Fail Whale Update

I should probably add a 5 to the list below:

5. Laziness of the week award: To Redmond Bicycles for responding to my request to measure my chain to see if it's stretched with the non-ironic "We're very busy so you'll need to leave it today and pick it up on the 26th."  Actually the changing the chain would add two days.  FTR I went next door and got a chain from Gerks.  Took 10 minutes. 

Still Snarky After All These Years

Taunt my baby gut all you want silly NW Riders.  PruDog is on the comeback trail and now he has two legs showing up to the office instead of the 1.5 he's had for the last few years.  Sure, they have to push around a lot a little more weight than before.  But that's coming down fast!  Trying to stress me out so that I'll eat more isn't going to work Kiddo's!

And now that I am back that means we get the best of PR List p/b Frank Schleck's (soon to b e released) retroactive TUE - 

1. Best Team-mates of the Night: This award goes to BikeSale.  We only had like 8 guys last night so BikeSale was kind enough to go to the front and drill back any dangerous break they had riders in.  Thanks guys!  It really tool the pressure off ourselves and Apex so we could practice our leadouts undisturbed.  
2. Most Warn-out Excuse Award: The tried and true "I just wanted to get work in" line when called out for chasing down a team-mate.  Hey Now!  That one never gets old does it?  I mean, it is totally reasonable.  Sit in, wait for you team-mate to actually do some work by attacking and *then* decide it's time to get that effort in.  Outstanding job boys.
3. Best Subtle "I'm an National Champion" call-out:  Jr Mahan for his National Championship socks.  It was also intructive since I was unaware he was the French Jr Nats Champ.  Learn something new every day.  Next PR I am pulling out that garish refined helmet/glove/sock/escalade combo I have.
4. Best Thanks for Nothing:  To KR for taking so long to go back to get Erik Scheller who was bridging back on after the break he was in got caught on the prime.  By the time we got there he was back on! Thank me later Erik.

And on final note: Ronde Ohop!!!! It's on like Megatron.  And, as many of you have now heard a bazillionty times, it may well be the only sunny and dry Road Race you do all year.  So go register.  You'll thank me later.  

Still Not Pissy..

I suppose I should be all over the Flandis story like an apple pie at dinner but... well I guess I just am not that surprised. I said way back when Floyd fought his suspension that his best route to "vindication" was through the civil court system. The problem was that he would likely be vindicated of the '96 Tour conviction but would have to fess up to all the dope he took prior to that and that everyone in cycling would be implicated.

Flash forward and here we are except that it's going to run through the criminal courts instead of civil.

And I don't think it's all that mysterious what's going on and what is going to happen. More or less:

- At some point Floyd approached the Feds or they approached him about organized doping on USPostal
- Floyd cooperated and the Feds locked down on Bruyneel and Armstrong as the organizers while viewing others like David Z and Michael Barry as witnesses / victims
- Recognizing this was going to come out Floyd started working with USADA to premptively get amnesty for those whose involvement may not be criminal but would result in suspensions.
- The Feds have already gathered enough evidence to convince them that Armstrong and Bruyneel are guilty
- At some point soon they will announce an official investigation.
- Armstrong will deny deny deny
- Between two to four years from now Armstrong & Bruyneel will be convicted.

The wild card is whether the preliminary investigation is already over; my understanding is that wisttleblowers are supposed to keep their mouths shut until after a case is brought.

In the end I just don't think this will impact cycling too much. Armstrong is so omnipresent that it's easy to tie his success to cycling. But I think cycling will be fine; it's not like baseball or football are exactly clean and they are doing fine.