We reflect on another year of cycling; who has been naughty and who has been nice. The rusty chain award used to go to the biggest tool of the year but that has been folded into the Anti-V award. In years past the rusty chain award usually went to the present day dopers. Multi-year winners like Danilo “triple threat” Di Luca would now be eligible for the Anti-V award. To finally earn a lifetime suspension which should have been issued after his last infraction, that is something. To bring down a whole team because of his cretino behavior, that’s impressive. How many riders, coaches and support staff on Vini-Fantini Selle Italia lose a living because of his bad brain? But really, enough of him and his 2013 doping colleagues, let us leave them behind.
For those who did not read the Freddy Maertens recent interview, please do so before 2013 expires. It’s important to be reminded how tough he and his competitors were. They were racing more and being paid much much less. We have to admire how much Rule #5 was fueled on passion alone. This brings us to another personality in the running this year, Abandy Schleck.
We cannot criticize an injured rider. One can only compete at the professional level with mind and body working in harmony. Abandy seems to be suffering on both sides of the equation. We can criticize him for his lack of professionalism before he was injured. If you are a terrible time trialist and you want to win a stage race that might include time trials, you really should be working at that, even if it slows your awesome climbing talent. Contador was an impressive stage racer when he beat Cancellara in a TdF TT. Ha! When Freddy says today’s pros are paid too much and are too soft, he was winking at the interviewer and using international sign language to spell out “Abandy”.
Specialized threw itself in the running with it’s abysmal treatment of Dan Richter and Café Roubaix Bicycle Studio. CEO Mike Sinyard pulled Specialized out of the top spot for the Anti-V award with a personal apology to Dan and a promise to do business differently in the future. We take people at their word, let’s move on.
What really made us crazy was the notion that corporations have some legal rights to stop anyone to using the word Roubaix. Roubaix is a town in which the world’s most awesome velodrome decides the world’s most awesome bike race. Trek has a trademark on Alpe d’Huez and Specialized (and Fuji) have one for Roubaix? How clever of you. Well, keep it to yourself, leave the cycling community out of it. Cyclists made these places iconic, not lawyers so if want to have a slap fight over trademarks, do it in the privacy of your law offices. If you would like to do this in public, please make your argument in a bar in Northern France, in early April. You are not welcome to ride the secteurs of Roubaix on two wheels. Piss off. And yes, trademark lawyers, We are looking at you, you have earned both our incredulity and the 2013 Anti-V award.
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@gaswepass You're right about my tone. However, there is science as hard as Merckx confirming the gains possible through oxygen vector doping. The problem isn't that we're being directed to stigmatize anything "bad," it's that the people trying to direct the moral compass are deliberately pointing it at a slippery slope.
The most morally toxic atmosphere in sports is one where everybody rightly each other's honor, simply because officials insist on making unenforcible rules like banning a substance before a test can be devised, or even gene doping for heaven's sake. The end result of this snipe hunt can only end badly as it becomes a witch hunt. It may initially seem well intentioned, but in the end doping authorities have us all drinking from a poisoned well. We'll either end up banning sports altogether or implanting homogenized embryos in surrogates that will serve as future athletes.
I'm looking at the long term picture also. We're really trying to halt human evolution with the anti-doping thing, accepting nearly every external aid upon the body while trying frantically to prevent the emergence of Da Vinci's allegorical perfect man. You can get legally get Lasik for a sport that requires superior vision. You can run in the Olympics with bionic legs that make you faster than normal ones can. You can participate in marathon races on this nifty thing called a bicycle, which enables a human to use less energy to travel a mile than a gliding bird. You can't "dope."
In other words: we're saying it's okay to improve on what you do as long as you can't improve some willy nilly concept of what you are. Then we all go take drugs anyway. It's preposterous.
Anyway, I shouldn't be a dick, and yes I did misdirect my vitriol. I just get sick to my stomach seeing society try to pile chaos on something as simple and logical as a bicycle and the rider.
Happy new year everyone :)
@crucible
@crucible
welcome to the conversation.
Happy new year
... and Happy New Year to all. Rock on.
@crucible
I used to think that legalising doping would be the solution - and at that level I think it would work. Make the teams and doctors liable to the athletes for every drug they give them. Teams would have to include liability in their insurance and if we think patent attorneys are dicks, insurance lawyers are the Biggest Dicks in Dicklands. the whole thing would implode the first time a team was sued for killing a rider with EPO and it would be the crazy risk-averse insurance companies we would have to thank.
unfortunately the problem I have come to realise with not at least trying to fight doping, however imperfectly, is the people outside the official and regulated circles. The people in local and age group races who will feel the pressure and invitation to dope but without proper medical advice and supervision. There are already people in lower level racing taking GW 50156 which by all accounts is almost guaranteed to cause cancer. How does your proposed scenario address the issue of relatively widespread unsupervised self-prescribed doping ?
I would also take issue with the examples you give. I think there is a reasonable line to be drawn between procedures to restore function caused by injury or abnormality and seeking to enhance and improve on normal function. It's not easy to write it down and codify it but just because there are some grey areas doesn't mean we should abandon it entirely. Sports have rules and finding a way around them is cheating - it's not that difficult.
@crucible
An honourable response, and I pretty much agree with your initial arguments, anyway.
The use of an emoticon, however, is unforgivable
Happy New Year
Oh, fine. Happy New Year, everyone. Jesus.
Can't really argue with your choice, but I would like to nominate Specialized and Big Mike for the Lifetime Achievement Award for Ultra-Douchebaggery. To me they have represented all that is wrong with the cycling industry for a long, long time.
A good day gentlemen! The local impromptu 89 km New Years Day ride was a perfect day on the bike. The temperature and atmosphere stayed the same for the entire duration. Talk of chainrings and bar setups and even entirely new bikes were the only cause to speaketh. In fact the followup to today's successful ride is to change over to a quill stem (3TTT 140mm) and 26.0 Cinelli Eubios bars this Thursday. Thanx to frank, wiscot and others offering up parts and great advice, the MX Leader will be redeemed tomorrow.
@crucible
Let the record show that I am only drinking water.