RasmuSTAIN! RasmuSTAIN!! RasmuSTAIN!!!

Everyone give a big round of applause to Michael Rasmussen for adding another black mark to 2007 Tour de France. How appropriate is it for Rasmussen [Chicken] to live up to his nickname by lying* to the whole world.

So let me be the first to give a toast to the Chicken, who will be sipping vodka** with Vino, in the comfort of his multi-million dollar home while watching the Tour on TV… Here's to you Chicken, you JACKASS, for giving professional cycling another kick in the balls when it’s already face down in the gutter.



* Story from Cyclingnews.com, (07/26/07). See Rabobank explains Rasmussen sacking.

** Story from Cycling news.com, (07/25/07). See Vinokourov: 'I never doped'.

Am I not Nostradamus!?!

As mentioned in my blog on July 17, I've always had a gut feeling that good o' Vino was a doper. Well today I'm a god damn Nostradamus!!! Today on Yahoo it's being reported that lovable, Tour de France darling Vino has tested positive for blood doping. Thanks Vino, you JACKASS, for ruining another Tour for me!

My first bike.

Yes... That's yours truly in his finest cycling moment. And again the answer is yes... All the little ladies in the neighborhood couldn't resist me in those pants. :-)

It's hard to tell from the photo but my dad modified the pedals by adding a few rubber spacers so that I could reach them. Dad has always been great at fixing things or coming up with solutions to make something work better.

It's kinda of cool to look at the younger photo and then see where I'm at now in the my profile photo. It is a weird, wild path that life takes us.

Picture perfect.

These two photos are from my favorite moment thus far in the 2007 Tour de France. The moment is captured perfectly when Alexandre Vinokourov crosses the finish line of the 9th Stage. After Stage 9, Vino is now 21st overall and 8 minutes down from the overall race leader. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a doper* realize that his race is over. Life and racing sure gets a lot tougher when you can’t blood dope doesn’t it Vino!

And while I’m on the subject, as long as Erik Zabel can stay out of the green jersey for the rest of the race this Tour couldn’t get much better.



* This is my opinion, not fact.

Busted at the Giro.

A funny story from cyclingnews.com.

Giro TV coverage catches affair in action

According to Reuters, a man visiting the beach with his mistress made a mistake in attracting the attention of a helicopter TV crew covering the Giro d'Italia. Making an unanticipated appearance on national TV, he was inadvertently discovered by his wife.

The man waved at the passing camera crew, which zoomed in. The man's brother-in-law saw the coverage and called his sister, the man's wife, who he thought he saw with the man on the beach. Instead of reaching his sister on the beach, she was home, where her husband, upon returning from his excursion, would have to do some accounting for himself.

Proof that my head is messed up.

Over the years friends and family have said that I'm "crazy" or that I've got a "screw lose". As reported on Yahoo this past Sunday, I now have proof that my brain is damaged.

My first migraine occurred in the 2002 and I've had a total of 4 since then. In the Yahoo article it's mentioned that migraines are often preceded by "aura" which are a series of visual disturbances that can include flashes of light or black spots. I found this fascinating because I've had black spot visual disturbances since I was 9 years old without having a migraine, though my last migraine did start with a black spot aura.

Anyway... Here are some points of interest if you don't feel like reading the whole article.

• People with migraines also may be suffering from some brain damage as brain cells swell and become starved of oxygen..."

• Two studies, including one published last week in the Archives in Internal Medicine, show that people who have migraines are more likely to have heart attacks.

• A 2004 study in the British Medical Journal found that migraine sufferers are twice as likely to suffer a stroke as people who do not have the headaches.

It's not bad enough that I feel old, slow, and fat after my bike ride to HubBub yesterday. Now I've got heart attacks and strokes to look forward to. This is just the best news ever. Yea for me!!!


On a positive note I got a call from Mike Zanconato this morning to cover any last minute questions. Mike is going to be building for me one of the finest, race specific cyclocross bikes you can own. And of course it's going to be total Euro-trash. More about Zank and the frame build later.

Also check out my bro EPO. He's kicking ass at RATL this year! I can't express how happy I am for him. John has worked extremely hard to become the bike racer that he is today. And it's not like he has all the free time in the world to ride. John is a devoted husband and father to three cool kids, holds down a full time job (I still can't grasp what John does at the Cleveland Clinic other than you've got to be very intelligent to do his job), and is in the process of getting his Doctorate Degree at Case Western Reserve University. He does all this and fits the bike riding/racing in when he can. Now that's Belgian spirit.

It's up to me to keep Belgian dreams alive.

Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."

--Jack Handy

The benefits and repercussions of weight gain.

Last year at this time my weight was at 157 lbs. By society standards that’s very good. But according to the laws of cycling I still could’ve lost a few pounds to be more competitive. Now fast-forwarding to today on the scales of truth. My weight was 167, which is 2 pounds less than a month ago from when I started keeping track in 2007. At my height of 5’ 10 5/8”, 167 lbs is a lot of weight for me or any other cyclist. To put this into perspective, on July 23, 2001 I was 142 lbs with a body fat percentage of 6.2.

Now I’m not going to make excuses for the weight gain. I got fat… It’s time to move on. Still there have been some interesting discoveries I’ve uncovered while spending time with my soft, warm friends.

Pros:
1. Not once during the winter did I get sick. On average once or twice during the winter season I’ll be fighting a nasty cold that has me suffering for 1 to 3 weeks. Since tomorrow is officially the first day of spring (and I’m felling good) it’s safe to say that the 10 lbs must be keeping me just a little bit healthier.

2. I’m less likely to be hurt in a bar fight. There’s more padding to absorb the blows. Plus guys are less likely to start a fight with big, fat dudes.

3. I wasn’t as cold this past winter. My wife can testify that there have been many past winters where I’ll be freezing to the point that my teeth will start chattering and I can’t control my body from shaking. Not only did this not happen but I didn’t have to wear as many clothes to be comfortable inside or out.

Cons:
1. My clothes don’t fit anymore, especially the dress pants. Sad but true… I can’t button up any of my pants and have only one pair of jeans that I can button up.


2. By mid-afternoon my chest starts hurting. It’s the same feeling that I had in college when I was carrying a few extra pounds. Though the pain could be stress related too. One thing’s for certain, I don’t have any pain when the pounds aren’t on my body.

3. The first rides and races of the year are going to be flat out painful especially when the road starts to turn upward.

Well… It’s time to do what my bro, John (EPO) Ehrlinger has prescribed for rapid weight loss. “Don, just get on your bike and ride!”

Eddie Van Halen

Where have all the good times gone? My rock and roll gods are crumbling to dust in the wind. For example, at the pace Eddie Van Halen is aging he's going to end up looking like Eddie from Iron Maiden.

It not Euro-trash...

Still I'd follow whoever is wearing it.