The Cycliste Moderne, September 14, 2006

Ride When You Can

I have been getting rides in when I can and the result has been that I have been riding after dark. With my lights and with the lack of traffic, it is a pretty relaxing time to ride. Plus, ride time passes much more quickly when you cannot see your bike computer or your watch.

I am surprised however, at the number of people that ride in the dark without lights, reflectors, or bright clothing. They also ride against traffic, ignore traffic signals, and weave all over the place. Just one more obstacle that you have to deal with to get your ride time in. A little bit of common sense goes a long way.

More Dope

Frankie Andreu's admission this week in the New York Times that he had doped leading up to the 1999 Tour de France spawned the expected quick and direct response from Lance Armstrong and US Postal Service/Discovery Channel management, as well as the immediate claim of Dick Pound that Armstrong obviously must have doped since people around him had doped.

Andreu was terminated by the Toyota-United team after returning from doing Tour de France coverage for OLN. The explanation had been that he had failed to attend to team duties. However, the termination came on the heels of leaked arbitration testimony that Andreu had given in Armstrong's action against the insurer who had refused to pay bonuses after he won the Tour de France for the fifth time.

Andreu reiterated this week that he never had seen Armstrong dope, that he was not aware of any other riders doping on his team, and that he had not done it during the 1999 Tour. That said, Discovery has threatened legal action, and the UCI said they don't know what Andreu thought to accomplish with his late admission.