Pounding Pavement
It is 11 a.m in Boulder Colorado.... Raise your hand if you have a job? Anyone?
See if you can spot Tyler Hamilton in his new team kit... These group rides are out of control but nothing is as priceless as their faces when you roll up on a dual suspension Fuel. "Ahh hey guys?!"
This is going to be Scott Moninger's 28th season racing professionally! Talk about an original gangster... Let's see, in my 28th season I would be 52 years old! Cripes.
Turn OFF your speakers on this one... Once again, this mystery noise doesn't make for an enjoyable You Tube experience. This kind of pavement is more my speed. Trek's demo guru, Bicycle Bob, pretty much smoked me in a friendly game of burning rubber back at the Trek factory this August.
posted by Martini at 1:23 PM
3 Comments:
That's a tough one. Based on some of your previous postings, it's clear you're at least acquainted with TH, or even a friend. That's cool. However, it's clear that many people in the cycling world accept that TH is guilty as charged...even if, as many have said, he's a "really nice guy." You're on the doperssuck plan - as it should be - but posting TH in his new kit is promotion of a guy seen by many as a symbol of much that's wrong in the sport.
Sager got screwed. TH, on the other hand, either did it, and you don't doubt it, and he's more or less accepted into the so pro Boulder fold, or you believe his story. Me, my gut says TH was doing what a lot of those guys do, was doing it for a long time, and the Boulder brahs don't really seem to care, despite wearing the right t shirts and wristbands. How can that not send the wrong message?
thats a pretty good thought provoking comment, it compelled me to think of my own.
In the U.S., as in pro cycling (at least as far as doping is concerned in pro cycling) there exists a level of tolerance that is unexplainable. The fact is that it is OK to break the rules, and it is OK to lie about it - these days. Sure, plenty of people will throw their hands in the air and say "I can't believe so and so did such and such" but a few weeks or months later, all is forgiven, if not completely forgotten. I'm not citing examples to be political, but: Clinton, Enron, O.J., Pro Baseball, and in todays newspaper, Apple and Steve Jobs. Ole Ty Ty Hamilton is in the same boat. Broke the rules (at least he was convicted of it), seems to have lied all along the way about it, served his "sentence". But he is a nice guy. And he seems so very sorry, or something like that. So he isn't ostracized or rejected by many of his peers...because EVERYBODY (if you don't think you are part of everybody you're crazy) can relate to some measure of breaking the rules and getting away with it. Integrity? What the hell is that? I think I read something about it in a history book back in school.
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is my cynical soapbox rant for today.
Valid comments forsure. I actually had this conversation on a ride the other day.... I guess it can be boiled down to a couple things. In the world of doping and professional cycling one can get pretty caught up in the negative impressions it leaves on our sport.... the more I think about this the more it brings a brother down. The bottom line is I am a fan of the sport, I love riding my bike, I love the competition, I love the entire process of training etc. When we are out training and riding I am not competing directly with anybody. Tyler, whether guilty or not, has to live with whatever actions or circumstances he has sewn. That in itself is enough for me. When the chaos settles each of us is responsible for our own actions and that is the ultimate consequence.
By riding along side Tyler I do not condone doping however a converstation about winning a tour stage with a broken collar bone first hand from someone who has had experiences that I could only dream of definitely spurs some curiousity and makes the hours pass quickly. It may seem hypicritical yes, but if I am to sit and ponder on the negatives I am only going to wear myself out. Tyler has served his sentence and he will have to deal with the image and questions marks the rest of his career. I can ride with a clean conscience and the bottom line is doping still sucks.
Great comments and thanks for questioning....
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