Wannabe Bike Girl

Contrary to the subject, this isn’t about death. Thought sometimes I feel like I should talk about Pantani’s death (or just death in general and society), but not today. I’ve mentioned before that some of my favorite riders (Vino and Robert Foerster) have crashed recently. This morning, I discovered that yet another of my favorites had an accident. In this case, though, it wasn’t during a race.

The following is from cyclingnews.

Van Goolen injured

Quick.Step-Davitamon’s Jurgen Van Goolen was injured while training on his bike Saturday morning. Van Goolen was struck by a motorist who failed to yield, crossing the rider’s path and knocking him to the ground. Van Goolen lost consciousness after hitting his head and also suffered injuries to his hands and legs.

Van Goolen remained under observation in the hospital after the accident.

(As a follow-up, on his official site, it’s been posted that he is out of the hospital and doing okay.)

It was a reminder of how fragile we, as humans really are. But also, how much I take cycling and cyclists for granted. I don’t ride on a regular basis (yet) and what races I do get to see are on OLN, so my involvement is, at best, detached from a variety of distances. And it’s always stressful to read about (or see, as during the Giro this year) crashes. But when it happens to favorites of mine, it’s even more upsetting (and, sometimes, off-putting).

I don’t really know what the point of this entry was, maybe just a way for me to, using some sort of written medium, remind myself not to take anything for granted.

I love this sport too much to just not mention things.

Music: DJ MRT (For TAW) – (TranceAirWaves)

I haven’t posted about doping yet and I don’t know if I will. Most likely, but we’ll just have to wait and see. On to other things, though.

In the comments to the entry about Vino I linked to a CN article explaining why Cadel isn’t racing at the tour this year. Now, my favorite ride is Matt Wilson (who, coincidentally, is going to the tour, along with his FDJ compatriots Brad McGee and Baden Cooke) so I have a soft spot for Aussies. All of the articles I read sort of led me and the rest of the cycling world (and, as it appears, Cadel himself) to believe that he would be at the tour. So, it came as quite a surprise when T-Mobile released their tour team and he was conspicuously absent. My first reaction was, obviously, disbelief. But, upon learning the real reason, I grew skeptical.

Now, I honestly have no idea if that’s some BS reason to try to explain to the rest of us why they left him off, or if they really do believe they’re protecting him. He hasn’t fallen yet, which is better than last year. Why not let him go? I have a host of theories, none of which are probably true. But my friend April came up with a better one than any of mine (one of which was the idea that maybe Jan just didn’t want Cadel on the team). She suggested that perhaps Cadel and Vino would have been working together for Jan, and thus, without Vino, the whole team would have to be restructured, and that would explain why Cadel was dropped. And I think she’s probably right. But I just don’t understand why they’d drop him when he’s in good form.

Who knows? After all, we both could be wrong. Maybe they really think they’re protecting him (though, they’d just have to stop him from racing to really protect him).

And, as I told Pam in comments on the Matt fansite, let’s hope he makes the Olympics team. Otherwise, what a waste of good form.

Either way, I’m going to be rooting for Lance (as tired of him as I may be).

Is it just me? Am I the only one who doesn’t want more coverage of Lance — or Tyler, Floyd, Freddy, or Levi? Am I the only one who wants more coverage of cycling in general. Of the cyclists I like, not just Americans.

I suppose I should rephrase that. Am I the only American who is tired of OLN’s coverage of Lance? Okay, I know I’m not. And I know six is a lot and I know that I love my gift-USPS bright yellow t-shirt. But I’m tired of 24/7 Lance. I want variation. I want to hear about other people. Actually, I’m tired of Jan as well. Maybe I’ve grown too cynical already. But cycling is more than just the tour. It’s more than just one race, granted the race last three weeks, but still. It’s not the only three week race.

I think I’ve been holding this in much too long. But someone on livejournal posted a mini-rant about Lance and OLN and it started me thinking. I know I’m rooting for Lance since Vino got hurt and dropped from the tour. But somehow it doesn’t feel right. He’s not the underdog, he’s expected to win. Except that he’s not. No one else has done it. But all of this hype. It’s overdone. I worry that the hype will be too much and he, like Phil Mickelson and Smarty Jones, like England in Euro 2004, like Coria at the French Open, will just crash out. Perhaps not with a literal crash, but something that will let us (us being Americans? the cycling world? I don’t know) down. That will break our hearts. And there will be no broken!Tyler to pull us along. No teamless!Vino to cheer for.

Maybe it’ll be Tyler, this time in one piece. Maybe it’ll be Roberto or Iban. Or maybe Jan will surprise us all, since his top-heavy team has collapsed (no Cadel, no Vino. please don’t get me started on Cadel).

Or maybe I’m wrong. After all, Andy did win the US Open last year. Roger won Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open this year. Juan Carlos won the French Open last year. All were hyped. So maybe Lance will win. Maybe six is his magic number and the Postal team will happily turn into the Discovery Channel team and everyone will be pleased (we’re not talking about doping, this post anyway).

But what if he fails? What if he doesn’t make it to six? Will he retire? My friend Katie and I used to speculate what would happen. We assumed that, if Lance won, he’d stick with Postal for another year, maybe two. And then, when he retired, Postal would end. And if he lost? He’d retire, again with the dissolving of the Postal team. But now, with the new sponsor, can he retire? If he loses, will he retire? Do I even care?

That last question is the hardest. And I don’t know if I care. There are cyclists that I care more about than Lance. But, I suppose, I do want him to win six. I just feel bad rooting against Tyler. But six is six. And next year it’ll be harder on me. Vino or Brad. Who knows. But that’s next year.

So may things to talk about, and I’m not going to address most of them. I’ll make a list, eventually. But for now, we’ll stick two things. By now, the new of Vino’s crash and subsequent withdrawal from the 2004 TdF has spread. Today, another of ‘my’ boys crashed, German Robert Foerster abandoned after a shoulder injury (no word on how serious it is) — his teammate, Markus Zberg was also seriously injured.

This is not an entry about injuries, I’m not dumb. I know how dangerous cycling is. But I’m not about to pretend I’m not upset. I adore Robert, so that makes me quite sad. But Vino? He was my tour pick.

I know, I know. I’m supposed to pick — if I’m rooting for T-Mobile — Jan. But, honestly? I’ve never liked Jan. Okay, so that’s not true. Up until last July I’d never heard of him and even then I didn’t not like him, I just wanted him to lose so that Lance could win. But, you know, he started to grow on me. Until (10 Million Euros and a name change later) he went back to his old team.

The team, which my new favorite boy, Vino (and, of course, Erik) rides for. The newly-named T-Mobile. And boy was I pissed. Erik was leader (no more — at least, not for really big races) and Vino would no longer have his chance at the tour this year. But I didn’t falter, I was still all gung-ho Vino ‘04 (I’ve had to revise, and now am sticking to Vino ‘05!).

But I was worried.

Last year, Vino did a lot without a team to back him up. And when Erik won points a few years ago, he did it without a leadout man. Now both men would have to (in most cases, but especially in Vino’s) work for Jan. Not something I wanted to see happy to my tour pick.

Maybe I’m selfish, but it just really made me angry. What right did Jan have, coming back to the team he up and left two years earlier? And not only did he make Telekom rename their team, his old team? He completely abandoned them, and they fell apart. I have no sympathy for Jan (although I must confess it’s nice to see him doing so well at the Tour de Suisse).

And now Vino’s completely out of the tour. So where does that leave me? The loyal Vino!fan?

Well, not rooting for Jan, that’s for sure. I was torn between Lance and Tyler. While I’d like to see Tyler win, six would be nice for Lance. And since circumstances have eliminated the man I really wanted to win, I’ve been reduced compelled to root for Lance. But, honestly, by the tour rolled around, I might have fallen for all the hype and been cheering for him anyway.

So. My podium?

1. Lance

2. Tyler

3. [open]

I have options for third. Jan is okay, Brad would be a dream. Gibo? Perhaps one of the CSC boys. Roberto Heras? Although he’s a KOM man, as well.

Sprints? Baden Cooke all the way. Although Robbie, Petacchi, and Stuey will be giving him a run. I’m still picking Baden. How could I not?

Next up? Probably something about the new (and probably crappy) book about Lance and doping (cause I believe that, right).

I was going to rant about the TdF or T-Mobile, or maybe even BLB and allergies, among other things. But no. Not anymore. I just read the following at cyclingnews and I am just seething.

US champion injured

Multiple US champion Curtis Tolson and the founder of Papa John’s pizza chain, John Schnatter, were hospitalised after an accident on Wednesday evening in Louisville, KY, USA. The accident happened when a biology textbook was thrown at the pair from an oncoming pickup truck, reported the Associated Press. Tolson suffered abrasions and possibly a broken collarbone or dislocated shoulder, while Schnatter had abrasions and possible head or back injuries. A third rider who was with them, Tracy Huber, avoided the crash.

Louisville police are investigating the incident as a felony assault. So far, no arrests have been made and there are no suspects.

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What is it about this country? Do we have no respect for people? It just pisses me off to no end that people would do such a thing to people on bikes. I used to believe that maybe it was just a fluke, that Americans weren’t always so disrepectful toward cyclists. But obviously I was wrong (need I remind you of Clear Channel’s advertisements endorsing drivers who wish to run cyclists off the road?).

I am just at a loss. Please, if you drive, respect cyclists. They aren’t allowed on sidewalks in most areas and, far too often, cities don’t create lanes or bike paths. I am lucky enough to live in a small town (for now) that has enough bike paths (I never thought I’d be grateful to live in Michigan — not that I ride enough, yet). But, please. A little respect won’t hurt.