Updates

I have things to write. I promise. Lately I've been super busy with school...I mean work. Work is like school right now, complete with homework. That's just the price I have to pay for my kick-ass awesome job. Life is still good, and when I get some time, if I can pull myself away from gta4 I'll tell ya all bout it.

A topic that I can't seem to start writing about.

Ah ok. So Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time Lance Armstrong was a famous cyclist in Le tour. Over a summer, I watched the tour to see him win. I repeated this several years over. After a while I stated to feel tired of the Lance Armstrong story, and I started to see where some of the detractors were coming from. And to be honest, If you don't follow cycling, then I don't want to start an argument. (For those of you who are new to this, to some people insulting Cancer Survivor and American Hero Lance Armstrong is like punching a baby with down's syndrome; unforgivable and shows lack of character.) Anyway, through all of those tours I was turned on to the magical wold of cycling. I was mystified by the exciting world as told to me by Phil Liggit and Paul Sherwin. I had dreams of dancing in the pedals. I went off to study abroad and only had a bike. I came back and got a real "big boy" bike of my own. And then I spent a bit more and bought a road bike. Lance quit. But I still watched. All the revolving characters, the drama. Even the damn doping made it tragic and fascinating. A few days ago, I heard Mr. Armstrong was coming back. He did Snowmass yesterday and his team won. I wrote a blog about it on my myspace. And for all the press he has received, for all the things I have read, I remain uncertain about how I feel about him. He is an "issue" in cycling, plain and simple. Ask around. Strong feelings for and against abound. Whether you love him or you hate him, there is one thing i will say for him. He introduced me to cycling. I read his book. I learned his story. I rooted. I did the yellow armband thing, one of the first in fact. Then as I saw more, I moved on. Lance was a hero to many for sure, but he only shined in July. Cycling runs spring through fall on a professional level, and mountain biking is always around. There are so many heroes, so much to celebrate. There is a lot to see and do. So if Lance does come back and rocks some sort of crazy badass, transparent coup, then well played. If not...well Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Corey Haim and Van Halen never regained their former glory upon return, and no one really blamed em'. Good luck dude.

Missing the old crunk goblet

da da da doping!

Le tour de France has been my most beloved sporting event to watch for the past five years now. It's the event I pay most attention to in all of professional cycling. This year I have repeateadly been dismayed at the amount of people getting caught for doping and the odd saga of the tour, with whole teams dropping out, lead riders getting fired, and general chaos ensuing in the structure of the tour.

American Cycling doesn't see as much doping, because its still viewed as a largely recreational sport, which means it doesn't get the attention at all. This has seen cycling become a purer sport over here, which is historically unthinkable.

I'm just bothered by what I see as the tarnishing of a great feat of athletic endurance. Surely, the drugs and the EPO and transfusions don't take the pain and ridiculous achievement of some of the fittest people in the world as they endure a grueling tour of pain. For the ones who do it clean, good for them.

i has a flavor

i does!