John Doe and Slipstream to the Giro

So, its been a week now and guess who's in the news again!! That's right, our boys over at Rock Racing.

So here's the deal; a couple of days ago a story comes out that a rider identified as "John Doe" is suing the USADA in order to stop the test of a "B" sample, after the "A" sample came back clean. Everybody's first question is "why" and the second question is of course "who is John Doe". Now why is the USADA testing a sample that has already been deemed negative. That's a fair question, especially when taken with the fact that teams need to submit their rider list to the Tour of California by Mon. and one of the new rules is no riders allowed who are even under investigation. Could this second test be viewed as an investigation?? And how many times should a rider have to pass screening with the same sample?? Are they testing for different agents?? Then again, if you've already passed the screen and you havent been doping, because we all know that cycling is all cleaned up now with the new attitude going around and all the testing being done, what are you afraid of?? So that is Thursday's news.

Friday's news?? Rock Racing's Kayle Leogrande is John Doe. Shocker Huh?? Kayle is probably literally the most colorful man in the peleton. He owns a tattoo parlor and is completely covered neck down in tats'. Dont get me wrong I like tattoo, I've got a couple and will be getting more and I think we need more people out there with tattoo so it ceases being some sort of discriminative choice. But between that and Michael Ball's antagonistic tirades you gotta know something like this is gonna happen. I do really hope the guy is clean. He's fun to watch, and I'm not ready for Rock Racing to implode quite yet.

In other happier news; Slipstream got an invite to the Giro in May!! Yay!! Go Slipstream!! And today was the start of the Tour of Qatar. An 8k team time trial was used as a prologue. I like team TT's and I wish ASO would put them back in the TdF. Anyway, Slipstream was holding on to the top spot with only one team to go. Quickstep, last years Tour of Qatar ended up finishing with the day's best time by just 2 seconds. But Big Maggie and David Millar drove the team to quite the impressive first showing. Beating 15 other teams including 7 pro tour teams. Way to go guys. Oh yeah, who runs the tour of Qatar?? ASO. Who was in the stands?? Tour Boss Christin Prudhomme. And while Mr Prudhomme hasnt actually said the Slipstream will be invited, he has said that he wants an American team there and that Slipstream's doping policy's and controls are in line with what he wants to see at the tour this summer. The ASO are really tired of scandal and are hoping for a comparatively quiet July.

Go Slipstream!!

Oh yeah and I got to haul my fat ass out for a ride today. 39 miles and my legs were starting to soften. Its gonna be a long early season at this rate.

Nice Job Matt

Went to a friend’s art opening last night. His first one-man show in years. It seems to have gone very well. He was more in his element than I had seen him in most times. If he wasn’t proud, he should have been it was a great show. Pieces had sold before the show had even opened and another sold while I was standing right in front of it. There were about 18 pieces or so overall, and while I will confess to not completely understanding the subtleties and nuances of Matt's work, they are clearly done with some considerable skill, talent and vision. Congratulations Matt. Fine Job.

For those who are interested his blog can be found here.

In other news, my cycling is off to a solidly mediocre start. While the miles per ride is up a bit the number of rides isn’t where I’d like it to be, and Mrs. Culimerc has already started making noises that “there is more than bikes”. News to me.

Washington DC is apparently in the preliminary stages of looking at what a bike rental system (a la Paris) would look like in DC and how would it be executed. From what I’ve seen at the WashCycle, its going to be a membership fee then swipe your card and you get 3hours. Or more accurately; a membership fee and a years worth of downtown bikes. For non-members (tourists), swipe your card and be charged X amount per hour for all the mall cycling you can stomach. Infrastructure wise they’re talking about a kiosk every 500 yards. Seems like a lot, but with that kind of saturation you could install smaller number of bikes per location. One of the hang ups is Pepco. They want all locations metered, meanwhile streetlights, stoplights, electronic parking meters all go with out meters. Sound like the old guard trying to stop real progress to you?? It sure does to me. (check the "sharing" label)

Cipo joins the Circus

So apparently Michael Ball is easing up a bit. It took a whole 9 nine days for Rock Racing to show up in the news again. News this morning was that Rock Racing was close to signing none other than Super Mario to its ranks. As the rumor goes Mario will being doing a little bit of both racing and director sportif'ing. In the absence of Frankie they needed someone who know what they were doing to drive the car and direct the team. As a continental racer you cant ask for much better than Super Mario. Dont get me wrong this is great stuff for American Racing. A true cycling Rock Star showing up across the country even as director sportif will help draw crowds. It just seems, .....like Michael Ball is determined to buy himself some credibility no matter what, rather than doing it the old fashioned way. Earning it.

Cipo on the other hand was told that he owes the Italian Govt 1.1 million bucks. So everybody's got something out of this. Michael Ball has a shiny new toy that no one else has, as well as, a sprinter that even at the age of 41 can probably finish at the front of the American Crit scene, a director sportif, and a new buddy that will attract even more HOT chicks than he does. Cipo gets a well paid cush job, and a closet full of designer jeans. I swear 'Vegas ought to sponsor this team.

Are we taking bets on when the wheels fall off this sideshow??

Polls vs. Reality and more Rock Racing

So here it is and another week is gone and another primary and another Rock Racing scandal.

So New Hampshire votes. The media picks Obama by double digits. Hillary pulls it out in the end by 3 points. Couple of things here to mention. First the media is beside itself with "how could it be so wrong". "But this isnt what the polls showed". Know what the polls did show? As many as a 1/3 of voters were either undecided or not completely sure. Not sure about your fuzzy math, but mine puts that at 30+ points. That would make the outcome well within "the margin of error". Also there were a couple of other things to take note of. The press is now wondering what does Obama do with this stunning upset. News flash folks, before Iowa, Obama was 12 points down on Hillary, a week later he is in a basic draw with her (both took the same # of delegates). 12 points in a week, that's not a loss, thats a good week. Also, Obama finished with almost the exact percentage given to him in the polls on Mon. before the primary (lo 30's), Hillary took more of the "undecided" than expected thats all.

Two other notes, first Bill Richardson had announced he will withdraw from the race starting tonight. Too bad, I would have liked to have how he did once the west started voting. And less than 1% of registered voters have expressed who they would like to see in the general election. Lets hope we dont know for sure who is going to be nominated by the time we get to Denver. That would be a great show.

New week, new Rock Racing scandal. Joining Tyler and Santiago Botero at Rock Racing is fellow Operation Puerto veteran Oscar Sevilla. This one week after Frankie Andreu left due to "managerial differences". Also in the rumor mill surrounding Mike Ball and his merry band in none other than Floyd Landis. Apparently Floyd has been invited to the training camp and to join the organization in any manner that would not violate his UCI ban, which is none. Somebody tell Michael Ball that no means no. Still Floyd has been invited to hang out with the guys etc etc in with no official responisbility. Michael Ball has said that he likes to give people a second chance, and I for the most part agree with him. But loading your team with unrepentant dopers at the end of their career just smacks of stupidity. Whatever. Sponsors are running for the hills with this one. Rock Racing had stated that they wanted to be invited to some of the premiere races in Europe this summer , yet somehow they overlooked the fact that they applied for the wrong license. Nice attention to detail. Oh yeah, he also tried to talk Super Mario into a US comeback while they were in Vegas. Nice.

Rock Racing at it Again

So, more news from the Rock Racing camp. Lotta noise for a team that’s not even in season yet. Frankie Andreu has left his director sportif position. Can you blame the guy?? I mean Mike Ball is hiring riders without even consulting him. Mike calls himself the “day to day go to guy”, “he’s the man to talk to”. Frankie apparently wanted to do more than just drive the car. Now please realize that Michael Ball only got into bike racing last year and by his own admission he doesn’t know what the traditional job of director is. Well, he’s in it now baby!! So the soap opera takes another turn, I’m waiting for the real fireworks to start after the season gets rolling. Last year they had some good results, and a very respectable 1^st year showing. Now, with the off season acquisitions of several suspect riders and his rather bull in a china shop approach, it should be quite a roller coaster ride come summer time. Good luck Rock Racing riders! I honestly hope you all do very well. American Racing needs a spectacle, just not another doping one.

Go Slipstream!!!

In Iowa it was

Dems.;

1) Obama

2) Edwards and Hillary virtual tie

4) Richardson

Reps.;

1) Huckabee

2) Romney

3) Who cares??

More later after it all gets run through the mill.

Leadership

With the Iowa caucus tomorrow you cant turn on anything without hearing about who we're going to choose to "lead" us into the future. Newsflash for you here folks; America stopped leading anything along time ago. Oh sure, we lead the world in per capita consumption, waste, production of green house gases and obesity, but I' talking about leading in a positive manner. As a benevolent agent of change. Doing something to make the world a better place than when you found it. We havent signed the Kyoto treaty, cause some third world country wont be regulated as strictly as we will. Our schools are deteriorating because we have to pass a standardized test, rather than teaching kids how to think and why figuring stuff out is fun, even if it is hard. Our health care system is a privilege of the wealthy, because we wouldnt want to deny the pharmaceutical industry the right to make 8.4 billion dollars a quarter. We cant sell our cars in many countries around the globe, because it would cost too much to figure out how to make them more efficient. In short, we've stopped leading the way forward, because someone decided that they could make more money on the status quo, than they could shaking things up. What happened to the days of NASA taking a man to the moon, to the Marshall program, where we as Americans rebuilt Europe and Japan, not because we had to, but because it was the right thing to do. What happened to leading the world in invention, in scientific experimentation and education for everyone. Why now are we afraid of what our kids might see on TV, or the terrorist under every bush or the brown skinned guy coming to help feed his family. We lack true leadership. Our politicians are more afraid of losing funding than doing what they know will hurt people. Real leaders will do what is right and take it on the chin anyway, knowing that its right.

In Arlington Co. right now there's a new Co. Board Chairman. Walter Tejada is his name. This man is trying to lead. Really lead, not placate the wealthy, but do what is right despite what is risky. In Va., localities are limited in what they legislate, most things have to go before the state senate for approval. Walter isnt letting that stop him. Tejada is proposing a number of policies that tho technically voluntary, ways are being investigated to offer encouragement. Eliminating trans fat from restaurants is one. Some are on board with this plan, others arent so enthusiastic, siting the same old tired excuses for doing what is cheap and expedient. "Its too expensive", "it'll change the taste of the food". Get over it folks, healthy people have more money and time to eat out. Other more exciting plans include Co. wide programs to encourage people to completely eliminate their cars, starting a regional bike sharing program, start "accessory dwelling units", eliminate smoking in public spaces, and my personal favorite, requiring property owners to pay relocation assistance to low income families. Most, if not all of these are in place in cities and towns already. Trans Fat laws and Public smoking laws are on the books already in our area. Va tried to pass something like this earlier, but the tobacco lobby got involved when it got to the VA house. You can guess what happened next, not leadership. Car-Free Diet is a national program, and related to it is public bike sharing programs. Their are several already in place in cities like Paris, Munich and London. New York is looking into the feasibility of a program there. Accessory dwelling units are second dwellings on single home lots. Something akin to a Mother-in Law suite or an English basement. Given the size of houses in the area over the last couple of years, this is a brilliant idea. It would provide affordable housing, increase density in areas with mass transit and reduce sprawl. And finally requiring property owners to offer relocation assistance to low income families before they kick them to the curb after years of paying increasing rent. Cause its the right thing to do, it wont be popular among those who want to know down that 50 year old Apt. building, but its whats right. And that is leadership.

Go get'em Walter!!