The Cycliste Moderne, February 26, 2006

I get to guest blog again as Geoff is busy with “real” work and I made the mistake of calling attention to some omissions in his last blog. Moral: if you don’t want to write a blog, don’t comment on it. – Kristin


Seattle International Bike Expo

As mentioned, Mr. Cycliste Moderne and I spent President’s Day weekend at the Seattle International Bike Expo. What he failed to mention is the fact that two really really cool bike legends touched my Sharpie.

Included as guest presenters this year were Sean Kelly, seven time (consecutively!) winner of Paris-Nice and four time winner of the Tour de France points jersey, and the great Davis Phinney, the US cyclist with the most career wins ever. While Geoff manned the Cyclista booth, I slipped away with cycling memorabilia in hand and went over to the stage area where Kelly and Phinney were musing on their careers. While I only caught the end of the session, I found it very entertaining. First, the combination of Sean Kelly’s Irish accent and his quiet voice (or distance from the microphone) made him hard to understand, but he came off as a very down-to-earth guy. Davis Phinney was very animated. While it took him ten minutes to answer the moderator’s question, you enjoyed listening to every tangent. What struck me most was not the shaking of head and hands brought on by early-onset Parkinson ’s disease, but how he ended every segment with praise to Sean Kelly. Even cycling gods have cycling gods.

After the discussion, they sat down to sign autographs. I managed to be fifth in the line. The guy in front of me had a copy of Graham Watson’s “20 Years of Cycling Photography.” He was going to have Davis Phinney sign his picture on page 71, the picture with Phinney on the ground after going through the windscreen of a team car in 1988’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Phinney had earlier reminisced about this experience when asked about his scariest moment on a bike. In my hands I held a black and white photo of Sean Kelly and Marc Madiot racing Paris-Roubaix in 1986. When it was my turn, I handed Mr. Kelly my Sharpie, explained the background of the picture, and he smirked. “Nice roads, eh?” Chills went down my spine. He signed the mat “Best Wishes – Sean Kelly.” Ooooh.

Mission one was accomplished, but Davis Phinney was nowhere to be found. I just couldn’t leave with having the great legend sign the same Team 7-Eleven musette that Bob Roll signed during last year’s Expo. I scanned the crowd and found him entering the door. Apparently even cycling gods have to use the porta-potty. Rather than wait for him to make it over to the table, I hurried over to him. After waiting for him to sign a picture for a fan who met him at the Tour de France umpteen years ago, I asked him to sign the musette and thanked him for coming to the Expo. Wow.

So, you see, my Sharpie is very cool now. Poor Geoff had to stay behind to sell bike stuff, but I got to shake hands with Sean Kelly and Davis Phinney. I win. I even got to shake Sean Kelly’s hand twice. While wandering through the booths, I saw him standing outside the Celtic Trails tour booth. I asked if I could shake his hand again because he was just too cool. He did and I walked away before he would think I was a stalker.

Clif Bar Moments

Last year’s great Expo moment involved getting an autograph from Marla Streb while chewing on a Clif Bar sample. This year, our booth was located across from the Clif Bar booth and everyone brought their samples into our booth. I can’t count how many Clif Shot cups I threw away or how many MoJo samples made it into our prize drawing box. Ew. We did score a box of MoJo’s by helping set up the Clif Bar canopy on Friday so it all evens out.


Spring Fever

Geoff must like me a lot because he let me sit on a Trek Pilot 5.0 on Saturday afternoon. I proved that I would fit on a 50cm frame (just barely) and that I would not have to share a road bike with my nine-year-old. I’m very excited. My Cannondale hybrid has served me well over the past 11 odd years but I’ll take a new bike, sure. It will probably be a Pilot 1.2 instead of a 5.0, but I’ll still take it.

I do realize that by buying me a new bike, Geoff is simply paving the road for a new bike of his own. I’ll still take a new bike.


Tour of California

I haven’t watched any of the Tour of California coverage because my daytime TV has been relegated to watching Teletubbies or Olympic coverage. However, it’s been nice to follow it online. Poor George Hincapie missed the final sprinters jersey to Olaf Pollack of T-Mobile, but Floyd Landis held on to the GC. Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) came away as King of the Mountain and Tom Peterson of TIAA-CREF held on to the Best Young Rider jersey by a thread.


Euro News

The Belgian season is underway with Philippe Gilbert (Franciase des Jeux) taking Omloop Het Volk on Saturday and Tom Boonen setting up his teammate Nick Nuyens for victory at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne on Sunday. Who needs the Olympics now that the real cycling season has begun? Having driven over many of the hills they ride in those races it is exciting that the real racing season has begun.

It has also been announced that a new and improved Arenberg Forest has returned to the Paris-Roubaix route. It’s not too new and improved, of course, but supposedly a little less dangerous. We’ll see about that if it rains on April 9th.

The Cycliste Moderne, February 21, 2006

Amgen Tour of California Kick Off

The Amgen Tour of California has kicked off the domestic cycling season in a big way. I have to admit I was skeptical of the ability of Anschutz Entertainment Group to pull of a world class event. The early coverage shows that they have been able to do it. Anschutz Entertainment Group is affiliated with such disparate entertainment enterprises as Walden Media, Edwards Theaters, Major League Soccer and the ADT Velodrome in Carson, California.

I questioned the ability to put on a world class event so early in the season. The weather was likely to be poor, the course too easy and February was too early for a significant stage race in North America. When they signed on Amgen, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures doping favorite EPO, as their title sponsor you had to wonder who was giving them advice.

Well, the weather has been good, the European based teams very competitive and the crowds huge. The early results have also showed that the early predictions that the European teams would send weak teams and that the North American teams would be the only ones taking the event seriously were proven wrong when the top riders in the Prologue were all Europe based and the difficult finish to Stage 2 where the peleton was shattered on the final climb resulted in the top 10 riders on the stage were all Europe based. The domestic teams have not been equal to the European teams. With just two stages completed and a week of racing left to go, I can certainly predict that the winner will be a European based American. The domestic professionals are just not good enough to compete with the stronger ProTour teams.

There have been some things that make you scratch your head, like the organizers’ failure to have a clock at the finish of the opening prologue and the fact that the television coverage on ESPN2 is on after midnight in much of the United States. Having reportedly purchased the time for race coverage from ESPN you would have thought that AEG would have obtained earlier time slots as 1AM on the East Coast is too early for coverage. I watched Sunday’s coverage on ESPN2 in Seattle where it was broadcast at 10PM locally. Since getting back to Boise, I have been recording the race coverage and watching it the following day.

The coolest thing about the Tour of California is the Specialized Angel. What a great marketing idea by Specialized as she is almost as cool as Luk’s Devil Didi.

Seattle International Bike Expo

Mrs. Cycliste Moderne and I spent Presidents’ Day weekend in Seattle at the Seattle International Bike Expo selling bike art and movies. It was again a well attended event and I had major bike envy as I was sorely tempted by a Redline Cyclocross Bike priced at $800 and a Raleigh frame and fork at $300. In the end, Mrs. Cycliste Moderne bought herself a couple of jerseys including an incredibly cool wool retro French national jersey. I got a new pair of clear glasses for those early morning rides and the kids got new jerseys.

Really cool to see some of the new equipment out including the new Francaise de Jeux team issue bikes from LaPierre. One of the most surprising displays was a company selling shaft drive bikes. Shaft driven bikes were actually raced with some success during the early 1900’s on the track. However the sprocket and chain drive ultimately proved too successful and shaft drive bikes disappeared. Now a manufacturer has returned with the bike and although their booth was just down and across from the Cyclista.com booth, I have to say that I just am not convinced that I want to be riding what amounts to a giant egg beater.

I also got to meet United States cyclocross legend, Dale Knapp, who is now the cyclocross coach for Rad Racing Northwest, one of the largest and most successfully junior development programs in the United States. Jim Brown of Rad Racing Northwest wowed us with his cyclocross knowledge when he walked into the Cyclista.com booth and said “wow you have a lot of pictures of Adri Van Der Poel” to which I responded “and Stammsnijder and Simunek as well.”

However, the next person to spend 45 minutes looking at our art who then says “you really have some cool stuff here” and then proceeds to walk away without buying anything will find themselves beaten about their head and shoulders with a matted photograph of Radomir Simunek and the framed photograph of the winning six man break during the 1981 Paris-Roubaix, arguably the greatest collection of one day riders in modern history together so late in the race. If you think our stuff is cool then please give me your credit card and I will make sure you own it.

Finally, I am convinced that thermostats and thermometers do not work in Seattle as thirty five degrees in Seattle feels like twenty Boise degrees, even when the sun is out.

The Cycliste Moderne, February 11, 2006

The Man has been keeping me fairly busy, however, as one of my associates points out, now that I am a partner, I guess I am now the Man, so that means I am keeping my self busy. January represents the calm before the storm as the peleton ramps up for the new season. So you really had not missed anything until today.

Hamilton Suspension Upheld

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Saturday on Tyler Hamilton’s appeal of the suspension he received from the United States Anti-Doping Authority (“USADA”). For you legally inclined folks, here is the link to the decision for you to read for yourselves.

Hamilton had been reported to have failed a new test designed to catch athletes who had been using transfusions of other people’s blood that was initiated at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Hamilton won the Olympic Individual Time Trial and later won an individual time trial during the 2004 Vuelta a Espana.

Reports had surfaced of “anomalies” in Hamilton’s blood tests throughout 2004. Hamilton was reported to have failed a similar test after his gold medal victory in Athens but due to the initial determination that his test was negative and the subsequent mishandling of his samples, he was not charged with any doping violation at that time. Upon the announcement in September 2004 of the positive tests at the Olympics and the Vuelta, Hamilton’s Phonak Team fired him and Hamilton voluntarily quit racing while he appealed the failed test and suspension.

Hamilton vigorously fought his suspension. Although the American arbitration panel that heard his initial appeal was split 2-1 in reaching its decision with one of the panelists questioning the methodology and verification of the blood doping test, the CAS did not have any concerns with the test but was somewhat critical of USADA’s scorched earth approach to the hearing and punishment. The CAS did question the credibility of some of the USADA’s witnesses but did not over turn the original two year ban.

The only positive outcome from the CAS ruling for Hamilton was the board’s decision that his suspension should run from the date he was fired by Phonak in September 2004 and not the date of the American arbitration panel’s decision in April 2005 upholding the USADA’s penalty. As such, Hamilton will be able to return to racing this fall and may be able to re-sign with a ProTour team. ProTour regulations double the length of any doping suspension by prohibiting ProTour teams from signing riders who have been suspended for an additional two year period. Because Hamilton’s suspension is deemed to have begun in September 2004, prior to the formation of the ProTour, Hamilton may be able to return to top level racing like fellow suspended rider David Millar will do this summer as his two year suspension concludes. If Hamilton’s suspension not been considered to begin until April 2005 when his initial appeal was rejected as USADA had requested, then he would have absolutely faced a 4 year ProTour ban likely precluding him from ever racing in a Grand Tour again. It is likely that the UCI will attempt to bar Hamilton from signing with a ProTour team, however, if Millar is eligible to sign with a ProTour team because his suspension started prior to the formation of the ProTour then Hamilton may be able to avoid a career ending suspension.

Still pending before the CAS is the Russian appeal of his gold medal performance in Athens. Former teammate at US Postal Service, Slava Ekimov, finished second in the Olympic time trial and the Russians have appealed Hamilton’s retention of the gold medal based upon a claim that even though Hamilton was not suspended or punished for his “positive” test at the Olympics because of the destruction of Hamilton’s “B” sample, that he should be stripped of his gold medal.

This has been a very long and very sad story. I honestly do not believe that Hamilton doped by the use of someone else’s blood. Unlike many professional cyclists, Hamilton was college educated and came to cycling later in his career after a skiing injury ended his skiing career at the University of Colorado. He had always shown incredible determination and grit, racing and winning with broken bones and sheer determination.

Now, we have to decide if our youngest son keeps his middle name given him for Hamilton's gritty performance during the 2003 Tour de France when he raced to a stage win with a broken collar bone.

Lance and Cheryl are Done

Lance and Sheryl broke up that is all everyone has asked me about over the last week since it was announced. That will eliminate a huge percentage of cycling “fans” in the US now that People Magazine will no longer have cycling coverage. But I kind of had to wonder about what his ex-wife thought about his moving “tribute” to Cheryl on his satellite radio show. And he says they remain best friends. Right.

Dopes on Doping

Bode Miller, having outraged the world by his admission that he has skied with a hangover and having opined that performance enhancing drugs should be legalized, turned his attention to commentary on doping in cycling. In a wide ranging interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Miller responded to questions about doping in sports opined that both Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong were dopers who hide behind their lack of “knowingly” doping by consciously refusing to recognize what they are doing. It is tough to take a guy seriously on doping in sport who says that doping is not a big deal and that skiing drunk is ok and who refuses to show up for mandatory equipment tests and then who it is disclosed has used a “doctor” in Mexico who lacks medical credentials in the US for an untested medical procedure involving the injection of sugar solution into his knees.

Things are starting to warm up

The Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under finished last weekend in South Australia, the Tour of Qatar was this last week as was the GP d'Ouverture La Marseillaise in France. The important early season warm up races then move to Thailand for the Tour de Langkawi, the early French stage races, Etoile de Bessèges and Tour Méditerranéen, Portugal for the Volta do Algarve, and then California for the first ever Amgen Tour of California. The real start of the season is still two months away with the first classic of the year Milan-San Remo in mid March.

The Blues are Here

Although I had thought about waiting to do my fashion evaluations later on during the season, I have to follow up on my comment from my last blog regarding the spread of blue team kits in the peleton. With the Discovery Channel team launch there are too many teams in blue, light blue that is.

Milram, Discovery Channel, Quick.Step, AG2R, and Gerolsteiner, all have jerseys which are light blue. If you thought last year’s Paris-Roubaix was tough to follow with the last three riders all having blue and silver jerseys, then I cannot wait until Milan-San Remo until all the light blues go up against each other for the first time.