Tour de Lance
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Lance has more people looking at his piss and blood than men in drag sniffing Cher's undergarments. He would have to an absolute moron to dope. On the other hand, several other teams seem to get busted every year. Factor in the frrench Blood Testing Agency that5 issues false positives and nobody can be trusted. Just read in BIKE that a woman MTB racer tested positive to something that occurs naturally during ovulation.
If you want to dis Lance dis him for dumping his wife (who nursed him through cancer) for that unkempted and hairy bush Sheryl Crow. Also dis him for focusing on the Tour instead of all the other great European races.
Well, I agree with you about dissing him for dumping his wife after the cancer...
But I actually wasn't dissing him per se. I really like the cycling events, but I find it hard to get excited about a racer's achievements if the racer has cheated. I'm not saying Armstrong has ever cheated, but the question is hanging out there, which makes it hard to celebrate his accomplishments. Like I always say, I could cheat by entering the race for the last 1000 feet or so-- it doesn't make me a champion.
I'm also not sure if anybody who's competing is racing "clean," which makes it hard to get excited about the event, even though I want to be excited by it...
Epo. Thickens the Blood,helps you up mountains, and has numerous side effects including suffering clots in your sleep.
1)Armstrong gets cancer, and admirably survives 2)His treatment (obviously) involves numerous,ongoing blood treating drugs 3)After all this, he comes back and wins.
I think it has to do with more than loosing a few pounds during treatment. Riders don't get regular tests off season - and go to dope and training camps during this period to top up on red blood cells for the season. This still happens today - dont believe the "lance has men in white coats follow him everywhere" bullshit. British rider David Miller came clean (or pissed in the soup as they say) about this matter last year after he was found doping.
Anyone with their head in the sand and more than a passing interest in Cycling should read an account of life as a pro by Irish writer Paul Kimmage. Its the best sports book I've ever read.
France is a lovely place for a tour...pity about the people, though 
I think it's admirable, but I couldn't give a damn. Guys riding around on bikes for days, then race down Paris's streets and it's over. Big whoop. Give me a good pitching duel or Game Seven of an NBA series any day over that 
Taboo # 7 wrote: Give me a good pitching duel or Game Seven of an NBA series any day over that
Having trouble sleeping again?
bLuE oRdEr wrote:
Taboo # 7 wrote: Give me a good pitching duel or Game Seven of an NBA series any day over that
Having trouble sleeping again?
Yeah, I've been totally missing out on my rasslin'. Did Hulk Hogan beat Andre the Giant yet? 
I'm not saying I could run the Tour De France, but I'm also not saying it's great television
Taboo # 7 wrote: I'm not saying I could run the Tour De France, but I'm also not saying it's great television
Sure you could...after doping. It works for the pros!
Lance Armstrong before doping:
Lance Armstrong after doping:
bLuE oRdEr wrote:
Taboo # 7 wrote: I'm not saying I could run the Tour De France, but I'm also not saying it's great television
Sure you could...after doping. It works for the pros!
Lance Armstrong before doping:
Lance Armstrong after doping:
Taboo # 7 wrote:
bLuE oRdEr wrote:
Taboo # 7 wrote: I'm not saying I could run the Tour De France, but I'm also not saying it's great television
Sure you could...after doping. It works for the pros!
Lance Armstrong before doping:
Lance Armstrong after doping:
Taboo #7 before doping:
Taboo #7 after doping:
See? I told you!
Let's be honest here... to science of doping is much more evolved than the science of drug detection!
They ALL do it, at least all those able to climb a damned mountain in the Pyrenées or the Alpes... nobody is physically able to climb that for real on a bike... 
They used to be able to climb that-- I think. It's the records they're setting that are unreal.
An excerpt from Velocio, Grand Seigneur:
"In 1900, when he was forty-seven, he toured the high passes in Switzerland and Italy, 400 miles with a total climb of 18,000 feet, in forty-eight hours.
For Easter, in 1903, at the age of fifty, he rode from Saint-Etienne to Menton and back in four days: 600 miles on a bicycle weighting sixty-six pounds including baggage.
For Christmas 1904 he cycled from Saint-Etienne to Arles and back on a night so cold that icicles formed on his mustache.
His "spring cure" in 1910 took him from Saint-Etienne to Nice, a distance of 350 miles, in thirty-two hours. At Nice he joined a group of friend for 250 miles of leisurely touring in three days.
The following summer he tackled one of the highest Alpine passes, the Lautaret, in the company of a young friend: 300 miles in thirty-one hours.
In 1912 also, when he was fifty-nine, he undertook an experimental ride from Saint-Etienne to Aix-en-Provence, 400 miles in forty-six hours, at the end of which he had to admit that his companion, thirty-five, tolerated the second night on the road better than he. "From now on," he wrote in Le Cycliste, "I will limit myself to stages of forty hours and leave it to the younger generation to prove that the human motor can run for three days and two nights without excessive fatigue."
"Every cyclist between twenty and sixty in good health," wrote Velocio with the fervor of a missionary, "can ride 130 miles in a day with 600 feet of climbing, provided he eats properly and provided he has the proper bicycle." Proper food, in his opinion, meant no meat. A proper bicycle meant a comfortable bicycle with wide-ratio gears, a fairly long wheelbase, and wide-section tires. A bicycle with close-ratio gears, a short wheelbase, and narrow-section tires will roll better at first, he pointed out, but it will wear its rider down on long-distance attempts. The first consideration is comfort. His diet on tour consisted of fruit, rice, cakes, eggs, and milk."
Clockwork C wrote:
Anyone with their head in the sand and more than a passing interest in Cycling should read an account of life as a pro by Irish writer Paul Kimmage. Its the best sports book I've ever read.
Thanks Conor!
The advantage Lance had over his competition was the ability to rebuild his body after cancer destroyed it. He freely admits that. Shame that Greg Lemond had a short career. I always thought he was a better rider.
BTW those are real bikes that anyone with a fee grand can purchase. Too bad most are speced with Shimano.
twist wrote:
BTW those are real bikes that anyone with a fee grand can purchase. Too bad most are speced with Shimano.
You mean the LeMond's?
Lemond should have used campy. He did toy with the Mavic electronic shifters for a bit but he did not use them for the big race.
Have you seen SRAM's new system? It is now possible to get a full USA made groupo. First time ever.
Congratulations, I guess. I'd feel more like it's an incredible victory/career if there weren't these doping allegations following him (and the other cyclists). Umm, guys, if you're cheating-- and it seems like at least some of you, and possibly all of you are--you're ruining the sport.
i'm not sure about the doping, but i think the technology has a lot to do with it. the bikes they use, the equipment they train with, the clothing...it all adds up. but i think we're about to reach a point in almost every sport where the human body simply can't break any more records because we've reached our biological limits.
And who will take over now? Basso? Vinokourov? 'Der Jan' (Ullrich)? Valverde? Cunego?
Your thoughts on that please...... 
As 'Der Jan' would say: Danke, Jungs! ;)
I love this month. The greatest event in my chosen activity, bicycling, occurs when I am on the largest bike ride in the world, RAGBRAI. Living in a tent and riding to new overnight campgrounds made it extremely to follow the Tour. During this week I generally go on a newsfast and avoid newspapers and electronic media. I remember in 89 or 90 when someone started a rumor that Greg had a heart attack and died. But this year we all kepted an ear out for news about Lance. Some bastard took it too far and wore a shirt that said "LANCE IS GOD." But those of us participating in our favorite activity on a 500 mile week long bicycling tour could ignore the rumors and enjoy the fact that one of our own on a Trek retired on top.
BTW I doped on Friday. I drank four beers and smoked three bowls before departing on tandem with Wifey. We took a short cut that saved us 16 miles yet we averaged 16 mph for the 48 miles we rode through some of the steepest hills we had all week. I was suprised on how strong we rode that day. Mrs. Twist amazed that I could captain a tandem after "breakfast." People kepted stopping by our campground and sticking cannibus and shit American beer in my face. But oncce on the road we rocked.
twist wrote: I love this month. The greatest event in my chosen activity, bicycling, occurs when I am on the largest bike ride in the world, RAGBRAI. Living in a tent and riding to new overnight campgrounds made it extremely to follow the Tour. During this week I generally go on a newsfast and avoid newspapers and electronic media. I remember in 89 or 90 when someone started a rumor that Greg had a heart attack and died. But this year we all kepted an ear out for news about Lance. Some bastard took it too far and wore a shirt that said "LANCE IS GOD." But those of us participating in our favorite activity on a 500 mile week long bicycling tour could ignore the rumors and enjoy the fact that one of our own on a Trek retired on top.
BTW I doped on Friday. I drank four beers and smoked three bowls before departing on tandem with Wifey. We took a short cut that saved us 16 miles yet we averaged 16 mph for the 48 miles we rode through some of the steepest hills we had all week. I was suprised on how strong we rode that day. Mrs. Twist amazed that I could captain a tandem after "breakfast." People kepted stopping by our campground and sticking cannibus and shit American beer in my face. But oncce on the road we rocked.
Welcome back! I just started reading a book called Bicycle: The History. It mentions RAGBRAI (page 11). I'd like to do that ride sometime. BTW, did you ever bid onthe Motobecane head badge?
Doping in cycling?
As for me, I don't know what to think, who to trust and what to believe. History shows that several great and less great champions have doped (Merckx, Museeuw, Zoetemelk, Pantani, Virenque, Zulle, Frigo recently etc. etc.). This, however, doesn't mean Lance Armstrong has ever doped. But did they really need it to perform better? I mean, Merckx! The best rider ever! Why did they take it? Were they forced to take it? Will we ever know?
The thing is: with these tests they look for certain traces of KNOWN doping products (such as epo). But who knows if Lance uses something that is 'new' in the chemical world and cannot yet be traced down?
Many years ago (early 90s) nobody had heard of epo in professional cycling, and they weren't looking for it in the tests. Besides, there are all kinds of masking products. People now suspect teams from that period (such as the Italian team Gewiss) of having used it then on a large scale. There is no evidence, however. So, what should we make of it? Innocent until proven guilty?
Something that raises a few questions with me is the fact that Lance didn't have one slight cold or stomach problem or anything in the last 7 years. Not one bad day. Coincidence? Luck? I mean, you can be very careful and professional and all that, but you can't control your health all the time, with all the difficult and different circumstances (wet days, cold days, hot days, windy days etc., sometimes the whole lot in one single Tour).
The truth is out there..............
There is one thing that is crystal clear: we should all have deep respect for Lance Armstrong for having won his battle with cancer.
Blue Order types
Welcome back! I just started reading a book called Bicycle: The History. It mentions RAGBRAI (page 11). I'd like to do that ride sometime. BTW, did you ever bid onthe Motobecane head badge?
Never bid on the Moto head badge. I purchased some Testors decal paper that runs through the printer. I'll give that a go.
RAGBRAI is an absolute blast. Always the last full week of July. If you ever get the urge you are more than welcome to ride with us and use our bus to schlep your gear from overnight to overnight.
