The Ted King debate

Listen, I like Ted King.  I think he's a genuine, really nice guy.  He does a lot for his community, and he seems like he'd be cool to ride next to.

Now, on to the debate...

He crashed and separated his shoulder.  It happens.  It IS the Tour after all.
He then missed the time cut in the TTT yesterday...by SEVEN seconds.  He was eliminated, as he should have been.
The whinging began in a big, bad way.  The cries of "Let Ted Ride" could be heard all over the intarwebs...

Now...let me play Devil's Advocate...

1) He missed the cut.  People are complaining that the ASO assigned him an arbitrary time.  Yeah, well...maybe.  You know why?
He had NO timing chip on his bike.  Instead of riding his Slice TT bike, he was on a standard road unit with clip-ons.  The claim that it was a 'last-second decision' is BS.  If the team had time to discuss options, then install aerobars and aero wheels, they had 45 seconds to clip the zip-ties that held the chip on the TT bike, and re-install the chip on the road bike.  It takes NO time.
Blame the team...

2) There's a lot of conjecture about the time itself.  Ted King's SRM data says one thing, and the ASO says another. 
Well, when he finished, he said his time was "31 and change", but it was really well over 32 minutes.  And regardless of what ANT+ head on is using, the timer can be started and stopped.  I'm not calling Ted a cheater, nor a liar, but if one cannot trust the ASO's timing, can one really trust the rider?
Blame here is a push.  Everyone screwed up.

3) Cannondale has NO GC contender.  If Ted King being in the race mattered so much to them, they could have sent a couple of guys back with TK, and done a mini-TTT to assure that he got over the line within the time cut. 
What the big difference if a couple of guys finish 83rd, or 103rd in GC at the end of the Tour?
Blame the team...

4) 7 SECONDS...it's ONLY 7 seconds...is the cry.  They should let him ride! 
Well...NOPE!  Rules are rules.  If they let him back in for a 7 second miss, the next guy will whinge about 11 seconds, then 30 seconds, then the next thing you know, time cuts are eliminated, and guys are spread out all over France. 
The same people are complaining that the Tour needs to move away for their old M.O.  Well, it seems they are in this case, but ACTUALLY FOLLOWING THE DAMN RULES!!!

5) They should let him ride because he's a nice guy, and he's riding hurt, and he's everything that cycling should embody.  Blah...blah...blah...because no one has EVER ridden the Tour injured, right?  Geraint Thomas of Sky is riding with a cracked pelvis.  He went Rule 5 yesterday, and never got put out the back of his TTT.
This is the same attitude that lead to everyone getting a trophy in Pee-Wee soccer.

And here are two good conspiracy theory-esque things I've heard this morning...

--That idiot Dave Towle said they should let King ride, and the riders should make it "a line in the sand" about riding dope-free.  What?  WHAT?  Apples and oranges must look the same to Towle...
---Someone of FB said it was anti-American by the ASO, and if the rider was French, we wouldn't be having this discussion.  How long until Lance gets blamed?  Oh, you wait...

6) Yesterday, people pointed out that Paul Sherwen lost 23 minutes in 1985, but was allowed to continue.
He crashed in the FIRST km, and was forced to ride ALONE for 6 hours, over SIX mountain passes. 
Sounds like the same thing as what Ted King did yesterday, huh?  Not really...

And as Ford and I talked about last night, so what if they re-instate TK?  His shoulder is jacked.  If he can't lean on the bars in a TT, he isn't going to fare well when the road tips up.  Forget standing to climb...ain't gonna happen...

Hey, listen, I'm no expert in any of this, except ONE, singular part.  The shoulder. 
I crashed in 1998...hard.  I destroyed my left shoulder.  I have a plate on my collarbone to this day.  I'll let you feel the screws...just ask.
When I crashed, I also completely separated the AC joint...just like Ted King.  They couldn't fix it at the time b/c of the collarbone, as they were worried it wouldn't heal correctly.
To this day, it still hasn't been corrected.  My shoulder/AC joint is now bone on bone, and slides out with increasing regularity.  Yeah, it DOES hurt like hell sometimes. 
So when you say, "How the F does he know what physical pain Ted King is going through?", trust me, I KNOW!!

Let it go people...(you won't...)

OK...end Rant...

Ford, Bristol and I had a nice spin last night...in the rain.  80 and raining is actually pretty pleasant weather to ride in.  Sure, we were wet and dirty, but it was relatively comfortable.
2 hours fell under wheels quickly...

Have a good hump day...