The Future of Pro Cycling?

Since the end of the Tour of CA I have thought about how much it seems like pro cycling has changed. You still have teams, you still have riders, you still have sponsors, and you still have tours. Those are the constant factors of cycling. However there are factors that change constantly. You have doping, you have new rules, you have new technology, you have new riders on new teams, you have new sponsors, and you have new tours. It seems that from last year the cycling world has been turned not necessarily upside down, but on it's side.

Astana:
As we all know Astana was banned from any ASO events. All new team under all new management. We all know this is BS and hopefully that decision will be overturned.

Rock Racing:
Say what you will about Michael Ball, but the man is bringing fresh new ideas to cycling. He's shaking up the cycling world with his candid approach and criticism of the norm. This is not golf and this is not a gentleman's sport. He wants to come in and change the sport for the better. Granted he's not being a gentleman about it, but I think it is the right approach. He got a lot of coverage last week and got his message out to the fans as well as the governing bodies. The old boy network of cycling doesn't like change. I think with the fans support of Ball's ideas it will put more pressure on the UCI and ASO to make changes. Ball's main ideas include an organization of team owners. His idea of governing the sport internally is the correct way to do it. He also thinks the cyclists themselves should unite. NFL, MLB, & NBA all have players unions. Cycling should have the same thing. The changes Ball is proposing are not unreasonable. Like he said he is a business man first and foremost. He could single handedly change the sport of cycling.

UCI vs ASO:
How confusing is this. The fact is pro cycling is a poorly run sport and that is why it is in a state of panic. Doping was allowed to get out of control. Sponsors and fans strayed away, and cycling got a bad name for itself. How are two competing organizations supposed to govern one sport? They can't, and haven't. The comparison to cycling and open wheel racing is uncanny. The IRL and Champ Car are two identical organizations that tore apart the open wheel world. They have now come full circle and are in the process of combining their organizations because the sport is dying. These two organizations need to find a common ground and work with each other to rebuild this sport or it will also die a slow death.

NASCAR:
What does NASCAR have to do with pro cycling? The UCI and ASO need to benchmark the marketing style of NASCAR. Talk about similarities, you have racers, their rides, their sponsors, and teams. The keys to NASCAR are their fans, first and foremost, followed by the sponsors. With out those two things you have no NASCAR. Cycling is exactly the same way. Cycling needs to take a look at how the fans are listened to and how NASCAR changes its rules to better accommodate the fans. Sponsors are taken care of and their needs are met too. NASCAR sponsors spend 15-20 million dollars a year to sponsor one car. So to reel in a sponsor takes a lot of guarantees. Drivers do year round appearances and are constantly saying their sponsors name and showing their logo on TV.

Sponsors:
Cycling needs to take a sponsor friendly approach. You don't see the riders thanking their sponsors when they are interviewed, they don't thank the bike manufactures for the technology they are riding, and they don't thank the teams which include the mechanics and support drivers. I don't want to turn this into a knock on the cyclists themselves but rather a knock on system as a whole. I look at some of the sponsors in cycling and wonder where they came from. Granted I'm an "arrogant American" and don't know these European companies. With the average cost of sponsoring a pro team at about $12 million it doesn't surprise me that we don't see more mainstream companies stepping up to sponsor a team. With all the bad press cycling has gotten who would want to have a their name plastered across the chest of potential or confirmed doper. Not exactly the kind of press people look for. Until the sport is clean sponsors are going to be few and far between. For now I solute the sponsors that have stuck it out through the rough times. Hopefully things will get better sooner rather than later.

The Dude

My First Outside Ride of 08 and Review of New Gear

This has got to be one of the worst winters I can remember. It is never ending. Don't get me wrong I love winter, I love sledding, I love wearing sweatshirts, I just love cold weather in general. However this winter here in Omaha has just been miserable. Weekly snow and constant cold have made it impossible to get out and ride, and run for that matter. As soon as the snow melts it snows again and gets cold again. So lots of ice on the ground, sidewalks, and bike paths.
This weekend we got a heat wave. It was in the mid 40s both Saturday and Sunday. My wife and I went out for a ride on Sunday. It was around 42 degrees when we started and luckily I guessed correctly on my clothes. It had been a long time since I had to dress for cold weather cycling. Dressing for cold running is completely different than cold weather cycling. I could make this about what to wear but there is enough info on that topic out there on the inter-web.
My wife got to ride her new Felt FW40 road bike and I decided to take my new Felt F1X cross bike. I got new slick (or commuter) tires for it just for pavement riding. I'll probably not use these tires much but I have them if I need them. Anyway my bike rode extremely well. The gearing was surprisingly good. I was worried about only having a double crank that I'd run out of gears. I took off on a sprint and got it up to 21mph. It wasn't a full out sprint but faster than we were riding. I was hanging back to stay with my wife since this is her first year riding she's not in cycling shape yet.
The stock seat on my bike was not very cushy. It is more of a race style seat. We went 15.5 miles and I thought that had we gone 22 as planned I would have been a little uncomfortable in the taint by the end of the ride. I am of course not close to being in full riding shape so this saddle may end up working for me yet. The other thing I was real happy about is the overall comfort of the my hands and feet. Normally my hands and feet go numb with in 5 miles of my ride. Then I'm fighting it my whole ride.
I am using a two sided Shimano pedal. On one side is a platform and the other side is the SPD clip. I was clipped in about half the time mainly because of the reduced speed and also because we were having to stop frequently to cross slabs of ice where the path crossed under roadways.
The handle bars feel good they are either wider or the bar tape is thicker than what is on my road bike. The thicker handle bars distribute the pressure on my hands more evenly hence making my hands more comfortable on the bars.
My new Shimano M075 shoes are great. Not only do they not have a big clip sticking off the ball of my foot (like my Time road clips) but they are an all around more comfortable shoe. These shoes have 3 velcro straps to adjust the fit. You can tighten or loosen the shoes as you are riding down the road too. The nice thing is these shoes are versatile enough to use for mountain bike shoes and road shoes.
I'm not sold on the SPD clips though but I may eventually switch out my Time cleats and pedals on my road bike so I can use these new shoes. The SPDs did not engage like they should and my wife actually got stuck in one of her cleats and I had to twist her foot out of it. My road shoes are nice high quality shoes but they fit too tight and cause my feet to go numb. I like how the Time cleats work, but I don't like walking on them off the bike. When you are doing multi day tours or century rides you are getting off the bike often and walking around. The Time pedals and clips are pricey too, so replacing them is not fun.
Overall it was a very enjoyable ride. My new bike was great. I look forward to riding it more. It felt really good to get outside and ride. The euphoria I get from riding outside is indescribable. That is why I love cycling. The forecast is looking good for an other weekend ride.

The Dude

The 2008 Season Is Here!

The Tour of California started Sunday. I'm disappointed at Versus's TV coverage. Sundays was good because time trails are boring, but now that we are into the road stages I'd really like to see coverage like they provide during the Tour de France. With all the changes that have taken place amongst the teams I'd like to see them spend more time talking about the various teams. My other issue is that I'm in the central time zone so I now have to watch coverage from 10-11pm. We get a very condensed version of the day's events. That doesn't do the tour justice. I remember that last years whole Tour of Missouri was condensed into one 2 hour show. I don't get it. They are going to the effort and cost of sending a camera crew out to film the whole tour, but they are not giving it the desered TV time. It doesn't make sense. It's not fair to pro cycling fans and it's not fair to the American tours.

Well beyond the lack of TV coverage it was very exciting to the former Discovery team members in their new team jerseys. I was already a fan of Slipstream/Chipotle, but now I'm going to have to follow Astana. I like Levi and Johan, and they got screwed by the ASO. I'm hoping they go out and dominate this year (in the tours they are allowed to compete in) and show the world that they deserve to be allowed in all the pro tour events.

The Dude

Team Astana banned from competing in ASO races for 2008!

No Tour De France for Astana Team
By JEAN-LUC COURTHIAL
PARIS (AP) — Tour de France champion Alberto Contador likely won't get to defend his title after Tour organizers excluded the Astana cycling team from this year's race.
Astana was banned from the race Wednesday because of its past doping issues. The "damage caused by this team to the Tour de France and cycling in general, both in 2006 and 2007," led to their exclusion, organizers said.
Astana pulled out of the race last year after Alexandre Vinokourov, a pre-race favorite, tested positive for a blood transfusion after his victory in the 13th stage time trial. The team was excluded in 2006 after being linked to Operation Puerto, the Spanish blood-doping scandal in which Contador was implicated.
Contador said he was devastated by the decision.
"I never thought that it would be possible not to do the Tour the France," Contador said. "It is my race, I dream of that race. We are not invited. What can we do? It is a real blow for me and all of us at Astana. I think the decision to leave us out, and to do so on the basis of the team's past, is unfair.
"I'm afraid other sponsors can leave cycling because of what happened today. It is a sad day for cycling."
Another top Astana rider — American Levi Leipheimer, who was third in last year's Tour — expressed similar sentiments.
"I am in shock and I am very disappointed," Leipheimer said in a statement. "Along with my friends, family and supporters, I can't understand why we are not allowed to take part in the Tour and defend Alberto's title with two other riders capable of winning, myself included. We are all left wondering."
The Tour de France has been hit with a series of drug scandals in the past two years that have threatened to turn the race into a farce. The 2006 winner, Floyd Landis, was stripped of the title for failing a doping test. Last year, race leader Michael Rasmussen was sent home for skipping drug tests, and Vinokourov also tested positive.
Contador, from Spain, won the Tour last year riding for the American Discovery Channel team. The team disbanded late last year, and he signed a two-year deal with Astana.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme denied that Contador was the focal point of the Astana ban.
"We don't part with the winner of the Tour for the fun of it, but it is the team he chose," Prudhomme said. "Contador was in no way targeted."
Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens said Contador's contract doesn't have an escape clause that applies to this situation, suggesting that the 25-year-old Spaniard is unlikely to be able to defend his title.
Maertens said Contador's clause allowed him to get out of his contract only if Astana got caught in a doping scandal. But since this is not a new doping scandal, the clause does not apply.
After the Astana team quit the Tour last year, it was barred from the Spanish Vuelta. It also has been denied admission to this year's Giro d'Italia.
"We feel disbelief and bafflement, although we had an inkling after the Giro decision," Maertens said. "Sponsors may flee and it is not good for the fans either."
ASO, which organizes the Tour, said Astana won't be invited to any of its 2008 events. That includes Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Fleche Wallonne, Paris-Tours and others.
Astana wasn't among the 20 teams selected Wednesday by ASO for the March 9-16 Paris-Nice race.
In 2006, Astana-Wurth couldn't field the minimum six cyclists required — after the implicated five riders were withdrawn — and pulled out on the eve of the Tour.
ASO said Astana could be allowed back in the future if it has a 2008 season "without suspicions."
Astana has tried to revamp itself this year under new leadership, with Johan Bruyneel becoming general manager of the team. Bruyneel was the architect of Lance Armstrong's seven Tour victories.
"We have done everything to change the dynamics of the team," Bruyneel said. "New management, new riders, new philosophy. Only the name of the sponsor remained.
"Many other teams, with similar suspicious pasts that did not change management or structure, can participate without problems. Where is the consistency? Is Tour de France not losing all credibility now?"
Aside from Contador and Leipheimer, other top Astana riders include Andreas Kloden of Germany, the runner-up in 2004 and '06.
"We will fight back with the whole team," Leipheimer said


In an article by Dave Luecking of STLToday.com he states: "Oddly, the A.S.O. did invite High Road Sports to its Paris-Nice race. High Road Sports, now under American Bob Stapleton, has instituted strict anti-doping controls, just as Astana did under Bruyneel. The old management of Stapleton’s team, then known as T-Mobile, made a mockery of the Tour with admitted doping by 1996 winner Bjarne Riis and six-time sprint winner Erik Zabel, and suspected doping by 1997 winner Jan Ullrich. Yet High Road with new management is OK, and Astana with new management is not?"
In addition Dave states:
"The Vuelta has announced that Astana will be invited this year, which may place its desire to race in the Tour of Missouri in jeopardy."


Crazy right? I am planning on going to the Tour of Missouri. Last year in its first year I saw the final US appearance of the Discovery Channel Team. Kansas City rolled out the red carpet for opening day last year. The Tour of Missouri deserves to have Team Astana competing. It will be a shame if Astana can't make it because of the ASO screwing up their schedule. The future of this team may be in trouble. Sponsors are likely to back away after finding out that they not going to be in the biggest most publicised race of the year. What's the point of watching the Tour de France if the best team will not be there? It will be interesting to see what comes of this.

The Dude

Jonesing to Ride

Not much on the cycling forefront to report on. I put in an order at Nashbar the other day. I'm getting a pannier rack and commuting tires for my cross bike, and bar wrap for my road bike. I know I've said it before but I'm going to say it again. I can't wait for this half marathon to be over. I do not enjoy running and never really have. Cycling is my passion and I can't wait to get back into it. I've been intermittently riding on my trainer but haven't had much time because of the running I've been doing. What can I say, life gets in the way.

There were a few details released about the Nebraska MS150 ride. I rode it last year and it was my first century ride. I didn't ride the second day because I had a previous obligation. This year I've got the weekend free and will do both days. In the past the ride has been an out and back route. This year they are going to do an overnight stay in Lincoln and then back to Omaha the next day. They are putting us up in one of the dorms on the UNL campus. I'm really looking forward to see how they are going to handle the logistics of getting peoples bags to Lincoln and then back to Omaha. I'm also curious to see the route. In the past with the out and back route people had the option of doing a shorter ride. Last year they offered a 10, 25, 50, 75, or 100 mile rides on the first day. Really with an out and back you can turn around at any time. So with this route not being an out and back I'm wondering if they are going to just have us go 75 miles both days to get the 150 total miles. There may be an option for a century but it is going to be different from the norm. Either way all my cycling friends are doing this ride so it will be fun.

The Dude

Have Map, Will Travel

I'm a map fiend and an internet search guru. I spend hours and hours surfing the net for everything. I love mapping vacation routes, cycling rides, and running routes. I'm always looking for a new route somewhere.

I'll start with my favorite mapping software, Delorme Topo USA. Overall I love this program. There are a few features I do not like the functionality of, but I can deal with them. I've used this program for many hiking trips in the Rocky Mountain Range. In the last year I've found a new use for it, cycling. Last year I used it to map a couple routes on the Wabash Trace Nature Trail. I also used it to map the week of BRAN. Besides the mapping the route and distance, the elevation info is priceless. When I'm planning a new route I can see how hilly the ride is and know a head of time what kind of ride it's going to be. http://www.maps.google.com/

As for maps on the internet, there's only one source...Google. Google maps are great since you can flip back and forth between satellite and map view. I love being able to drag the page around and zoom in and out with my roller ball. The roads are pretty accurate and there are even some old rail lines shown that are now bike trails. So it makes them easier to locate. A new site that Google has is the Gmap Pedometer. I have used this site extensively. It is great for mapping running routes, bike trails, and commuter routes that zig zag on back roads. I use the satellite view and can zoom in on a bike trail and map distances of my specific rides. I can map out a run through a neighborhood or on the bike path. This site does what Google maps can not. You can even save your route you created and it will give you a URL to copy and paste or you can add the route to your favorites to recall it at a later time. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

I hope you can use these sources to plan your next excursion, whatever it may be.

The Dude