Busy with Easter weekend and work piling up. I haven’t had any time to think about blogging. However, just to keep things moving here are my quick thoughts for the day.
Floyd’s final hearing before the CAS finished up this weekend but they have announced that they don’t expect to have a decision until June. It must be incredibly frustrating for Floyd to have to wait so long for the final word and the end of this chapter of his life. But better that they take their time and examine everything before making a decision rather than rushing. This is his last chance. This is not the time for rushing.
Astana is, once again, not invited to the ASO party. The Amaury Sports Organisation announced the teams that they’re inviting to the Spring Classics this year and, surprise, surprise, Astana was not on the list. Slipstream will be there though as will Team High Road (go George!).
Interesting interview with Matt White who used to ride for Discovery and is now a new rookie Director Sportif with the Slipstream team.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em. Rock Racing has been named the most popular pro team in an online survey conducted by Bicycling magazine. Get the full story over at US Cycling Report.
And I don’t think that I’m the only one doing a little happy dance inside over the fact that the UCI is suing Dick Pound for being an idiot - oops I mean for “continual injurious and biased comments” - same difference.
The big news yesterday was that Mario Cipollini is leaving the Rock Racing Team. There wasn’t much reason given by either party but Cipo seems to say it was his decision while a statement from team claimed that they were behind the split. Whatever the reason, I’m not really that interested in the story. I’ve never cared that much one way or another about Cipo. I wasn’t overly excited that he was back and I’m just as uninterested in the fact that he’s gone again. Best of luck and all that but, whatever.
That being said, I do have a Rock Racing-realted topic to discuss and that’s the Rock Racing Women’s Team. Seven strong, atheltic, sexy women from California who - like every other female pro cycling team - get zero media coverage and deserve to be recognized.
As the mother of a young girl I look at this picture and I pray that when my daughter gets old enough to have non-animated idols it’s women like this that she chooses to look up to and emulate. If I can get her to believe that being a hard-core athlete can be cool, and if a poster like this one can take the place of the Hillary Duffs and the Paris Hiltons of the world on her wall, I will be a happy mom.
Riding our bikes on the road can be very dangerous and even fatal at times. As cyclist, we need to ride defensively and anticipate what cars around us will do. Many times cars don’t even see us because they are not looking for us.
Watch the video below for a perfect demonstration on why cars do not see cyclists.
After having several of their riders denied admission to this year’s Amgen Tour of California the Rock Racing team has announced a new “aggressive internal team anti-doping program.”
Of course, they’re not the first team to announce that they were going to take matters into their own hands when it comes to proving that their riders are clean. Team High Road, Slipstream, they’re all doing it now. In fact, today it almost seems as though if you don’t announce that you have an “aggressive internal team anti-doping program” then you must be guilty already.
I don’t know. Of course we have to encourage and support any serious measures undertaken by any of the teams that are really going to help make the sport more fair, but sometimes I wonder about the validity as well as the motivation behind these “aggressive internal team anti-doping programs.”
Do any of the teams ever follow up by making public the progress and results of these “aggressive internal team anti-doping programs?” How motivated are they really to catch their own guys?
Again, I’m a huge fan of anything the teams are doing to help the sport but I’ve worked in the world of PR for a long time and doing a big proactive PR move like announcing an “aggressive internal team anti-doping program” in order to inoculate yourself against potential future scandal is PR 101.
You know how when people are going through a traumatic event in their lives they often turn to a support group that includes individuals who have gone through the same thing themselves in the past and can help them navigate through the pain and stress they’re feeling in a safe and healthy way?
I think that we cycling fans need to set up something that so that we can reach out to all the poor, grief-stricken baseball fans these days. It breaks my heart to watch baseball fans walk around with eyes like saucers, shaking their heads in disbelief at the news of their hero, Roger Clemens and the mounting evidence that points to his use and abuse of steroids and/or human growth hormones during his career.
I feel a bit like someone who has survived and escaped an abusive relationship listening to someone who has just begun to be mistreated at home. I hear them going through the same stages of denial: “There’s no way he would do it,” “He really sounds sincere when he says he didn’t do it,” “I know a guy who knows a guy who went to school with a guy who dated a girl who’s brother worked for his agent and he says that he’s totally clean.” It’s sad.
We cycling fans have been going through this for so long that we’ve forgotten how much it hurt that first time that one of our favorite riders was accused of - or admitted to - doping. Do you remember that first time? Maybe it was the first time you heard someone accuse Lance of doping. Maybe it was Floyd or Jan or Ivan. Maybe it was the entire T-Mobile squad. You didn’t believe it of course. You argued with friends and family and co-workers, defending your hero with great gusto. Then more and more names started being linked to doping, more and more guys started admitting to it outright. Then you changed your tune to something like, “well, maybe the rest of them are doing it, but not my guy.” The evidence continued to pile up and at some point you stop arguing with people when the subject of doping in cycling comes up and you just try to change the subject.
And here we are watching these poor baseball fans just beginning that journey. If any of you baseball folk are reading this, we’re here for you. We know how you feel. You feel hurt and confused. It’s natural. I’m afraid I can’t tell you that it will get better. In fact, it will almost certainly get worse. But you’re not alone. And, in a few years, when that first co-worker says to you, “why do you watch baseball? Aren’t they all on drugs?” we’ll still be here for you.
Pictured above Toyota United before the race talking over team strategy.
This past weekend, 60 miles east of San Diego, was the Boulevard Road Race which attracted some big name teams. Boulevard Road Race was a great warm up race to get ready for the upcoming 2008 cycling season.
The course was a tough one! It was cold and winding. For the pros they had to ride 4 loops for a total of 90 miles with over 7,890 feet of climbing. Ouch!
Being in the mortgage business and doing well over the years I was burned out and ready for a change. Although the money was good the passion for the business was just not there. They say do what you love and the money will come. I knew what I loved, that being cycling, but did not know how I could turn my passion into a living.
In February 2007, I was on-line searching for ideas and discovered that the domain name www.RoadBikeRides.com was available. I immediately registered the domain name and the idea was born. We have been working on the development of the site since March of 2007. RoadBikeRides will go live January 2008. Knowing that I needed a blog for RoadBikeRides.com and not knowing how to get a blog up and running I attended the Blog World Expo in Las Vegas on November 8-9, 2007.
While at the Expo Unique BlogDesigns was one of the exhibitors. I spend some time talking to Nate Whitehill and Matt Blancarte about creating a design for the Ride-Stong.com blog. When I got home to Tucson I called them up and had them start in on my blog design.
They did an awesome job and were great to work with! They bring of ton of experience and knowledge to the table and I would highly recommend them. They work with and design some of the highest traffic and money making blogs on the web like John Chow and Shoemoney.
MORE THAN $20,000 IN PRIZES UP FOR GRABS FROM ROADBIKERIDES.COM
New Site Allows Cyclists to Share The Best Rides That The U.S. Has to Offer
TUCSON– RoadBikeRides.com is a new user-friendly, interactive cycling website that allows cyclists from across the United States to share the rides that they love. At RoadBikeRides.com road cyclists can submit information on their favorite rides including tips, maps, video clips and links, and also find a new ride in their own neighborhood or in another region of the country. Visitors can register on the site for free and begin submitting or searching for rides right away.
“It’s our mission to make you feel at ease on the road, whether it’s on a new ride in your own neighborhood or whether you’re traveling far from home,” said Tyler Ford, the man behind RoadBikeRides.com. “Our detailed maps will also provide you with suggestions on where to stop and fuel up during a ride, and where to chow down when you’re done. After visiting rides that you’ve researched on our site, you’ll feel like you never left home, because you’ll know exactly where to go.”
To launch the site, RoadBikeRides.com has developed a contest with more than $20,000 in prizes that would make any cycling lover drool. Prizes will be awarded based on the number of points that visitors accumulate. Points are earned by submitting rides, photos or video clips, posting on the message boards, or submitting articles for the site blog at Ride-Strong.com. Complete contest details can be found at www.roadbikerides.com.
The contest opens when RoadBikeRides.com goes live in January 2008 and will run until the first, second and third prizes have been awarded. Prizes include:
• 1st prize is $10,000 in cash, awarded to the first person to earn 5,000 points.
• 2nd prize is a brand new top end bike Orbea Orca Bike (or substantially similar bike) with a retail value of $5,400, awarded to the second person to earn 5,000 points.
• 3rd prize is a Zipp 404 clincher wheel set (or substantially similar wheel set) with a retail value of $2,100, awarded to the third person to earn 5,000 points.
• 4th through to 10th place winners will take home a Garmin Edge 305 GPS unit (or substantially similar GPS unit) with a retail value of $380.
Tyler Ford, the founder of RoadBikeRides.com, is an avid cyclist and triathlete who has had a passion for cycling since 1988. Ford was a top-producing loan officer in Tucson, Arizona but always had a vision of getting involved in the cycling industry in a bigger way than just riding and racing his bike.
In July, 2007 Ford decided to leave his lucrative desk job in order to pursue that dream. He purchased the RoadBikeRides.com URL and founded Outdoor Activities, LLC. Today, Ford is living his dream of serving the cycling community and even sponsors local Tucson cycling teams, GST Racing and Fair Wheel Racing Team.
Busy with Easter weekend and work piling up. I haven’t had any time to think about blogging. However, just to keep things moving here are my quick thoughts for the day.
As the mother of a young girl I look at this picture and I pray that when my daughter gets old enough to have non-animated idols it’s women like this that she chooses to look up to and emulate. If I can get her to believe that being a hard-core athlete can be cool, and if a poster like this one can take the place of the Hillary Duffs and the Paris Hiltons of the world on her wall, I will be a happy mom.
You know how when people are going through a traumatic event in their lives they often turn to a support group that includes individuals who have gone through the same thing themselves in the past and can help them navigate through the pain and stress they’re feeling in a safe and healthy way?
