Sports Illustrated's Lance Investigation

I don't know much about Lance Armstrong and all the players involved in his predicament, but Sports Illustrated has released much of their findings in a lengthy, but informative article. Personally, I think Lance is in deep, dark waters. He could be innocent. He could also be guilty. I want to see him on trial and prove to me and the world, without cover-ups, undisclosed settlements, money, or flat denial, that he is innocent. The case mounting against him may prove too great for even "The Boss" to handle and simply say "no comment" to. Everyone wants to believe that cycling's (arguably) greatest champion did it all with the help of teammates and his own physical ability without the help of performance enhancing drugs. I will not believe him either way until it is all proven. If proven guilty, I want him to pay his due sentence and to never see him around a bike ever again. If proven innocent, I want him to be left alone and focus on his foundation.

It is sad to think that so many people's inspiration, hero, and idol could be a fraud. No one is perfect.

I guess that is all I have to say on it. I applaud SI's investigation and tireless efforts to get a hold of this information and make sense of it for the public to read and understand. The article is a long read, but it is some very interesting stuff. Lance could sink in those deep dark waters.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1180944/1/index.htm

Sprinter's Year

All the hype last year about a battle in Le Tour between Alberto, Lance, and the Schleck boys, I believe, has played its course and this year will be the year of the sprinters. The media embellished rivalry of Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel will make some cycling headlines. The reigning world champion, Thor Husovd at Garmin-Cervelo will be battling Francesco Chicchi, Ton Boonen, Alessandro Petachi, Robbie McEwen, Matt Goss, Michael Matthews, Greg Henderson, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Tyler Farrar, Oscar Freire, for the finish line throughout the year. I think lead-out trains will be refined and tactical. The strong teams in the last 5-1k will make the difference for a lot of riders. Timing and patience will be key for these guys.

I'd like to keep those two factors in mind when I race this upcoming season. I need patience and timing. I am not sure if I am a "sprinter," but rather and opportunist. With the little racing experience I have, I know I can close gaps when I need to, catch and follow wheels, put time on the front, punch a powerful attack from far out, and sprint around riders for the win.  Sometimes I can get lucky with my timing and other times I surprise myself.

I think there is a lot that can be learned by watching the pros and their teams win races. Watching a solo victory or climbers duke it out for a win can be inspiring and a whole lot of fun to watch,

but seeing the teams work in the last few km for their sprinter against everyone else is what keeps the sport on it's toes.

I'm just babbling on at this point, but I hope to have some results like these guys. For a lot of them they know they wouldn't get to the line first without the hard of or their teammates. For others, they have the strength and awareness of the races to scrap or a win when their teammates will sometimes have other responsibilities or have already given their all. In professional cycling, when a sprinter takes it, they will rarely have done it alone.

At the domestic and certainly lower level races, teammates may not always be there to sacrifice themselves. Not to say I haven't had riders work for me, teammates or not. I must say I do recognize their hard work and sacrifice for me. It is a pretty amazing feeling to come up with a great result after seeing how yourself and teammates have worked for it. I want to get the results and have myself work for teammates to get wins now and the rest of my career. 

This year's Tour Down Under (Starting 1/18/2011... my bday!) will be a big showcase of the sprinter for the year. I want to see blood and glory. These guys will be hungry to prove themselves and put up some wins for their teams in this big year for cycling.

Speaking of my career, I am in the job hunt for life after my undergrad. I would love to be lucky enough to keep cycling part of it all. We'll see. My ride today was terribly short, but fun seeing as it was my first outside ride of the year. It is frustrating to not know of any great places to ride in Virginia, but I will be also looking to join a team if I move back to Northern Virginia after I graduate. I want a team that has experience, travels to race all sorts of races, and one that will have strength and the ability to keep me developing as a racer, teammate, and leader.

Bitting Off Too Much

Maybe I am going for the MBA before I need it.

Am I right?

Possibly. I spoke with an admissions person at George Mason University's School of Management. It was educational to say the least. I was honestly a bit shocked at discovering I had to have either at least two years of professional experience with two professional employer recommendations or excellent grades and high GMAT exam scores to be considered a real applicant for their MBA program. I guess the higher GMAT exam scores will be needed for their program regardless of professional experience or lack thereof.

She informed me: "Gone are the days one can get their MBA right after their undergraduate. We just can't get them jobs anymore." How am I supposed to get one? I'm not too worried tho. It will work out.

Thus, I have begun the job hunt. I was really hoping I could avoid that for at least two years, but I know patience will be big for me. I have sent my resume to some places and emailed others applications and just searched options. I feel like I may well have a lot of options, but I do not know where they lead. Beyond that, I've made a list of things I can do to make the most of my remaining Virginia trip.

I was off the bike today citing an "Off" day in the training program tomorrow. I will ride tomorrow instead. Simple enough. I need new pants too. Inner-thigh of my favorite corduroys ripped the other night. Bummer.

ProTeams 2011

AG2R La Mondiale	BMC Racing Team	Euskaltel-Euskadi
HTC-Highroad	Katusha	Lampre-ISD
Liquigas-Cannondale	Movistar	Omega Pharma-Lotto
Pro Team Astana	Quickstep Cycling Team	Rabobank Cycling Team
Saxo Bank Sungard	Sky Procycling	Team Garmin-Cervelo
Team Leopard-Trek	Team RadioShack	Vacansoleil-DCM

These are the 18 ProTream jerseys.  Some I like, some I don't. via cyclingfans.com

It Won't Be My Longest

I've just hopped off the bike and finished my longest week of training yet. 17 hours of training done and I feel pretty good about it. I guess I can say it was tough, but with no school work and no other demands of a schedule or responsibility on me, this was not my toughest riding. Four weeks from now will prove tougher. I will have 18 hours of training to complete on top of school work and IUP Cycling Club responsibilities to keep up with.

Competitive cyclists will know that putting in these long hours of training, winter by winter, year by year, are important for success in the season and career. The legs have to go through these easier miles long before the more intense miles of racing. As the season gets closer, of course, more intense workouts will start to creep in and the long hours of easy riding will be more focussed and not as constantly lengthy.

Philippe Gilbert

My next week will be a recovery week of 8.5 hours. My body will enjoy the rest, but I have to keep in touch with my food intake. I want to eat enough, but not as much as I have for this demanding week.

Francesco Chicchi's facebook profile picture

Beyond riding, I have to get a few things sorted out for schools I am interested in going to next year. I really don't know where I will be, but I know I will find a way to keep cycling in the mix. I am very lucky to have it in my life like it is now!

Distracting Mind and Body

Distractions come in different forms for different riders. They come in different forms for me almost every day. Some days, especially last year, all I need is music. Whether I can sing along, or it's all new to me, music can almost always be the best distraction for my mind and body. Past that, I think it's a toss-up. I will look for many opportunities to get away.

Riding with a hook-up to distraction.

Sometimes, I will find some show on Hulu or other various sites to watch. Other times, if the Redskins are playing I will find a site that is streaming the live game. That has proved to be a perfect fit for 3+ hour rides of late. I can find almost any show to watch, but I do seem to ride through the episodes and seasons rather quickly. I honestly, don't feel like I need to watch every show there is and having to select the next episode over and over can just get annoying.

I'm not complaining or anything, but I've found a way that I really enjoy distracting myself lately. I have mentioned this distraction before (here), but it is certainly worth another note from me and listen from everyone.

Radiolab! I have become a HUGE fan of the episodes, inquiries, and explorations of this program. Radiolab is produced by NYU and distributed by NPR. The episodes are hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich assisted by a number of other producers and staff. In their own words from their About page: "Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we'll feed it with possibility."

For me, they explore so many topics questioning conventional thinking and the limits of our minds. Each episode is 1 hour long (perfect for my rides) and they always have a way of keeping my interest- never sticking to a strict formula for their topics and exploration therein. The episode I have pictured above, "Falling," for example, talks about physically falling according to gravity, falling in love, falling asleep, cats falling, and other interesting concepts in and around the concept of falling. I know I'm not doing a great job of explaining here, but I urge you to take a listen with your free time. You will not be disappointed and, please, there is really no need to thank me.

Here you can find a listing of their episodes through the years. I am too scared too count the number of episodes they have and the number I have yet to listen to. I know that once I do that I will inevitably figure out how many hours that will be for my training and how soon I may run out of episodes. Honestly, this winter training schedule (17 hours this week) has really gotten me counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds of each and every ride I do. I love losing myself in complete mindful interest of these episodes, not worrying about how much time has past or how much discomfort I may be feeling.  When I do run out I think I will listen to them all over again because I know I will have missed some stuff they went through.

I really hope you can take a listen. They have 20 minute "Shorts" that can be enjoyed too! Let me know what you think too!

Oh, and back to my "distractions." Sometimes, I don't need anything, and the enjoyment of riding my bike and anticipation of the coming race season is really enough to keep me going (rare, but true). Thanks for reading.

More About Me

I was scrolling down my recent posts and I discovered that I've trailed away from how I began this blog. It is supposed to be about me and my riding with the occasional opinionated piece when I have nothing much else to blog about. Well, I guess I can't blame myself too much for steering a bit off how I began. Winter training is really not all that interesting day to day.

All I seem to do is ride on my trainer for hour on hour and day by day. To me, that's not too interesting. All that seems to change is the degree of pain my feet, butt, arms, legs, and body seem to be in. My stomach is kind of hurting just writing about it. Anyway, today was like every other day except for a nice treat in the middle.

Messy room, but getting it done with distractions helps.

After one hour today, my dad invited my sister and I to go out for Sushi! This has traditionally been a father-daughter thing, but I was glad to be invited along to break up my 3 and-a-half-hour ride and share with them my more recently acquired (it's been a year give or take) taste for sushi! I used to not ever want to try it, but with the help of a few friends, it has become a very welcome meal for me. After an hour on the bike, it was time for me to hop off. I showered and actually shaved for this outing. It just so happened that I felt very sickly on our way to the restaurant, and I was really worried the sushi would really throw me for a spin, but it was all good. I just ordered a coke and I was fine. I got back home and right back on the bike for my last 2.5 hours of the ride. It may sound easy, but sometimes I really have to find ways to keep my mind distracted from the monotony, pain, and sometimes sheer boredom.

I'm going to expand more on my rides and distractions in my next post. Thanks for reading.