycling on Green Mount Road in Belleville, Ill. Gerry has experienced many ups and downs on his road to recovery. Gerry was a portrait photographer and often rode with the B.A.B.E.S.

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A Colorado Springs, Colo., bicyclist died Saturday when he was trying to cross Illinois Route 111 on the MCT Schoolhouse Trail in Pontoon Beach, Ill.

The Belleville News-Democrat reported that William Thomas Beltz, 64, of Colorado Springs, Colo., was riding his bike with his wife about 4 p.m. Saturday when he was hit by a vehicle.

A witness said the driver of the vehicle had the green light when Beltz’s bike was struck. The newspaper reported his wife already had safely crossed Illinois 111.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the vehicle’s driver, an 84-year-old St. Louis man, said he saw the first  bicycle but not the second one. Police told the Post-Dispatch no charges were expected, as the  driver had the right of way.

In an follow-up story about this accident and several other fatal accidents that occurred over the weekend, the News-Democrat noted Beltz had worked as an adoption attorney for the past 35 years. He operated a law firm, Beltz & West, in Colorado Springs and Denver with partner Dan West, who told the newspaper that Beltz had completed almost 3,000 adoptions in helping orphaned children find homes.

“He was just a kind and brilliant guy,” West told the News-Demorcat. “He was liked by pretty much everybody.”

Beltz. who was born Feb. 16, 1948, in Detroit, received his law degree in 1973 from Washington University in St. Louis and was the editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly publication (1972-73).

One of Beltz’s friends, John Sabo, told  The (Colorado Springs) Gazette that Beltz and his wife, Mary, were avid cyclists. They had put more than 60,000 miles on cyclings adventures throughout the country.

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“My family has been in the Litchfield area since the 1830s ,so I have a heart for this City,” Andy said. ”Litchfield is planning on building a city museum/Route 66 welcome center and needs help raising $500,000. I considered riding Route 66 sometime in the future because I’m a long- distance bike rider and it goes through my city, so these two thoughts merged into riding the Mother Road now to support the fund-raising effort.”

Andy, a Navy retiree, will start his journey May 6 at the Santa Monica Pier and return to Litchfield on June 3. After a brief stop in Litchfield to take care of city business, he plans to finish the trip June 10 in Chicago.

He’s enlisted help from one of America’s greatest ultramarathon cyclists, two-time Race Across America winner Lon Haldeman — he won the first race in 1982 when it was known as the Great American Bicycle Race and won it again in 1983 — to plot his route.

These days, Lon and his wife, two-time RAAM champion Susan Notorangelo, operate PAC Tour, which puts on a long-distance tours in the United States. Two of the tours are on Route 66, one that takes cyclists from Santa Monica, Calif., to Amarillo, Texas, and the other takes cyclists from Amarillo to Chicago.

Because Adventure Cycling’s Bicycle Route 66 is still under development, Andy turned to Lon for help and he came through in a big way. Lon provided maps and technical information — Did you know there are 314 traffic signals between the Santa Monica Pier and the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, Calif? — that Andy will use to plot his trip.

“Lon has taken a lot of the grief out of  the ride,” Andy said. “There’s still the grief of being on the road and riding through the mountains and the deserts and not being able to call Lon. Lon Haldeman of PAC Tour is helping me immensely.”

Andy will be riding an Easy Racers Gold Rush recumbent on his journey. Years ago, he rode 420 miles on the Pacific Coast Trail on a Trek bicycle, but he since found road bikes cause too much tingling in his hands and lots of neck pain. That’s why he’s on a recumbent.

Accompanying Andy on his will be his wife, Pam. She will be driving a van filled with 30 days worth of supplies and spare parts. River Pilot Tours is helping out with software for his GPS that identifies attractions and stopping points along the way.

Organizers and city officials broke ground today for the Litchfield Museum & Route 66 Museum. When completed, the museum will include pieces of the Central Illinois community’s history with a special emphasis on Route 66. Many of the items for the museum will be donated by the family of Dave Jackson, the former editor of the Litchfield News-Herald, according to an article in the (Springfield, Ill.) State-Journal Register.

The museum will be built at the site of the former Vic Suhling gas station across Route 66 from the landmark Ariston Cafe. The only thing still standing on the gas station site is the “Vic” Suhling Gas for Less sign.

As mentioned earlier, Andy is raising money for the museum. You can download this pledge form (PDF file) and mail it and your donation to the Litchfield Museum & Route 66 Welcome Center, P.O. Box 43, Litchfield, IL 62056. Donations as little as a penny a mile will be accepted.

Andy also would welcome cycling partners along the way. If interested, you can contact him at bentrider4ever@gmail.com.

To read more about Andy, take a look at this statement (PDF file) he sent me.

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Bicyclist shot in St. Louis neighborhood: A 64-year-old man suffered critical injuries about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday during a robbery attempt in the city’s Dutchtown neighborhood. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the man was riding his bike on South Grand Boulevard when a gunman approached him. The victim was shot in the back and arm when he tried to ride away.

Two bicyclists robbed at Washington University: Two Washington University students riding their bikes were robbed at gunpoint Wednesday evening. The Student Life newspaper reported that while the pair were riding on the 6000 block of Pershing Avenue, the robber knocked down one cyclist and stopped another and demanded their backpacks. The crime took place about 11:30 p.m.

Woman charged in crash that killed cyclist: The Post-Dispatch reports that Emily C. Hagan, 30, of Kirkwood, Mo., has been charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of driving  while intoxicated in a crash that killed Samuel Scott while he was biking home from work about 11:20 p.m. Feb. 3 on Delmar Avenue in University City. Police said Hagan had a blood-alcohol level of 0.26 percent, more than three times the legal limit in Missouri. Police said Scott was killed when Hagan’s car rear-ended his bike a block away from his home.

The common thread among these incidents? They took place when it was dark outside.

Be careful out there, folks.

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Ardie Miller Belleville Bicycle Race: The first of the races is the Ardie Miller Belleville Bicycle Race on Sunday, April 29, in downtown Belleville. The St. Louis-based VeloForce club is presenting the race, and the Bike Surgeon bicycle shop is the major sponsor.

Racing begins at 8:25 a.m. and rolls to a climax with the Cat 1/2/3 race at 3:30 p.m. The women’s race is at 11 a.m., and the kids races begin at 1 p.m.

The start-finish line is on West Main Street between First and Second streets. The course includes West Main, First, West A, Sixth, Washington and Third streets.

O’Fallon Grand Prix: The O’Fallon Grand Prix, presented by Metro East Cycling, is the most ambitious of the three metro-east racing events. It’s slated for June 15-17

For the last two years, the Illinois State Road Race Championship has been a part of the O’Fallon Grand Prix. This year, the O’Fallon Grand Prix becomes a stage race.

The event adds a time trial June 15 in addition to the Illinois State Road Race Championship on June 16 and a criterium through downtown O’Fallon on June 17. Full details have not been posted at the website as of this week.

Edwardsville Criterium: The Edwardsville Criterium is slated to be a night race on Saturday, Aug. 18. No other details are available now.

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Yes, I went to the midnight showing of “The Three Stooges” movie, which made its nationwide debut today.

The Farrelly brothers worked for about a decade to get “The Three Stooges” to the big screen. At one time, they had considered actors such as Jim Carrey and Sean Penn, but they wound up with Chris Diamantopoulos (Moe), Sean Hayes (Larry) and Will Sasso (Curly).

They made the right choices. The modern trio did a fine job of resurrecting the slapstick comedy Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard mastered in the 1930s and 1940s. They revised some of the classic routines of the original Stooges, and in some cases, expanded upon them.

The basic plot goes like so: The young Stooges are dumped off at a Catholic orphanage, where they give the nuns — especially Sister Mary-Mengele (Larry David) a hard time. As they “grow up,” they work at the orphanage, only to learn that it will be closed unlees it comes up with $830,000 to pay the bills. From there, the Stooges get caught up in a murder plot and with the cast of “Jersey Shore.” It’s divided into three sections, each with a title, so it feels like you’re watching three episodes of the Stooges.

One truly funny scene was when Moe offers Snooki a gift — a poke in the eyes. “Jersey Shore” haters definitely will love that way Moe treats the reality show cast.

They also put nice twist on a scene inspired by the golfing scenes in “Three Little Beers.” In a hair-brained scheme to raise money for the orphanage, they start a fish farm — on a golf course. Much like the hundreds of golf balls and divots Moe left on the course, hundreds of fish are lying on the fairways.

And, yes, they attempt to ride a triplet bicycle!

The Farrellys, for the most part, avoid the gross-out humor they’re known for in previous movie. The closest thing thing to gross humor involves babies in a hospital nursery.

Now for the weaknesses: The Three Stooges weren’t always known for their plot development, but “The Three Stooges” may have suffered from too much plot development. Some scenes, particularly in the orphanage, seemed to drag.

I also disliked the background music in many of the scenes throughout the movie. The original Stooges shorts were so fast-paced that they generally didn’t need background music.

The original shorts used music as a part of the plot, such as “The Alphabet Song” in the movie “Violent Is the Word for Curly” or the march tune played in many of their shorts. There are a few songs like that in the movie, mostly performed with the help of Jennifer Hudson, who plays orphanage nun Sister Rosemary.

One group definitely doesn’t like the movie. The Catholic League isn’t fond of the “nun bikini” and rosary worn by Sister Bernice (Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kate Upton), and it doesn’t care for Larry David or his character’s name, shared by Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.

“It is a cultural marker of sociological significance, and what it says about the way we’ve changed is not encouraging,” the Catholic League wrote in its article.

All in all, the Farrellys produced a good-hearted homage to The Three Stooges. Despite the flaws — I didn’t laugh out loud too often — it’s worth seeing, especially if you’re a Stooge fan! And, yes, women should watch it, too!

Real movie critics generally are giving the film moderately positive reviews. Here’s a sampling:

• Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers
• Rich Heldenfels, Akron Eagle-Beacon
• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
• Michelle Phillips, Chicago Tribune
• Leslie Gornstein, E! Online
• Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
• Manohla Dargis, New York Times
• Leonard Maltin, IndieWire

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“This ordinance marks an important step in making our city more bike-friendly,” Sly said in a press release. “I hope that convenient bike parking will encourage bike ridership, will promote and encourage healthy lifestyles, and will help to reduce the numbers of vehicles on our roadways.”

Alderman Scott Ogilvie, a bicycle advocate, introduced the bill, which evolved from an idea of the mayor’s Vanguard Cabinet, a group of “engaged young professionals and creatives.”

The requirements of the new bicycle rack law (PDF file) include:

• Each bicycle rack must be able to handle two bicycles.
• Apartment complexes of 12 or more units must have one bike rack per every six units.
• Nonresidential commercial buildings must provide one rack for a building up to 6,000 sqaure feet, two racks for buildings from 6,001 to 10,000 square feet and one additional rack for each additional 10,000 square feet.
• Industrial buildings, hotels and motels with 21 to 50 employees must have one bike rack, and larger businesses must have one bike rack for every 50 employees.
• Funeral homes, auto repair shops and car washes are exempt from the bike rack requirements.

The press release also touted the mayor’s efforts to make St. Louis more bike-friendly. Two years ago, he signed the Complete Streets bill, which requires the city to consider all types of transportation (including transit, pedestrians, and cyclists) in the design, construction, and maintenance of public transportation projects, improvements, and facilities. Last year, the city opened the region’s first bicycle commuter station. Recently, the city has been refreshing the markings on its current bicycle and “share the road” lanes. Slay plans to announce an even more comprehensive bike plan in the coming months.

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Being the knuckleheads that they are, they aren’t wearing helmets. That’s too bad because I’m sure something bad is going to happen to them! At least they’re riding on the right side of the road!

It’s good to see the 2012 Stooges carrying on the cycling tradition the original Moe, Larry and Curly established in the 1930s and 1940s in the movies “Men in Black,” “Whoops, I’m an Indian,” “Three Sappy People” and “Three Troubledoers.” Curly also rode an Ingo-bike in the movie “Yes, We Have no Bonanza.”

Not surprisingly, those films were the inspiration for the Tour de Stooges. I invite you to ride your triplet, tandem — or your bicycle built for one — at this year’s event on Saturday, May 5, in Highland, Ill.

In the meantime, I invite you to predict what the Stooges are about to run into in the comments below.

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