New Name

Hey, check out the new name.  I had a poll question going on FB for awhile, but it turned out many of those names were taken.  I like this one, sounds a little more like a novel title or something.  It gets across who I am as a cyclist, but also the non-negotiable aspects of riding here in NE as well.

The Question All My Friends Are Asking: Lance And Drugs.

Friends often ask me:  So, does Lance do drugs or what?  This is as close as I can come to an answer (just like everyone else)

I hate cycling for making me write this.  I hate becoming some quasi-expert on doping methods- on how they'd hide it, what the dope does, what each one is:  I don't want to be a sports-doping doctor, I want(ed) to be a cycling fan- of the sport!

This is not about investigative journalism.  I'm just trying to collect info together for you to make up your own mind.  Or not.  Whatever you want.  Much of this stuff is heresay, read-between-the-lines type stuff- you know, internet stuff.

When Lance won the TDF in 1999, here's who rode with him, and what has subsequently been said by or about them.

The 1999 Tour De France US Postal Team

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Frankie Andreu
3. Kevin Livingston
4. Tyler Hamilton
5. George Hincapie
6. Christian Vande Velde
7. Peter Meinert- Nielsen
8. Pascal Derame
9. Jonathan Vaughters

Lance is our athlete in question.  You can search the internet for plenty of articles about him if you want.

Frankie admitted to using EPO.  At the time another teammate admitted using EPO but spoke on condition of anonymity.  That could be any of the following people...

Kevin  has not been rumored to or convicted of doping.  If we believe rumor and innuendo, then
"In that infamous IM between [Vaughters] and [Andreu], JV states that Kevin Livingston said that he was astonished when he got to T-Mob to find no doping program".  He was apparently named in documents taken from Dr. Michele Ferrari.(an Italian doctor involved with doping).  But not charged with anything.


Tyler has recently confessed to using EPO on 60 minutes.  He was convicted a few years ago of blood doping.  You remember?  The twin defense?



George  Accused by 60 Minutes which quoted unidentified sources to say that Hincapie saw LA use EPO, as well as using it himself.  On his twitter, GH denied this.  He has also been accused of doping by Stephanie McIlvain (an Oakley employee during the tour-winning years).  And there's this.

Christian VV has never been accused or convicted.  If anyone is clean (if!) it seems to be him.

PMN tested positive for doping earlier in his career, in 1993.

Pascal D. said recently that he wasn't in LA's inner circle and saw no evidence of doping.

Vaughters, though he runs perhaps the cleanest team in cycling, the Garmin/Chipotle/Slipstream, etc. team, has said various insinuating things about drugs over the years.  He never finished a tour- after dropping out close to the end rather than taking the meds for a bee sting, once.  But read this.

Colourway

A Hint:  When a product is displayed with a bike as obviously low-rent as this one, might be suspect.  This is a roll-up cafe table for cyclists who can't be bothered to leave their bikes.

This on the other hand, is a classic old Ibis which happens to have the exact color scheme of my own bike (BSNYC would refer to this as a 'colourway', but I think that only applies when a co. designs it that way.

Tweet! Tweet!

MY TWITTER if you'd like to check out the newest from me, both cycling related and self-related.  Go and follow!  I command you!

Am feeling like I'm stretched too thin in the "social media" so I'm going to try to focus most of the bike links etc. from this blog there.  Easier and quicker.

Eventually this blog may disappear- haven't decided about that, yet.  But if there's a post you treasure (highly doubtful) then you better copy and save it somewhere.

Also check out ROB KRISTOFF'S WRITING on Facebook (no direct link, sorry- look it up on search) if you want some longer bits of writing.

All for now. 

Bike To Work Day!

Was pleasantly surprised by the cheerleaders and free donuts for bike to work day today.  I had been a little cynical about the idea of it, but it was pretty nice to have a little cheerleading section (not literally, of course- this is the environmental club) when I arrived at work.

http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2011-05-02

Industrial Beauty 2

you HAVE to love this one.  From a factory in America, BTW.

When you're alone... you can always go... downtown.

Hey, if you're next to the steel tower at Lynn Woods, looking out at the horizon, try the trail that leaves between the two large rocks on the right.  Fun steps and rocks down to the main dirt road/trail on that side of the lake.

Something... Evasive.

I found something riding down the railroad tracks today (It's okay, they're rusty and missing in places...) that I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about.  Don't want to step on anyone's toes.  And I can't say what city I was in.  But it was a fun surprise.  Thanks to whoever left it there for me to find!

More Free Links

One more little post for today, which is really cool and valuable if it happens to be something you're into:

Rivendell Reader in online form:  Issue #42 available HERE.

Singletrack Magazine:  complete copy of Issue #54 can be read HERE.

Go to those links, and this one blog post can have you in quality cycling reading for days.

App and Dave

Should be a new Icon for my app, Mountain Bike Boston.  Those of you here from that will already have seen it I suppose.

Also, have a small interview with Dave Nice of GDR fame on my Facebook Page (Rob Kristoff's Writing) right now.  You might want to check that out.

All for today.