Been a busy couple of days for ol’ Mistah Rant. Seems the day job has a project that’s kicking into high gear and going to grab a bit more of my time.
Today the racing club I belong to put on their annual criterium, which is — broadly defined — one of the warm-up races to Superweek (or the International Cycling Classic, as it’s also known). Spent the entire morning corner marshalling and watching the racers go by. Great therapy for anyone who’s in danger of getting burned out on the whole doping drama that’s been going on. Just a bunch of kids and older kids having fun riding around in circles. Watching the strategy play out — or the lack of it, depending on the degree of experience and sophistication of the riders — is a good reminder of everything I love about the sport.
Bike racing is hard, very hard. And, as my coach used to say, it’s also humbling. One day you can be riding for sh*t and the next day you can be flying. Doesn’t matter what level you’re at, everyone in bike racing eventually has a bad day. There’s a certain Tour de France champion who can attest to the fact that one day you can suffer terribly, and the next day you can come back to ride extraordinarily well.
So, despite my time crunch, here’s a few things that have been on my mind the last couple of days.
Wiki Lite
Lance Armstrong took a page right out of the Team Landis playbook in responding to David Walsh’s latest hatchet-job of a book. He put a number of documents on The Paceline website responding to various charges made by Walsh in his latest literary effort. (You can also find links to the various documents over at Trust But Verify.)
It’s a good first effort, but from my perspective, it’s not enough. Where Landis was able to score major points with the public for being open and forthright, he did it by putting all of the documents out there that he could — until a certain gag order got in the way of public comments. That helped bolster his statements that he had nothing to hide.
Lance’s PR and legal team, however, have only put out a portion of the documents relating to the SCA case and Walsh’s books. It would help Lance a great deal to put more of the information out there, for all to see. Here’s an example of why: In his response document, he talks about inconsistencies between the “transcript” of the chat between Frankie Andreu (as recorded by the Andreus) and the “transcript” of that same chat as recounted in Walsh’s book. I’m a Missouri boy by birth, so as the nickname of my home state says, “Show me.”
Want us to really believe you, Lance? Show us the inconsistencies and the other things that back up what you say. Lots of folks want to believe you. Give `em the ammunition to shoot down Walsh and those of his ilk.
With the Landis case, those who are interested can look at the scientific data and argue over its meaning, because it’s out there for all to see. The public can see as many of the legal wranglings as it was possible to release, without violating the current gag order to avoid comments until the decision is rendered. So if you’re reading this Mr. Lance, kick it up a notch. Be brave. (We know you can be, just by how you dealt with the cancer.) Put it all out there.
By showing us you have nothing to hide, you’ll go a long way toward refuting the claims in Walsh’s book. While David Walsh has already admitted that there’s no smoking gun, and likely never will be, the more you make available to the public, the more it will go a long way to protecting the Lance Armstrong brand.
One Week To Go
This time next Saturday, the Tour de France will already have rolled out in the great city of London. The following day, the riders will race from London to Canterbury, which should make for some interesting (and more modern) Canterbury Tales. In some ways, I wish I could be there (not the least of which would be to visit relatives I haven’t seen in 38 years). In others, I’m not sure I would really want to.
The car bombs found yesterday in London gave me pause. Next Saturday is also the second anniversary of the 7/7 bus and Tube bombings in London. With the Tour and Wimbledon going on at the same time, it makes London a tempting target for the terrorists.
But the race will go on (and so will the tennis matches), and the 2007 edition of the TdF is going to be another wide-open affair, what with the current champion sidelined. It could be exciting to watch, I suppose. Given how busy I’m going to be for the next couple of months, I suspect that the most I’ll do is look up the results everyday and maybe read an race account or two every few days.
A couple of days after the start, Floyd Landis will be in the Chicago area as part of his Tour de Positively False, promoting his new book. If you live in the area, check out the dates and times in the sidebar. I’ll be attending the book signing on the 9th in Wheaton. The following day, there will be a book signing in downtown Chicago.
For those in the southeastern Wisconsin, Illinois and northwest Indiana area, here’s another chance to meet the reigning Tour champion, and a chance to get an autographed copy of his book. If you live in other parts of the country, check the rest of the book tour schedule here.
The Decision Goes To … ?
Also coming up — but none of us know exactly when — is the decision from the arbitration panel that heard Floyd’s case. My current thinking is that it won’t happen before the start of the Tour, despite a desire by Tour organizers and others to bring the 2006 edition to a close before the 2007 Grande Boucle begins. While I can believe that the decision could get announced in July, my own hunch is that it will come more towards the end of the month if at all. Given the amount of testimony the arbitrators have to wade through, and whatever final written arguments each side made, I can also well imagine that the matter might not be decided until August. If the decision comes too quickly, I worry that it will be bad news for Floyd (and that the result was a foregone conclusion).
Whatever the case, the month of July promises some (potentially) exciting racing, as well as a number of events for Floyd Landis supporters to show him their support. Maybe we’ll see the decision of the arbitration panel, too, but I won’t be holding my breath.
I just can’t watch the Tour. Not only is the reigning champion missing, he’s already been penalized one year of racing (and defense costs) by loudmouthed fools in an incestuous, rotten anti-doping system.
Has anyone coined the term “2006 Grand DeBoucle” yet?
Good observation on the Lance Wiki defense vs. the Floyd Wiki defense. While I loved watching Lance race and win, and believe him to be one of the select few really special athletes, I don’t think Lance will garner the kind of sympathy Floyd did.
Personally I look at Lance as a well healed athlete who has the resources to defend himself. Floyd on the other hand feels more like your friendly next door neighbor who is a regular working stiff who has to work really hard for his living and is getting screwed by the system.
You feel bad that Lance has to keep defending himself against gold diggers trying to get rich by raising doubts about his reputation, but figure he needs to prove his case to us. With Floyd you want to reach out and help him because you are scared that he is innocent and aren’t sure that he can stand up against the forces conspiring against him without some help.
Maybe this isn’t fair, but may to it is because Floyd has seemed like such a regular, approachable and decent guy, where as Lance seems more like a celebrity who isn’t so approachable. Does this make any sense? Lets put it this way if someone were to ask who I’d prefer to go to a pub with to drink a few beers, play some pool and/or throw some darts, I’d choose Floyd because I think he’d be more fun to just hang out with.
In regards to the verdict on Floyd’s case, I hope it takes a long time to be reached and announced because it would mean the arbiters really seriously looked at the evidence and testimony before reaching a verdict. What I’m really hoping for is a 3-0 decision with a really compelling written conclusion from each arbiter. This case really needs a 3-0 decision with compelling enough findings that the general public can fully accept the findings even if the findings weren’t what individuals were hoping fore.
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