Floyd Landis and Beer

I just got back from the Town Hall/Auction/presentation/autograph session/beerfest that was put on by the Floyd Fairness Fund. It was a great event and I think it allowed for Floyd to make his case in a clear and direct fashion. He's doing exactly what he needs to to clear his name, and I applaud him for it.



The event was put on at the Brooklyn Brewery , home to many a fine beer. The taps were open and a-flowin' for this event, which made it all the better.

When Floyd came in, the place erupted. obviously this place was filled with more supporters than skeptics. And that's fine- this event was meant to allow people to 1) Be properly informed, and 2) ask him questions.

One of the people in the crowd Asked Floyd to look him in the eye and tell him that he never used performance enhancing drugs. Point blank, in front of all those cameras.

Floyd did just that. without hesitation. This was him as his most genuine- there wasn't any legal-ese or any run around questions. He looked everyone straight in the eye and told them what he believes to be the truth.



Arnie Baker gave a great presentation on the various flaws the regulators and powers-that-be had made in taking on Floyd. I won't bore you with the details- you should read it, and it can be found on Floyd's site. That presentation gives enough scientific, empirical, and logical arguments that should satisfy even the most jaded skeptic. However, it's up to you (the jaded Internet troller) to read it. It's obvious that we can no longer look to the media for objectivity in cases like this, where sensationalism is what sells.

It's obvious that the doping-related accusations and scandals in that past year have turned many a starry-eyed aspiring bike racer into jaded and dismissive elitists. It's a defense mechanism. If you just brush off any great rider in cycling by saying he/she probably dopes, it prevents you from hoping for the person- from believing in them. It's not surprising, but it's still sad.

Yes, sometimes cyclists have doped. However, to believe all or most of them do is to adopt an attitude that is destructive to the very sport that we love and believe in.



Afterwards there was an auction and an autograph session. I had designed some "Free Floyd" T-shirts on my own (inspired by the "Free Wynona" T-shirts that were made when she was caught shoplifting). I gave one to Floyd, who seemed to like it- i think told him where I got the inspiration from.

"Oh, great. That's exactly who I want to be associated with- Shoplifting celebrities!"

I got him to sign an extra I had, shook his hand, and told him thanks for everything. He then asked how in the hell I ride up here when it's this cold. I said I don't! That's what a trainer and rollers are for (even though I'm starting to get some serious cabin fever).



All in all, a great night. It was great to see, hear, and converse with a fantastic athlete and a great guy, and I'm sure that more than a few skeptics had their questions answered.

There's no doubt in my mind that Floyd will have this case overturned. At least that's where my hopes will lie. Maybe we all need to take a chance and believe in someone again. And I think Floyd's our man.

Bike Porn- 1st Edition: Me! Me! Me!

I figure that since it's my god-damned blog, and that makes me self-centered and narcissistic by default, it shouldn't be a problem to feature one of my bikes as a Bike porn contestant.

So, Ladies and gentleman, cyclists and Internet stalkers, friends and enemies, I present to you: my Fondriest Domino Plus.



This bike is the current love of my life. I bought all the parts up and had it built.

My previous bike was a Fondriest Don racer U107 ultralight. The frame on that bad boy weighed 1050 gr. AND 'twas the same frame used by Gilberto Simoni when he won the 1st stage of the 2002 TdF. (a little trivia for ya). it was a light, beautiful climbing bike, decked out in ultegra, some carbon bars, and a lovely set of used Mavic Ksyrium SL's. a beauty in it's own right.

I had ridden that bike pretty hard and it was starting to show its age. Actually, that's a dirty lie. the bike was riding fine. I was just looking for any excuse to buy a new bike! YOU ALL DO IT! Don't lie.

"oh, my bike's got a scratch" turns into "i need a completely new frame!"

so over a few months, I started scanning around for a new Fondriest. I love their frames. Their bikes have beautiful, clean lines. They do things with carbon and aluminum that set my loins on fire. ouch.

I found a brand new Domino Plus carbon frame up for sale on Ebay in Australia. For 1/3rd the price of the MSRP. At the time, Fondriest was going through a rocky time and had pulled out of all their US dealers, so they were/are extremely hard to come by. The domino's frame weighs about 1250 gr- not a stupid-light frame, but light enough. Plus, they shaped the carbon to have a super-nice ride- responsive but compliant (so their advertising says!) big bonus- It was a beautiful blue color. oh yeah.

This frame completely struck a chord with my aesthetic sensibilities. I love the clean lines, the form, the naked carbon, and the blueeee. blue is the fastest color.




once the frame came in i started dreaming up what parts I'd slap on there. I knew that Maurizio (Fondriest) would consider it blasphemy to slap on shimano onto one of his Italian bikes (like i did last time) , so i decided that everything on that bike would either be Italian OR carbon. yay for me, boo for my wallet. I bought the components from Total Cycling and Reparto Corse. I found they had the best prices at the time. Total cycling was a steal for Euro stuff, and reparto corse had great prices on FSA goodies.



specs:
Gruppo: Campy Chorus 10 spd (except for the Fr Derailleur- which is carbon Record)
Wheelset: Campy Eurus (fantastic wheels- these are now race day wheels, with my Mavic Ksurium elites being relegated to training duty and maybe crits)
Bars: FSA k-wing carbon (fantaaastic)
Seatpost: FSA K-force Lite
Crank: FSA SLK Mega Exo Compact (yummy carbon)
Pedals: Look Keo Carbon
Saddle: Fizik Arione
Bartape: Fizik Microtex



And there you have it, my pride and joy (pathetically so). The bike's smooth as butter, climbs well, descents like its on rails, and sprints super-well. built up, the bike comes in around 17 lbs, which is fine for me. I'd be better off losing 5 more lbs than worrying about shaving off 400 gr on my bike.

i look at this bike and i want to ride. sure it may be fred-ish to buy such a high-performance machine when I'm just a dinky cat 5, but I don't care. It gets me out there, it makes me want to ride, and that's what counts.



Plus, i get points for Italian flair. Anyone can buy a Colnago- but Fondriests reek of cool cause no one has them.

Graze Mille, Maurizio Fondriest!



Who's Next? If you want your bike featured as bike porn, email me some photos and a description of your whip at cjammet@gmail.com. If it's (as Paris would say,) Hot enough, I'll post it up!

to all those in the tri-state area- be there to be fair

Buying stuff makes the winter go by faster!

Oof.

almost an entire week of straight trainer/roller work.

I was supposed to do a 2-3 hr workout yesterday- and I though I would rough it out in the outdoors. I bundled myself up, and off I went. and hour and forty minutes later, I ran back home, shivering. maybe I got a wee bit ahead of myself.

I finally saw breaking away. I know, I know- don't give me crap about it. i should have seen it a long time ago. a great movie- I really liked the bike race scenes. who knew the bad guy from Home alone was in that movie?!



I went for a ride with some of my teammates today- it was a balmy 40 degrees, and a bunch of us made it out to piermont for a nice 40 miles and change. I haven't been on a longer ride outside in a few weeks and it felt great to be back on the bike, riding with my old buddies. We hit up river road and a few of us got in a hill repeat while waiting for some others. we stopped at one of the tiny coffee shops in Piermont. this little place has one of the best muffins I've ever had in my life- It's called a Bunbury Muffin- It's got carrots, walnuts, coconuts, raisins, and I think some bran in it. washed it down with a great little latte, and off we went.

I felt really good today- I pulled the entire way back (about 25 mi), feeling nice and strong, and staying in my Endurance zone (except for the one little hill where the girls wanted a battle of the sexes- I had to preserve my manhood, dammit!)

i was so glad to get out and go for a good long ride with my friends today- I was starting to get cabin fever after about 2 weeks of solid indoor riding. I had even resorted to buying shit to help pass the time between now and racing season:

an oldschool Team Lampre Jersey (back when Fondriest sponsored them). yes i know its pink. i guess we'll soon see whether or not italians are the only people who can pull off wearing inherently "fancy" clothing in a gruff, masculine sort of way (as masculine as one who shaves his legs and wears spandex can be) :


a new Louis Garneau Oz-zy helmet to replace the 4 year old one I'm using now (in the NYVC team colors!):


aaand a pair of George Hincapie Sunglasses! that's right- i got a pair of Oakley Pro Racing jackets. and you know what? I think I'm just obnoxious enough to pull it off (in a funny "look at the Cat 5 with hincapie sunglasses" sort of way)



wow. reading over this post doesn't make me feel shallow and pathetic at all!

The Winter Cycling Ninja rides again! (sort of)

So the warm streak in new york has finally broken- the temps are finally in the 20's and 30's, and we're solidly in the winter.

We were supposed to have a short team ride yesterday morning. I woke up, saw that it was 24 degrees outside, and went ahead and dressed up. I took the cross bike out (it's maiden ride since i slapped the Campy components and carbon bars on it) and went to meet everyone at the boathouse. Well apparently I get hardcore points for being the only one who showed up! maybe it's because there was still snow on the ground...

I went ahead and got a lap in (about 6 mi) before saying "F That" and going home to ride the rollers.

rollers were fun- I didnt break my ass and I got the hang of doing it with no hands (for very brief amounts of time).

Today was two hours on the trainer.

boo. trainer time. so much trainer time.

being on the trainer for more than an hour and a half makes me suicidal. Thankfully, watching Kill Bill Vol 2 Dulled the pain a bit.

I think I'm going to start looking for a new saddle. A ong trainer season really puts your saddle to the test, and as much as I love my Fizik Arione (and as much as it matched my bike), I might need to look around, because I enjoy not being sterile.

I think I'll try out one of the New Selle Flites and the Fizik Gobi (I would try the Aliante, but that shit is wayyy too expensive)

I recently got my Fondriest Fitted by Mike Sherry at Performance Labs HC . It was a pretty Deluxe fitting, setting me back about $250. I feel much better on the bike. Mike took a ton of skeletal measurements and ended up raising my seatpost by almost 2 inches, and lowered my Stem height by about an inch. My hips are more open, and I feel different muscle groups in my legs being used. I'll be excited to get back out on the road for a real ride and see what the difference is. Overall, it was a great fitting experience. Mike was super knowledgable and did a great job. Highly reccomended!

Tomorrow's a rest day. Thank the frigging lord.

If this cold weather keeps going, I just might slap the knobbies back on my cross bike and go romping through central park on a snowy afternoon. Who's with me?!