Wednesday, May 30, 2007

File Under: WRONG Part II

What is it with bike theft these days! Last year around this same time, I was writing about Heinz Stucke, the "Forrest Gump of Cycling," who had his bike stolen on one of his circumnavigations (yes that is plural as the man has been cyc-lin and cyc-lin since he left his German home in 1962) of the globe.

Earlier this month, Team Lamonta had their entire supply of LOOK/SRAM bikes stolen while at the Olympia’s Tour in the Netherlands.

Now comes the story below, orginally printed on Velonews. Since this is as social a network medium as they come, I thought that I'd help get the word out.

Thieves nick 300 bikes destined for Tulsa kids' ride
By VeloNews.com
This report filed May 30, 2007

It was tough news for Tulsa Tough Ride and Race-300 Schwinns destined for school-age kids tackling a special Tough Kids 10km ride on Sunday have gone missing.

A 40-foot steel shipping container containing the bikes was apparently stolen last weekend from the Pacific Cycles shipping yard.

The youngsters earned the bikes through the Tough Kids Challenge, a program in which middle- and high-school students either participated in Tulsa's Little 100 cycling event or completed a bicycle-safety education course.

Tulsa Tough Ride and Race launched the youth health and fitness initiative this year with the support of The Children's Hospital at St. Francis.

The bikes, which sported the Tulsa Tough, Little 100 and Saint Francis logos, were to be delivered on Tuesday and assembled on Wednesday for pickup on Saturday. Organizers were hoping to find loaner bikes for Sunday's Tough Kids ride.

For more information, email info@tulsatough.com.

**UPDATE: May 31st @ 9:00am EST - Bikes were recovered by Dallas Police. Volunteers, including Ed of Cycledog stayed up all night assembling the cycles for the Saturday pickup.

Some DAP For Gibo

For all that he is (a two time Giro d'Italia champion) and for all that he's claimed to be (a serious challenger to Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France), you can't deny Gilberto Simoni's talent as a climber.

The 35 year old from Trento, Italy again showed why he'll be considered one of Italy's greatest cyclists (there I said it; who else you got...and no I'm not saying he's Fausto Coppi). Simoni won today's Stage 17 up Monte Zoncolan in superlative fashion. His second win up the steep climb, the first coming 4 year ago, Simoni also moved himself onto a podium position.

"I did not know if it was possible to win here again after four years...I saw that Di Luca was too strong for me [in the overall picture] so to win this stage helps," said Simoni.

The stage saw the trio of Leonardo Piepoli (Simoni's Saunier Duval teammate), Andy Schleck (yes there's another talented Schleck on CSC), and Simoni attempt to distance themselves from the maglia rosa on the Zoncolan. Danilo DiLuca (Liquigas), however, was just strong enough on the finale and finished fourth on the day.

With Sunday's ride into Milan quickly approaching and with a lead of more than 2 minutes, DiLuca is that much closer to locking up what would be his greatest victory. But like every athlete in his current position, "The Killer" refuses to think about any part of a celebration saying, "My advantage is important but it is not decisive."

The Mountain Cometh

It wasn't exactly a rest day yesterday at the Giro d' Italia, but it seemed that way for the favorites and those ranked highly on the General Classification (GC). With the exception of former champion, Stefano Garzelli, who won his second mountain stage, Stage 16 amounted to "the quiet before the storm." And what a storm that may be!

Stage 17 from Lienz to Monte Zoncolan has been earmarked by the riders and tifosi alike ever since this year's route was announced. As you can see from the profile of the mountain top finish, this stage has the makings of being the final GC decider.

Current maglia rosa wearer, Danilo DiLuca (Liquigas) will need his "killer" instincts to be extremely astute. He will most likely have to fend off every would be contender up Zoncolan alone as his team has faded since the route turned uphill.

Saunier Duval, with its full complement of 9 riders, looks to be the most well placed team, as both Ricardo Ricco and Gilberto Simoni are only a few minutes arrear. Climber (and currently second on the GC), Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana), however, will have a say in the matter especially with Paolo Salvodelli aiding his cause.

Follow today's events LIVE on Cyclingnews or Velonews.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Katie's Korner

Our IronGal in training, Katie, checks in after a bit of an absence from the blog, and as you'll read, a little absence from training as well. C'est la vie, no? And no worries blogosphere fans, although Katie's training journal for the Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene will be over in three weeks, she'll be a regular contributor as the Triple Crankset's resident Physical Therapist.

Life Happens!
Hey there, long time no journaling! Mainly because I missed the last two weekends of long biking due to travel! OOooopss!! The good news is, it was well worth it!

Brandon graduated from law school and we are now engaged!! Hooorray!! I could not be happier!! But, this is an Ironman journal so I will try not to digress!!

For starters, I think my coach is on crack. I basically listen to her suggestions and then do my own thing. She is great, but crazy. For example, today, she wanted me to swim an hour....rest 90 minutes for breakfast....bike 6 hours...rest 90 minutes.....run 2 hours.

ARE YOU FLIPPIN SERIOUS DUDE!

Now, for those of you "serious and seasoned" Ironmen and Ironwomen...great for you. I hope you enjoyed yourself out there.

As for me, I felt great about my 6.5 hour bike ride (107 miles). Especially considering I had 2....yes 2... flat tires I had to fix! Also, I was going up this million grade hill (or really steep hill) and I shifted to a low gear and ooops, off goes the chain. I NEARLY FELL OVER! I had to get off and walk up the hill. I had to laugh at myself.

I had to laugh to myself again at about mile 54 when I passed a large farm crop of cows that mooooooo'd at me as I passed. And again at mile 72 when I began to sing renditions of Wison Phillips "Release Me" and "Hold On" from my teenage years. Okay, so I'm a dork....but you'd be surprised what you would do by yourself for 6 hours!

The weather has been so incredibly crappy lately, I was lucky to even get out on the bike. I had tried last weekend and nearly got frostbite on my fingers! Again, for those of you psycho...I mean seasoned triathletes...you probably have every piece of garb to protect you from such conditions. But me, in my high school soccer shirt and spandex SHORTS...I'm less than prepared.

Anyways, today felt great except I have a bit of a headache now. I think it is more due to my neck musculature as opposed to my lack of hydration. I really need to work on my chin tucks while on the bike!

Tomorrow is a long run and then Brandon is taking me to the driving range and then the tennis courts to create our own rendition of a triathlon.

Congrats to Scott and Brandon for graduating from law school...and GOOD LUCK on the bar.

Beth, if you want to send this on to Elaine and Rich, please do as I don't know their email.

In closing, I will try to keep in touch more. This next week will be tough again but not as bad as last week. Then I start to taper...YEAH! I have attached a copy of last weeks schedule...just in case anyone is interested!

Quote of the day: "Don't confuse activity with achievement"

Love y'all
Katie

The Plan Stan
For those of you who don't really know what goes into training for an Ironman, here's a glimpse of Katie's week from her coach, Carla.

Monday - swim if you had time.

Tuesday - 2 hour bike. Nice steady pace nothing hard keep RPMS around 85, easy gear.

Wednesday - 45 min run, basic pace
Swim - I want you to swim a 500 warm up, then 5 x 100 at a slightly faster pace with 30" rest between. Then swim a 2000 straight alternating 50 easy, 50 a little faster.

Thursday - 60 min bike once warmed up do 6 x 2 min hardest gear intervals with 3 min easy spinning between. Off bike run for 2 hours and 30 min, KEY you are hydrating and eating something during long run.

Friday - Swim - more for recovery from the week and you going into a long weekend.
7 x 500 easy.

Saturday - 90 min EASY bike.

Sunday - This is the long one!!!!!! All day brick, last big thing before Ironman. This is the best day to try and simulate what you will be wearing, eating, etc.......Be prepared.

1 hour swim, nice steady pace find a good groove. Take about 90 min to rest, eat change. Then a six hour bike, nice stead pace. Keep heart rate in control the whole time and try and drink every 15 min, eat also at least every half hour something. Take another 90 min break and eat, change and then a 2 hour run, again nice steady pace try and hydrate every mile. In Ironman you have water stops every mile so would be good for you to simulate that. Tonight good meal, lots of rest and a good night sleep!!! Have a great week!!

And here I was feeling pretty darn proud of myself for getting back to riding after a brief injury hiatus, which when looking at that outlined schedule is kind of like being proud of having scratched your arse in the morning. Yeah, I'm sure you're thanking your Oude Granny for that visual!! How about the one to the left; Katie and I at Novak's celebrating the engagement and graduation. All of us at the TC couldn't be happier!

Friday, May 25, 2007

On Tap...

Memorial Day Weekend
This weekend usually signals the "true" beginning of summer. Friends and family are planning cookouts and outings, while others are headed to their favorite vacation spot (BTW, have a great time in the Land of the Grand Banks, and in the Sunshine State).

For the touring cyclists and racer in all of us, this weekend usually helps us to get honed in on our "targets," whether they be training for a charity century or for a specific race. As such, below are a few of the races scheduled for this weekend. (Drop me a line, if you'd like me to list races in your area).

05/26/2007
Dragon's Challenge & NC Criterium Championship
Fort Bragg / Fayetteville, NC
Hellertown Criterium
Hellertown, PA
LÄRABAR So Cal Cup #3
Encino, CA

05/27/2007
Granville Grand Prix
Granville, OH
NETWORK CONTROL MT HAMILTON CLASSIC
San Jose, CA
Aliquippa Industrial Park Crits
Aliquippa, PA

05/28/2007
Tour De Gaslight Village
East Grand Rapids, MI
Quad Cities Criterium
Rock Island, IL
TREK BICYCLE STORE MEMORIAL DAY CRITERIUM
Morgan Hill, CA

Biking The Drive
In Chicago, this weekend kicks off the weekly summer ritual of neighborhood street festivals. And, its also time for the annual Bank of America Bike The Drive (formerly sponsored, but still hosted by, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation). For those unfamiliar with the event, simply click HERE to be taken to the official website or HERE for Oude Granny's rundown of last year's event (yes, I was pedalling when I took that photo!)

In the Pink
For those of you who aren't merely following cycling right now to see or hear who will step up to the mic next and proclaim, "Yes, I doped!" (thank you Mr. Riis, and who's next to purge their soul?), the Giro d'Italia is getting really interesting. Granny's favorite to win the race this year, Danilo DiLuca confirmed his form and retook the Maglia Rosa for the third time in this year's race. He did so in dramatic fashion as he won Stage 12 and distanced himself from some of the pre-race favorites, former champions Paolo Salvodelli and Gilberto Simoni.

Although there are many more mountains to come in this race, having the Giro's leader's jersey may be enough of a whip to motivate DiLuca's Liquigas teammates and help him to a long sought after victory.

To see if DiLuca can hang on, catch the Giro this weekend on Versus' Cyclysm Sunday.


A Gift
With the possibility of thunderstorms ruining most outdoor fun this Memorial Day weekend, I thought I'd throw out another review from the ROLL Film library.

This week's offering is Emmanuel's Gift, narrated by Oprah Winfrey. It chronicles the courageous story of a disabled man who cycles across his native Ghana.

What Borzo (the "bike guy") says:
Is being disabled or severely ill a curse or a blessing? Lance Armstrong has said that if he had his life to live over, and it was up to him, he would welcome the cancer. Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, the hero of Emmanuel's Gift, is another cyclist who made the most of a life-altering challenge...MORE.

What Strauss (the "movie guy") says:
I had never heard of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, but after seeing the moving and inspirational documentary, Emmanuel's Gift, I will certainly never forget him. He is a true-life hero and, because it tells his story, this film deserves to be seen...MORE.

The Smell Test

For those of you who went to a Floyd Landis Fairness Fund fundraiser, you're already familiar with Dr. Arnie Baker's colloquialism of certain LNDD laboratory procedures not "passing the smell test."

But now we can probably apply that same notion to the whole of professional cycling.

Bjarne Riis (photo: AFP), through mutiple denials and acts of hypocrisy; as he chided riders (Hamilton and Basso) formerly under his care of their recent doping indictments, has come out and admitted his own performance enhancing drug use (as T-o-03 mentions below).

"The time has come to put the cards on the table," said Riis. "I have done things which I now regret and which I wouldn't do again. I have doped. I have taken EPO. For awhile it was part if my life."

A former Tour de France stage winner, all of a sudden taking down one of cycling's greats? We all should have known that his breaking of Miguel Indurain during the 1996 Tour de France smelled a little funny.

Now you have to begin to wonder whether his adeptness of reviving careers as the Director Sportif of CSC smells right?

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Fuchsia - Handed

A couple of days ago, T-Mobile announced the release of their new PDA phone, Wing. Developed by the folks over at High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), Wing is the first phone to employ Microsoft’s new mobile operating platform, Windows Mobile 6. As far as phones go, it quite possibly could be the crème de la crème (at least until Apple’s iPhone is released, or as they say in the computer business, “just wait another 3 months.”)

Unfortunately for the telecommunications giant, it seems to be the only "positive" coming out of Germany these days, as news of widespread performance enhancing drug use during the 1990’s predominates.

Even one of their former stalwarts, Eric “Say It Ain’t So” Zabel (now with Milram; left, photo: AP), admitted using erythropoietin (EPO). What’s next, Jan Ullrich admitting he was a bit lax in his off-season training regiment? Oh, right?!

But such is the ludicrous nature of professional cycling these days.

With the current defection of major corporate sponsors due to the tarnished image of cycling, it wouldn't be surprising to see T-Mobile follow suit. And quite possibly, it could be before their cycling sponsorship was due to end in 2010.

Regardless, T-Mobile’s been caught red, make that fuchsia – handed!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Goat?


If you want to know which way some of the folks at Sports Illustrated online are leaning, you need only download the final image from their site. The actual width size...666 pixels.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Hero

One of the dangers, at least for your Oude Granny, of working in a university setting is being surrounded by intellectuals. In their presence, I revert back to your average 3 year old; veritable sponge of knowledge.

As a blogger, I, we, are active participants of what Tim O'Reilly coined, Web 2.0, or using the web as a platform to facilitate collaboration and sharing among its users.

The applications, for business let alone education, are boundless.

One of my favorite social networking objects these days is FLICKR, a web-based photo sharing site. It isn't exactly new to the web, but the way its users are applying its collaborative ("social") properties is amazing! One such application is Visual Story Telling, or using 5 photos to tell a story. "Gender Miscommunication," by nightingai1e is one of my favorites.

So rather than write about Floyd Landis, I thought I'd tell his story in two sets of 5 photos. The first, titled "Hero." (I'm sure some of you can already guess what the next set will be titled).

Saturday, May 19, 2007

It Was Just a Matter of Time....


21 years (with a 7 year hiatus) 2 months and some odd days of cycling experience is exactly the amount of time I needed to finally tango with one of those 2000+lb beasts we call cars.

I recently started a new job and while job training in the great garden state of New Jersey, I fell prey to a 17 year-old and her apparent inability to see a cyclist traveling the opposite direction. While clipping at 25+mph on a slight descent in lovely Moorestown, I looked ahead and what appeared in my view was simply horrifying....a car turning left in my path and there was absolutely no way in this earth that I was getting out of it.

With some blessings from above and some old racing tactics, I stayed calm and threw the bike into a slide by jamming the rear brake and forcing the bike to fishtail so that I would hit her flush and not "T-bone". I dropped and put my shoulder into her rear passenger door and hoped for the best. Needless to say the bike, the rider and the car went everywhere.

I know you might find this shocking but the 17 year-old and her Paris Hilton like friend got out of the car and actually started blaming me. The friend stated..."like, you need to slow down when you see cars, like they take priority..." I'm proud to say I kept my cool and permitted the police to sort it out. They did and like me, were not impressed with the driver's misunderstanding of the motor code.

Big props to the Moorestown Police for not only enforcing the law but extending tremendous compassion. The CO on the scene actually offered his own personal bicycle to me should I "need to finish my workout". Given my physical status at the time, I told him I was going to sit out the rest of this training session. Another officer drove me and my now battered black beauty back to the hotel. He was a great guy.

What's Next?
Despite this disrupting my training and racing this weekend, I consider myself the luckiest man alive. Because of the "flush" style impact, I mitigated body damage considerably. I suffered trauma to my left knee that is still barking back at me and the right side shoulder, back and arm are healing up.

The bike however is another story. I just got word last night that Trek's policy is to recommend the bike is shipped back for x-rays. I've been told by 2 Trek dealers that 99.9% of the time they want to replace the bike. Apparently carbon fiber, especially 110 GSM, is too unpredictable when struck by a car and the frame could fail anytime thereafter. So here we go with the insurance nightmare.


I can't tell you how this saddens me so. I LOVE that rig. I feel like someone just told me my friend has died. Yeah, yeah it's a bike and its replaceable blah, blah. But let's be honest here. We all know we have a special relationship with our rigs. Who else understands us like these babies? Who else is there when we suffer miserably on them and takes us to the promised land when we're at our fittest? At the end of the day, some of our best memories are captured with our old faithful friend. Okay so I'm getting a tad dramatic but I'm indeed cranky about it. Damn kids.

Please do be careful out there and while this goes without saying, always and I mean always, wear that helmet on your melon.

Cheers.

Worth His Weight In...

Goldberger!
I said Goldberger, not Goldberg. Although after Dr. Bruce Goldberger's testimony on Day 5 of the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing, you'd be hard pressed to determine who strikes the more imposing figure.

Alright, I guess we can all come to an agreement that arbitrator Christopher Campbell is the most imposing figure in the Pepperdine University courtroom.

All kidding aside, Dr. Goldberger's testimony late Friday afternoon, or rather the adeptness of it, has literally torn off a gaping scientific hole in the USADA burden of proof that was already being perforated by Landis' attorneys, Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Suh.

For Team Landis, it could not have come at a better time!

The hearing that was turning out to be the Cirque de Landis, after Geoghegan's Jerky Boys impression and the subsequent bomb dropped by Greg Lemond, and the skillful double talking ventriloquism act of USADA's lead attorney, Mr. Young (as he's prompted and propped up almost every answer of both LNDD laboratory techinicians, Mrs. Morgongu and Ms. Frelat), has returned to the heart of the matter, the science.

Dr. Goldberger, who by his credentials alone, is the very definition of expert witness. The same could have been said for USADA's experts in the fields of testosterone and mass spectrometry, Dr. Brenna, Dr. Shackleton, and Dr. Ayotte (the latter of the WADA accredited Montreal lab), but with the evidence they were asked to defend, each sounded less than expert admitting through their own individual form (verbally or by claiming ignorance on all too familiar matters) that the LNDD had performed sub-standardly.

Grand Slam...Slam Dunk? Overly optimistic!

Reality. Mr. Brunet still has to be convinced, but Dr. Goldberger's testimony may have been bright enough to blind even Mr. Brunet with the science.

Goldberger's Testimony:
--Trust But Verify: Hearing - Friday Goldberger

Friday, May 18, 2007

On Tap...

Just Ride...
It's officially been 3 weeks since I last rode my bicycle. For those of you who haven't been following along, I partially tore my gastrocnemius (one of the bifurcations of the calf muscle) while running a race.

So what do you do with a partial tear? Short of immobilization, which I lobbied against, nothing. And that's exactly what I've done since, nothing. I've gone from fit to fat (although I'm the type of person where you can't really tell just by looking at me) and sadly enough kind of enjoyed it.

It allowed me the time to tune up all my rides (mountain, road, and track) and make plans for when the doctors give me the green light.

Well, yesterday was the day. I officially stowed away the crutches. I say officially because I grew tired of using them 10 days ago. Although I haven't been fully released out into the wild, pending three weeks of physical therapy (why doesn't our IronGal in-training, Katie, live closer?), they listed cycling as one of the activities I can now do.

So look out SE Michigan, here comes Oude Granny!

Floyd-ed and Giro-ed Out
Just as both, the Landis hearing and the Giro d'Italia, seemed to be getting interesting, they've both hit a lull in the action and are now relegated in my thought processes.

How can I say that with all the sensationalistic happenings with Landis and Lemond, and with the mountain stages pending in the Giro?

For me, the most compelling aspect of the Floyd Landis hearing were the arguments Team Landis put forth against the LNDD and the WADA/USADA arbitration system. Finally, after months of barnstorming and railing against the actual science, the methodologies behind it, and the one-sided arbitration process faced by athletes in this predicament, he, they would be able to systematically level the playing field.

Enter: Will Geoghegan

The hearings have now been debased to a Beavis and Butthead mentality. Don't believe me? Check out every single news outlet following the hearing and tell me if anyone is still writing about inequities in the system, the inaccuracy of the laboratory methodology, or the mishandling of Landis' samples. Can't find any, can you?

And by the way, Beavis and Butthead wasn't a reference to the mentality of the audience that may now tune into the hearing to see what other skeleton may pop out, but rather to Patrice Brunet and Richard McLaren. I know both have to maintain a certain decorum, but how can either of the deciding majority in this hearing not look in Team Landis's direction and keep a straight face? They're probably up there muttering to each other,

"That dude just said mishandled my urine. Heh heh heh eh he heh heh heh!"

So someone nudge me awake when this hearing means something again!

As far as the Giro is concerned, it started off with a bang! I can't recall a time when a Grand Tour started with a Team Time Trial. If this were back in the day when the Big Blue US Postal train was running (when they took the teams' actual time, rather than sequentially giving teams a metered out deficit) the Giro would be over. All done!

But this weekend leaves little to the imagination as the terrain is relatively flat. The only ones champing at the bit are the sprinters, who after this weekend will meet their demise in one form or another, either through missing time allotments, leaving for greener pastures or relegating themselves down the classification board.

So the same goes for the Giro, someone throw something at my head when the mountains arrive.

Cranky?...Yes. Surly?...as Burly as Surly can get!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

With Friends Like...

Will Geoghegan, Who Needs Enemies...
Did I actually say that former 3 time Tour de France champion, Greg Lemond (Photo: AFP), would have his opportunity to "rant" in the Floyd Landis hearing? Apparently, I was way off base, misunderstood, misconstrued, misread, misjudged, miscalculated, and just plain mistaken.

Someone should have told me, tapped me on the shoulder, or at least given me a suggestive wink (a nod's as good as a wink to a blind man, say no more) to inform me that "rant" actually means "bomb" in these proceedings.

In retrospect, the essence of Lemond's testimony, based on a personal phone call from Landis and message board fodder, could have been at most construed as being a "he said, he said" argument. But thanks to Floyd's buddy and manager, "Bad Will Phoning" Geoghegan's call of intimidation, Lemond's words came off sounding like doctrine.

Imitating the uncle who sexually abused Lemond before his stardom (a fact brought out in Lemond's testimony and in confidence during the prior phone call with Landis), Geoghegan came off like one of the idiots on "Cops - San Diego." He effectively turned the proceedings into a Jerry Springer Show, made Landis' defense look like a group of ambulance chasers, and turned Mr. Suh (one of Landis' lawyers) into Donald Trump proclaiming to the panel in reference to Geoghegan, "You're Fired!"

Is all lost for Landis? It remains unclear. Hopefully, the case will be judged on the scientific evidence and not on the sensationalism that surrounded the end of day 4.

The one good (if you can call it that) thing to come out of today is that Will Geoghegan may just have revived the careers of the Jerky Boys.

Now somebody stop me before I throw out another bad television or radio reference...

MORE:
--Trust but Verify: Hue-Lemond Recap

Oude Granny's Floyd-o-meter:

Ranting His Head Off

All due respect to our friends over at Rant Your Head Off, but Greg Lemond will get his chance to do just that when he testifies in the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing for USADA later on today.


Lemond was a childhood hero of mine, as his cycling feats got me interested in the sports. You could probably say that he's the reason I'm even blogging about cycling in the first place. Lately, he's been very skeptical of the performances by the athletes that dominate today's sport, especially of those by one Lance Armstrong.

Because I believe in the plight of Floyd Landis, I'm somewhat conflicted by the fact that Lemond will be testifying for "the other side." But, I also understand his stance. Most of his records and athletic endeavors are being relegated to commonplace status by performance enhanced riders claiming to be on par with some of cycling's greats.

So while Lemond is championing the cause to clean up the sport, I'll be hoping that he's referring to the sport's governing and testing bodies, riders, and certain journalist alike, and not simply attempting to root out Floyd.

MORE:
-- Bonnie DeSimone for ESPN: Breakdown of Landis' Tour de France drug tests
-- Mark Zalewski for CyclingNews: Evidence quality clouds 'stage three' arguments
-- PR Newswire: Lance Armstrong Joins Us Senators and Representatives to Introduce the Cancer Screening, Treatment and Survivorship Act of 2007
-- Chicago Tribune: Armstrong takes Hill, touts bill

Back For Seconds

Stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia from Salerno to Montevergine Di Mercogliano went to Danilo "Killer" DiLuca. It was the second time DiLuca had won a stage that finished in Montevergine, the last being six years ago. It also happened to be the second Maglia Rosa worn by Killer in this year's Giro.

There is little doubt that DiLuca's form makes him a serious contender to finish on the podium. If his ambition is the key determinant to his Giro success, then he looks to be a lock. However, his "all out" riding style left untempered may once again be his downfall, especially with the mountains that loom in this Grand Tour's third week.

One thing is for sure, his type of bravado is certainly refreshing for a sport that lately has seemed too calculating, and for the tifosi that has been beleaguered by doping scandals.

Molto Bello
If our Giro conversation was limited to the beauty of the parcours, Stage 4 may have no rival. Before I was climbing the Tourmalet in 2003, I was basking along the incredible Amalfi coastline. As you can see from the photo I took below, the riders may not have minded navigating the narrow and winding roads from Amalfi to Sorrento as part of yesterday's 153km stage.


Tifosi
If you're not already familiar with the term above, it refers to the Italian cycling fan base. And it also refers to a relatively new (as in not that publicized) brand of sunglasses.

Recently, a friend asked for some advice about cycling/active eyewear. If I were to recommend a brand that has the most "bang for the buck," then the list stops with Tifosi. Most of their eyewear is made from similar materials and technologies that are used in some of the more popular brands of active eyewear, but for half the price. If you're thinking that you'll be sacrificing style for price, you need not worry in that regard. As you can see from the inset image, the Italian fashion industry would be proud of this brand of eyewear that sports the name of their passionate fans.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Hear Ye, Hear Ye...

Read (and View) All About It!
It's been extremely interesting following the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing (and we're only 2 days into a scheduled 10 day hearing). Because of the public nature of the hearing, dozens of media types have been able to dissect every little tidbit of information.

For a great play-by-play you can't go wrong by heading over to our friends in the blogosphere, Trust But Verify, who has been following the plight of Floyd since his positive results were revealed a year ago.

If you have a high speed internet connection (and some time on your hands), you can watch LIVE streaming video of the proceedings by following the links found on the Floyd Fairness Fund website or on Floyd's personal site, floydlandis.com. You can also catch videos on demand at the former.

Blinded Me With Science
As I've stated before, the Landis case won't be about legal posturing, but rather hinge on the science. So far, the hearing hasn't disappointed.

USADA and its lawyers, to date, have presented their experts in the field of testosterone metabolism and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Carbon Isotope Ratio (IRMS CIR), and one of the LNDD technicians who ran Landis' samples (more on her later).

Frankly, I've been extremely surprised by all three of USADA's witnesses. Through a litany of patent answers, each has incidentally perforated holes in USADA's attempt at burden or proof; corroborating much of the procedural and ethical violations Team Landis has consistently claimed.

The testosterone metabolism expert, Dr. Cedric Shackleton, Senior Scientist at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) who has authored over 200 papers and whose biography (from the CHORI website) reads as such,

"Since 1967, Dr. Shackleton has been an innovator in the use of mass spectrometetry for biochemical analysis...Shackleton has also pioneered the use of mass spectrometry in providing a detailed analysis of the steroid production in hypertensive individuals, and operates an internationally used resource for diagnosis of rare forms of inherited hypertension. In addition, Shackleton has worked with the U.S. and International Olympic Committees to help establish procedures for synthetic steroid detection. By analysis of the carbon isotope ratio, mass spectrometry can show that the steroids found in an athlete’s urine come from an external source, thus proving steroid misuse. He contributed to the methods used in all recent Olympic games..."

sounded, on cross examination of Landis' chromatograms (the actual graphical representation of the separation of ions), as if he truly wasn't an expert on mass spectrometry at all, merely claiming an expertise in the metabolism of testosterone. Either Dr. Shackleton was the poor doddering Englishman, some have portrayed him as, or he was non-committal in his answers for other reasons.

Meanwhile, as Michael Hiltzik, LA Times, reported, Dr. J. Thomas Brenna, USADA's second witness and IRMS CIR expert, contradicted himself while commenting on the LNDD's procedural precision. Hiltzik writes:

"Brenna acknowledged, for example, that in several experimental test runs the lab had failed to reproduce its analytical results with scientifically acceptable precision.

He also acknowledged that documents produced by the lab showed that records relevant to the Landis case had been deliberately deleted."

While Brenna, "...had earlier praised the lab's technical competence."

Certain biases in Brenna's testimony were also disclosed as he receives $1.3 million dollars in WADA grant money.

The final witness on Day 2 of the Landis' hearing was LNDD technician, Cynthia Mongongu. Because of inadequate interpretation for the French speaking Mongongu, long delays ensued. How bad was the initial interpreter? Eurosport reported:

"When the interpreter translated Mrs. Mongongu's answer "a day and a half" as "an hour and a half," Mr. Brunet and one of Floyd Landis' lawyers then proposed to adjourn the session for more than an hour: the time it would take to bring in another interpreter."

Once her testimony got underway, Mrs. Mongongu, a late addition to USADA's witness list, seemed to add further to the implication of laboratory imprecision and the notion that files had been deleted. As TBV states:

"She admitted stopping the machine for a variety of reasons, none clearly documented in any of the logs or test documentation."

Clash of Titans?
An interesting tidbit from ESPN's Bonnie DeSimone was the listing of Greg Lemond and Eddy Merckx on the witness lists; Lemond on USADA's and Merckx on Landis'. The latter, the father of Landis' former teammate, Axel, is listed as an expert in cycling tactics and racing, while the reasons for listing the former were unknown. Although neither is expected to testify, this might have been the only chance to see these titans of cycling go head-to-head. I'm sure the road version would have been better, but I'll take what I can get.

Another Flying Scotsman

In the spirit of Graeme Obree, but in a different discipline altogether, Scotsman and current World Champion in the Kilometre, Chris Hoy (Photo: AFP) went after the World Record in the same.

Hoy attempted to break Arnaud Tournant's record set in 2001 on the same "at altitude" velodrome in La Paz, Bolivia. In his second attempt, Hoy narrowly missed the record by 5 one-thousandths of a second, clocking the second fastest kilometre ever (58.880 to Tournant's 58.875).

Hoy didn't leave La Paz empty handed, however, as he set the World Record in the 500m from a standing start. He bettered the previous mark of 25.85 by another Frenchman, Arnaud Duble.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Wear The Damn Thing...

I think I've heard about every excuse not to wear a bike helmet over the years, with some actually coming from my own mouth. Yes, I used to be in the "too cool for school" mindset, ducking in and out of city traffic wearing only my Red Sox cap or an old US Postal Cycling cap.

But if the story below doesn't get you to start wearing a helmet, maybe nothing will.

Wisconsin Cyclist OK After Truck Runs Over Head
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A delivery truck ran over a cyclist's head, leaving him only with a concussion and a mangled helmet. Ryan Lipscomb, 26, was shaken up, especially after he saw the condition of his helmet.

"I didn't see it coming, but I sure felt it roll over my head," he said. "It feels really strange to have a truck run over your head."

Lipscomb, a graduate student in medical physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was riding swiftly down a bike path in Madison Friday afternoon. As he approached an intersection where he said he had a green light, he noticed the truck preparing to make a right turn in front of him.

The truck wasn't going to stop, Lipscomb said, so he slammed on his brakes, flipping his bike and landing in the street.

For the full story click HERE.

Friday, May 11, 2007

On Tap...

TOSRV
An annual event usually scheduled around Mother's Day, the Tour of the Scioto River Valley began as a father-and-son outing in 1962. Since then it has quickly grown into the nation’s largest bicycle touring weekend.

Approximately 3000 riders participate in this two day event, which covers 200 miles from Columbus to Portsmouth, OH and back.

TOSRV is credited with "single-handedly raising the profile of the bicycle in American life and providing the inspiration for many of the mass-participation cycling events so popular today across the country."

Because of the time of year, the weather is fairly unpredictable. Alright, it can be downright nasty, as rain and thunderstorms are more of the norm than the exception. The forecast for this weekend, however, looks to be falling into the exception.

I participated in the event a couple of years ago with one of my best friends, Don (Happy Birthday!). Though we'll both be in town this weekend, both of us are laid up with injuries (Granny with a torn gastrocnemius, and Don recovering from rotator cuff surgery). For all our friends and family (some of whom are getting ready for their respective triathlon or racing seasons) riding this weekend here's wishing you "no headwinds!" (Boy I've gotten a lot of use out of that phrase lately, thanks Liz).

Meanwhile, our IronGal in training, Katie, will be taking in some much needed R&R as she will also be in the Columbus, OH area for Brandon's graduation from THE Ohio State University this weekend. Congratulations Brandon (another fellow blogger, B. misc.)!

Keeping the Faith
With all the USADA/WADA chicanery surrounding Floyd Landis' arbitration hearing on Monday, May 14th, the final scheduled Floyd Fairness Fund event, Keep the Faith Ride, this weekend could very well be the last time we see Floyd on a bicycle for a while.

Registration for the May 12th ride starting in New Holland, PA is $75.00 (which most likely will go toward his defense).

Though we are still three days away from his public arbitration, the deck certainly looks stacked against Floyd, even though the evidence seems to be in his favor.

As T-o-03 pointed out, perhaps there are no innocents in this matter. The court of public opinion will spin the verdict, which is predicted to be out a fortnight after the hearing, to their liking, but similar to any mud slinging election, everyone seems to lose out.

Ready or Not Giro Comes
Seemingly lost in the shuffle of all the recent doping scandals is the Giro d' Italia. Its amazing how the athletes and governing bodies alike, have almost completely cannibalized the sport to the point that a Grand Tour could have easily been forgotten (if not for its recent publicity).

Honestly, with all the news of Basso, Landis, Operacion Puerto, would anyone have noticed that there was a race going on in Italy? It's like having a Thanksgiving Day hangover in May. You know the feeling; before you've wrapped up the last bit of turkey the calendar suddenly says its Christmas?

So what should you be watching for in the next three weeks (T-o-03 provided a good list of Giro previews below)? How about some great racing!

I'm not kidding.

The names are big, but likely not as recognizable to the newbie cycing fan. Because of this fact, this year's edition of the Giro d' Italia will most likely bring into play some old school tactics, like those seen in 2005 with Paolo Salvodelli claiming the GC. So rather than seeing some dominant (possibly doped up) performance, you'll be privy to the fundamentals of racing at it highest form, and a true battle of wills, or as Liggett and Sherwen often refer to it, riders "making a withdrawal from their bank of pain."

The Maglia Rosa favorite's list reads like an Italian dining menu:
Salvodelli, Simoni, Cunego, Di Luca. All signs seem to point to a battle of former teammates, Simoni and Cunego. Simoni definitely has the better supporting staff, which will benefit him in the mountains. However, the ultimate protagonist may be Di Luca, whose form in this year's Ardennes Classics is reminiscent of his 2005 campaign when he nearly stole the entire Giro show.

The points jersey competition is littered with some of the top sprinters, but look for an old favorite in Il Grillo, Paolo Bettini to claim the prize. McEwen and Hushovd will likely be using the Giro to gain form for the Tour, while Alessandro Petacchi is still lacking total confidence in his knee. A new name to look for in the sprint to the finish will be JJ Haedo (CSC) whose claim to fame thus far has been the Tour of California.

Mark your calendar for Stage 17 (May 30th) as a definite must watch. The GC will be blown up on this day with the riders testing themselves up the slope of Monte Zoncolan. How hard is this climb? Statements of "its the hardest climb I've ever done," coming from mountain goats like Simoni and Cunego, should provide enough testimony to its difficulty. What's the gradient from eyeing the profile...like 80 %?

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Thursday Morning Housekeeping

New Look
As most of you who read this blog already know, there have been a lot of changes to it since January. Our biggest change occurred when your Oude Granny managed to down a 2 liter of Mountain Dew (its all good, it was diet!) in one sitting and revamp the entire blog template.
For those of you who weren't around before the template change, let's just say that it was a much needed improvement. (I now receive a lot of "its pretty" comments.)

Blowin' Up?
Next order of business is the newest item on our blog, the banner for Blogburst. If you haven't clicked on the banner yet, Blogburst is a "syndication service that places blogs on top-tier online destinations."

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It's a service that accepts blogs by invitation only (although if you go to their site you can actually request a review of your blog and an invitation). But I was greatly surprised, given the fact that we didn't think we were reaching a great number of people, when I received an email invitation to join the Blogburst community. Apparently, our content was reaching the "right" people.

So what does this all mean? The Triple Crankset is now available to some of the top-tier online news services, like USA Today, Reuters, Rodale, etc. So you may, hopefully in the near future, see one of our posts on one of these major sites.

TSTWKT
For those first time visitors, as well as to our frequent readers, you may have seen the set of links on the right navigation bar with the header, TSTWKT. The acronym was actually taken from a Lance Armstrong quote in Daniel Coyle's book, "Lance Armstrong's War," and stands for The S&^t That Will Kill Them. Armstrong used this phrase to describe the new technologies that Trek or his other sponsors would come up with each year to help him in his Tour de France quests.

In the context of our blog, we've listed some of our favorite (alright Oude Granny's favorite) cycling related items, from bike lube to messenger bags. The list will be a dynamic one and not static, although it hasn't changed as of late.

I'll try to review one of the products every once in a while and tell you why I chose to single it out among all the various cycling products out there.

So what better place to start than at the top...Vanilla Bicycles.

Latest Crush

Vanilla Bicycles
I couldn't exactly title it "New Love," (that'll come later) as I have yet to even ride one of their products. So how can I, in all honesty, already be doting on these bicycles and list them under TSTWKT? Let's just say that there a lot of folks out there who have never ridden in a Porsche or in a Ferrari, but know they want one!

Unfortunately, since most of my friends aren't cyclophiles (and as one of them said recently, "that's why we've got you around.") they aren't able to distinguish between a stock bike (your massed produced bikes) and a custom made functional piece of art (from a craftsman who might obsess over the minute details). Depending on whether you're a glass half full or half empty person, these craftsman are a burgeoning, albeit tiny subset of the cycling community (if you already envision the bike industry as being a small subset of the population, then imagine how small the group of frame builders to be).

Sacha White, owner and builder of Vanilla Bicycles based out of Portland, OR (which probably boasts the highest number of frame builders per capita), is in that glorious minority. He started building frames in 1999. Although many link him to apprenticing under Tim Paterek, he didn't, but he did build his first frame with Paterek.

As I've never met Sacha White, nor have I been to his shop, most of what I know of him and Vanilla comes from those who have had direct contact with him or have had the experience of owning/riding one of his frames (like my friend Pip, above inset). However, what I've read and seen about White and Vanilla (below; both from the company's website) are indicative of the type of person that "just gets it," and the type of bicycle that may not only be your latest crush, but also your last one.


I started building bike frames with a lust for fine craftsmanship and a developed eye for detail.
This passion is what drives me still. Whether I am meeting with a customer and discussing the design of their new frame, sculpting a brass joint, or polishing stainless lugs on a frame for 10 hours straight

I go for perfection
I would never say that "At Vanilla we make the finest bicycle in the world" That's pompous. I can say, however, that I build the finest vanilla bicycle, with out question.

If you see another bike out there and it makes you want to freak out and do what ever you can to have it then that's the bike for you.

Like music, clothing or fantastic coffee it is all about you and your taste.
Vanilla Bicycles have a flavor unlike any other on earth!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The Ballad of Nell


Remember that post about being Railroaded (thanks TBV for helping me out with the name of our young maiden, Floyd in this case)?

Well, Snidley Whiplash isn't using rope...he's using tungsten steel cables!

Fairness prepare to meet Mr. Amtrack (Mr. Bullet Train if you're reading this overseas).

-- Los Angeles Times: Infighting Revealed in Landis Doping Case

Has The Rubber Band Snapped?

Remember the first couple of lines of the Grease song, Greased Lightning (c'mon I know most of you just broke out into song)?

Need some prompting...
Why this car is automatic
It's systematic

Systematic...ah there's the rub.

It was the first word that crossed my mind when I thought about the recent doping scandals.

With an almost religious-like zeal, Dick Pound and WADA have systematically dismantled the top echelon of cycling. Armstrong retired, Ullrich implicated, Landis is awaiting his arbitration hearing, and now Basso confesses.

Could the elasticity of pro cycling's attempts to perpetuate their culture of falsehoods have finally snapped? Would cycling's fanbase return if the sport was cleansed of all it improprieties? Should we now anticipate others following Basso's lead and take responsiblity for their actions?

Could've, Would've, Should've...

Whole Lot of Nuthin'
How much dope could a doper dope, if a doper could dope blood?

Apparently, NONE!

That's what essentially came out of the Ivan Basso's "admission of guilt" presser.

He gave his blood with the intention of doping, but he never doped. He has proclaimed himself CLEAN! "All my victories were obtained in an honest manner and nobody can contest what I achieved in the 2006 Giro d'Italia no more than the other results I achieved during my career," Basso said.

Sound the trumpets, release the doves...all is right in the world of cycling! One of our heroes is still CLEAN!
Ah Granny, we don't have any of that? We have a kazoo and a grasshopper.
A kazoo and a grasshopper??!!
Ah yeah, that's all the sponsors would flip for.
Wait a minute, we have sponsors??

Frankly that's all this non-admission of guilt deserves. Don Vito? Sounds more like Fredo!

So the request to leave Discovery Channel, all the consternation, the weight on his shoulder, was all for what, giving blood to the wrong person...isn't that a Red Cross violation!

Damn, I gave a pint last month, where's WADA, where's USADA, where are all the journalist?

Ah Granny, you've never won a Grand Tour, and you're blood was intended to help others.
Then, sound the kazoo, release the grasshopper...

For more on the press conference, Click HERE.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

A Lil' Love

Even before the movie, Breaking Away, came out, America had a love affair with the Little 500.

ESPN.com recently sent their Page 2 correspondent, their man about Campus, the "Bluto" Blutarsky (as in, you're not going to ever leave college even when you graduate) of writing, Jim Caple, to discover the "charm" of what has become a bigger than life event.

Wreckage at the 2005 Lil' 5

Caple writes:
"While fraternities and sororities form the core of the 33 teams in each year's men's and women's races, squads from the dorms and independent housing are also among the Little 500 elite. Dodds House is part of the residence halls while Land's Cutters team broke off from the very successful Delta Chi team two decades ago and took its name from the "Breaking Away" team. Cutters is the insult used by the college students in the movie to describe the blue-collar townies whose fathers worked cutting limestone for the disappearing quarry companies. It becomes a source of pride when the Cutters team wins the climactic race and the current Cutters (all IU students) have so embraced this outsider persona that their victory chant goes like this:

"C-U-T-T-E-R-S! CUTTERS! CUTTERS! #&% THE FRATS!""

For the rest of the story, including some video shot at the infamous quarry, click HERE.

Monday, May 07, 2007

7 Days in May

It was billed as the "Fight to Save Boxing," Oscar "Golden Boy" De La Hoya versus Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather, Jr.

Judging from the post fight reactions, the pretty version tarnished the golden one in an entertaining fashion, but the fight fell well short of placing boxing back on the sporting world map.

So here we are, one week, 7 Days, from the arbitration hearing of Floyd Landis, which might be appropriately billed as the "Fight to Save Cycling."

On one side, there is the belief (hope) that extraordinary athletic achievements aren't predicated on extraordinary means, that standards should be governed by ethics rather than politics, and that justice should be objective rather than subjective.

On the other side, there is the belief that cycling is inundated with those who would use any means possible to attain fame and glory, that their expungement is a justifiable sacrifice to save the sport (sacrifice the few to save the many), and that their own testing processes are not only valid but infallible.

The Tale of the Tape
Floyd Landis - the 2006 Tour de France champion, on the road. After what was portrayed as a herculean effort on Stage 17, his urine samples were allegedly found to possess exogenous testosterone. From resigned disbelief to steadfastedly denying any drug use, Landis has barnstormed the country raising money for his defense while lobbying for transparency of scientific and legal materials. In between, he's found time to have his hip replaced for a condition known as avascular necrosis.

Arbitrators -
Chris Campbell - former Olympic wrestler, who is now an attorney in San Francisco. He was Landis' choice for the panel. It would be safe to say that Campbell is an advocate for the athlete against the "strong arm" tactics of the anti-doping agencies. His was the lone dissenting opinion on the Tyler Hamilton arbitration case.

Richard McLaren - selected by USADA. An attorney from Ontario, Canada who served USADA in the Tyler Hamilton case, McLaren has served as an arbitrator for the NHL and the Olympic games.

Patrice Brunet - chosen to serve as the panel's chairman by the other two arbitrators. He also hails from Canada. Brunet is an attorney specializing in immigration and sports law.

The Case
Essentially this case will comes down to discrediting the practices (both scientific and ethical) of the lab at Chatenay-Malabry (LNDD) versuses the upholding of the positive findings of Landis' "B" sample. All the inappropriate requests or the withholding of certain documents seem to be legal posturing.

The Verdict
Given the high profile and political nature of this case, let alone holding it for public consumption, the case will come down to one thing, or rather one person, Patrice Brunet. He will ultimately have to decide whether the sub-standard testing procedures and the less than ethical standards used to accuse Landis of testosterone use outweighs the actual positive findings.

Why will it come down to Mr. Brunet? With the public arguments that the Floyd Fairness Fund has brought to light regarding the treatment of his samples, Mr. Campbell will most assuredly rule for Floyd. His dissension in Tyler Hamilton's case came about from very similar reasoning. While Mr. McLaren will hold the infallibilty line of the anti-doping agencies, USADA and WADA.

Regardless of the verdict, a potential black eye for Floyd or for the LNDD laboratory and WADA, the sport of cycling itself will come out victorious in the long run. Proponents for WADA and for cleaning up the sport will proclaim that they've rid the sport of one more cheater. While a victory for Floyd may finally place an impetus on the testers to follow stricter guidelines.

Oude Granny's Take
Coming from a purely scientific view point, the mistakes and the unethical standards of the LNDD laid out in Dr. Arnie Baker's presentation are enough to call into question the actual positive findings, even the spectrometry analysis to differentiate endogenous from exogenous testosterone. However, this case won't be about fairness for Floyd as logic rarely has a place in the minds of those that deal in absolutes.

For those of you at "ringside" on May 14th, feel free to tote around the arbitration scorecards found in the most recent Bicycling magazine. But keep this fact in mind: Roy Jones Jr. somehow found his way into a silver medal during the 1988 Olympics.

Tranquilo
Floyd has two final appearances on the schedule before his arbitration hearing: a fundraiser in his hometown of San Diego on May 7th, and a "Keep the Faith Ride" in New Holland, PA on May 12th.

Katie's Korner

Our IronGal, Katie, checks in with a few significant "achievements" in her training, one of which we all thought she would have accomplished when she was 3 years old! Actually, its the perfect accompaniment to yesterday's post, "Reality Bites." (So now we've got #1 and #2 covered!)

Milestones...
After 6 hours and 10 minutes, I completed 100 miles on the bike....and actually felt pretty good. On the 20 minute transition run, my legs felt great. I couldn't even feel muscle soreness. The only thing was a minor cramp...but overall great.

The pre-ride meal was much better this week. Last night I had spaghetti, squash, and salmon.

Before the ride, had dried banana and on the ride had:
1/2 pb and honey sandwich
1/2 banana
1 bottle Gatorade (some serious psychic pain inflicted on Oude "Buckeye" Granny)
1 bottle of water
1/2 cliff bar
1 Trekker bar
1/2 honey goo packet

Overall, about 700 calories on the bike. I think the honey goo may be what made my stomach hurt the last few times as it was better this time.

The problem was....It was so damn windy! Let me just say that being a weatherman has got to be the best job in the whole freakin' world! They're EXPECTED to be wrong...and when they're right, they're praised! Imagine if that were your job! How sweet!!

Basically, it was supposed to be nicer today than yesterday...NOT SO! The easterly winds were absolutely ridiculous! At times I felt as though I was going backwards! And in all honesty, I rode some big hills this time and going up one of them, I was going 4 mph! I literally almost fell over! And since I can't clip out of my pedals...I would have!

Also rode with some cycling guys for a bit. Until I decided they were way too fast for me.

"See ya later guys, I'm turning back."

They tried to get me to say, but I insisted otherwise. Here they are in their matching attire with Quintana Roo everything, from long pants to long sleeves to little booties to put over their shoes to keep their toes warm!!! (as it was 45 degrees starting off). There I am, in my biker shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt! I looked like such a poser! Not saying I don't want all that fancy stuff, but, ya know.

Another big training accomplishment: I peed on the bike.

Yes, that's right. I'm sorry if that grosses some of you out but, it's all in the name of the sport. I won't go in to detail but it was another landmark...and this is my training journal!

I want to thank Len for giving me the info on the biking Chi (to imagine the movement from the hip)...it really helped.

Any advice from anyone on how to keep the neck muscles from getting so sore?

Okay folks, enjoy today!
Katie

It's All About The Bike...
With all due respect to Lance Armstrong, in Katie's case it's all about the bike. So since she's still experiencing neck pain, let's finally break down Katie's Trek 1200.


As far as triathlon/TT (time trial) bikes, Trek's 1200 is, for all intensive purposes, neither. Depending upon the year Katie purchased the bike, it would fall under Trek's Recreational/Entry Level Road Category. However, that's not to say that a road bike can't be converted for triathlon use.

According to the standard specifications (again, the purchase year of the bike is a factor), Katie's 1200 has a couple of good things going for it. The frame is made of Trek's Alpha SL (Super Light) aluminum, and it also possesses a Bontrager (Trek's in-house brand for bike parts) carbon fork. Both these elements make for a lighter bike (lighter also means faster), while the carbon provides dampening of road vibration. You can see why most of the higher end bikes are made completely of carbon (extremely light, while saving the body from road chatter).

Another aspect of the 1200 (dependent upon the year) that also helps to soak up vibration is the width of the wheels, 25mm. This width is perfect if you're into touring and long distances, but for a triathlon it's not so good. If Katie hasn't already done so, she should switch out to 23mm width tires. This will provide less rolling resistance, thereby making her faster.

In a previous Katie's Korner, we established that triathlon bikes have a different geometry and that women also have specific geometric needs. What is most likely causing Katie's chronic neck pain is either one of the following or a combination of over extension and incorrect saddle or aero bar (handle bar) height. Since she has already been fitted for the bike, it may require some fine tuning to get Katie dialed in. For the distances she'll cover riding and running, neck pain is the last things our IronGirl in training needs.

All of this isn't intended to dispirit our IronGal, or for lack of a better phrase, make her feel "ghetto," about her bike. It actually shows the mettle from which our Katie is made. After all, it's more about the human machine, and not necessarily the one underneath that will carry Katie to the finish line.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Reality Bites

The photo below has been circling the internet like a viral video. I've got no reason to doubt its authenticity, as the reality of the matter really does outweigh any reason for wanting to manufacture it.

So say you're taking part in a one day Classic and while traversing over 224km you suddenly have an urge, or rather the urge. What do you do?

As one caption stated, "rockin the dookie drawers," oh no you didn't? Another reason to have black bibs.

Tornado squishing around the Roubaix velodrome

Saturday, May 05, 2007

No Giro For You!!!

The powers that be in professional cycling have broken out the Seinfeld equivalent of the Soup Nazi. In the case of the Grand Tours, call it the Triumvirate of Cycling Nazis: UCI President, Pat McQuaid, Tour de France Director, Christian Prudhomme, and Quick-Step boss, Patrick LeFevere.

All three have recently agreed to bar any questionable cyclists from the three Grand Tours, until the implicated (defined as guilty in this case) can prove their non-involvement/innocence in their respective scandal (Operacion Puerto in this case).

If this holds true to form, the biggest loser of the bunch may be Tyler Hamilton (Tinkoff Credit Systems), who not only served a 2 year suspension for alleged homologous blood transfusion, but is facing a case of what I can best describe as reverse double jeopardy (double jeopardy meaning that the accused cannot be tried for the same crime twice) by being newly implicated in Operacion Puerto.

This point is lost on Oude Granny. Perhaps my mind has dulled in the aging process.

So Hamilton who served a suspension for a doping infraction is essentially being barred from this year's biggest races because they have potentially found new evidence that he actually did dope two years ago??

Isn't that the biblical justice equivalent of cutting off the arms of a man who has already had his hands cut off for stealing?

"Yeah, you know that bread that you stole?"
"Darn right I do, you took my hands for it!"
"Well, now we really know you did it...WHACK!"

No Racing For You!!!

Friday, May 04, 2007

Erin Go Bra!

For the past 2 years, I've been itching to go on the Centuries Tour of Ireland. It encompasses 9 centuries of Irish history, as well as 9 centuries of bike riding around the beautiful Irish coastline. (And knowing Granny, perhaps 9 centuries of Guinness to boot).

Now there's another reasons to head to the Emerald Isle during late Summer/early Fall, as professional cycling has returned with the 5 Stage, Tour of Ireland (August 22-26, 2007).


Stage 1 - August 22: Kilkenny - Cork (St. Patrick's Hill), 160 km
Stage 2 - August 23: Clonakilty - Killarney, 167 km
Stage 3 - August 24: Tralee - Ennis, 190 km
Stage 4 - August 25: Galway - Galway, 212 km
Stage 5 - August 26: Athlone - Dublin, 135 km

The most surprising, and maybe that's not the proper word, about the promotion of the upcoming event was the inclusion of Irish model, Jenny Lee Masterson. Not that that's a bad thing mind you (as you can see below). After 15 years of not having a professional cycling race in the country, maybe the organizers felt they needed a "hook" to bring out the old laddies and lasses? Maybe she was there merely to model the outfit to be worn by the TOI podium girls? Again, not a bad thing.

Regardless, I guess it never ceases to amaze me that the advertising axiom of "sex sells," almost never seems to fail. As if having Irish cycling legend, Sean Kelly, present wasn't enough!

On second thought, do we even need Sean Kelly in the photo? Erin Go Bra (yes, that's a play on words) INDEED!

Photo ©: Gerry McManus/www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk

On Tap - Part II

Ever since I saw the trailer for the movie The Flying Scotsman online, I've been anxiously awaiting its debut. Well the wait is finally over, so go check it out. Our friends over at the movie's official website, www.theflyingscotsmanmovie.com, have sent us the initial reviews, which may be enticement enough to get you indoors from this gorgeous weather.

04.05.2007 - James Snyder - The New York Sun: "screenwriters John Brown, Declan Hughes, and Simon Rose turn those rules upside down in a third act that is less a celebration of celebrity than a sobering look at the costs that accompany it...there are flashes of brilliance here. Director Douglas Mackinnon's racing footage, which cuts between a telescopic technique that offers the vantage point of the spectators and a closely mounted camera that shows Graeme's tunnel vision from the racetrack, is riveting...The Flying Scotsman" is the rare film that stays with its hero after the gold medal is placed around his neck and the chase for glory has come to an end."

04.05.2007 - Bill Zwecker - Chicago Sun-Times "Turmoil and victory meet in remarkable 'Scotsman'" and "Miller is a revelation here...Unlike so many motion pictures, where all forms of mental illness are interpreted by over-the-top acting, Miller's approach is far more realistic and likely similar to the true fight that millions face with this wide-spread affliction worldwide...Even for audiences who normally would not be interested in cycling, "The Flying Scotsman" is a good choice, because this film is about so much more."

04.05.2007 - Tom Keogh - Seattle Times - ""The Flying Scotsman's" inspirational tale sends spirits soaring" and "Jonny Lee Miller ("Trainspotting") is enormously sympathetic and appealing as Obree"

04.05.2007 - Kyle Smith - New York Post: "The Flying Scotsman" is different. It's an underdog story with teeth...the movie is refreshing in its suggestion that even victory may not cure every ailment"

04.05.2007 - Sarah Kaufman - Washington Post:" a classic tale of the heroic little guy that goes beyond the sport of cycling, told with elegant restraint in this sensitive and beautifully rendered film...Miller is key to the film's success, with his earnest, sweet-faced looks and evident dark side. He plays Obree with just the right understated intensity, a believable competitor who fights back fiercely with his wits and a few tight-lipped words."

03.05.2007 - John P. McCarthy - Catholic News Service: "Obree's bouts with depression prevent this film from being just a sentimental movie with a formulaic outcome. Director Douglas Mackinnon uses his subject's troubled psyche to generate suspense; and the cyclist's friendship with a Protestant minister, the Rev. Douglas Baxter (Brian Cox), lends a subtle religious dimension...Exemplifying the movie's good taste and sensitivity, lovely music and scenery don't overwhelm the central plight of this lionhearted athlete."

03.05.2007 - Michael Wilmington - Chicago Tribune: "Mackinnon, a TV star director making his theatrical feature debut here, has a flair for pace, colour and performances. The writing is more heartfelt than usual for a movie like this; one of the writers, Rose, has been working on the project for 12 years. "The Flying Scotsman," like many movie bios, invents some characters and plays with the truth, though not too much. But the movie, which endured a few bumps and trials of its own on its path to the screen, tells a tale both fast and moving. And when Miller as Obree takes his whirls around the track, it gets your heart pumping and your blood up".

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

File Under: WRONG Part II

What is it with bike theft these days! Last year around this same time, I was writing about Heinz Stucke, the "Forrest Gump of Cycling," who had his bike stolen on one of his circumnavigations (yes that is plural as the man has been cyc-lin and cyc-lin since he left his German home in 1962) of the globe.

Earlier this month, Team Lamonta had their entire supply of LOOK/SRAM bikes stolen while at the Olympia’s Tour in the Netherlands.

Now comes the story below, orginally printed on Velonews. Since this is as social a network medium as they come, I thought that I'd help get the word out.

Thieves nick 300 bikes destined for Tulsa kids' ride
By VeloNews.com
This report filed May 30, 2007

It was tough news for Tulsa Tough Ride and Race-300 Schwinns destined for school-age kids tackling a special Tough Kids 10km ride on Sunday have gone missing.

A 40-foot steel shipping container containing the bikes was apparently stolen last weekend from the Pacific Cycles shipping yard.

The youngsters earned the bikes through the Tough Kids Challenge, a program in which middle- and high-school students either participated in Tulsa's Little 100 cycling event or completed a bicycle-safety education course.

Tulsa Tough Ride and Race launched the youth health and fitness initiative this year with the support of The Children's Hospital at St. Francis.

The bikes, which sported the Tulsa Tough, Little 100 and Saint Francis logos, were to be delivered on Tuesday and assembled on Wednesday for pickup on Saturday. Organizers were hoping to find loaner bikes for Sunday's Tough Kids ride.

For more information, email info@tulsatough.com.

**UPDATE: May 31st @ 9:00am EST - Bikes were recovered by Dallas Police. Volunteers, including Ed of Cycledog stayed up all night assembling the cycles for the Saturday pickup.

Some DAP For Gibo

For all that he is (a two time Giro d'Italia champion) and for all that he's claimed to be (a serious challenger to Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France), you can't deny Gilberto Simoni's talent as a climber.

The 35 year old from Trento, Italy again showed why he'll be considered one of Italy's greatest cyclists (there I said it; who else you got...and no I'm not saying he's Fausto Coppi). Simoni won today's Stage 17 up Monte Zoncolan in superlative fashion. His second win up the steep climb, the first coming 4 year ago, Simoni also moved himself onto a podium position.

"I did not know if it was possible to win here again after four years...I saw that Di Luca was too strong for me [in the overall picture] so to win this stage helps," said Simoni.

The stage saw the trio of Leonardo Piepoli (Simoni's Saunier Duval teammate), Andy Schleck (yes there's another talented Schleck on CSC), and Simoni attempt to distance themselves from the maglia rosa on the Zoncolan. Danilo DiLuca (Liquigas), however, was just strong enough on the finale and finished fourth on the day.

With Sunday's ride into Milan quickly approaching and with a lead of more than 2 minutes, DiLuca is that much closer to locking up what would be his greatest victory. But like every athlete in his current position, "The Killer" refuses to think about any part of a celebration saying, "My advantage is important but it is not decisive."

The Mountain Cometh

It wasn't exactly a rest day yesterday at the Giro d' Italia, but it seemed that way for the favorites and those ranked highly on the General Classification (GC). With the exception of former champion, Stefano Garzelli, who won his second mountain stage, Stage 16 amounted to "the quiet before the storm." And what a storm that may be!

Stage 17 from Lienz to Monte Zoncolan has been earmarked by the riders and tifosi alike ever since this year's route was announced. As you can see from the profile of the mountain top finish, this stage has the makings of being the final GC decider.

Current maglia rosa wearer, Danilo DiLuca (Liquigas) will need his "killer" instincts to be extremely astute. He will most likely have to fend off every would be contender up Zoncolan alone as his team has faded since the route turned uphill.

Saunier Duval, with its full complement of 9 riders, looks to be the most well placed team, as both Ricardo Ricco and Gilberto Simoni are only a few minutes arrear. Climber (and currently second on the GC), Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana), however, will have a say in the matter especially with Paolo Salvodelli aiding his cause.

Follow today's events LIVE on Cyclingnews or Velonews.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Katie's Korner

Our IronGal in training, Katie, checks in after a bit of an absence from the blog, and as you'll read, a little absence from training as well. C'est la vie, no? And no worries blogosphere fans, although Katie's training journal for the Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene will be over in three weeks, she'll be a regular contributor as the Triple Crankset's resident Physical Therapist.

Life Happens!
Hey there, long time no journaling! Mainly because I missed the last two weekends of long biking due to travel! OOooopss!! The good news is, it was well worth it!

Brandon graduated from law school and we are now engaged!! Hooorray!! I could not be happier!! But, this is an Ironman journal so I will try not to digress!!

For starters, I think my coach is on crack. I basically listen to her suggestions and then do my own thing. She is great, but crazy. For example, today, she wanted me to swim an hour....rest 90 minutes for breakfast....bike 6 hours...rest 90 minutes.....run 2 hours.

ARE YOU FLIPPIN SERIOUS DUDE!

Now, for those of you "serious and seasoned" Ironmen and Ironwomen...great for you. I hope you enjoyed yourself out there.

As for me, I felt great about my 6.5 hour bike ride (107 miles). Especially considering I had 2....yes 2... flat tires I had to fix! Also, I was going up this million grade hill (or really steep hill) and I shifted to a low gear and ooops, off goes the chain. I NEARLY FELL OVER! I had to get off and walk up the hill. I had to laugh at myself.

I had to laugh to myself again at about mile 54 when I passed a large farm crop of cows that mooooooo'd at me as I passed. And again at mile 72 when I began to sing renditions of Wison Phillips "Release Me" and "Hold On" from my teenage years. Okay, so I'm a dork....but you'd be surprised what you would do by yourself for 6 hours!

The weather has been so incredibly crappy lately, I was lucky to even get out on the bike. I had tried last weekend and nearly got frostbite on my fingers! Again, for those of you psycho...I mean seasoned triathletes...you probably have every piece of garb to protect you from such conditions. But me, in my high school soccer shirt and spandex SHORTS...I'm less than prepared.

Anyways, today felt great except I have a bit of a headache now. I think it is more due to my neck musculature as opposed to my lack of hydration. I really need to work on my chin tucks while on the bike!

Tomorrow is a long run and then Brandon is taking me to the driving range and then the tennis courts to create our own rendition of a triathlon.

Congrats to Scott and Brandon for graduating from law school...and GOOD LUCK on the bar.

Beth, if you want to send this on to Elaine and Rich, please do as I don't know their email.

In closing, I will try to keep in touch more. This next week will be tough again but not as bad as last week. Then I start to taper...YEAH! I have attached a copy of last weeks schedule...just in case anyone is interested!

Quote of the day: "Don't confuse activity with achievement"

Love y'all
Katie

The Plan Stan
For those of you who don't really know what goes into training for an Ironman, here's a glimpse of Katie's week from her coach, Carla.

Monday - swim if you had time.

Tuesday - 2 hour bike. Nice steady pace nothing hard keep RPMS around 85, easy gear.

Wednesday - 45 min run, basic pace
Swim - I want you to swim a 500 warm up, then 5 x 100 at a slightly faster pace with 30" rest between. Then swim a 2000 straight alternating 50 easy, 50 a little faster.

Thursday - 60 min bike once warmed up do 6 x 2 min hardest gear intervals with 3 min easy spinning between. Off bike run for 2 hours and 30 min, KEY you are hydrating and eating something during long run.

Friday - Swim - more for recovery from the week and you going into a long weekend.
7 x 500 easy.

Saturday - 90 min EASY bike.

Sunday - This is the long one!!!!!! All day brick, last big thing before Ironman. This is the best day to try and simulate what you will be wearing, eating, etc.......Be prepared.

1 hour swim, nice steady pace find a good groove. Take about 90 min to rest, eat change. Then a six hour bike, nice stead pace. Keep heart rate in control the whole time and try and drink every 15 min, eat also at least every half hour something. Take another 90 min break and eat, change and then a 2 hour run, again nice steady pace try and hydrate every mile. In Ironman you have water stops every mile so would be good for you to simulate that. Tonight good meal, lots of rest and a good night sleep!!! Have a great week!!

And here I was feeling pretty darn proud of myself for getting back to riding after a brief injury hiatus, which when looking at that outlined schedule is kind of like being proud of having scratched your arse in the morning. Yeah, I'm sure you're thanking your Oude Granny for that visual!! How about the one to the left; Katie and I at Novak's celebrating the engagement and graduation. All of us at the TC couldn't be happier!

Friday, May 25, 2007

On Tap...

Memorial Day Weekend
This weekend usually signals the "true" beginning of summer. Friends and family are planning cookouts and outings, while others are headed to their favorite vacation spot (BTW, have a great time in the Land of the Grand Banks, and in the Sunshine State).

For the touring cyclists and racer in all of us, this weekend usually helps us to get honed in on our "targets," whether they be training for a charity century or for a specific race. As such, below are a few of the races scheduled for this weekend. (Drop me a line, if you'd like me to list races in your area).

05/26/2007
Dragon's Challenge & NC Criterium Championship
Fort Bragg / Fayetteville, NC
Hellertown Criterium
Hellertown, PA
LÄRABAR So Cal Cup #3
Encino, CA

05/27/2007
Granville Grand Prix
Granville, OH
NETWORK CONTROL MT HAMILTON CLASSIC
San Jose, CA
Aliquippa Industrial Park Crits
Aliquippa, PA

05/28/2007
Tour De Gaslight Village
East Grand Rapids, MI
Quad Cities Criterium
Rock Island, IL
TREK BICYCLE STORE MEMORIAL DAY CRITERIUM
Morgan Hill, CA

Biking The Drive
In Chicago, this weekend kicks off the weekly summer ritual of neighborhood street festivals. And, its also time for the annual Bank of America Bike The Drive (formerly sponsored, but still hosted by, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation). For those unfamiliar with the event, simply click HERE to be taken to the official website or HERE for Oude Granny's rundown of last year's event (yes, I was pedalling when I took that photo!)

In the Pink
For those of you who aren't merely following cycling right now to see or hear who will step up to the mic next and proclaim, "Yes, I doped!" (thank you Mr. Riis, and who's next to purge their soul?), the Giro d'Italia is getting really interesting. Granny's favorite to win the race this year, Danilo DiLuca confirmed his form and retook the Maglia Rosa for the third time in this year's race. He did so in dramatic fashion as he won Stage 12 and distanced himself from some of the pre-race favorites, former champions Paolo Salvodelli and Gilberto Simoni.

Although there are many more mountains to come in this race, having the Giro's leader's jersey may be enough of a whip to motivate DiLuca's Liquigas teammates and help him to a long sought after victory.

To see if DiLuca can hang on, catch the Giro this weekend on Versus' Cyclysm Sunday.


A Gift
With the possibility of thunderstorms ruining most outdoor fun this Memorial Day weekend, I thought I'd throw out another review from the ROLL Film library.

This week's offering is Emmanuel's Gift, narrated by Oprah Winfrey. It chronicles the courageous story of a disabled man who cycles across his native Ghana.

What Borzo (the "bike guy") says:
Is being disabled or severely ill a curse or a blessing? Lance Armstrong has said that if he had his life to live over, and it was up to him, he would welcome the cancer. Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, the hero of Emmanuel's Gift, is another cyclist who made the most of a life-altering challenge...MORE.

What Strauss (the "movie guy") says:
I had never heard of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, but after seeing the moving and inspirational documentary, Emmanuel's Gift, I will certainly never forget him. He is a true-life hero and, because it tells his story, this film deserves to be seen...MORE.

The Smell Test

For those of you who went to a Floyd Landis Fairness Fund fundraiser, you're already familiar with Dr. Arnie Baker's colloquialism of certain LNDD laboratory procedures not "passing the smell test."

But now we can probably apply that same notion to the whole of professional cycling.

Bjarne Riis (photo: AFP), through mutiple denials and acts of hypocrisy; as he chided riders (Hamilton and Basso) formerly under his care of their recent doping indictments, has come out and admitted his own performance enhancing drug use (as T-o-03 mentions below).

"The time has come to put the cards on the table," said Riis. "I have done things which I now regret and which I wouldn't do again. I have doped. I have taken EPO. For awhile it was part if my life."

A former Tour de France stage winner, all of a sudden taking down one of cycling's greats? We all should have known that his breaking of Miguel Indurain during the 1996 Tour de France smelled a little funny.

Now you have to begin to wonder whether his adeptness of reviving careers as the Director Sportif of CSC smells right?

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Fuchsia - Handed

A couple of days ago, T-Mobile announced the release of their new PDA phone, Wing. Developed by the folks over at High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), Wing is the first phone to employ Microsoft’s new mobile operating platform, Windows Mobile 6. As far as phones go, it quite possibly could be the crème de la crème (at least until Apple’s iPhone is released, or as they say in the computer business, “just wait another 3 months.”)

Unfortunately for the telecommunications giant, it seems to be the only "positive" coming out of Germany these days, as news of widespread performance enhancing drug use during the 1990’s predominates.

Even one of their former stalwarts, Eric “Say It Ain’t So” Zabel (now with Milram; left, photo: AP), admitted using erythropoietin (EPO). What’s next, Jan Ullrich admitting he was a bit lax in his off-season training regiment? Oh, right?!

But such is the ludicrous nature of professional cycling these days.

With the current defection of major corporate sponsors due to the tarnished image of cycling, it wouldn't be surprising to see T-Mobile follow suit. And quite possibly, it could be before their cycling sponsorship was due to end in 2010.

Regardless, T-Mobile’s been caught red, make that fuchsia – handed!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Goat?


If you want to know which way some of the folks at Sports Illustrated online are leaning, you need only download the final image from their site. The actual width size...666 pixels.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Hero

One of the dangers, at least for your Oude Granny, of working in a university setting is being surrounded by intellectuals. In their presence, I revert back to your average 3 year old; veritable sponge of knowledge.

As a blogger, I, we, are active participants of what Tim O'Reilly coined, Web 2.0, or using the web as a platform to facilitate collaboration and sharing among its users.

The applications, for business let alone education, are boundless.

One of my favorite social networking objects these days is FLICKR, a web-based photo sharing site. It isn't exactly new to the web, but the way its users are applying its collaborative ("social") properties is amazing! One such application is Visual Story Telling, or using 5 photos to tell a story. "Gender Miscommunication," by nightingai1e is one of my favorites.

So rather than write about Floyd Landis, I thought I'd tell his story in two sets of 5 photos. The first, titled "Hero." (I'm sure some of you can already guess what the next set will be titled).

Saturday, May 19, 2007

It Was Just a Matter of Time....


21 years (with a 7 year hiatus) 2 months and some odd days of cycling experience is exactly the amount of time I needed to finally tango with one of those 2000+lb beasts we call cars.

I recently started a new job and while job training in the great garden state of New Jersey, I fell prey to a 17 year-old and her apparent inability to see a cyclist traveling the opposite direction. While clipping at 25+mph on a slight descent in lovely Moorestown, I looked ahead and what appeared in my view was simply horrifying....a car turning left in my path and there was absolutely no way in this earth that I was getting out of it.

With some blessings from above and some old racing tactics, I stayed calm and threw the bike into a slide by jamming the rear brake and forcing the bike to fishtail so that I would hit her flush and not "T-bone". I dropped and put my shoulder into her rear passenger door and hoped for the best. Needless to say the bike, the rider and the car went everywhere.

I know you might find this shocking but the 17 year-old and her Paris Hilton like friend got out of the car and actually started blaming me. The friend stated..."like, you need to slow down when you see cars, like they take priority..." I'm proud to say I kept my cool and permitted the police to sort it out. They did and like me, were not impressed with the driver's misunderstanding of the motor code.

Big props to the Moorestown Police for not only enforcing the law but extending tremendous compassion. The CO on the scene actually offered his own personal bicycle to me should I "need to finish my workout". Given my physical status at the time, I told him I was going to sit out the rest of this training session. Another officer drove me and my now battered black beauty back to the hotel. He was a great guy.

What's Next?
Despite this disrupting my training and racing this weekend, I consider myself the luckiest man alive. Because of the "flush" style impact, I mitigated body damage considerably. I suffered trauma to my left knee that is still barking back at me and the right side shoulder, back and arm are healing up.

The bike however is another story. I just got word last night that Trek's policy is to recommend the bike is shipped back for x-rays. I've been told by 2 Trek dealers that 99.9% of the time they want to replace the bike. Apparently carbon fiber, especially 110 GSM, is too unpredictable when struck by a car and the frame could fail anytime thereafter. So here we go with the insurance nightmare.


I can't tell you how this saddens me so. I LOVE that rig. I feel like someone just told me my friend has died. Yeah, yeah it's a bike and its replaceable blah, blah. But let's be honest here. We all know we have a special relationship with our rigs. Who else understands us like these babies? Who else is there when we suffer miserably on them and takes us to the promised land when we're at our fittest? At the end of the day, some of our best memories are captured with our old faithful friend. Okay so I'm getting a tad dramatic but I'm indeed cranky about it. Damn kids.

Please do be careful out there and while this goes without saying, always and I mean always, wear that helmet on your melon.

Cheers.

Worth His Weight In...

Goldberger!
I said Goldberger, not Goldberg. Although after Dr. Bruce Goldberger's testimony on Day 5 of the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing, you'd be hard pressed to determine who strikes the more imposing figure.

Alright, I guess we can all come to an agreement that arbitrator Christopher Campbell is the most imposing figure in the Pepperdine University courtroom.

All kidding aside, Dr. Goldberger's testimony late Friday afternoon, or rather the adeptness of it, has literally torn off a gaping scientific hole in the USADA burden of proof that was already being perforated by Landis' attorneys, Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Suh.

For Team Landis, it could not have come at a better time!

The hearing that was turning out to be the Cirque de Landis, after Geoghegan's Jerky Boys impression and the subsequent bomb dropped by Greg Lemond, and the skillful double talking ventriloquism act of USADA's lead attorney, Mr. Young (as he's prompted and propped up almost every answer of both LNDD laboratory techinicians, Mrs. Morgongu and Ms. Frelat), has returned to the heart of the matter, the science.

Dr. Goldberger, who by his credentials alone, is the very definition of expert witness. The same could have been said for USADA's experts in the fields of testosterone and mass spectrometry, Dr. Brenna, Dr. Shackleton, and Dr. Ayotte (the latter of the WADA accredited Montreal lab), but with the evidence they were asked to defend, each sounded less than expert admitting through their own individual form (verbally or by claiming ignorance on all too familiar matters) that the LNDD had performed sub-standardly.

Grand Slam...Slam Dunk? Overly optimistic!

Reality. Mr. Brunet still has to be convinced, but Dr. Goldberger's testimony may have been bright enough to blind even Mr. Brunet with the science.

Goldberger's Testimony:
--Trust But Verify: Hearing - Friday Goldberger

Friday, May 18, 2007

On Tap...

Just Ride...
It's officially been 3 weeks since I last rode my bicycle. For those of you who haven't been following along, I partially tore my gastrocnemius (one of the bifurcations of the calf muscle) while running a race.

So what do you do with a partial tear? Short of immobilization, which I lobbied against, nothing. And that's exactly what I've done since, nothing. I've gone from fit to fat (although I'm the type of person where you can't really tell just by looking at me) and sadly enough kind of enjoyed it.

It allowed me the time to tune up all my rides (mountain, road, and track) and make plans for when the doctors give me the green light.

Well, yesterday was the day. I officially stowed away the crutches. I say officially because I grew tired of using them 10 days ago. Although I haven't been fully released out into the wild, pending three weeks of physical therapy (why doesn't our IronGal in-training, Katie, live closer?), they listed cycling as one of the activities I can now do.

So look out SE Michigan, here comes Oude Granny!

Floyd-ed and Giro-ed Out
Just as both, the Landis hearing and the Giro d'Italia, seemed to be getting interesting, they've both hit a lull in the action and are now relegated in my thought processes.

How can I say that with all the sensationalistic happenings with Landis and Lemond, and with the mountain stages pending in the Giro?

For me, the most compelling aspect of the Floyd Landis hearing were the arguments Team Landis put forth against the LNDD and the WADA/USADA arbitration system. Finally, after months of barnstorming and railing against the actual science, the methodologies behind it, and the one-sided arbitration process faced by athletes in this predicament, he, they would be able to systematically level the playing field.

Enter: Will Geoghegan

The hearings have now been debased to a Beavis and Butthead mentality. Don't believe me? Check out every single news outlet following the hearing and tell me if anyone is still writing about inequities in the system, the inaccuracy of the laboratory methodology, or the mishandling of Landis' samples. Can't find any, can you?

And by the way, Beavis and Butthead wasn't a reference to the mentality of the audience that may now tune into the hearing to see what other skeleton may pop out, but rather to Patrice Brunet and Richard McLaren. I know both have to maintain a certain decorum, but how can either of the deciding majority in this hearing not look in Team Landis's direction and keep a straight face? They're probably up there muttering to each other,

"That dude just said mishandled my urine. Heh heh heh eh he heh heh heh!"

So someone nudge me awake when this hearing means something again!

As far as the Giro is concerned, it started off with a bang! I can't recall a time when a Grand Tour started with a Team Time Trial. If this were back in the day when the Big Blue US Postal train was running (when they took the teams' actual time, rather than sequentially giving teams a metered out deficit) the Giro would be over. All done!

But this weekend leaves little to the imagination as the terrain is relatively flat. The only ones champing at the bit are the sprinters, who after this weekend will meet their demise in one form or another, either through missing time allotments, leaving for greener pastures or relegating themselves down the classification board.

So the same goes for the Giro, someone throw something at my head when the mountains arrive.

Cranky?...Yes. Surly?...as Burly as Surly can get!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

With Friends Like...

Will Geoghegan, Who Needs Enemies...
Did I actually say that former 3 time Tour de France champion, Greg Lemond (Photo: AFP), would have his opportunity to "rant" in the Floyd Landis hearing? Apparently, I was way off base, misunderstood, misconstrued, misread, misjudged, miscalculated, and just plain mistaken.

Someone should have told me, tapped me on the shoulder, or at least given me a suggestive wink (a nod's as good as a wink to a blind man, say no more) to inform me that "rant" actually means "bomb" in these proceedings.

In retrospect, the essence of Lemond's testimony, based on a personal phone call from Landis and message board fodder, could have been at most construed as being a "he said, he said" argument. But thanks to Floyd's buddy and manager, "Bad Will Phoning" Geoghegan's call of intimidation, Lemond's words came off sounding like doctrine.

Imitating the uncle who sexually abused Lemond before his stardom (a fact brought out in Lemond's testimony and in confidence during the prior phone call with Landis), Geoghegan came off like one of the idiots on "Cops - San Diego." He effectively turned the proceedings into a Jerry Springer Show, made Landis' defense look like a group of ambulance chasers, and turned Mr. Suh (one of Landis' lawyers) into Donald Trump proclaiming to the panel in reference to Geoghegan, "You're Fired!"

Is all lost for Landis? It remains unclear. Hopefully, the case will be judged on the scientific evidence and not on the sensationalism that surrounded the end of day 4.

The one good (if you can call it that) thing to come out of today is that Will Geoghegan may just have revived the careers of the Jerky Boys.

Now somebody stop me before I throw out another bad television or radio reference...

MORE:
--Trust but Verify: Hue-Lemond Recap

Oude Granny's Floyd-o-meter:

Ranting His Head Off

All due respect to our friends over at Rant Your Head Off, but Greg Lemond will get his chance to do just that when he testifies in the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing for USADA later on today.


Lemond was a childhood hero of mine, as his cycling feats got me interested in the sports. You could probably say that he's the reason I'm even blogging about cycling in the first place. Lately, he's been very skeptical of the performances by the athletes that dominate today's sport, especially of those by one Lance Armstrong.

Because I believe in the plight of Floyd Landis, I'm somewhat conflicted by the fact that Lemond will be testifying for "the other side." But, I also understand his stance. Most of his records and athletic endeavors are being relegated to commonplace status by performance enhanced riders claiming to be on par with some of cycling's greats.

So while Lemond is championing the cause to clean up the sport, I'll be hoping that he's referring to the sport's governing and testing bodies, riders, and certain journalist alike, and not simply attempting to root out Floyd.

MORE:
-- Bonnie DeSimone for ESPN: Breakdown of Landis' Tour de France drug tests
-- Mark Zalewski for CyclingNews: Evidence quality clouds 'stage three' arguments
-- PR Newswire: Lance Armstrong Joins Us Senators and Representatives to Introduce the Cancer Screening, Treatment and Survivorship Act of 2007
-- Chicago Tribune: Armstrong takes Hill, touts bill

Back For Seconds

Stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia from Salerno to Montevergine Di Mercogliano went to Danilo "Killer" DiLuca. It was the second time DiLuca had won a stage that finished in Montevergine, the last being six years ago. It also happened to be the second Maglia Rosa worn by Killer in this year's Giro.

There is little doubt that DiLuca's form makes him a serious contender to finish on the podium. If his ambition is the key determinant to his Giro success, then he looks to be a lock. However, his "all out" riding style left untempered may once again be his downfall, especially with the mountains that loom in this Grand Tour's third week.

One thing is for sure, his type of bravado is certainly refreshing for a sport that lately has seemed too calculating, and for the tifosi that has been beleaguered by doping scandals.

Molto Bello
If our Giro conversation was limited to the beauty of the parcours, Stage 4 may have no rival. Before I was climbing the Tourmalet in 2003, I was basking along the incredible Amalfi coastline. As you can see from the photo I took below, the riders may not have minded navigating the narrow and winding roads from Amalfi to Sorrento as part of yesterday's 153km stage.


Tifosi
If you're not already familiar with the term above, it refers to the Italian cycling fan base. And it also refers to a relatively new (as in not that publicized) brand of sunglasses.

Recently, a friend asked for some advice about cycling/active eyewear. If I were to recommend a brand that has the most "bang for the buck," then the list stops with Tifosi. Most of their eyewear is made from similar materials and technologies that are used in some of the more popular brands of active eyewear, but for half the price. If you're thinking that you'll be sacrificing style for price, you need not worry in that regard. As you can see from the inset image, the Italian fashion industry would be proud of this brand of eyewear that sports the name of their passionate fans.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Hear Ye, Hear Ye...

Read (and View) All About It!
It's been extremely interesting following the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing (and we're only 2 days into a scheduled 10 day hearing). Because of the public nature of the hearing, dozens of media types have been able to dissect every little tidbit of information.

For a great play-by-play you can't go wrong by heading over to our friends in the blogosphere, Trust But Verify, who has been following the plight of Floyd since his positive results were revealed a year ago.

If you have a high speed internet connection (and some time on your hands), you can watch LIVE streaming video of the proceedings by following the links found on the Floyd Fairness Fund website or on Floyd's personal site, floydlandis.com. You can also catch videos on demand at the former.

Blinded Me With Science
As I've stated before, the Landis case won't be about legal posturing, but rather hinge on the science. So far, the hearing hasn't disappointed.

USADA and its lawyers, to date, have presented their experts in the field of testosterone metabolism and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Carbon Isotope Ratio (IRMS CIR), and one of the LNDD technicians who ran Landis' samples (more on her later).

Frankly, I've been extremely surprised by all three of USADA's witnesses. Through a litany of patent answers, each has incidentally perforated holes in USADA's attempt at burden or proof; corroborating much of the procedural and ethical violations Team Landis has consistently claimed.

The testosterone metabolism expert, Dr. Cedric Shackleton, Senior Scientist at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) who has authored over 200 papers and whose biography (from the CHORI website) reads as such,

"Since 1967, Dr. Shackleton has been an innovator in the use of mass spectrometetry for biochemical analysis...Shackleton has also pioneered the use of mass spectrometry in providing a detailed analysis of the steroid production in hypertensive individuals, and operates an internationally used resource for diagnosis of rare forms of inherited hypertension. In addition, Shackleton has worked with the U.S. and International Olympic Committees to help establish procedures for synthetic steroid detection. By analysis of the carbon isotope ratio, mass spectrometry can show that the steroids found in an athlete’s urine come from an external source, thus proving steroid misuse. He contributed to the methods used in all recent Olympic games..."

sounded, on cross examination of Landis' chromatograms (the actual graphical representation of the separation of ions), as if he truly wasn't an expert on mass spectrometry at all, merely claiming an expertise in the metabolism of testosterone. Either Dr. Shackleton was the poor doddering Englishman, some have portrayed him as, or he was non-committal in his answers for other reasons.

Meanwhile, as Michael Hiltzik, LA Times, reported, Dr. J. Thomas Brenna, USADA's second witness and IRMS CIR expert, contradicted himself while commenting on the LNDD's procedural precision. Hiltzik writes:

"Brenna acknowledged, for example, that in several experimental test runs the lab had failed to reproduce its analytical results with scientifically acceptable precision.

He also acknowledged that documents produced by the lab showed that records relevant to the Landis case had been deliberately deleted."

While Brenna, "...had earlier praised the lab's technical competence."

Certain biases in Brenna's testimony were also disclosed as he receives $1.3 million dollars in WADA grant money.

The final witness on Day 2 of the Landis' hearing was LNDD technician, Cynthia Mongongu. Because of inadequate interpretation for the French speaking Mongongu, long delays ensued. How bad was the initial interpreter? Eurosport reported:

"When the interpreter translated Mrs. Mongongu's answer "a day and a half" as "an hour and a half," Mr. Brunet and one of Floyd Landis' lawyers then proposed to adjourn the session for more than an hour: the time it would take to bring in another interpreter."

Once her testimony got underway, Mrs. Mongongu, a late addition to USADA's witness list, seemed to add further to the implication of laboratory imprecision and the notion that files had been deleted. As TBV states:

"She admitted stopping the machine for a variety of reasons, none clearly documented in any of the logs or test documentation."

Clash of Titans?
An interesting tidbit from ESPN's Bonnie DeSimone was the listing of Greg Lemond and Eddy Merckx on the witness lists; Lemond on USADA's and Merckx on Landis'. The latter, the father of Landis' former teammate, Axel, is listed as an expert in cycling tactics and racing, while the reasons for listing the former were unknown. Although neither is expected to testify, this might have been the only chance to see these titans of cycling go head-to-head. I'm sure the road version would have been better, but I'll take what I can get.

Another Flying Scotsman

In the spirit of Graeme Obree, but in a different discipline altogether, Scotsman and current World Champion in the Kilometre, Chris Hoy (Photo: AFP) went after the World Record in the same.

Hoy attempted to break Arnaud Tournant's record set in 2001 on the same "at altitude" velodrome in La Paz, Bolivia. In his second attempt, Hoy narrowly missed the record by 5 one-thousandths of a second, clocking the second fastest kilometre ever (58.880 to Tournant's 58.875).

Hoy didn't leave La Paz empty handed, however, as he set the World Record in the 500m from a standing start. He bettered the previous mark of 25.85 by another Frenchman, Arnaud Duble.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Wear The Damn Thing...

I think I've heard about every excuse not to wear a bike helmet over the years, with some actually coming from my own mouth. Yes, I used to be in the "too cool for school" mindset, ducking in and out of city traffic wearing only my Red Sox cap or an old US Postal Cycling cap.

But if the story below doesn't get you to start wearing a helmet, maybe nothing will.

Wisconsin Cyclist OK After Truck Runs Over Head
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A delivery truck ran over a cyclist's head, leaving him only with a concussion and a mangled helmet. Ryan Lipscomb, 26, was shaken up, especially after he saw the condition of his helmet.

"I didn't see it coming, but I sure felt it roll over my head," he said. "It feels really strange to have a truck run over your head."

Lipscomb, a graduate student in medical physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was riding swiftly down a bike path in Madison Friday afternoon. As he approached an intersection where he said he had a green light, he noticed the truck preparing to make a right turn in front of him.

The truck wasn't going to stop, Lipscomb said, so he slammed on his brakes, flipping his bike and landing in the street.

For the full story click HERE.

Friday, May 11, 2007

On Tap...

TOSRV
An annual event usually scheduled around Mother's Day, the Tour of the Scioto River Valley began as a father-and-son outing in 1962. Since then it has quickly grown into the nation’s largest bicycle touring weekend.

Approximately 3000 riders participate in this two day event, which covers 200 miles from Columbus to Portsmouth, OH and back.

TOSRV is credited with "single-handedly raising the profile of the bicycle in American life and providing the inspiration for many of the mass-participation cycling events so popular today across the country."

Because of the time of year, the weather is fairly unpredictable. Alright, it can be downright nasty, as rain and thunderstorms are more of the norm than the exception. The forecast for this weekend, however, looks to be falling into the exception.

I participated in the event a couple of years ago with one of my best friends, Don (Happy Birthday!). Though we'll both be in town this weekend, both of us are laid up with injuries (Granny with a torn gastrocnemius, and Don recovering from rotator cuff surgery). For all our friends and family (some of whom are getting ready for their respective triathlon or racing seasons) riding this weekend here's wishing you "no headwinds!" (Boy I've gotten a lot of use out of that phrase lately, thanks Liz).

Meanwhile, our IronGal in training, Katie, will be taking in some much needed R&R as she will also be in the Columbus, OH area for Brandon's graduation from THE Ohio State University this weekend. Congratulations Brandon (another fellow blogger, B. misc.)!

Keeping the Faith
With all the USADA/WADA chicanery surrounding Floyd Landis' arbitration hearing on Monday, May 14th, the final scheduled Floyd Fairness Fund event, Keep the Faith Ride, this weekend could very well be the last time we see Floyd on a bicycle for a while.

Registration for the May 12th ride starting in New Holland, PA is $75.00 (which most likely will go toward his defense).

Though we are still three days away from his public arbitration, the deck certainly looks stacked against Floyd, even though the evidence seems to be in his favor.

As T-o-03 pointed out, perhaps there are no innocents in this matter. The court of public opinion will spin the verdict, which is predicted to be out a fortnight after the hearing, to their liking, but similar to any mud slinging election, everyone seems to lose out.

Ready or Not Giro Comes
Seemingly lost in the shuffle of all the recent doping scandals is the Giro d' Italia. Its amazing how the athletes and governing bodies alike, have almost completely cannibalized the sport to the point that a Grand Tour could have easily been forgotten (if not for its recent publicity).

Honestly, with all the news of Basso, Landis, Operacion Puerto, would anyone have noticed that there was a race going on in Italy? It's like having a Thanksgiving Day hangover in May. You know the feeling; before you've wrapped up the last bit of turkey the calendar suddenly says its Christmas?

So what should you be watching for in the next three weeks (T-o-03 provided a good list of Giro previews below)? How about some great racing!

I'm not kidding.

The names are big, but likely not as recognizable to the newbie cycing fan. Because of this fact, this year's edition of the Giro d' Italia will most likely bring into play some old school tactics, like those seen in 2005 with Paolo Salvodelli claiming the GC. So rather than seeing some dominant (possibly doped up) performance, you'll be privy to the fundamentals of racing at it highest form, and a true battle of wills, or as Liggett and Sherwen often refer to it, riders "making a withdrawal from their bank of pain."

The Maglia Rosa favorite's list reads like an Italian dining menu:
Salvodelli, Simoni, Cunego, Di Luca. All signs seem to point to a battle of former teammates, Simoni and Cunego. Simoni definitely has the better supporting staff, which will benefit him in the mountains. However, the ultimate protagonist may be Di Luca, whose form in this year's Ardennes Classics is reminiscent of his 2005 campaign when he nearly stole the entire Giro show.

The points jersey competition is littered with some of the top sprinters, but look for an old favorite in Il Grillo, Paolo Bettini to claim the prize. McEwen and Hushovd will likely be using the Giro to gain form for the Tour, while Alessandro Petacchi is still lacking total confidence in his knee. A new name to look for in the sprint to the finish will be JJ Haedo (CSC) whose claim to fame thus far has been the Tour of California.

Mark your calendar for Stage 17 (May 30th) as a definite must watch. The GC will be blown up on this day with the riders testing themselves up the slope of Monte Zoncolan. How hard is this climb? Statements of "its the hardest climb I've ever done," coming from mountain goats like Simoni and Cunego, should provide enough testimony to its difficulty. What's the gradient from eyeing the profile...like 80 %?

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Thursday Morning Housekeeping

New Look
As most of you who read this blog already know, there have been a lot of changes to it since January. Our biggest change occurred when your Oude Granny managed to down a 2 liter of Mountain Dew (its all good, it was diet!) in one sitting and revamp the entire blog template.
For those of you who weren't around before the template change, let's just say that it was a much needed improvement. (I now receive a lot of "its pretty" comments.)

Blowin' Up?
Next order of business is the newest item on our blog, the banner for Blogburst. If you haven't clicked on the banner yet, Blogburst is a "syndication service that places blogs on top-tier online destinations."

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It's a service that accepts blogs by invitation only (although if you go to their site you can actually request a review of your blog and an invitation). But I was greatly surprised, given the fact that we didn't think we were reaching a great number of people, when I received an email invitation to join the Blogburst community. Apparently, our content was reaching the "right" people.

So what does this all mean? The Triple Crankset is now available to some of the top-tier online news services, like USA Today, Reuters, Rodale, etc. So you may, hopefully in the near future, see one of our posts on one of these major sites.

TSTWKT
For those first time visitors, as well as to our frequent readers, you may have seen the set of links on the right navigation bar with the header, TSTWKT. The acronym was actually taken from a Lance Armstrong quote in Daniel Coyle's book, "Lance Armstrong's War," and stands for The S&^t That Will Kill Them. Armstrong used this phrase to describe the new technologies that Trek or his other sponsors would come up with each year to help him in his Tour de France quests.

In the context of our blog, we've listed some of our favorite (alright Oude Granny's favorite) cycling related items, from bike lube to messenger bags. The list will be a dynamic one and not static, although it hasn't changed as of late.

I'll try to review one of the products every once in a while and tell you why I chose to single it out among all the various cycling products out there.

So what better place to start than at the top...Vanilla Bicycles.

Latest Crush

Vanilla Bicycles
I couldn't exactly title it "New Love," (that'll come later) as I have yet to even ride one of their products. So how can I, in all honesty, already be doting on these bicycles and list them under TSTWKT? Let's just say that there a lot of folks out there who have never ridden in a Porsche or in a Ferrari, but know they want one!

Unfortunately, since most of my friends aren't cyclophiles (and as one of them said recently, "that's why we've got you around.") they aren't able to distinguish between a stock bike (your massed produced bikes) and a custom made functional piece of art (from a craftsman who might obsess over the minute details). Depending on whether you're a glass half full or half empty person, these craftsman are a burgeoning, albeit tiny subset of the cycling community (if you already envision the bike industry as being a small subset of the population, then imagine how small the group of frame builders to be).

Sacha White, owner and builder of Vanilla Bicycles based out of Portland, OR (which probably boasts the highest number of frame builders per capita), is in that glorious minority. He started building frames in 1999. Although many link him to apprenticing under Tim Paterek, he didn't, but he did build his first frame with Paterek.

As I've never met Sacha White, nor have I been to his shop, most of what I know of him and Vanilla comes from those who have had direct contact with him or have had the experience of owning/riding one of his frames (like my friend Pip, above inset). However, what I've read and seen about White and Vanilla (below; both from the company's website) are indicative of the type of person that "just gets it," and the type of bicycle that may not only be your latest crush, but also your last one.


I started building bike frames with a lust for fine craftsmanship and a developed eye for detail.
This passion is what drives me still. Whether I am meeting with a customer and discussing the design of their new frame, sculpting a brass joint, or polishing stainless lugs on a frame for 10 hours straight

I go for perfection
I would never say that "At Vanilla we make the finest bicycle in the world" That's pompous. I can say, however, that I build the finest vanilla bicycle, with out question.

If you see another bike out there and it makes you want to freak out and do what ever you can to have it then that's the bike for you.

Like music, clothing or fantastic coffee it is all about you and your taste.
Vanilla Bicycles have a flavor unlike any other on earth!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The Ballad of Nell


Remember that post about being Railroaded (thanks TBV for helping me out with the name of our young maiden, Floyd in this case)?

Well, Snidley Whiplash isn't using rope...he's using tungsten steel cables!

Fairness prepare to meet Mr. Amtrack (Mr. Bullet Train if you're reading this overseas).

-- Los Angeles Times: Infighting Revealed in Landis Doping Case

Has The Rubber Band Snapped?

Remember the first couple of lines of the Grease song, Greased Lightning (c'mon I know most of you just broke out into song)?

Need some prompting...
Why this car is automatic
It's systematic

Systematic...ah there's the rub.

It was the first word that crossed my mind when I thought about the recent doping scandals.

With an almost religious-like zeal, Dick Pound and WADA have systematically dismantled the top echelon of cycling. Armstrong retired, Ullrich implicated, Landis is awaiting his arbitration hearing, and now Basso confesses.

Could the elasticity of pro cycling's attempts to perpetuate their culture of falsehoods have finally snapped? Would cycling's fanbase return if the sport was cleansed of all it improprieties? Should we now anticipate others following Basso's lead and take responsiblity for their actions?

Could've, Would've, Should've...

Whole Lot of Nuthin'
How much dope could a doper dope, if a doper could dope blood?

Apparently, NONE!

That's what essentially came out of the Ivan Basso's "admission of guilt" presser.

He gave his blood with the intention of doping, but he never doped. He has proclaimed himself CLEAN! "All my victories were obtained in an honest manner and nobody can contest what I achieved in the 2006 Giro d'Italia no more than the other results I achieved during my career," Basso said.

Sound the trumpets, release the doves...all is right in the world of cycling! One of our heroes is still CLEAN!
Ah Granny, we don't have any of that? We have a kazoo and a grasshopper.
A kazoo and a grasshopper??!!
Ah yeah, that's all the sponsors would flip for.
Wait a minute, we have sponsors??

Frankly that's all this non-admission of guilt deserves. Don Vito? Sounds more like Fredo!

So the request to leave Discovery Channel, all the consternation, the weight on his shoulder, was all for what, giving blood to the wrong person...isn't that a Red Cross violation!

Damn, I gave a pint last month, where's WADA, where's USADA, where are all the journalist?

Ah Granny, you've never won a Grand Tour, and you're blood was intended to help others.
Then, sound the kazoo, release the grasshopper...

For more on the press conference, Click HERE.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

A Lil' Love

Even before the movie, Breaking Away, came out, America had a love affair with the Little 500.

ESPN.com recently sent their Page 2 correspondent, their man about Campus, the "Bluto" Blutarsky (as in, you're not going to ever leave college even when you graduate) of writing, Jim Caple, to discover the "charm" of what has become a bigger than life event.

Wreckage at the 2005 Lil' 5

Caple writes:
"While fraternities and sororities form the core of the 33 teams in each year's men's and women's races, squads from the dorms and independent housing are also among the Little 500 elite. Dodds House is part of the residence halls while Land's Cutters team broke off from the very successful Delta Chi team two decades ago and took its name from the "Breaking Away" team. Cutters is the insult used by the college students in the movie to describe the blue-collar townies whose fathers worked cutting limestone for the disappearing quarry companies. It becomes a source of pride when the Cutters team wins the climactic race and the current Cutters (all IU students) have so embraced this outsider persona that their victory chant goes like this:

"C-U-T-T-E-R-S! CUTTERS! CUTTERS! #&% THE FRATS!""

For the rest of the story, including some video shot at the infamous quarry, click HERE.

Monday, May 07, 2007

7 Days in May

It was billed as the "Fight to Save Boxing," Oscar "Golden Boy" De La Hoya versus Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather, Jr.

Judging from the post fight reactions, the pretty version tarnished the golden one in an entertaining fashion, but the fight fell well short of placing boxing back on the sporting world map.

So here we are, one week, 7 Days, from the arbitration hearing of Floyd Landis, which might be appropriately billed as the "Fight to Save Cycling."

On one side, there is the belief (hope) that extraordinary athletic achievements aren't predicated on extraordinary means, that standards should be governed by ethics rather than politics, and that justice should be objective rather than subjective.

On the other side, there is the belief that cycling is inundated with those who would use any means possible to attain fame and glory, that their expungement is a justifiable sacrifice to save the sport (sacrifice the few to save the many), and that their own testing processes are not only valid but infallible.

The Tale of the Tape
Floyd Landis - the 2006 Tour de France champion, on the road. After what was portrayed as a herculean effort on Stage 17, his urine samples were allegedly found to possess exogenous testosterone. From resigned disbelief to steadfastedly denying any drug use, Landis has barnstormed the country raising money for his defense while lobbying for transparency of scientific and legal materials. In between, he's found time to have his hip replaced for a condition known as avascular necrosis.

Arbitrators -
Chris Campbell - former Olympic wrestler, who is now an attorney in San Francisco. He was Landis' choice for the panel. It would be safe to say that Campbell is an advocate for the athlete against the "strong arm" tactics of the anti-doping agencies. His was the lone dissenting opinion on the Tyler Hamilton arbitration case.

Richard McLaren - selected by USADA. An attorney from Ontario, Canada who served USADA in the Tyler Hamilton case, McLaren has served as an arbitrator for the NHL and the Olympic games.

Patrice Brunet - chosen to serve as the panel's chairman by the other two arbitrators. He also hails from Canada. Brunet is an attorney specializing in immigration and sports law.

The Case
Essentially this case will comes down to discrediting the practices (both scientific and ethical) of the lab at Chatenay-Malabry (LNDD) versuses the upholding of the positive findings of Landis' "B" sample. All the inappropriate requests or the withholding of certain documents seem to be legal posturing.

The Verdict
Given the high profile and political nature of this case, let alone holding it for public consumption, the case will come down to one thing, or rather one person, Patrice Brunet. He will ultimately have to decide whether the sub-standard testing procedures and the less than ethical standards used to accuse Landis of testosterone use outweighs the actual positive findings.

Why will it come down to Mr. Brunet? With the public arguments that the Floyd Fairness Fund has brought to light regarding the treatment of his samples, Mr. Campbell will most assuredly rule for Floyd. His dissension in Tyler Hamilton's case came about from very similar reasoning. While Mr. McLaren will hold the infallibilty line of the anti-doping agencies, USADA and WADA.

Regardless of the verdict, a potential black eye for Floyd or for the LNDD laboratory and WADA, the sport of cycling itself will come out victorious in the long run. Proponents for WADA and for cleaning up the sport will proclaim that they've rid the sport of one more cheater. While a victory for Floyd may finally place an impetus on the testers to follow stricter guidelines.

Oude Granny's Take
Coming from a purely scientific view point, the mistakes and the unethical standards of the LNDD laid out in Dr. Arnie Baker's presentation are enough to call into question the actual positive findings, even the spectrometry analysis to differentiate endogenous from exogenous testosterone. However, this case won't be about fairness for Floyd as logic rarely has a place in the minds of those that deal in absolutes.

For those of you at "ringside" on May 14th, feel free to tote around the arbitration scorecards found in the most recent Bicycling magazine. But keep this fact in mind: Roy Jones Jr. somehow found his way into a silver medal during the 1988 Olympics.

Tranquilo
Floyd has two final appearances on the schedule before his arbitration hearing: a fundraiser in his hometown of San Diego on May 7th, and a "Keep the Faith Ride" in New Holland, PA on May 12th.

Katie's Korner

Our IronGal, Katie, checks in with a few significant "achievements" in her training, one of which we all thought she would have accomplished when she was 3 years old! Actually, its the perfect accompaniment to yesterday's post, "Reality Bites." (So now we've got #1 and #2 covered!)

Milestones...
After 6 hours and 10 minutes, I completed 100 miles on the bike....and actually felt pretty good. On the 20 minute transition run, my legs felt great. I couldn't even feel muscle soreness. The only thing was a minor cramp...but overall great.

The pre-ride meal was much better this week. Last night I had spaghetti, squash, and salmon.

Before the ride, had dried banana and on the ride had:
1/2 pb and honey sandwich
1/2 banana
1 bottle Gatorade (some serious psychic pain inflicted on Oude "Buckeye" Granny)
1 bottle of water
1/2 cliff bar
1 Trekker bar
1/2 honey goo packet

Overall, about 700 calories on the bike. I think the honey goo may be what made my stomach hurt the last few times as it was better this time.

The problem was....It was so damn windy! Let me just say that being a weatherman has got to be the best job in the whole freakin' world! They're EXPECTED to be wrong...and when they're right, they're praised! Imagine if that were your job! How sweet!!

Basically, it was supposed to be nicer today than yesterday...NOT SO! The easterly winds were absolutely ridiculous! At times I felt as though I was going backwards! And in all honesty, I rode some big hills this time and going up one of them, I was going 4 mph! I literally almost fell over! And since I can't clip out of my pedals...I would have!

Also rode with some cycling guys for a bit. Until I decided they were way too fast for me.

"See ya later guys, I'm turning back."

They tried to get me to say, but I insisted otherwise. Here they are in their matching attire with Quintana Roo everything, from long pants to long sleeves to little booties to put over their shoes to keep their toes warm!!! (as it was 45 degrees starting off). There I am, in my biker shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt! I looked like such a poser! Not saying I don't want all that fancy stuff, but, ya know.

Another big training accomplishment: I peed on the bike.

Yes, that's right. I'm sorry if that grosses some of you out but, it's all in the name of the sport. I won't go in to detail but it was another landmark...and this is my training journal!

I want to thank Len for giving me the info on the biking Chi (to imagine the movement from the hip)...it really helped.

Any advice from anyone on how to keep the neck muscles from getting so sore?

Okay folks, enjoy today!
Katie

It's All About The Bike...
With all due respect to Lance Armstrong, in Katie's case it's all about the bike. So since she's still experiencing neck pain, let's finally break down Katie's Trek 1200.


As far as triathlon/TT (time trial) bikes, Trek's 1200 is, for all intensive purposes, neither. Depending upon the year Katie purchased the bike, it would fall under Trek's Recreational/Entry Level Road Category. However, that's not to say that a road bike can't be converted for triathlon use.

According to the standard specifications (again, the purchase year of the bike is a factor), Katie's 1200 has a couple of good things going for it. The frame is made of Trek's Alpha SL (Super Light) aluminum, and it also possesses a Bontrager (Trek's in-house brand for bike parts) carbon fork. Both these elements make for a lighter bike (lighter also means faster), while the carbon provides dampening of road vibration. You can see why most of the higher end bikes are made completely of carbon (extremely light, while saving the body from road chatter).

Another aspect of the 1200 (dependent upon the year) that also helps to soak up vibration is the width of the wheels, 25mm. This width is perfect if you're into touring and long distances, but for a triathlon it's not so good. If Katie hasn't already done so, she should switch out to 23mm width tires. This will provide less rolling resistance, thereby making her faster.

In a previous Katie's Korner, we established that triathlon bikes have a different geometry and that women also have specific geometric needs. What is most likely causing Katie's chronic neck pain is either one of the following or a combination of over extension and incorrect saddle or aero bar (handle bar) height. Since she has already been fitted for the bike, it may require some fine tuning to get Katie dialed in. For the distances she'll cover riding and running, neck pain is the last things our IronGirl in training needs.

All of this isn't intended to dispirit our IronGal, or for lack of a better phrase, make her feel "ghetto," about her bike. It actually shows the mettle from which our Katie is made. After all, it's more about the human machine, and not necessarily the one underneath that will carry Katie to the finish line.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Reality Bites

The photo below has been circling the internet like a viral video. I've got no reason to doubt its authenticity, as the reality of the matter really does outweigh any reason for wanting to manufacture it.

So say you're taking part in a one day Classic and while traversing over 224km you suddenly have an urge, or rather the urge. What do you do?

As one caption stated, "rockin the dookie drawers," oh no you didn't? Another reason to have black bibs.

Tornado squishing around the Roubaix velodrome

Saturday, May 05, 2007

No Giro For You!!!

The powers that be in professional cycling have broken out the Seinfeld equivalent of the Soup Nazi. In the case of the Grand Tours, call it the Triumvirate of Cycling Nazis: UCI President, Pat McQuaid, Tour de France Director, Christian Prudhomme, and Quick-Step boss, Patrick LeFevere.

All three have recently agreed to bar any questionable cyclists from the three Grand Tours, until the implicated (defined as guilty in this case) can prove their non-involvement/innocence in their respective scandal (Operacion Puerto in this case).

If this holds true to form, the biggest loser of the bunch may be Tyler Hamilton (Tinkoff Credit Systems), who not only served a 2 year suspension for alleged homologous blood transfusion, but is facing a case of what I can best describe as reverse double jeopardy (double jeopardy meaning that the accused cannot be tried for the same crime twice) by being newly implicated in Operacion Puerto.

This point is lost on Oude Granny. Perhaps my mind has dulled in the aging process.

So Hamilton who served a suspension for a doping infraction is essentially being barred from this year's biggest races because they have potentially found new evidence that he actually did dope two years ago??

Isn't that the biblical justice equivalent of cutting off the arms of a man who has already had his hands cut off for stealing?

"Yeah, you know that bread that you stole?"
"Darn right I do, you took my hands for it!"
"Well, now we really know you did it...WHACK!"

No Racing For You!!!

Friday, May 04, 2007

Erin Go Bra!

For the past 2 years, I've been itching to go on the Centuries Tour of Ireland. It encompasses 9 centuries of Irish history, as well as 9 centuries of bike riding around the beautiful Irish coastline. (And knowing Granny, perhaps 9 centuries of Guinness to boot).

Now there's another reasons to head to the Emerald Isle during late Summer/early Fall, as professional cycling has returned with the 5 Stage, Tour of Ireland (August 22-26, 2007).


Stage 1 - August 22: Kilkenny - Cork (St. Patrick's Hill), 160 km
Stage 2 - August 23: Clonakilty - Killarney, 167 km
Stage 3 - August 24: Tralee - Ennis, 190 km
Stage 4 - August 25: Galway - Galway, 212 km
Stage 5 - August 26: Athlone - Dublin, 135 km

The most surprising, and maybe that's not the proper word, about the promotion of the upcoming event was the inclusion of Irish model, Jenny Lee Masterson. Not that that's a bad thing mind you (as you can see below). After 15 years of not having a professional cycling race in the country, maybe the organizers felt they needed a "hook" to bring out the old laddies and lasses? Maybe she was there merely to model the outfit to be worn by the TOI podium girls? Again, not a bad thing.

Regardless, I guess it never ceases to amaze me that the advertising axiom of "sex sells," almost never seems to fail. As if having Irish cycling legend, Sean Kelly, present wasn't enough!

On second thought, do we even need Sean Kelly in the photo? Erin Go Bra (yes, that's a play on words) INDEED!

Photo ©: Gerry McManus/www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk

On Tap - Part II

Ever since I saw the trailer for the movie The Flying Scotsman online, I've been anxiously awaiting its debut. Well the wait is finally over, so go check it out. Our friends over at the movie's official website, www.theflyingscotsmanmovie.com, have sent us the initial reviews, which may be enticement enough to get you indoors from this gorgeous weather.

04.05.2007 - James Snyder - The New York Sun: "screenwriters John Brown, Declan Hughes, and Simon Rose turn those rules upside down in a third act that is less a celebration of celebrity than a sobering look at the costs that accompany it...there are flashes of brilliance here. Director Douglas Mackinnon's racing footage, which cuts between a telescopic technique that offers the vantage point of the spectators and a closely mounted camera that shows Graeme's tunnel vision from the racetrack, is riveting...The Flying Scotsman" is the rare film that stays with its hero after the gold medal is placed around his neck and the chase for glory has come to an end."

04.05.2007 - Bill Zwecker - Chicago Sun-Times "Turmoil and victory meet in remarkable 'Scotsman'" and "Miller is a revelation here...Unlike so many motion pictures, where all forms of mental illness are interpreted by over-the-top acting, Miller's approach is far more realistic and likely similar to the true fight that millions face with this wide-spread affliction worldwide...Even for audiences who normally would not be interested in cycling, "The Flying Scotsman" is a good choice, because this film is about so much more."

04.05.2007 - Tom Keogh - Seattle Times - ""The Flying Scotsman's" inspirational tale sends spirits soaring" and "Jonny Lee Miller ("Trainspotting") is enormously sympathetic and appealing as Obree"

04.05.2007 - Kyle Smith - New York Post: "The Flying Scotsman" is different. It's an underdog story with teeth...the movie is refreshing in its suggestion that even victory may not cure every ailment"

04.05.2007 - Sarah Kaufman - Washington Post:" a classic tale of the heroic little guy that goes beyond the sport of cycling, told with elegant restraint in this sensitive and beautifully rendered film...Miller is key to the film's success, with his earnest, sweet-faced looks and evident dark side. He plays Obree with just the right understated intensity, a believable competitor who fights back fiercely with his wits and a few tight-lipped words."

03.05.2007 - John P. McCarthy - Catholic News Service: "Obree's bouts with depression prevent this film from being just a sentimental movie with a formulaic outcome. Director Douglas Mackinnon uses his subject's troubled psyche to generate suspense; and the cyclist's friendship with a Protestant minister, the Rev. Douglas Baxter (Brian Cox), lends a subtle religious dimension...Exemplifying the movie's good taste and sensitivity, lovely music and scenery don't overwhelm the central plight of this lionhearted athlete."

03.05.2007 - Michael Wilmington - Chicago Tribune: "Mackinnon, a TV star director making his theatrical feature debut here, has a flair for pace, colour and performances. The writing is more heartfelt than usual for a movie like this; one of the writers, Rose, has been working on the project for 12 years. "The Flying Scotsman," like many movie bios, invents some characters and plays with the truth, though not too much. But the movie, which endured a few bumps and trials of its own on its path to the screen, tells a tale both fast and moving. And when Miller as Obree takes his whirls around the track, it gets your heart pumping and your blood up".