Ohop: All systems go

I woke up today to a thin layer of snow and for a brief instant thought that maybe, just, just maybe we would race in truly euro-style conditions. Sadly, there is no snow at the course and, gasp, it's not even wet. The race looks to be a dry and cold affair rather than the muddy, epic battle I was hoping for.

2006 Ohop Circuit Race

Europe has Het Volk. We have Ohop-Bob (sadly named Ronde Ohop this year, don't ask). It's part of the Washington Cup series a group of us organizers are putting together this year.

Anyway, I am now pretty nervous. I built this race for me, honestly. It suits me perfectly. But damnit there will be some fast riders out there and if I am not on the stick I may end up out the back. Plus it's up the Muur which isn't the direction I like (I do better on the long false flat/quick decent version).

The start list of guys I know are actually coming is looking good. My guess is we'll have 30 start. It should be fun. The first lap will bite serious butt

Kacey Chamberlin (BRI)

Tony Ogden (Broadmark)
Chad Nickols (Broadmark)

Rob Campbell (Valley)
Valley Rider
Valley Rider
Valley Rider
Valley Rider

Michael Emde (Axley)
Michael Pruitt (Axley)
Glenn Stewart (Axley)
Mark Knokey (Axley)
Eric Kapfhammer (Axley)
Erik Scheller (Axley)
Steve Anderson (Axley)

David Williams
Brad Reed

Well, that didn't work out well.

I shouldn't have written I work best under pressure.

We are back in town, VoS is no go as is Pueblo. More on that later.

Off to VoS

People tell me I work best under pressure. Sadly for my health, this may be true. This weekend is probably our biggest weekend of the year from a stress point of view. We'll be running at 3 events: Seattle Bike Show, 24 Hours of Pueblo and Valley of the Sun. That's a lot.

To haul the stuff to AZ we are getting a RV (today) and rolling out tonight. My testicular surgery is not helping much. But I shall overcome.

Meanwhile, what the hell? That seems to be pretty extreme to win a *High School* basketball title.

Happy Valentine's Day: Explosive Diarrhea Edition

So, I put on jeans today. I know, not a big deal. But with a bruised testicle and a 1 inch wound it is bigger than you think. And you know that feeling you get of Diarrhea when you get hit in the nuts. Got that. A lot of that.

Valley of the Sun here I come, and I am not looking forward to it

Ok, so I have a 1-1/2 long gash on my right testicle. Imagine an orange, slit it open and remove a scoop of sperm and there you go.

The practical problem is Valley of the Sun starts Friday.. and I got to say I don't think I am going to be in much shape to enjoy it. No TT bike for me; I think I will be rolling last place in the Friday TT and just hope that I can sit on the bike for the road race....

Rules for blogging different from life

I was reading Brad Delong on the WaPo and his suggestions for Bradley.. I can't help but think that the first 2 actually apply to running any business.

Hamilton, WADA and Velonews: We should question the test

Via Velonew's Letters

Trust the system, not Hamilton
Editor:
Please - unless you're a scientist who has worked with the actual samples, spare us your opinions on the validity of the tests. At some point, we've got to trust the system, or it's open season for any cheater with a good public relations crew.

I don't want to hear what a nice guy Hamilton is. No one, to my knowledge, ever accused Lance Armstrong of being a nice guy, but Tex passed all his drug screenings. Hamilton stood to gain millions of dollars. Motive enough.

I hope he has the decency to shut up for the next year, unless it's to come completely clean. I am tired of lying, cheating cyclists.

Gregory Thelen
Fort Collins, Colorado

I respectfully disagree. The whole point of science is that it's not based on trust. Theories, Tests, etc are validated when they can be independently, successfully, replicated. "Trust" in the sense Thelen is using it equates to faith and that is the realm of Religion. It is also irrelevent whether someone has worked with samples; the point again is that the results are either replicatable independently or not.

The bottom line is that the test's results have not, to my knowledge, been replicated successfully by an independent labratory. End of story. While it's possible that the test has and we just don't know about it, I suspect that is not the case because WADA goes to some length to erect the facade of validity by pomoting the reputation of the scientists in question, putting the CAS up as a scientific stamp of approval on it's website, and equating publication in scientific journals per se as Scientific Validation. They are not. Full stop.

I want to make it clear that I don't know if Tyler is guilty or not. If I were a betting man, I would guess he is. But more than cheating in cycling, I dislike the abuse of science to create a facade of "proof" that doesn't exist. Cycling is entertainment for us; Science impacts our lives at a core level.

Beast Machines Coming Soon

The DVD for the Beast Machines Transformers will be out soon and I am excited to see it. When it originally came out I was working when it was on and was only able to see it sporadically. I did watch as the fan-base ripped the show apart and it became despised in epic proportions. I just reread Benson Yee's post mortem and with the benefit of hindsite I have to ask.. was Beast Machine's really so terrible?

I absolutely understand the complaints, and Yee's are very mild compaired to the general fan reaction. But I can't help but suspect that the reaction had more to do with the extremely well done Beast Wars than with the precedent of established Transformers continuity. I mean, Transformer continuity is probably one of the horkiest things ever. Let's face it, the entire series makes stuff up as they go along.

And, one of the interesting aspects is how fans percieved that Beast Wars was better researched when, if you read or listen to interviews with the writers you'll find that in fact they lucked onto a lot of stuff.

I think, honestly, one of the strengths of Beast Wars is they tried to write their own story, and make minor, occasional connections to the past. In contrast, Beast Machines tried to tie into all of it. And given the mess that is Transformer continuity, that was bound to be full of "mistakes".

Rather it worked or not, I will credit Beast Machines for trying. Frankly the new stuff (Energon, Aramada, Cybertron) is just slop.

My Boys Are STRONG

Got the call today that 12 eggs were fertilized and they'd be going to 5 days. I don't understand all the mumbo jumbo, but essentially it means we got a 1st down and aren't kicking the field goal from 52 yards out.. doable but not great odds.

Now I know that some people may claim credit for this.. like the doctors. Or someone might say the eggs are good.

But let's face it. I have Jedi-sperm. Their powers are great and mythical. They are strong.

Gross

For the first time I sold a pair of used shorts on ebay. I did it because, well, I have a ton of shorts and frankly don't have any use for a bunch of extra ones.

What freaks me out is they sold via "buy it now" within 2 hours of being posted.

New Transformer

Mikey Likey.

My Boys Can Swim

But, unfortunately they are confined to quarters (thanks to Dr. Snip about 4 years ago).. so Thursday I went in to get a hall pass from the Doctor.

When Dr Evil.. er Snip put the little rascals in detention way back, he used the infamous phrase "mild discomfort". For those of you in the audience with no medical background that means, in English: "I am going to f*&^ you up Boy."

So this time around I was somewhat prepared. In fact, I liken the experience to catching drills in High School... the ones were coach throughs the ball in the dirt and you practice blocking it. Only instead of just throwing it, he decides to use a canon. And you don't get to use a cup.

Hope your reflexes are fast.

Guilty or not, this sucks.

Tyler Hamilton's appeal was turned down by the CAS. I have mixed feelings about his ban because, frankly, I don't know if he is guilty or innocent. I do, however, have pretty strong feelings about WADA and the test.

The bottom line is that for all the talk of how reliable these tests are, WADA has not provided any examples of independent replication of the test for use as an anti-doping procedure.

I understand the natural desire to support collegues, but the beauty of science is that it is not based on reputation. A reputation may get you the benefot of the doubt in getting your initial findigns published or interest generated in a new hypothesis, test or whatever. But at the end of the day, Scientific Validation requires independently verifiable replication of the protocols.

To my knowledge these don't exist, and until they do the correct statement is that "WADA believes the tests are valid, they pass the *legal* threshold for the use we are applying to them, but we recognize that they haven't been validated by the scientific community yet". If these independent studies do exist, I am perplexed as to why they are being kept secret. And labs that depend on WADA for accredation to do their job are not, in fact, independent.

What further bothers me is what seems to me to be statements on WADA's website and also by the CAS that imply there is a correlation between their rulings and scientific validity. There is not: The CAS has no place in decalring something scientifically valid or not.

Seahawks vs. Steelers: why the game really sucked

As a Seattle fan, I have an obvious bias about this game. But, in the end, I think what bit most was that the refs were such a part of the game (4 calls that were questionable) and the officiating so bad that you can't really say which team should have won.

As an anecdote I have, as an athlete, refused a podium before because of a bad officials call. I want to earn my spot. Mistakes are part of the game, but when there are as many as in Superbowl XL if I were the Steelers I'd be pissed. The fact is, the officiating screws them just as bad because they really don't know if they should have won.

A bad call is part of the game, but 4 against the same team is over the top. If the game were replayed I don't know if the Seahawks would have won. But as it stands, both teams lose.

Why I trust the Democrats more

I read about Sheehan's arrest on the blogosphere. The difference in responses from the right and left makes me proud. While the red basically adhere's to a "this is what I think and I will jump through intellectual hoops to support it" the left still uses a coherent set of operating principles. Are they perfect in applying those? No. But they are pretty good, even when it means standing up for someone they disagree with.

Cindy Sheehan shouldn't have been removed. Not because she's anti-war but because we believe in freedom. That applies to the Republican's too.