07 September 2012

Another week done...thankfully...

So, as we all know, Tyler Hamilton's book came out this week.  It details, in his words, the doping practices that he was a part of, and claims that Lance was the criminal mastermind of the entire operation.  Somehow, the picture of Lance in a bald cap, and a grey Nehru jacket is amusing.

I haven't read the book yet, but I'm sure it has SOME truth within it's pages.  And as Forrest Gump once said, "That's all I'm going to say about that..."!

The really interesting part of the doping conversation this week was the fact that Jonathan Vaughters seems to have lost his fucking mind.  He took to an internet cycling forum, under an alias, and basically outed some really big players on Garmin for being dopers in the past.
VandeVelde, Zabriskie, Danielson...under the bus...
Now, if you've followed cycling for more than 5 years, which seems to be the cutoff these days, it's no surprise that all of these guys doped in the past.
VdV and DZ were on USPS after all...
DZ's 161km solo break in the 04 Vuelta?  Do we need to mention that he rode the 165km stage in 4:05?  Yeah, he averaged 40kmh for 4 hours.  Drugs?  What drugs?
And Danielson went from finishing 3rd at Collegiate MTB nationals (our buddy Jed Schneider was 2nd that day), to racing in Europe 18 months later.  Sure, that happens...
We all know that TommyD is a bit fragile, but Vaughters called him out for being mentally weak.  Sort of a roundabout way of calling him a pussy...
If I were these three guys, there would be a serious, mafia-style sit-down with the ascot wearing one.  That''s just bad form on the part of a team director, especially when one takes into consideration that...
A) It's all in the past...
B) It makes the black eye that cycling has right now seem like the eye itself is placed squarely in the middle of the face.
I'm betting prospective sponsors are just chomping at the bit to spend money on cycling right now...

Have you noticed that only crickets can be heard coming from the big, Europe-based teams?  

As an aside, Vaughters really shouldn't be calling anyone out for not being mentally hard.  IIRC, he quit the Tour because his eye was swollen from a bee sting.  Sure, the Docs refused him a cortisone shot, but two Benadryl and a few hours would have knocked it down.  He would have been fine before the next stage.  He quit in a huff b/c Legeay and the Tour Doc wouldn't give him a TUE.  Call the waaaah-m-bulance...

Yes, she is holding the bottle with the proper technique.  Suddenly, the feedzone became more interesting...

Good ride last night, albeit a bit thick in the air department.  A bit like riding through soup.  Not a cream-based soup, but maybe something like Italian Wedding.  The group was big, and jovial.  The ride seemed pretty quick, but as I have done away with any sort of computer on my road bike, I have no idea.  I do know that I took some hard pulls, chased a few gaps, and pulled the group the entire way up (and down) Glenn, so I'm satisfied.  And to be honest, that's all I need in a bike ride at this point.
Nearly 400km in the last week...
Fatigued, but actually feeling okay on the bike.  I changed my fit a bit (about 2.5mm worth), and it seems to have taken. 

Saturday : 0900  at the fountain in front of the Colonial Center
Sunday : 0900  Corner of Laurens and Greene (not as long as last week!)

Everyone enjoy your weekend.  Come on out and ride!  You may enjoy it...

Peace and Anti-seize grease!



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