While seeing the United States women's soccer team collapse, giving up the lead twice and losing spectacularly via penalty kicks yesterday to Japan, was painful as a soccer fan and someone who spent quite a bit of time watching the team play throughout the tournament, it's almost like this one chubby kid celebrating with the Truffle Shuffle after the first US goal knew I would need to have one positive memory from the game.

Thanks, little dude. I owe you.

• Michael McKisson/TucsonVelo.com

Could bicycling contribute $500 million to local economy? One bike advocate is almost convinced it does and he is helping organize a economic impact study to find out for sure. See how much the study will cost and when it will be done.

Over at Tucson Velo, we added two more bikes to our stable, but it got us thinking. When do you have too many bikes? What do you think?

Construction on Tyndall Avenue, could help the route become an important connection to the University of Arizona, but it needs one thing. Money. Check out how it would improve getting to the UA.

A local endurance drink company closes up shop. Read the story to find out why.

After the last minute goal and victory on penalty kicks against Brazil, today's 3-1 win over France was almost a calm affair, but still that's enough to move on to play either Sweden or Japan in the Women's World Cup final on Sunday in Frankfurt. Lauren Cheney scored first before the French evened the score, largely dominating the first half. Abby Wambach headed in a goal in the 79th minute to take the lead and then Alex Morgan sealed the game three minutes later. This will be the Americans' third final appearance, winning the title in 1991 and 1999.

Most things in life would be better if called by excitable NCAA basketball announcer Gus Johnson was providing play-by-play, but it could be argued that this one great soccer moment — a goal scored in the very last moments of extra time, after a series of bogus calls by the referee, leading the American women to play a person done for an hour — might have been exciting enough on its own.

The US Women play again on Wednesday against France. The game won't likely be as exciting as the game against Brazil, but it'll still be worth watching (streaming on espn3.com, for people with jobs) for anyone who loves sports.

• Michael McKisson/TucsonVelo.com
• Now the Rillito and Santa Cruz paths connect under the railraod tracks and Interstate 10.

Plans to build a velodrome — a bicycle race track — in Tucson have been being kicked around for years, but the plans don't ever seem to go anywhere. The track is slated for money in the next bond election, trouble is, the election keeps getting delayed and people fear our enemies to the north might build one first. Read more about it and find out what other bikey projects are being delayed by the bond election.

According to the organizers, Tucson's first summer bike camp for kids goes great. One camper went from not being able to ride on Monday to heading out on an eight-mile jaunt on Friday. Learn more about the camp, which has a second session starting Monday.

• Samantha Sais

The Tucson Padres are on a hot streak! They've won eight in a row and return to Tucson tonight for a game that will be followed by one of the few (legal) fireworks shows in town this year. The team's Facebook page reports that there are still tickets available, so what are you waiting for? Baseball and fireworks are two great ways to celebrate Independence Day.

More details on the Padres here.

Here's a summary from last night's game from the Padres' Tim Hagerty:

The Tucson Padres beat Sacramento 7-2 Sunday and have now won eight consecutive games. With the victory, the Padres evened their record at 42-42 and have as many wins as losses for the first time since May 1, when their record was 12-12. The Padres have made up substantial ground in the standings in the past week, six games in six days, and now sit 8.5 games back in the South Division.

The Padres fell behind 2-0 in the second inning Sunday but marched right back on a three-run home run by Kyle Blanks in the top of third. Blanks walloped River Cats pitching in the series, going 9-for-18 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. His 20-game hitting streak is the third longest in the Pacific Coast League this season. The Padres would never relinquish the lead after Blanks’ home run, adding insurance runs in the fifth, seventh and ninth innings.

Tucson starter Matt Buschmann pitched seven innings Sunday and allowed just two runs. Luke Gregerson pitched much better in his second injury rehab outing than he did in his first on Friday. After surrendering three runs in his last appearance, Gregerson retired Sacramento in order in the eighth inning, striking out two hitters.

• Michael McKisson/TucsonVelo.com
• A rider performs a trick at Barrio Trails, which will be demolished soon.

Want to watch the Tour de France, but don't have cable? Here's how you can keep up with all the action in Tucson. One option involves delicious French breakfast foods. Check it out.

A Tucson planner takes a trip to "mothership" Portland and reports about what she saw. Read why Portland is great for bikes and what Tucson needs to do to catch up.

A local bike racer crashed last weekend and because he doesn't have health insurance, he resorted to online fundraising to pay for his surgery. See how much he has raised so far.

The Trolley Pub, a "party on wheels" launched last weekend. Check it out Tucson's newest whip.

While CM Punk won't be there tonight (he isn't part of the Smackdown brand that's taping tonight at the Convention Center, plus he's ostensibly suspended or fired or something), I would like to thank the WWE for this moment on Monday night's Raw, nearly drawing me back into watching the show and giving a writer for the newish sports/pop culture site Grantland a reason to write over a thousand words about six minutes of television wrestling.

Enjoy our site, wrestlers and production crew! Ask Vince to bring back Goldust.

The Pro Bowling Association announced their 2011-2012 schedule today, and while it includes stops in Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Tucson is still notably absent, as it has been since 2004, even though it seems like anyone in their right mind would rather be here than Allen Park, Michigan in early February.

It's obvious that professional bowling doesn't bring in the same economic windfall as spring training or some of the other sports enterprises that have made their way through town, but Tucson had a pretty rich tradition with the PBA, so even though the tour itself has cut way back on the number of stops, it would be nice to see the world's finest bowlers come back to town. Plus, the younger players on the tour seem to be a little crankier than their staid predecessors:

• The southside of the Rillito at Mountain Avenue is closed for construction.

A Tucson businessman combines his love of trees and bikes. Find out how The Pedaling Arborist uses his bike.

The Bicycle Belles, a new group in Tucson, hope to get more women riding bicycles by hosting rides and educational events. See what they have planned.

A Tucson frame builder patents a system that allows cyclists to take apart their bikes for traveling. Learn how he is hoping to use it to make a big impact in the bike business.

A Tucsonan is racing his mountain bike from Canada to Mexico and you can instantly track where he is at and how he is doing. Check it out.