another love of my life

I used to race bicycles about ten years ago... in all honesty I did a handful of local cyclocross races back in Michigan, moved to Oregon, realized that Oregonians love riding bikes a lot more than Michiganders, actually trained seriously for a year, but then got a dog (Molly) and realised I liked spending more time with the dog... but still follow professional cycling with a fervor.

In light of the recent revelations about blood doping, I just want to set the record straight: I have never used any kind of blood-doping products, knowingly or unknowingly, nor have I ever thought about doing any kinds of blood doping products in the past, present, or future. I don't know any Spanish or German doctors, have little or no knowledge about bio-medical science, and have never had any contact with Floyd Landis. I did see Jason Giambi in the street once.

(For the record, though, I have no idea whether Floyd is innocent or not. I have to admit that what little I know of Dick Pound, the WADA, and the French testing lab, a lot of high school science experiments seem to have more integrity. While there are so many bizarre details about his case, I have to admit that his lawyers' argument that why would Floyd take synthetic testosterone, a stimulant with no known short-term benefits, to win a stage knowing that he would definitely be tested at the end of it, is pretty convincing. I hope I'm not gullible.)

In any case, the Giro d' Italia is currently about halfway through. While few of the major contenders will race both the Giro and the Tour de France, the Giro is a serious test of teams and team management... and that can give a few clues for how the Tour and the third of the major tours, the Vuelta d' Espana, will turn out.

For all things cycling related, I go to cyclingnews.com. If I'm being a major dork and have the time to spend, I go here to find any live audio and video feeds. I think I watched a fair chunk of last year's Tour on Serbian video with English audio, and the cyclingnews.com live ticker.

While it's a little late to join the overall competition, folks who are interested in participating in a free fantasy cycling league should go here. The only winnings are bragging rights. I'm hoping to take my third consecutive win in the sub-league that I and three friends are in. Would love to finish better than 53rd overall at the end of the year... but I think all this blood doping is making some of my selections rather difficult.