It's a rest week for me, and with the weather, it's a trainer week too. So I have nothing original to say, other than my Kurt Kinetic Rock & Roll has met, and is actively exceeding, every expectation.
I have something unoriginal to say - ESPN's coverage of Team Slipstream is pretty damn good, if you ask me. The one salient point ESPN doesn't make is that cycling is a "dirty" sport only because cycling started to give a shit about doping a lot earlier than some other sports. Based on Fehr's & Selig's testimony this week, some major sports still don't really give a shit about doping, unless it is likely to screw up their business operations. Cycling, in contrast, is screwing up its business operations because it is at least trying to care about doping. That's a good thing.
The main article is here. If you didn't already like Jonathan Vaughters and David Millar and Dave Zabriskie, this article will help you do so. There's a good interview with Vaughters here, in which he says something I totally agree with, which is basically that you need to forgive and forget a lot of the doping and cheating that went on, just get over it, but insist on clean riding going forward. I agree with him in part because it's a practical stance, partly because it is a stance that could bring the warring factions together, and partly because the spectacle of journalists and politicians and (likely equally dirty but un-caught) cyclists leading witchunts over years-old cheating offenses is nauseating. Team owner and visionary Doug Ellis is profiled here. Yeah, I'd love to work for a guy like that. He gives a crap, backs up his mouth with his money, and is attempting to build a business model that I'd describe as noble. Finally, there are some good pictures of the team in action here.
If you're going to root for a team, to find a pro team to believe in, Slipstream is the one that probably won't let you down. In addition to their rigorous, transparent anti-doping regime, they are also packed with some of the most enjoyable guys to follow in the pro peloton. Magnus Backstedt, Zabriskie, the talented Tom Danielson and Christian VandeVelde, the burgeoning young classics specialist Tyler Farrar, popular hard man Danny Pate, and several others worth watching. I know I'll be pulling for them this year, and given that the weight of several national governments is falling on dopers, I wouldn't be shocked to see Slipstream get some good results.
Okay, enough serious crap. Here's your moment of zen. Be all you can be, babies. Be all you can be.
6 comments:
For a second I thought that was Dave Z in that video.
So, they are still drinking out of ceramic vases/jugs.
I was hoping they were going to run over the guy's BMW at the end.
whassup with that new pic on the blog?
James & Scott - if I'd known that joining the Ukrainian Army was the secret to pulling 3-4 slightly trampy but hot east bloc girls at a time, I'd have done it years ago. Y'know, when there was an east bloc.
Judi, that's a picture of Jens Freakin' Voigt . I'd say he's a cycling hard man, but that would put him in a class with mere mortals. He's *way* beyond just being a tough racer. Jens is *very* tough. Even his tears cure cancer. Too bad he never cries. When Jens goes hunting, he never has to pull the trigger. Deer, lions and bear just fall down to avoid what would inevitably come next. Yeah, rain falls on Jens... but only in a *very* respectful way.
Seriously - some riders occasionally reach into their Suitcase of Courage during a race; Jens carries his clothes, a bunch of Gu packets, a spare bike and Carlos Sastre inside of his.
Ask your BF to explain Jens to you.
Thanks for the cycling lesson Jim!
:)
I think you should have your own pic up.
He's up there for inspiration Judi. If I could ride like any pro cyclist in the world, I would want to ride like Jens. He's relentless, strong, wily, and capable of tearing apart the peloton single handedly when his team needs him to. He's also a fair supported rider in his own right, when CSC is willing to let him win a race here or there - like the Tour of Germany, for instance. He's past his prime, but probably could have pulled off a grand tour at some point, if it wasn't too climb-y of one, and if his team had wanted him to. He settles instead for being a Super Domestique, like Hincapie but with somewhat better palmares.
Post a Comment