Two years ago I wrote briefly about doping. Then I stood up for Betsy Andreu and I still appreciate her unwavering story. It was a brief touch of the subject, but HERE it is.
Betsy still holds by her story and gets some of the respect she deserves in this clip.
Unless you have been living under a rock you know the stories have hit the fan. I am not going to get into he said she said bullcrap here. Like my grandfather said to me “opinions are like a*&holes, every one has one and they all stink”
The one thing I do have to say is that cheating is cheating. Very profound huh? The argument that everyone was doing it is not valid. Who is everyone? Do you know these everyone? How about when someone like Bradley McGee stands up and says “I didn’t dope” like he did HERE. Clearly that would point to not everyone doped.
If you follow Adam Myerson on Twitter you would know that he is extremely anti-doping and rightly feels people have taken money out of his pocket. If you don’t follow Adam on twitter. Do it, he’s entertaining. https://twitter.com/AdamMyerson
Did I enjoy the racing over the years? Absolutely. Does this scandal kill my love of riding my bicycle? No. Long ago I looked up to real life hero’s. My cousin Chuckie was the hero of my childhood and his memory lives on with me. The brave women of the Tour de Pink and the Young Survival Coalition have so much more to offer me, and teach me about life then some guys racing bicycles.
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| This type of cheering matches the Tour de France in my book |
People like Ernest Gagnon prove to me that my expression “The bicycle is a vehicle for change” is true. Don’t know Ernest’s story? Read about it HERE.
People like Wendy Davis (AKA Sasha) prove this to me as well. I met Wendy roaming the infield at Sea Otter. She was very nice and we hit it off instantly. Talking for quite a while and seeing each other around the rest of the weekend. We had the bike in common. When I got home we became Facebook friends and then I learned more about her via her BLOG. The bicycle helped change her life, but it was her iron will and determination that really did it. The bicycle was just the vehicle for change. (See what I did there?)
Will I watch the Tour de France in 2013 and beyond? Heck yeah! I love the spectacle. Do I still want to go back to the tour and ride over the same roads and see these fabled riders names painted on the black top? Yes I do.
If you are feeling like your hero’s left you try looking at the real hero’s around you. Look towards Wendy or Ernest, or my friends at the Young Survival Coalition. Maybe realize that the athletes of the Tour are really cool but they are doing a job. Are some worth looking up to? Yes. Are all worth looking up to? No.
This article is titled Doping and Winning. How do these two things go together? Obviously if athletes get the right concoction coursing through their veins they can win races.
I am speaking about me winning. This is a blatant plug for me having the chance to win some Cyclocross goodies. The good folks over at Cross Bike Review Dot Com have a contest going for some lucky person to win a Shimano Ultegra CX 70 Cyclocross group.
They talk about the CX70 Front Derailleur HERE. They also have a good review of the CX70 brakes HERE.
Please click through and check the site out. Maybe they will give me a group because of your increased traffic. If they do I will crow about it over here in my little corner of the interwebs.
Thanks for reading, have a cyclocrosstastic weekend. If you are racing in Sandy’s wrath as I am, enjoy the mud.
The C3 team again has a Halloween version that was unveiled last weekend. I will make my debut in the homage to La Vie Claire this weekend. A perfect kit to wear in the rain and mud. Hopefully the see thru possibilites will keep my competition away from me.
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| Modeled here by El Capitan Kris Auer. Photo by joemallis.com |