The Sands Shift Beneath the Empire of Armstrong

A friend of mine sent me the following links and expressed his disdain for doping in cycling, for what he sees as the fraud of Lance Armstrong, and for willing to believe for so long that Armstrong raced clean.

ESPN story recounting Tyler Hamilton's subpoena

Floyd Landis on ABC News nightline

Then today of course the New York Times ran a major front page story indicating that former friends and/or teammates of Armstrong are now testifying against him.

What's to be done about doping in cycling? I suggest a libertarian approach - forget banning, forget trying to find cyclists using performance-enhancing drugs, it's as futile as the endlessly futile "war on drugs" (meaning, the illicit kind). Forget them both. Legalize their use.

In cycling's case, I suggest requiring riders to register with racing authorities as users and provide lists of what they're using. Everyone using performance enhancing drugs would then be "docked" minutes so they would start a race in arrears. Clean riders get the legitimate time. Dopers have minutes added to their time.

Would this eliminate cheating? Probably not. But it might potentially end the charade we're now witnessing.

My friend wrote:

Never failing a drug test means very little when the testing itself has been corrupted by all those, inside cycling and inside the business cabal, who stood to profit by the industry that became LA.  I find the whole thing disgusting and shameful...including shame on me for being willing to suspend my disbelief.

I took off the yellow bracelet long ago when another cyclist quipped," Ah, I see you dope too."  Haven't we all taken enough 'junk?'

Did Armstrong dope? I don't really care anymore. "It's Not About the Spike." I just like to watch those maniacs ride all over France, I don't care what they're on in addition to two wheels.

Memorial Day Weekend Musing

New England breathes easier this Saturday morning of Memorial Day Weekend - the Celtics closed out the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston last night and now have their sights set on the Finals, whether against the Phoenix Suns or the Los Angeles Lakers is not known yet. Having gone up 3-0 against Orlando, the Celtics couldn't finish the sweep at home, lost game 4, then lost game 5 in Orlando giving rise to a region-wide sports anxiety attack - Gulp! What if the Celtics, storied in so many ways, became the first NBA team to lose a series after being up 3-0? That terrifying prospect seemed possible, collectively spooked as everyone was given the Bruins' collapse just two weeks ago (they, too, had been up 3-0 and then lost four games in a row and the series against Philadelphia).

But all is right this morning, the long weekend that inaugurates the beginning of summer commences with the stars in alignment and the sports headlines all trumpeting the Celtics' triumph. Four victories are all that's now required to claim banner # 18.

The Giro D'Italia continues, Ivan Basso now in the pink jersey as the race attempts the last mountain stage, the Passo di Gavia - if, that is, the weather cooperates and snow doesn't fall. Snow plows have allegedly cut swaths through the massive piles and opened the way for the riders. I haven't paid near enough attention to the Giro this year, I'm saving myself for the Tour in July, a Tour once again shrouded by scandal. So much is written about cycling and doping however, that I intend to avoid the topic throughout the rest of the racing season. Lescaret's incipient coverage, the Bonques On Tour postings, will focus on other, more interesting subjects such as food, wine, and the Lantern Rouge.

Finding time for dedicated sports-watching is now complicated by the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, a sporting event of such awesome global proportions that it will be impossible not to be completely swept up the frenzy of that mad spectacle. Occasional dispatches from viewing stations in North America (read, the TV in the living room and the now-and-then ethnic cafe or bar in Boston) will, of course, be necessary.

In literary developments, the Norman Mailer Writers Colony has added blogging to their website, though no entries as yet. The blogs are organized by Fellows, Workshop Attendees, Faculty, Staff, Miscellaneous. I considered the idea of contacting fellow workshop-goers via email or blog postings but then thought again. I don't want first impressions, either others' of me or me of others, to be formed by cyber communications. My preference is to meet people face-to-face and go from there. Perhaps others feel the same way. Or maybe the new blog options on the Colony's site just haven't been discovered yet.

Lastly, happy 50th birthday to a fine photographer, cyclist, epicurean rustique, and all around honest soul, Ben Barnhart. A loud and gustatory dinner party tomorrow at his hillside compound in Conway, MA, champagne on the deck, a table laden with Turkish slow-cooked lamb, grilled whole red snapper stuffed with tropical fruit compote, fried polenta cakes, various salads, breads, cheeses, and numerous bottles of wine including luscious Rombauer chardonnay, a favorite of this crew of celebrants. Huzza!

With the Whackness

What's to be made of Floyd Landis? His bizarre 'admission' of past doping after years of vehement denials and his inflammatory accusations of drug use by other riders (including Lance Armstrong), offered without any substantive proof, strike the tone of desperation. He published a book called Positively False, solicited defense money from gullible cycling enthusiasts, spent years and millions of dollars trying to clear his name, and now this? Wild emails sent to "several cycling officials" describe a regimen that began in 2002 when he joined the US Postal squad. Tales of Armstrong handing him EPO and syringes in the foyer of Armstrong's Gerona, Spain home. It all sounds like a last ditch attempt to exact revenge, sour grapes for having been caught himself, for having disgraced himself and having his 2006 Tour de France title stripped from the record books.

This commentary by Jim Litke of the Associated Press is spot on.

The whole thing sucks because doping & cycling are yet again in the media spotlight. As if that is the only cycling story worth writing. It's a shame.

Other cycling news of the day - Lance crashed out of the Tour of California on the 5th stage. No serious injuries, just stitches and bruises. Still on track for the Tour de France.