Revisting Floyd

I've been silently watching Floyd Landis' arbitration hearing, decided to reserve my thoughts until both sides have made their case. once that happens, I'll see what i think about Floyd. as it stands, I believe in him, and I believe in his being innocent until proven guilty.

Let me say that again-

innocent until proven guilty.

witch hunts aren't justice. "every pro cyclist is a doper" isn't a viable statement.

i see red anytime i hear someone make a statement like that.

I'm sick of all these jaded s.o.b.'s who say shit like that just to sound like they're in the know. making an assumption about every pro cyclist like that undermines the very sport you love. it trivializes the hours upon hours of sweat and suffering that all competitive cyclists endure in order to cross that finish line first- be it at the penultimate stage of the Tdf or a central park race. it's a destructive, unfair, and ignorant comment to make.

one thing is glaringly clear about this whole situation, though- the system is flawed.

The anti-doping system has failed. WADA and USADA created a slew of rules and regulations to sort out the cheaters. Then, be it through a witch-hunt mentality, or just plain sloppiness, they break a whole bunch of rules just to try and nab the big fish just to make a point. If the governing bodies of cycling can't follow the rules they created themselves, then the whole anti-doping system is flawed.

At this point, Floyd's innocence or guilt is almost inconsequential. Testosterone or not, this whole experience has shown us all that the systems that are in place now do not give a cyclist a fair shake. There's no system of checks and balances. a simple accusation is all it takes to have a rider suspended without proof or litigation. Chain of custody? who needs it!? the a and B samples exceeded their thresholds for contamination? who cares?! inconsistent results? pshaw. I could go on and on (although Arnie baker does a better job than I) it makes me sick.

That being said, i think reform is necessary on the cyclists side. I think the work team slipstream has done in order to prevent their riders from doping is fantastic. I don't think it's ridiculous to ask all pro cyclists to submit to DNA testing.

I love what I do. I love this hobby and the experiences it provides me. I've experienced victories, pain, camaraderie, getting dropped, road rash, 50 mph downhills, sprints, climbs that make my soul hurt, crashes, pacelines, saddle sores, way too much spandex, and too many clif bars. That's what its all about. There'll always be cheaters. It's up to both cyclists and the rule makers to make sure that a system is in place that not only prevents cheaters from sullying our sport, but also protects the honest cyclists that pedal their asses off to win.

If cycling is ever to make its way back to being seen as an honest, beautiful, tough, and fun sport- both cyclists and the governing bodies alike are going to have to make an effort. it takes two, baby.

Back to it! 3rd place @ the Big Apple Classic

Wahoo!

got back into the racing swing of things today @ the Big Apple Classic race put on by Kissena in Prospect Park. This was my second time racing in prospect, and I was excited to see what I could do now that I had a better sense of the course and where/when to sprint.

The race a was a short one, at 17 mi. I think that was well suited for me, as I think the short distance prevented any breaks from being successful.

The cat 5 race was sketchy as hell. I've definitely noticed that the non CRCA cat 5 races are much sketchier than the C races in central park. I think that's due to all the coaching that's available to cat 5's in the CRCA. kudos to my racing club, they do things right.

we had 5 NYVelocity riders in the cat 5 field, and none in the 4's, as all the cat 4's and above are going to be racing up at Bear mountain tomorrow. I'm marshalling that race tomorrow, should be awesome. So anyway, this meant that we cat 5's had to make due today. good stuff.

I made sure to stay near the front and protect myself from the sketchy riders. I've noticed this one guy in the cat five field- he's enormous. not in a fat way, he's just a big man- at least 6'5". I try and stick to his wheel at every race I'm in- It's akin to sitting in the shad on an august day- it's fantstic. Thanks, big guy.

Once the last lap came around and we crested the "hill" I tried to stay near the top ten position for the sprint. as we came down the last mile, I heard the unfortunate but familiar crunch of a bike accident in progress behind me. I caught it in my peripheral vision and for a minute I thought it was a teammate of mine. As luck would have it, it wasn't. I was happy as hell to be near the front.

I noticed some CRCA guys were trying to organize a lead out for the sprint, and did my best to position myself.

Then, all of a sudden, my boy Bill (who was doing his first race) comes out of nowhere to lead me out.

Awesome, man. The lead out might have been a tad early, but he put his heart into it and ripped himself a new one to lead me out. Big ups to you, Bill.

I pulled around him and stuck on another guy and went for it. I barely missed second , but nabbed third in the sprint. Hoo-rah.

I was really happy with the result.

silly photos and team shots ensued.


Saturday's NYVC cat 5 squad:





Who bought tickets to the gun show?



The spoils of the (3rd place) victor? a medal!



I'm easily amused, but when I was a kid, I was a bit of a fattie and never really won anything sports-related. doing well in these bike races is pretty damn cathartic for me. its the fatty in me sticking it to the skinny grade school/high school kids that got all the glory in high school. it feels good.

That being said, I ended up speaking to a guy named Luke today that reads this fine blog. we got into a convo of the NY racing scene, and the prevalent theme is this- if you're not 21 and a cat one, you shouldn't take yourself too seriously. have fun, enjoy the fantastic hobby/sport that you do, but don't take yourself too seriously.



I also met a cool photographer named Richard, who was visiting from France- he does photos for a bunch of cycling magazines, and had some amazing shots of the 'cross races in Belgium. uber-jealous.

I'm not out to win a tour- I'm out to have fun, compete, do my best, and enjoy myself. I'm never going to be a pro, nor do i desire to make 14K a year doing so. I've got a full time job, a full time life, and this full time hobby- I do what I can and enjoy the spoils of it.



'nuff said.

Marshalling bear mtn tomorrow. should be fun.

Time for food and alcohol!

-Stophe

Soaked

I just got in from a recovery ride with a teammate. Nothing crazy, just a few loops around the park. about two laps in, it starts to DUMP. pour. monsoon. it was a mini flash flood in central park. couldn't see through my sunglasses sort of rain. in a few minutes i was completely inundated with water- i had the squishy shoe going on (i love squishy shoe). I'm going to post pictures of last week's sunny ride while i talk about this, because being non-linear is cool!



I really like riding in the rain- i used to do it much more often when i was in college down in new orleans. then again, it starts to randomly rain there all the time, and the temperatures are perfect for riding in the rain. It's kind of soothing, i think. Sure, it's a pain in the ass to clean your bike up afterwards- but you get hardcore points for pedaling while everyone stays indoors. it builds character, i say!

It also reminded me of doing cross races- I really can't wait for cross season to come back. I'm in much better shape this time around- so i think it'll be a different experience. full of suffering, for sure- but hopefully with better results this time around. I'm also excited to take the upgraded cross bike through some mud and see what it can do decked out with ksyrium elites, a campy gruppo, and bars that actually fit (i'm a bike nerd, but you all knew that already)



Kissena race in Prospect park tomorrow- it's short- 17 mi, and relatively flat. Hopefully i can make something happen in the sprint this time- although I'm still getting used to prospect. We'll see.

Bear mtn is sunday- I'm marshalling it as there's no 5 field. It'll be a great race if the weather's nice. I'll be bringing a case of beer for me teammates who are racing in it.

the ultimate recovery drink.

ok, time to wash the bike grime off of me.

Train in vain

Hello internet stalker-cyclists!

An update's been a long-time coming. So here goes...

I havent raced in two weeks or so, and I won't be this weekend- i figure its good to not race of a few weeks and concentrate on training and enjoying life. During cyclocross season I found myself feeling guilty or as if i was missing out when i didnt race every weekend. I had fun doing so, but it wears on you. a week or two of not racing after a month of it is healthy, i think...

Last week we went on a team ride up to "the orchards." i don't know which orchards specifically, but it was a great ride. The orchards is about and 80 mile round trip ride, and the halfway point is a little town with apple orchards just north of nyack and haverstram. i believe it's in the hudson river valley, but I'm terrible at geology (joke).

there's a general store that we end up at that has apparently been there for almost 295 years. insane. They had good muffins, and i heard the mini apple pies were fantastic. The team's going up there again tomorrow, but I won't be able to go, since i've actually got plans on saturday other than biking all day. I guess i'll be up at 7 tomorrow to go do ten (eek!) river road hill repeats.


more to come in a few days. I've got a few thoughts on teh current floyd landis situation and what i think it's all about.

Palmares to: the fantastic weather and evening tempo pick up rides in central park

Boo to: the stitching on my hincapie bibs already coming undone, and the d-bag reply i got from a certain (Cough, Cough, Jiminy Peak) race promoter when I emailed him about a wait list for the cat 5 race. boo on you, sir.

adios!

Shake and bake! 2nd place in central park, and a romp up to Bear mtn

I decided to do a club race this past weekend- the CRCA was putting on a Harlem hill points race. The way it worked was as follows: on the 2nd and 4th laps, there would be points for the first three people to get to the top of Harlem hill. There would also be points at the final sprint.

I was interested to see how different a points race would be when compared to a regular points race. in central park, it's a race that seems to favor sprinters. However, you can't just follow the old "sit your fat ass in the peloton and do no work till the end" sort of game plan, cause you'll probably lose that way. you have to pony up for at least one of those hilltop sprints as well.

Our team had closest to ten people in the field of 40 or so C-riders. we paired each other off so that we could attack in pairs, and we decided who was going to attack and when. I was going to sit and wait till the end, and hopefully get the final sprint, with the help of a friendly lead-out.

Well, what you plan and what unfolds can and do usually differ. Our guys were attacking, but you can't control how the peloton will react. Our early attacks/counter attacks worked on the first hill, and one of out guys picked off the hill for points.

on the 4th lap, we started approaching Harlem hill. I was near the front of the pack, but only saw my teammate Matt in front of me. i looked around expecting another of our guys to follow suite for sprint points, but didn't see any. I decided to go along with Matt, and nabbed 3rd place for 2 pts.

photo courtesy of Andy Shen @ nyvelocity.com

Matt, by the way, was the all star of the race.

By the time the last lap came around, it started to speed up. I jockeyed for position, and found a decent spot behind my homeboy Ryan (who works at Metro), and then Matt. We got a good jump on the sprint, and took first and second at the line.

photo courtesy of Andy Shen @ nyvelocity.com

end result? Matt took 1st with 19 pts, and I nabbed 2nd with 8 pts.




Shake and Bake!


Some other of our teammates nabbed 5th, 6th, and 7th, respectively.

Big ups to the following people: Matt for dominating the C field, Greg Faber for riding super strong during the whole race, Ryan for being a monster, Cassie for sticking with the women's pack (which is a combined 1,2,3 and 4 field) and Bandit bad boy Jeff king for taking the win in the A field


The race went really smoothly and I thought the C field held up really well- the laps were going in the 15 and 16 minute range, which is a pretty good pace. I don't believe there were any accidents, either. There's been alot of talk on the local listserves and racing sites about cat 5's and their abilities as beginning racers. I don't know where I stand on it, because i don't think there's a clear judgment to be made. Not all cat 5's are sketchy, but there definitely are some (I won't mention names of people or the bikes they ride- just to keep the anon haters at bay... and besides, I don't want a frame pump to magically appear jammed in my spokes during a race...). I think the CRCA has done alot to help cat 5's improve and move on up vis-a-vis coaching. That being said, I do get the feeling that some people consider the cat 5's as a bunch of drooling special 'eds with fresh loads in their bibs. Well, you know what I say to those people? That only happened once!

After the race we headed on up to Piermont for a celebratory Muffin. Matt and I were buying- he won $25 and I won $20!. Ah, the spoils of victory... At least its good for a few pastries.

On Sunday we drove up to Bear mountain to do a couple of laps of the course for the Bear Mountain race. a big ole' team ride ensued, and the weather was fantastic (and HOT)



The funniest part of the day came around when one of our coaches, Alex, realized that he forgot his shoes. I instantly remembered the scene in "breaking away," and quickly asked,

"does anyone have any duct tape?"



electrical tape? no problem! I taped both of hug gigantic clogs to his speedplays, and off we went. i think he got about 30 miles in before the tape tore apart. Hardcore points for Ostroy...



I'd like to equate it to Central park X3 with 'roid rage. It looks like the course makes for a tough and interesting race. What I do know is that it's definitely not a race that I'm suited for. the long climb at the beginning of the lap would be brutal under race conditions. I'll give it a try come the Fall race, but I'm going to sit out and marshal the spring race just so i can get a better sense of how the race normally unfolds. That might also give my chubby ass more time to unload some more junk in my trunk...


I've been meaning to look into more sprint-specific workouts. my coach gives me a bunch, but I've heard (and read) that stuff like Plyometrics are great for sprinters. Anyone out in internetland know anything about that? One of these days I'd like to get some sprint drills done with some of the cat 1's or 2's just to get my ass handed to me and learn. I need to ask around...

This weekend burnt me out in every sense of the word. The weather was fantastic- high 70's/ low 80's and sunny. I've got my retarded tan lines back, and they're only going to get worse... it's funny how that brings a smile to my face.

I went for a recovery ride this morning. Ran into Josh from TNT as well as a teammate. I forgot how much I love riding just for the sake of it- i didn't bring my HRM and i did not glance at my computer at any point during the ride. it was great. The weather made it even better- no arm or leg warmers. hoo-rah.

Anyway, my legs are killing me, and I've got an itchy throat. this week is mostly a rest week, except for tomorrow, which is another time trial lap of the park. I'm looking to beat 17:04- hopefully I'll be able to ride the park a little smarter.

asta!