More doping in the news

NY Times Article

Mary Jones admitted yesterday that she used performance-enhancement drugs to win 5 medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The best quote from the above article that explains this case:

"Because unlike baseball, which played deaf, dumb and blind to the culture of sports pharmacology until 2002, the Olympics was long into chasing down cheats."

Cycling is the same way. If you get caught using said drugs, you are banned for 2 years from any race.

Tour de Fat

One more week before the big day in Tempe. If you like to ride a bike and drink beer, Tour de Fat is the place to be.

I will be doing an Off-Road Triathlon in the morning also before heading to the party and pre-ride at 11am.

Is cycling popularity decreasing?

According to a recent survey conducted by Shimano, some 17 million people have quit riding in the past 10 years. Various reasons have been given including the increased focus on equipment and the competitive nature of the sport.

One online cycling newsletter I read (RoadBike Rider.com) received a number of comments from their readers that suggested that poor customer service at their local bike shop is a primary factor. They asked their readers to respond to the following question:

"How often do you encounter lousy customer service in bike shops?"
37% of 1110 respondents said frequently followed by 22% who said occasionally. Another 9% reported that they only put up with it once and never go back.

I think we have a few nice shops in Tucson, but I have gone into a shop and got brushed off a few times by the elitist workers. These are very interesting statistics about road cycling, not sure if we can lump mountain bikers in this though.

My Birthday Challenge: Double Boundary Race

Every year I try to do the undoable for my birthday, aptly named the Birthday Challenge Each year it gets harder and harder. This year was the Double Boundary. Last year it was a Dust Devil Series at White Tanks. I uped the ante quite a bit on this one.

The stats for this race are enough to inspire any endurance rider: 67.62-miles, with 14,318-ft of climbing. The race began at 6:30 in Taos, New Mexico.

Profile of the Race

Dave C, Meredith, and I drove out the night before and arrived outside of Taos at about 1pm. Here is a nice picture of the line up before we started the race.



I managed to stay in the top 8 for a good part of the race. Eventually, I ended up riding with Travis, a teacher from New Mexico. After we crashed the marsh, we got lost at below Bull Springs Meadow since my GPS track seemed to be incomplete (I was in a bit of a hurry when I loaded it and left Tucson the day before the race). Anyway, a good amount of time before finding US 64 and the rest of the gang at the drop station. I filled up on water, chatted with Dave (who had caught up with Travis and I), and headed off with my new partner, Dave.

Nice shot of Dave and I saddling up at the water drop


We quickly dropped down into Elliot Barker Trail, but Dave was going a little slower, so I biked ahead a bit. My next cycling companion, Chuck Ray, passed me only to get a flat tire. I buzzed by him as he was changing a flat. The next section was one big hike-a-bike.



At the top of a pass, I decided to wait for Dave for a few minutes and rest. I figure came into view a few hundred yards away. At first, I thought it was Dave and his 29er Lenz, but it turned out to be Chuck. We concluded (correctly) that Dave missed a turn. Chuck and I pressed on without a reliable GPS. At one intersection, we waited for about 15 minutes for the pack behind is since we were a little lost. After regaining our route, we buzzed off ahead of the group. Somewhere in the course of the race, we managed to miss the Jaracita Trail. It was about 330pm when we realized that we were off course. We searched for thte next 2 hours before bailing out on the backside to Angel Fire, a total of about 20 miles. It was a great race, but the DNF and the fact that I was not able to see some of the best sections of the trail, like South Boundary shown here courtesy of the New Mexico Endurance website:





Headed to Tour of the White Mountains tomorrow to redeem my family name and finish in the top 15 (that is my goal).

Bike to Work Pledge

Take the Team Wonderbike plege by biking to work 2 times a week. I bike to work almost everyday.

Critical Mass October 26th

The CM ride is still afoot for October 26th, beginning at 6pm at El Presidio Park in front of City hall. The route will be high visibility-low impact. We'll all be at Barrio Brewing after the ride.

Rock y Road Race New Website

When: October 20th, 2007
Where: Tucson, Arizona

The website for the race is still under construction. I managed to crank this out fairly quickly since wordpress seems to be easier than blogger in some aspects.

Click here to see the new web page for the Rock y Road.