Aye-Caramba

Mayo too? I guess the "return to form" was too good to be true.

More training, less doping.



All quiet on the Oregon front.

son of a ...

Ras-moo-sen fired and pulled from the tour. Rabobank had to have more dirt on him than just "he lied about his wherabouts". When you have a tour win locked up, it takes an impending positive dope test to yank the yellow jersey out and fire him. What are they not sharing?

I bought a ticket to France today. At this rate, they are going to need some volunteers to ride into Paris and finish this Tour. This could be my big break... I'll see you on the Champs Elysees.

must be the wine

Am I drunk? Or all this shit really happening at the tour? Let's recap:

- Vino positive for blood transfusion
- Rasmussen in yellow, under a cloud
- Contador in white and 2nd, operation Puerto anyone?
- All Astana out, including 5th place Kloeden
- Sinkewitz already positive for testosterone, after having crashed out of the race

That's a bellyfull. I must have been drunk at 11am this morning when I read that shit. Man, I need to knock off the booze.

Seriously, tho. Cycling is messed up.

Or is it?

Think about it. If you've ever read "Rough Ride", "Breaking the Chain", or any of a half dozen books about cycling, or read the sports news at all in the last, oh, 20 years, you'll know drugs are around. Barry Bonds? How about the massive increase in NFL player's average weight and neck size while simultaneously lowering the 40yard sprint times drastically?

Come on.

The difference now is, people are getting caught. So the question is, what is everyone outraged at? That they cheated? Or that they got caught? I will argue that Vino testing positive is a good thing. He was likely cheating all along. He got busted. Good. Boot him out. Sinkin'wits the same. There were almost 200 riders starting the tour. Were 1% or more on drugs? 1% just got busted. Out of how many tests? 40? Good. The system is working.

Yes, it sucks to get the bad press for this sport. But, sponsors really need to realize that the outrage isn't that these guys got caught, but that they dared cheat to begin with, and that they weren't caught earlier. Kick them out. Give the rest a fair chance - and test like hell.

The whole process is still a stinking mess, but shit, at least something is getting done.

I will watch the tour tomorrow like always, glad that those guys got caught, glad that the race is a wee bit more fair, more ethical, and glad that the rest of the riders get a shot.

Evans just won the 1rst TT. Go Cadel.

hometown throwdown

For the first time in about three years I wasn't racing a tandem at the co-motion crit, so I did the singles race. Single bike, that is. This year it's at the 'ol Tuesday night Greenhill crit course, instead of Creswell. Hometown advantage, right there.

So, of course, I attacked from the gun. From the line, actually. Technically, from about ten feet before the line.

Nick got on my wheel, I drilled it for a while, he drilled it for a while, we had a gap, and a couple laps later Mark and Greg came up and the four of us went around and lapped the pack in 16 laps out of 40. Don't mess with the boys from Eugene on our hometown course. Flat and windy, we know how to ride that.

We screwed around a bit for the next 20 odd laps, then it went a little faster, I went off at about 600m to go, it was too early, guys came around including Nick and Greg and I got 3rd. So it goes. There were more people off the front at that point so it was fun watching everyone else sprint for 8th.


The K-man was there but without the helmet cam. I am sad. He would have caught the booger on Greg's butt. Instead, there is only this to watch.

You are welcome.

some folks are born, made to wear the flag...

oooo, that red white and blue.

generation chickenhawk


well shit. it's thursday night, i've got a glass of cognac chasing dinner and i only just realized that chef tony has been pitching his miracle blade and rock'n'chop at me for about two minutes. it's time to either turn off the boob tube or put this glass down. unlikely that i will do either.

the wind came out of my sails after sunday. with the season's goals over and done, i don't really feel much urge to keep going. the season won't end for me for a while - but a wee bit of a rest sounds really good. we've had a few days of rain and cool weather this week and the fixed gears and cross bikes looked really good. in fact, i had no desire to ride my road bike whatsoever. it's up in the stand waiting for a headset tune up. it's mid july - and i've been in full-on fall season mode (i.e. don't give a crap, anything but road riding).

the spark will return. probably right after this next glass.

cascade redux

stage 1, TT: 9th
stage 2, crit: ? pack finish
stage 3, RR: 4th (finish up at sunrise lodge, mt bachelor, group of 15, 1 off the front)
stage 4, RR: 6th (circuit race @ tumalo state park, tough course, short climbs, pack sprint ~35 guys)
final GC: 7th.

so, according to the OBRA upgrade rules:
stage 3 = 5pts
stage 4 = 3pts
gc finish = 9pts

cascade: 17pts. elkhorn: 10pts. aquired from previous races: 12pts. my total: 39pts
required to upgrade from cat 3 to cat 2: 25pts (surpased on the basis on elkhorn and cascade alone)

the state TT will be my last cat 3 race. then, i get to be pack fodder once more. sweet.

i think it also means i can drink beer and start looking at my cross bike or my mountain bike, or my running shoes, or my fishing pole, or just about anything other than my damn road bike. season's goals - done. and so am i.

cascade classic

I am wiped. It's hot out here in Bend.

I got 9th in the TT and sat in during the crit. I made the lead group today with 1 guy off the front - and attacked with 600m to go for 4th. I am exaughsted. A good night sleep and tomorrow's circuit race are all that are left.

More later

...

The tour just got a whole lot more interesting. Vino lost gobs of time (by Tour standards). You know what this means? The good 'ol hyper-agressive Vino we all know and love will be back in the mountains trying to gain it all back. Assuming he isn't too hurt and can stick it out. But Kloeden cracking his coccyx (ass-bone?) on top of the Wino's time loss may not bode well for my Astana 1-2 predictions.

Cascade starts tomorrow for me. I'll have a pretty good idea of how I stand after the TT, and the GC will be sealed after the first road stage. Ready? Don't know yet. I'll know tomorrow morning. This race should be a lot harder than Elkhorn. I fully expect to be on my limits on the climbs. Hopefully those limits are high enough that I can hang... .

Mo' Money.

Salem circuit race was pretty cool. A short hill with a quick rolling part at the top, right turn to a short descent to another right turn, flat tailwind section to the line. 1.9 miles, suits me to a T. Which is why I put the pressure on the first time up the hill (50min + 1 lap, ended up being 12 laps), and then attacked a short ways up it the second time. I got the prime for that lap, solo, then had Hulick bridge up and we got another prime, and some distance, dropped him after a few laps while a teammate of his and Mr. Hill (of Cherry Pie fame) came along, and we went the distance. I sucked the sprint to 2nd. Quite OK - but the $65 total was kind of nice. Considering how close to home it was, hey, it's a nice bonus. I think I'm buying Sushi with it tonight.

Tomorrow's tour stage: I don't think a break will stick. And since McEwen took a tumble, I think that opens up for Boonen to rock the stage. If I had to guess the rest of the podium, I'd put Hushovd 2nd, Zabel 3rd.

predictions

Pappa Kev-O and I have a running list of predictions going for the tour. I predicted Cancellara in the Prologue yesterday, while he called out Zabriskie - so now that I'm up 1-0 on him, here's a list of our respective predictions.

Pappa Kev-O says:


Prologue to Zabriskie
Stage 1 to Boonen
Jens Voigt gets a stage
Chris Horner gets swept up in the last 2k at least once, probably 2-3 times
Frenchman wears yellow: Sandy Casar's day has come

and for the overall:

Vino top 5 but off the podium due to agressive riding and blowing up
Kloeden's race to lose
Frank Schleck in the top 10
Boonen in Green
Rassmussen in Polka Dots
Levi in the hunt, but has a breakdown (mental or physical) and ends top 15, not top 5
Karpets a dark horse



G says:

Zabriskie gets 2nd in both TTs (maybe win the last one), but Cancellara will win the Prologue and the first TT.
Freire takes a stage early then retires due to his cyst
Hincapie doesn't do squat - he gets in a couple breaks then loses.
Jens Voigt rules a breakaway stage
Horner comes close twice
Two Italians get busted for doping
A Frenchman wins on the 14th of July
No Frenchman in top 10 on GC
Boonen gets 3 stages
McEwen gets 2 stages


overall:

1. Koeden, 2. Vino, 3. Evans, 4. Valverde, 5. Schleck.
Moreau wears yellow for a few days, then wears Polka Dots until he blow up and finishes in 15-20th on GC
Frank Schleck in the top 10 for sure, I put money on the top 5 tho.
Levi out of the top 5. I say better than 10th, but barely.
Zabriskie top 15
Boonen in Green
Pereiro won't even be close to being a factor

le grand depart

it's on. the year's greatest, most prestigious, most dramatic, longest sporting event starts at the crack of dawn tomorrow (west coast time). there's been drugs, trials, bizzare and sick behavior by the uci (fat guys who dont ride any more), the team managers (fat guys who use to dope) and the riders (skinny guys who may or may not dope), and all sorts of wild and crazy shite. but you know what? it's the tour. it's a spectacle. its entertainment. it's guys with more talent than i could dream of riding their asses off. it's what i pictutre when i attack a cat 3 race 50k from the finish on a big-ass hill into a headwind. and i will keep coming back. let the shit fly and the drama unwind after the damn race, but tomorrow morning, i will be up with a big mug of coffee, some breakfast, and a fat-ass grin.

it's july. it's le tour. it's on.

rock and roll, bitches.

paris and larry

Oh good lord, she's on Larry King.
"Why did you decide to come on this show"
"Cause, uh, I really like and respect you... I respect what you do..."
...
Then she describes lunches, visitor hours, the orange jumpsuit she wore, and the inmate bonding experience, showers... well, almost. It would be worth the pain if she did that.

You would think jail was a brand new invention, to listen to this crap.

Maybe next she'll get interviewed while she learns to wipe her butt.

"So tell me, was it a slow learning curve or did you pick it up really quick?"
"Well, I made a mess at first, but then I figured where my asshole was and that I needed to wipe there, like, uh, right over it, not just around it."
"How long does it take you to wipe your ass?"
"At first it look a long time, like, uh, almost an hour, and even then it wasn't totally, like, perfect, but now it's like less than a few minutes."


Terrible.


In other news, the state RR went alright. A massive break went the first time up Briggs hill, when all the pro's sprinted from the bottom all the way up. After that, it pretty much settled out, and after 3 laps there were a series of stragglers up in no-man's land trying to get something away, and the big break 12 minutes up the road. Right after the start of lap 4 (of 5), I attacked at the top of welder's hill, and after a few minutes bridged up to three guys up the road, we began catching people and soon there were 7 of us working well, rolling away, riding hard. We had, I would guess, 2-3 minutes on the pack at one point. Then Rubicon decided to pull it back and we got caught right at the base of Briggs for the last time up, 6 miles or less from the end. The writing was all over the wall and my race was done, so I pretty much pulled the plug, there wasn't a lot. Cruised in for a slow finish. Right at the 1k mark my left calf siezed up in a massive cramp, so I did a few hundred meters pedalling with my right leg only, then stretched it enough that I could cross the line.

Good times. I felt strong. Raced my bike. And it was much more interesting that sitting around waiting to sprint for middle of the pack.