Tom Boonen, one of my favorite riders, tested positive for cocaine in an out-of-competition drug test (for the second – or maybe his third – time). Cycling Doping BoonenBoth WADA and the UCI don’t consider this a positive dope test because cocaine is an amphetamine whose effect lasts for only a short while and thus…
The Archives
I didn’t get a chance to write very much about cycling this year, which is one of my favorite topics when it comes to this blog. It’s been quite a year for cycling in our household, with both Michelle and I buying our dream bikes and, more importantly, us getting out on them much more…
Cycling is a unique sport in the sense that suffering is a badge of honor. Greg LeMond once said, “It never gets easier, you just go faster.” Cyclists love to suffer – it’s a badge of honor. Bernard Hinault claimed that as long as he breathed, he attacked. At a primordial level, cycling is about…
I just rode around Lake Washington on my single speed. “So what, you pussy?” I imagine you are saying. Fair enough. But what if your brother-in-law is keeping the pace at a brisk 24 mph on your 9-spd Cannondale, hills and all? My knees are numb and my quads feel like jello. I will never…
I spent Memorial Day weekend in Boise, and on the actual holiday I headed out for a big ride with my brother-in-law. We started at 2800″² elevation, and ended up at the local ski area, Bogus Basin- where the parking lot is a mean 6200″². It was a great ride, until the skies opened up…
This morning was one hell of a shiny one in Seattle. It snowed/sleeted/rained/somethinged last night, and every surface was a sheet of ice. Undeterred, I rode the trusty steed in to work with my brethren (yes, many other cyclists were out and about). A few near misses ensued, but then I had my moment at…
“They” say hindsight is 20/20, but I tend to disagree. Hindsight is only as good as your vision is in the first place. In my case, I can see just well enough not to run into things without my glasses. Plus, “they” dangerously forget to point out that hindsight is only helpful if you are…
This will be a very short follow-up on yesterday’s post regarding the suspension of UCI ProTour leader, Danilo Di Luca. Cycling’s governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale, has decided to disqualify Danilo Di Luca from the UCI ProTour due to his suspension. That means that the rider will loose the ProTour which he was leading…
The Italian cycling federation is so eager to appear “tough on doping” that they are now suspending riders for the following offense: Maybe looking like they might have talked to a doctor who might have had something to do with doping at some point. But no one is sure yet. And might never be. We’re…
After almost 14 months, the verdict was finally handed down in the Floyd Landis doping case. A three-person panel voted 2-1 to find Landis was found guilty of doping during the 2006 Tour de France, stripped of his title, and has been suspended for two years. I have mixed feelings about this case: I was…
Yesterday, the very sad news broke that Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a homologous blood transfusion Saturday after winning the first long time trial at the Tour de France. Vino was one of the last riders who were at the top of the sport during the Armstrong era who had managed to avoid doping suspision….
Here’s the funny thing about cycling: I go out of my way to find the biggest and hardest hills I can, and I start to talk excitedly about how “good” the climbs are. “Good” in this application is taken to mean hard, steep, and long. Then, when I actually ride these “good” climbs, I suffer…
What a shocking week in cycling. About a half dozen riders and two team doctors have admitted to doping at Team Telekom (which later became T-Mobile) during the 90’s. Among the riders who have admitted using drugs are cycling icons Erik Zabel and Bjarne Riis. So far, the admissions have culminated with Riis admitting that…
Some of you may have noticed KRX-10‘s comment on my earlier post regarding Sabotage. Well, needless to say, I was overjoyed to see the pictures he provided of the “sabotage” incident. I’m sure it’s lost on no one that his joke is based on the fact that I’m an American citizen of direct Dutch decent…
We’re huge pro cycling fans. Michelle and I both get very involved with particular riders; for Michelle her favorites have been Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani; for me, it’s been Ullrich, Pantani, and Ivan Basso. It seems we’re bent on loving riders who eventually get wound up in some sort of doping mess, and it’s…