I am sure Floyd is the poster boy (if they have those) for Amish parents warning their kids of the danger’s of electricity and other modern tools of the devil. Once you flick that switch using dope is only a matter of time….
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you had a National and no one came? Well if you were at Deer Valley this weekend you would have your answer. Back in the day the Expo was like a public version of Interbike. Now it is little more than a few team trailers and a Cliff Bar booth. Sad really. Outside of the Bush administration it would be hard to find a better example of running a once great institution into the ground.
I think WADA and the UCI are probably the only ones who were surprised by the Danish study that said the EPO test is less reliable than a coin toss. I really don’t know the answer to the doping problem. I know it will never go away but I am not so jaded that I think declaring a pharmaceutical free for all is right either.
I write with wonder about the giants of our sport. They represent an ideal that we all strive for. It is no secret that even Eddy doped. Does that make his achievements any less spectacular? I don’t think so. Doped or not you still have to do the work. You still have to have the desire. You still have to have the engine. Doping does not turn a mule into a thoroughbred. (Ask Joe Papp) I am not condoning doping in any way, shape, or form. To write off the entire sport because of a few, no I am not going to do that either. I know there are clean riders in the Pro Tour. I think the Slipstream model is a great step and the future of cycling. You can ride and win clean and they are proving it.
I think the responsibility to clean up the sport ultimately has to come from the riders themselves. They know who is and who is not clean. They should be putting the pressure on the cheaters to clean the fuck up or get out. If one of my coworkers was stealing from my paycheck you better believe that person would be dealt with and it would not involve a meeting with HR.
For every action there is a reaction. For every Yellow Jersey there is a lantern rouge. A few days ago I posted a link to the Lemmy movie, a movie that will no doubt go down in history as the greatest movie in the history of great movies. Brothers and Sisters I have found the lantern rouge to Lemmy’s Yellow Jersey.
So my first stage race of the year did not happen. I had a small electrical fire at the new Church of The Big Ring World Headquarters (COTBRWHq) on Friday night. No real damage, but instead of humping my butt over a 10,000 ft pass I spent Saturday dealing with electricians and the power company. Good times. I did drive up to watch The Soon to be Mrs Big Ring (TSTBMBR) ride to a fine 7th GC in the 1-2 Womens field.
The NMBS Norba National Series or whatever they are calling it these days is rolling into the 435 this weekend. It has been a long time since I have lined up at a National MTB race. The last time was like ‘98 and Frank Mapel won. Damn I am getting old. Anyway I still have a Semi-Pro license and I will be out there giving it a go. Assuming I survive my race I am looking forward to hauling a cooler full of freshly gotten Wyoming beer up the hill and heckling the Pro men and women. Dehydration, sunburn and beer. A recipe for fun for sure. One year we were up there and future doping poster boy Felip Heinyhog was way off the back (must have been during an off cycle) and someone yelled “Drop the hammer Felip” he replied “I lost de hammer”, funny those dopers.
I was gonna regale you with herioc tales of my weekend racing (not), but since I just learned of the death of George Carlin well, damn. Brother Carlin in my view was perhaps the smartest comdian and social commentator ever. He will be missed.
Lots of racing on tap this weekend. The knobbie tire set will be lining up for a shot a the World Tilte. I think we will see some big rides from the American men, Adam Craig and Todd Wells have been knocking on the door all spring. This would be a good time to kick it in.
Did anyone catch the move Cancellara pulled over at the Tour de Suisse? That is some horse power. I think I would have a hard time following him on my DR650 in the final K of a race.
Look for a good ride from Brother Swindlehurst at the TOur de Nez and Cascade next weekend. Not that it is saying much but he made the entire 1-2 field look like school kids in a local crit last week. Dude is going well.
As for me and the Mrs. we were going to make the drive to Elkhorn but my work is not co-operating so we are staying local to do the High Uintas Classic. The RR is 80 miles and tops out at 10,400 feet. Forecast is for a high of 97 tomorrow. FYI, The Rev is 6′7″ and 195lbs, pray for me.
What ever your 2 wheeled plans are for the weekend be safe and may the wind be at your back.
Brothers and Sisters it is time we rise up and fight against the dark overlords that are online registration companies. I just recieved an unlubricated fisting in the form of a $5.50 “processing fee” from Active.com. I understand that race promotion is a for profit business. I am told that websites can make money. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is these online registration sites that blatently rub my nose in the profit they are making on my transaction. If I were a race promoter and I was going to use one of these companies I would make sure the “processing fee” is built in to the cost of registration. Nothing makes my blood boil more than entering all my info for a race and finding out on the payment page that I am now going to be charged and additional fee to use a service that I had no choice in using in the first place.
I know I don’t have to race it is a luxury that thankfully I can afford. Seriously Mr. Race Registration Site Owner (MRRSO) just put the “processing fee” in the total race cost up front. Dont stoop to the level of ticket brokers who tack on a “convenience” fee, or the bank ATM fees for accessing MY F’ing money. They way it is I usually will just pay a late fee to register day of. In some cases the late fee is less then online . At least then I can understand why I am being charged more.
We had our state RR this weekend. Even with the low miles in my legs I still hoped I could pull out the win. That dream came to an end on the final climb. I popped like Levi and found myself alone just off the back of the lead group with 3 miles of nasty crosswind to the finish. Sweet. I got back on with about a K to go, that was basically my finish line. When the sprint started I tried to go and both legs cramped. Sometimes you are the hammer, sometimes the nail.
Pretty much on the meat of the season now. Now is when all the hours in the snow and cold start paying the dividends. Or when you swear to yourself that next year you are really gonna get after it next season(even if it means riding a trainer!). Either way arm warmers are replaced with sunscreen and the race calendar is full. Good times.
Me, I am in the racing myself into shape mode with an eye on ‘cross season. Hard to believe that in 3 months it will be ‘cross season once again. I am counting the days. For now though I will be working on my farmer tan.
Soon to be Mrs. Big Ring made my feeble racing attempts look well, feeble. On Sat she jumped in a 50 degree lake at 6am the air temp coming out was 38 degrees! About 2 hours later she crossed the line as the 6th place Elite woman at the BAM Triathlon. Since that apparently was not hard enough she raced the BAM Off Road Duathlon the next day. Another retardedly early start time (what is it with these multi-sport people?) and a much smaller field. 2 hours later she crossed the line 1st as in the first damn person male or female across the line. Winning the race Big Ring, the entire mens field getting “girled”, priceless.
Here is proof that not all Scandinavians are black metal (or nordic skiers with 3% body fat):
So I know I came down pretty hard on Brother Boonen yesterday. Flahute has shared some good insights on the subject and it made me think why I got so upset. To put it simply drugs suck. I have seen too many talented people destroy themselves and everyone around them with drugs. Simple experimentation is one thing. I can’t tell you not to do something and expect you to listen. Everyone needs to decide for themselves what is appropriate for them. I have never done anything stronger than a Chimay as for me it seemed there was a lot more downside than upside (can you tell I work in the stock market?). For others they need to try it and see for themselves. Nothing wrong with that. It just seems Brother Boonen did not do a very careful risk reward study before pulling the trigger.
I am happy to see he is taking it like the man I have always hoped he is. To the surprise of no one the snail eaters at A Tour of France have banned him from the race. Nice move Frenchy. Only in France could a convicted drug cheat, liar and garden variety douche like Richard Virenque be considered a hero. If the ASO had any balls at all, they would strip that jack ass of the climber jersey’s he stole before his drug conviction. Brother Boonen, I hope you can find what you are looking for.
How about Georgie boy? Somehow I missed that yesterday. To be honest after I read the Boonen headline I stopped reading all cycling pages. Like I said over reaction. Anyway good to see Big George win something.
I am sure most of you know by now the troubles of Brother Boonen. I don’t even know where to begin on this one. It is hard for me to have much sympathy for something so stupid. Here you have a guy who gets paid, alot, to ride his bike. All he has to do when he wakes up every morning is get up and make his body and mind better, stronger, faster. I read his interview in the April issue of Cycle Sport and he came off as a big of a whiner. Complaining of the price of fame, pressure etc. Cry me a river Tom. Do you have any idea how many cube jockeys would trade places with you quicker than Hillary flips on an issue? I know walk a mile in another mans shoes right? Well no one is forcing Tom to sign his mutli million dollar contracts. If it is that bad just quit.
Brother Boonen you are off track. I hope you use this as a wake up call and can turn things around. We all make mistakes, I have a luandry list of them. To forgive is divine, but that forgiveness has to be earned.
