I’ll admit, I was blind to the rampant use of drugs in the sport until the past 7 or 8 years when it started to get a lot of news. Riders, and entire teams, getting banned were commonplace. Meausures were put in place to monitor riders more with increased testing, better tests, zero-tolerance contracts, and stiffer penalties. Even after all that the sport of professional cycling still remains a cesspool of drugs, lies, and miscreants. It sounds like a reality show. And I guess it is.

After this latest fiasco with Pistolero, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that pro cycling isn’t my cycling. The pro riders can have their contracts, money, recognition, trophies, and drugs. The sport of cycling they perform isn’t the sport of cycling I love. Maybe I was naive or just dumb to not recognize this before.

Why is my cycling different? It’s something I turn to as a tool to make me a better person. I use it to try and make myself healthier by losing weight, increasing my fitness, and getting off the couch. I use it to accomplish goals whether it’s riding more this year or raising money for a worthwhile charity. Cycling is a sport I enjoy doing whether it’s cold outside, raining, or the temperatures are approaching the triple digits. My cycling gets me outside where I can enjoy mother nature as my gym. My cycling has afforded me the opportunity to do some amazing things and meet some great people. My cycling isn’t tainted by drug use or political agendas.

Will I watch pro cycling on TV? I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist the urge to watch a sport that’s so graceful in its purest form. The lure of watching riders suffer to crest mountain passes, laying it all out in a time trial, or mass sprinting for a win will be strong. I think I can watch it, knowing that there are probably cheaters out there trying to beat the system, and rest assured knowing that what I’m watching isn’t what I’m doing. Knowing that pro cycling isn’t my cycling.

Professional cycling deserves itself.

Thumbnail PhotoC: Stuck in Customs

I can’t describe to you how crisp the air is on these cold, clear winter mornings. Venus looked like somebody from the heavens was shining a flashlight at me. The stars looked like they were held in suspended animation between the earth and the sky. Just awesome.

Rolling out of our condo complex the temp didn’t feel too bad. As I made my way over towards the University of North Florida I began to catch a headwind and I started to feel the effects of the cold. My fingers began to ache some, my legs and feet (even with shoe covers) began to get cold. I dealt with it and when I was able to get the wind on my back everything went back to normal. If you can call riding in 28F weather normal. I opted to forgo my second loop of the campus and head back home. I was pretty slow on this ride and am pretty sure the temps had something to do with it. If I continue to ride in weather like this I’m going to need some warmer riding clothes. Regardless, I got 8 miles in this morning on what had to be my coldest ride ever.

Ruts, Importance and Relevance

Besides cycling blogs, I read several blogs on other subjects. Stuff like finance and how to blog better. I read two posts today that struck a cord with me and they were about ‘getting into a blogging rut and ‘saying something important’. I’ve struggled with both of those things here on this blog and alluded to this a few posts ago when I talked about no Twitter, no Facebook, and no blogging. I’d like to take a few moments to expand on the idea of ruts, importance, and relevance.

I enjoy blogging. The tech and design stuff fascinates me and I’m blown away that people actually come to my small corner of the Internet to read what I have to say. I get emails from people telling me that they are inspired by my posts and that just blows me away. If you do this long enough though you eventually begin to wonder if it’s worth the time and effort. Writing posts seems to take more and more time. Keeping up with the Twitter timeline becomes a burden. There’s no time to check Facebook and so on. You become obsessed with stats – keywords, bounce rate, landing pages, exit pages, pageviews, pagerank, etc. Your mind wanders and before you know it you begin to wonder if you can make money at this whole blogging thing. All of this stuff feeds on itself and can be overwhelming to the point where it can cause you to fall into a serious rut. So much so that you just stop posting as you reassess the insanity of blogging.

PhotoC: Dave Stokes

I want your feedback

As my readers, I’d like you to provide me some feedback about Biking To Live. I want to know what you want. What you like or don’t like about BTL. What do you want to read about? Do I have too many ads? Do ads bother you? Are you worried that I might spam you if you sign up for the newsletter? Is the black text on gray hard to read? Knowing what you want will go a long way in helping me say something important. If not important, then relevant. If you don’t want to lambaste me in the comments feel free to email me. I’m a big boy and I can take it.

Thumbnail Photoc: Joe Schlabotnik

PHOTOC: VeloNews

As is usual with the UCI and WADA, the handling of Contador’s positive test results has been sketchy at best. He produces a sample for the Golden Flow test on the second rest day of the tour. He’s notified a month later (i.e. he’s already drank the champagne) that he tested positive. Then it’s not made public for another month after that. That’s all followed by stories of Pistolero’s beef getting tainted (where’s he been putting his beef?), conspiracy theories, you name it. In other words, another cycling and drugs soap opera. Not good for the sport.

Because of lots of testing protocols and legal mumbo-jumbo the whole situation is a mess and we’ll probably never know the truth of it. Pistolero testing positive does bring back memories of the analysis done on his 2009 climb of Verbier and speculation that he may have been doping then.

What will happen? My prediction is that Contador loses the 2010 Tour title and gets a two year ban.

Regardless of what happens, I wanted to point out that Pistolero’s beef is tainted and he’s not shooting blanks. Maybe he should have listened to the bovine during those Chic-Fil-A commercials.

What do you think? Does he get the Ban Hammer or do you buy the tainted beef tale?

I asked the same question on Twitter and got the following replies:

From eqtmgr: “I prefer morning.”

From Eric_McWhirter:”Right in the morning, but the temps get to a point that I like 60/70 range anytime would work.”

From daveydave999: “I prefer to cycling at night. Sometimes after dark. I never was a morning person.”

From mx4789: “ride time: usually anything except *early* AM.. hate getting up to alarm clock on weekend just to ride.. I’ll sweat instead.”

Just looking at the results, it appears that most of my readers prefer to ride in the morning. I couldn’t agree more and believe the morning is the best time for road cycling.

Seven Reasons Why The Morning Is Best Time For Cycling

Before I headed off to Dallas for 18 months I had gotten into a routine of getting up at 5 AM to ride. Getting up wasn’t that big a deal to me as long as I got plenty of sleep the night before. Getting enough sleep is a big problem for me though (a bad habit left over from my military days). Anyway, a long time spent in the military got me conditioned to getting up early so doing so to ride wasn’t a big deal. Now that I’ve returned from Dallas I have pushed my wake-up time to 6 AM. Here’s why I think cycling in the morning is best:

• It’s a great way to start the day. Getting up and riding before the city starts to awaken is an awesome experience. The roads have far less traffic and you can actually take the time to do a little sight-seeing. I see new things on almost every ride that I can’t see when in my car or when it’s mid-afternoon. Personally, I think the morning feels and smells fresher than any other part of the day.
• Riding early wakes you up. Riding first thing in the morning gets the blood moving and wakes the body up. I always feel refreshed after my ride (as long as I got plenty of sleep the night before) and am ready to go to work. I find that I have energy throughout the day instead of losing steam in the afternoon.
• You beat the heat. If you live in a warm environment, cycling in the morning is a great way to avoid the hot temperatures of the afternoon. The temp lately has been around 80F (26C) when I roll out of the garage which is way better than the 105F Heat Index later in the afternoon. I still feel the humidity but the early morning sweat is a great thing.
• You miss the traffic. I mentioned this up above but it’s an important issue. Getting up early to ride let’s you miss the rush hour and avoid traffic. Having less cars on the road lets you enjoy the ride more and is safer. You can’t get complacent though because there will still be early-risers heading to work. Make sure you bicycle is properly out-fitted with lights and wearing a lighter-colored jersey helps too. (Side Note: I’m currently reviewing the Cateye HL-EL450 Headlight and love it. I’ll have a full review up soon)
• The ride gets done. By cycling in the morning before heading to work you’ll feel good knowing you’re workout for the day is done. It’s too easy to let work or other obligations trump your workout if you wait to do it. Even if the time is available in the evening you’ll be tempted to just say, “I’ll skip today’s ride and ride tomorrow.” By riding early you don’t put myself into that position.
• It forces a good diet and hydration. I find that knowing I have to ride in the morning makes me more conscious of what I eat and how much water I drink the day and evening before. I’m notorious for not drinking enough water but having to workout in the morning puts pressure on me to make sure I’m hydrated.
• It leaves time for family. All of us know that it’s important to spend time with the family. They need our attention just as much as our trusty steed. By riding early, when they’re still asleep, I can indulge in my cycling habit which leaves my evening open to spend time with my wife and girls.

A lot of people will say that working out in the morning in a fasted state (not having eaten food for the last 8-10 hours) will burn more fat. I don’t know if that’s true or not. I tried finding an article, study, or research from a reputable source, either for or against it, but couldn’t. The early morning workout might help but one thing you need to be careful about is thinking you can eat whatever you want for the rest of the day because you’ve already got your workout in. Getting a good road bike ride in first thing in the morning and then pigging out on fast food and ice cream the rest of the day isn’t a recipe for success.

Give It A Try

I know riding in the morning isn’t for everyone. Some of the commentators over on the poll page and on Twitter said as much. Each of has unique needs, family, and work commitments that dictate when we can get our cycling in. There are others among us who will never get up before the sun is up (I have two daughters that way). If you have the opportunity though, I encourage you to get out early for a ride. It’ll give you a whole new perspective.

PHOTOC: Martin Bravenboer

As most of you know, I’m in the hunt for a new bike. As I sat here at the kitchen table this morning drinking a cup of coffee, wishing I was riding instead, I wrote a tweet saying that I was considering going to a local bike shop to look at what they had to offer. Then I tacked a question onto the end of it: Why aren’t they (the local bike shops) on here (Twitter) trying to get me into their shop?

Social Media Bandwagon - Photo Courtesy of Matt Hamm

After posting this tweet I had one follower (thanks for the feedback @lowcandence) say that,

“They may not know where you are. If you are in CA, it wouldn’t do much good for a NY shop to try to get you in.”

I couldn’t agree more. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people in NY looking for bikes, parts, or repairs. If that’s holding the local bike shops back then that means they don’t know how to use the tools that will connect them to local cyclists. Tools like Twitter Search, TwellowHood, Facebook Search, etc. The tools are there, they just need to use them. Or hire somebody who knows how to use them.

Local bike shops are always complaining that they lose business to online retailers. Fine. But what are they doing to pull the local cyclists in? If they aren’t using social media tools to connect to the cyclist down the street, around the corner, or across town then they are missing out.

Tell me what you think. Am I wrong? Is Social Media not what it’s cracked up to be? Do you know a local bike shop that is using Social Media?

This post has been brewing for a while and I’ve talked myself into writing it and not writing it several times. Am I bitter? Probably. Frustrated? Certainly. If you’re one of those cyclists that has bottomless pockets or an unlimited cycling budget you may want to skip this one.

Any hobby has its expenses. If you like to knit then you have to pay for yarn and needles. If you enjoy scrapbooking then you have to pay for paper, stamps and stickers. Cycling is no different. If you want to enjoy the sport of cycling you have to maintain you bike which costs money. Cycling clothes cost money. Bicycles cost money. And so on. Cycling is just like any other hobby we have. It costs money. But does it cost too much?

Road Bikes

Let’s talk about bicycles first. Are there affordable bicycles out there? Sure, if you start with the low-end beginner road bikes, you can find a bike or two for right around $1000 that may suit your needs. On the other end of the spectrum you have the new Madone 6.9 that’ll set you back $8600 for the basic version. Throw in upgrades and custom paint and you can get it up to $14000 ($8600 sounds like a real bargain now). Custom road bikes can be even more.

I don’t know about you but the planet I live on would call $1000 for a road bike expensive. Am I out of touch? Maybe but in my book $1000 is a lot of money. I couldn’t fathom paying $8600 for a bike. Who would actually go out and pay that for a bicycle anyway? Not anybody I know. I’m sure some of you know people who would pay that for a bike but is it a bike they’ll actually use for the purpose it was designed for?

Regardless of what kind of road bike it is I think the prices have just gone through the roof. Having to drop $1000 to $3000 on a new bike is ridiculous. Has the technology advanced so far that the research and development costs are driving up the end price? Perhaps but I also think the bicycle companies are taking advantage of cyclists with large mark ups.

Cycling Clothing

I’m a cyclist who owns just a few pieces of actual cycling clothing (four to be exact). And they aren’t even name brand bibs or jerseys. If you want name brand, or top of the line, expect to pay out of your proverbial arse for it. $80-130 jerseys. $150-$200 bibs. I talked the other day about how I was looking for a sleeveless jersey and was shocked when I found out one I was looking at cost a $100 at one of the local bike shops. Come on! It doesn’t even have sleeves for crying out loud!

There is cheaper cycling clothing out there but I hear that you do get what you pay for with regards to cycling clothing. I wouldn’t know if the expensive stuff is any more comfortable or not but I’ve been told it is. But is it so comfortable that it should require you to take out a second-mortgage to totally outfit yourself for spring, summer, fall and winter riding? Are cycling companies just like the department stores that mark up clothes 200-300% and take advantage of the shoppers? I would say yes.

Cycling Accessories/Maintenance

This is the low-hanging fruit of the cycling hobby that can really start to add up. $200 carbon shoes and handle bars. $1000 sets of wheels. $300 GPS enabled computers. $100 saddles. $1000 (and more) component groups. And the list just goes on and on and on.

I guess the real question is how serious are we with this hobby/sport we call cycling? Are we serious enough to blindly fork out thousands of dollars on bikes, clothes and accessories so we can have the latest and greatest designs or technology? Do we have unlimited funds where we can simply pay whatever the cycling companies want for their products? Are we willing to pay anything so we can fit into “the group” on the next ride?

Some people are perfectly happy to pay these prices and do. I can’t and won’t but that still doesn’t mean that the prices the cycling companies are charging aren’t inflated and ridiculous.

I expect a lot of flak from this post but I really don’t care. I would like your opinion on the subject though. Do others feel the same way or am I’m a minority in this line of thinking and should just get out of the sport of cycling right now.

Is the snubbing of Horner only the tip of the iceberg though? When Astana put together the team they did they assembled one of the most talented teams ever created that includes a combined seven eight tour wins and multiple podium finishes. Having that much talent on one team, especially with multiple tour winners on it, has created a pressure cooker that has potential to explode. Throw in the financial woes of the team during the Giro d’Italia, the potential team takeover by another sponsor and the rumors of Cantador going to Garmin-Slipstream and you have a good ole fashioned soap opera.

Now that Horner has been left off the roster because Cantador wanted one of his “boys”, combined with the events surrounding the team over the last two months, I think we’re going to see some real fireworks during the tour. It reminds me of when Lemond and Fignon were teammates and all the drama surrounding them. I just hope the Astana soap opera doesn’t totally ruin the tour.

What do you think? Will Astana provide us more drama than racing? Did Chris Horner totally get boned?

I know I’m a guy so what do I know about cycling jerseys for women. Absolutely nothing but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t think one of the jerseys below wouldn’t look cool if I saw it on a lady out riding. In fact, I think some of these designs are cooler than most jerseys you can get for guys. Speaking of cycling jerseys for guys, be a large dude and try finding a cool jersey. Those of us that are tonnage challenged are usually relegated to jerseys that are one solid color, maybe two if we’re lucky, that makes us look like a giant sail on a bike. Talk about uncool. Anyway, here are sixteen cool cycling jerseys for women that I found and like:

I have one question for all you cycling fans out there. Are you surprised? I mean come on. The French have been after Lance for years because of his domination of “their” race. He won it seven consecutive times and with his return this year to professional cycling I think they are now worried he may win it an eighth time. You see, this is a French race and they haven’t had a native winner for 23 years when Bernard Hinault won in 1985. I don’t know about you but I think this has rubbed them the wrong way just a little bit. It may have even chaffed them some. Maybe they should have used some Butter in their shorts to help alleviate the pain of this long drought.

This “violation” along with the leaking of the report to the press is just another event in the long line of shoddy behavior by the AFLD. Their practices, procedures, and tactics have been so shady that I’m really surprised anyone even listens to them anymore. Am I glad they’re trying to find the druggies in the sport? Sure. But why does it always appear they have a personal vendetta against Lance?

Something else to consider is that with this comeback Lance has made a conscious decision to subject himself to the most stringent drug testing that has ever occurred in the sport. Knowing that, how stupid would he really have to be to take something? If he was going to get caught now would be the time. How much would he stand to lose? I honestly think that winning the Tour de France is a distant secondary goal to raising worldwide cancer awareness. If he were to take performance enhancing drugs, and get caught, do you realize the huge negative impact this would have on his cancer work? There’s no way he would take that chance.

I almost wonder if AFLD should change their name to Agency For Lance’s Demise. I guess we’ll have to wait and see who drops the soap first.

Now I’m off to investigate if Lance’s crash in the Vuelta Castilla y Leon was a cleverly designed plan by the French to keep him out of the Tour after he passed their drug tests. Is it mere coincidence that the crash occurred a week after the drug test? I think not.

Courtesy of foxcycle.blogspot.com

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now that Lance has announced his plans to come out of retirement and return to professional cycling. He will be re-united with his old friend Johann Bruyneel and race on the Astana squad. He will not be paid for his racing but will instead use the exposure to promote cancer awareness around the globe. Mr. Armstrong is a cancer survivor himself who overcame testicular cancer to return to the sport of cycling and win seven consecutive Tours de France.

Once he started winning the Tour de France his critics came out of the woodwork. The doping record of professional cycling hasn’t helped. He has undergone test, after test, after test and there have been no conclusive results that have linked Lance to illegal performance enhancing drugs. It never fails though that rumors will begin circulating anytime Mr. Armstrong is in the news regarding cycling. His announcement to return to cycling after a four-year absence is no different. Lance is receiving more criticism in the area of drug use even though he has committed to making his blood tests public following his return. Don Catlin, former head of UCLA’s World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory, will post Armstrong’s biomarkers online for the entire world to see.

Mr. Lemond decided to show up at an Interbike Trade Show press conference last week where Lance was set to outline the details of his comeback. Lance allowed Lemond the first question and he immediately set to questioning Catlin’s testing methods. The press conference was moved along by Armstrong after an exchange between Lemond and Catlin but Lemond wouldn’t let it die stating, “So, the whole history has just been passed over?” Yes, Greg, it has. The investigations, the countless tests, and the court appearances are over with. No charges have been filed. No substantial evidence has been produced. No bans have been issued. No wins have been stripped. You need to get a grip and move on. I almost wonder if you’re not jealous of Lance’s success. Where’s the Lemond I grew up with that was fighting the politics of the European peloton to establish himself? Where’s the Lemond that overcame a horrific hunting accident to win the tour? Where’s the Lemond that put USA cycling on the map? Wherever he is you need to find him, have him step up to the plate with Lance, and make the sport better instead of continually trying to re-open old wounds.

In short, don’t be a tool.