Deja Vu, All Over Again

It's not that my creative juices have dried up, but Oude Granny is once again feeling the aftermath of yet another professional cycling doping scandal. Early in July, I wrote the following about the dismissal of the top Tour contenders:

"Frankly, for someone who is passionate about the sport of cycling, the latest doping news became too much to bear, like a loved one walking straight up to you and then kicking you in the groin (ouch...my apologies for that analogy). Sure we've heard the talk about the use or overuse of performance enhancing drugs/methods in cycling, heard cyclists admit use, seen cyclists suspended or banned, and we may have even seen an angry look on our loved one's face. But none of it really prepared us for what would transpire. Just like a swift kick to the onions (thank you Bill Rafferty for that turn of phrase)..."

And just like that, we've got the perfect doping bookends to the Tour de France, with the impending test results of Floyd Landis set to come out this Saturday. Once again, The Crankset has...

Ey, We've Got A Blogger Down...Blogger Down!

...as 53rd Tooth has chosen to take a sabbatical from the latest doping affair. And who could blame him.

But as I also posted previously, this is a cycling blog and not a blog about professional cycling (although we've covered that for you with vigor). So for those of us who like to follow cycling on a local level, we'll provide more coverage on that. While for those of us who mix it up on the roads and now on the velodrome, we'll be showing you some more of that.

With that said, Oude Granny is extending an invite to any and all who'd consider participating or would simply like to come out and watch the National Championships in Downers Grove, IL (suburb just west of Chicago) on August 19th. As an enticement, you may get a rare glimpse of Granny in one of the entry-level races...and if you come in early you may get a double dose of Granny on the Northbrook Velodrome on Thursday night (Major Taylor watch out).