Wannabe Bike Girl

Someone on Twitter said to me (in reference to this tweet) that “[I'm] coming off just a bit obsessive…take a deep breath lol.” And, you know what? He’s totally right. My response was: “Just a bit? I am totally obsessed with cycling! Oh, you mean with LA hate? Well … I can’t quite deny that, either.”

And he really is right. It’s partly the type of person I am (obsessive), but it’s also the fact that watching Versus is like watching Lance Armstrong TV and it drives me crazy. But I don’t really want to talk about that right now, because we’ve all heard the rant and we’ll heart it again tomorrow. I was updating my TDF Diary just now and ended up reading some old TDF entries. I started with ‘04, back when I still liked Lance (but seemed to like other people more). It’s interesting because as the ‘04 Tour goes on, my bitterness grows. And by the time we get to the 2008 Tour, I’ve turned turned up the bitterness to massive levels. I’m not ashamed of it, I’m more amused. Obviously I’m still bitter, but at least I can laugh about it.

The other thing I noticed was that up until 2007, I was seriously naïve. I don’t mean just about cyclists, but about cycling. I mean, I understood a lot, but I bought the party line (though you could see little strings of disconnect slipping into what I’m writing). While I was never quite miserable about all the ‘big name’ positives (Landis, Hamilton, Vino, etc), it kind of makes me sad to go back and read about jsut how out of touch I, and perhaps the cycling world, was at the time(s). We worked so hard to pretend there wasn’t doping and I don’t know that we’ve come that far. It’s still far too easy to just pretend it doesn’t exist.

But all the same, I wouldn’t stop being a fan of the sport or stop blogging just because of a doper or just because Armstrong might win the TDF (I hope he doesn’t, but it’s not the end of the world if he does). It’s just sad to see how much I invested in Vino and Tyler and whatever. But luckily for me, I tend to be fickle about GC winners and contenders, because though many have tested positive, I’ve always moved on by then. Luckily for me.

Amid Doping Scandals, Germany Has an Emerging Star (NYTimes)

PERPIGNAN, France — When Tony Martin was growing up in Germany, he would turn on his television to watch Jan Ullrich compete in the Tour de France.

JerkStrong: How Lance Armstrong is like Sarah Palin. (Slate)

Five months into Armstrong’s comeback, his athletic career has taken a positive turn: He’s just a fraction of a second off the lead in the Tour de France. His bizarre, histrionic behavior while off the bike, though, leaves one to wonder whether this guy is cut out for public life. Lance actually shares a few traits with Sarah Palin. They both react to any criticism with extreme defensiveness. They demonize their enemies while at the same time cultivating nonstop melodramas that keep them in the news. And while they both periodically issue petulant threats to quit, you get the funny feeling that neither one is going away anytime soon.

Lance Armstrong can joke but a ban would be no laughing matter: The cyclist is not taking the accusations seriously, but if his comeback is ended governments may not be so welcoming

Given his past relationship with the French authorities, Armstrong is probably relishing this latest fight — it certainly seems that way judging by his light-hearted postings online.

But what if the jocularity was misplaced? What if this latest episode was to end badly for him and he found himself barred from this summer’s Tour? What then for his reputation and, more to the point, what then for his chances of success when he eventually retires for good, puts on his suit and knocks on government doors looking for more cash to fight cancer?

It’s not really tmi in the gross sense of the word. It’s tmi in the fact that I just don’t care what Armstrong is doing. I don’t care that he’s ‘landed in Oz’ or whatever. The only thing I’d be interested in is if he missed/failed a drug test or crashed and couldn’t race the rest of the season. Other wise, just shut up.

I understand why this is a big deal, but it is absolutely irritating. I do not care in any way, shape or form what Mr. Armstrong is doing. In fact, it makes me want to stop following cycling. I know, stupid right? But he is everywhere and it makes me kind of ill. It also makes it hard to find information about cyclists I actually like, because everyone is too busy peeing their pants with glee that Armstrong is back.

Yes, I am bitter. I also know that this season will not even be able to compare to last season — in that the cyclists I like won’t have as good a season. And yes, I am worried about Sylvain being on QuickStep, among other things. Also, I’m going to have to start liking Milram and pay more attention to Columbia and their ugly kits than I’d like (yeah, I still haven’t accepted them, even though I should). But, hey, I can still not give a shit about Astana — because I don’t!

Anyway, there are some other things I want to talk about, but every time I try, I see at article about Armstrong and I just end up pissed off. Maybe sometime later today.

Basically I can sum it up like this: retiring means staying retired.

No, I don’t think it’s good for the sport. Yes, I think he feels he has something to prove. No, I don’t give a rat’s ass about it.

I think that there is nothing good that can come of this. I can totally understand why people are under the delusion might think it’s a good idea. But it’s not. I don’t want Lance 24/7 coverage. I don’t want the Only Lance Network back (yes, I know it’s not OLN, so just be quiet). I don’t want any of it back. I don’t care about his past or his future and I don’t want to be forced to care. I went through that phase, I’m over it.

And so, I will be supporting other Americans. And I hope to god he doesn’t go to Columbia. Because I don’t want to root against that team.

So, I’ve been thinking about cycling and doping (because, hello) and my mom asked me an interesting question this evening. We were talking about the stage and dopers and then somehow we got to talking about Armstrong. We both agreed that we believe that pre-Tcancer, Armstrong was definitely doping (remember, we have no actual evidence for this). We’ve both read It’s Not About the Bike and in it, my mom thinks (and I tend to agree) that there are certain parts where it seems like Armstrong’s hinting about doping before he got sick. We’re probably reading into things, but there you go.

And then I asked about post-cancer. She firmly believes that he didn’t dope after, I am not so sure. There is too much circumstantial public-eye evidence (former teammates, former doctors, former enemies on the bike, etc) for me to be as certain as she is. But then you look at George Hincapie. To me, he always seemed to be the closest to Armstrong, until the end of his career that is. Now, who knows. But Hincapie is now on Team Columbia, one of the two teams who are doing the most to combat doping. And I am sure they wouldn’t sign Hincapie if he was doping (I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am). Of course, Armstrong could have been and with Hincapie being non the wiser.

I wish, though, that I could share my mother’s certainty and optimism. I don’t, but at the same time, I harbor a little bit of hope. And, since we’ll never know, I’m mostly okay with that. Why was I thinking about all of this, though? Because I was watching the replay of today’s stage (yes, after I’d watched my tape) and saw the newest commercial that I had somehow missed. It basically sums up a lot of why I watch cycling. Anyway, here it is.

Les Misérables: Armstrong and Pound

Lance Armstrong and Dick Pound have never socialized, never hoisted a glass of merlot in each other’s company, and probably never will, given the intense amount of nasty verbiage going back and forth between them.

Lance Armstrong said Dick Pound, the chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, needed to cool his rhetoric.

“They’ve got a guillotine,” Armstrong said the other night, making Pound, the chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, sound like a leader of the Reign of Terror. “They need an ethics committee.”

“He’s gone bananas,” Pound has said of Armstrong.