Never missed so much sleep since chasing 20 year old girls in the 70's..:LOL:

The tour started here at about 10pm and finished around 1.30 to 2.00am each morning.

Landis's parents were just on TV here. They were pictured returning from church with their hats and suits on. Riding old bikes.

"Sorry" they said, "we do not have television or newspapers, but we are proud of him"..Mmmmmmm :eek:

So many ups and downs in the tour. The anti clockwise direction may have something to do with the changed conditions. Will have to watch next year when they go in the opposite direction. And whoa what crashes Kessel etc on the big bend.

Perhaps Cadel will go better? He is only still young at 28.

Bernie

Bernie,

Considering how few Australians were in the TdF this year, BRAVO on their results. Very impressive!!!

This actually turned out to be a good TdF to watch, after a very boring 1st two weeks.

I thought that the peloton was the "culprit" this year. The time they gave to Pereiro and then to Landis on the breakaways was not the brightest of moves for many of the teams. Not to take anything away from Floyd's effort on stage 17, but what was everyone else thinking? I know that Pantani and Armstong both overextended on the same route in 2000, but why not chase him a bit and limit it to 4 or 5 minutes?

It seemed this year that no one really knew who the real contenders were, and so everyone raced to not lose rather than to win (except for Floyd on stage 17). With no defined team leader on so many teams, chaos ensued.

Interesting to think about what might have been as you said. Especially if Basso and Ullrich had not been suspended. What a shame for them, if they are found to be innocent. But who knows at this point? I hate drugs, but here in the US you are innocent until proven guilty, maybe it is different in France. I'm glad that it wasn't me who had to make the decision as to whether or not to allow them to race this year.

It was pretty amazing to see how well CSC and T-Mobile did without them. It would have been a totally different race, and probably much more exciting, if they had been allowed to ride.

It'll be interesting to see how the new medical technology works for Floyd. I'm sure that we all wish him well.

Remember, that Cadel is still a "kid", and will only get better with more experience.

Keep riding!

Cheers!
Dave

Cadel did quite well indeed! I look forward to watching him in the future!

Well a few changes..%/

Don't know what the outcome will be for Floyd with the 'B' sample. Now I thought high testostorone was a good thing.

They tell me the patches work..:LOL:

Seems the thought is someone has stuffed up here somewhere - be it Floyd or the Doctors'..:confused:

Bernie,

I believe that most likely almost EVERYONE at THAT level of ANY sport is a "user" to ONE DEGREE OR ANOTHER. This has been going on for decades. Just look at the Olympics. There have been instances where government supported teams have encouraged their athletes to be users - sometimes without the athletes' knowledge.

The governing bodies are only setting ARBITRARY standards to limit the bad PR.

Is ANY use of drugs CHEATING? At this point, I no longer know, since it is so prevalent.

Like I said about Ullrich and Basso, it would be nice to be innocent until proven guilty. Look at say Barry Bonds in this country. Sadly, for the athlete's involved and their sports, even if they are all "innocent", they will be forever tarred with the "where there's smoke, there's fire" brush. Like I also said, I'm glad that I am not the one who has to make the decision on whether or not what an athlete is doing is "legal" or not.

Another sad day for sports, no matter how it turns out for any of them.

"Cheers!"
Dave

Drugs in sports are here to stay. I say put all modern records in a different classification & let them destroy their bodies. It's obviously worth it to them & makes some of the more dull sports more exciting. Who's to say the second & 3rd runner up in the tour weren't using? No one would care, would they? Who's to say that the pitchers in the Big Mac, Sosa, Bonds era weren't juiced? Kinda evens the playing field, doesn't it?

ROUSHAC and *13*

I feel big issue here is the amount of exposure this is getting and what possible influence it is having on the up and coming sportsperson..

Drugs and then masking agents...:eek:

I watch some of these current elite sportpersons and wonder just how they achieve or reach these limits.

I'm concerned that the young sports people are already trying/using these drugs in an endeavour to emulate their heroes or possible even to just improve to be considered in a team...

I certainly know this is the first Tour De France in my memory that has had so much positive and negative coverage by the press.

Well back to my training.....**)..**).. and some 'Gatorade' drink

I try to stick to water, strong coffee & good foods. Your a cheater with that gatorade stuff:LOL: It's been proven here in the states that High school sudents have been caught using performance enhancing drugs. It's a real shme at that level. It's a real shame at any level but as I stated before..Some of the pros are okay with it, so let them...

Gatorade..%/.. only to replace lost salts..:3DSMILE:

:LOL: A little gatorade goes a long way for me! Where would we be with out it:MECOOL:

I'm a little worried as I'm shedding weight and will end up lighter than my son..:3DSMILE: Perhaps that will make me faster around Calder park raceway than Todd my son!!

I'm sure he won't like that much! :cool:

Funny, a friend & I were riding in Santa Monica tonight. Some a$$hole in a Black Cobra pulled out w/o looking & just about ran us over. Anyone wanna apologize%/ ??? :JEKYLHYDE

New Bike
 

Bernie... looks like I don't get the Colnago the Azzurri is the go.
http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/s...0&ppuser=19944
Regards

That's some nice looking carbon!

Human horsepower
 

What can I say...Landis has been found to have a high level in his b sample is he guilty ,Roberto Heras.Tylar Hamilton all team mates of Lance Armstrong were found to be DRUG CHEATS how can he prove he did not use any substance in the tour when on one day he was stuffed and lost time(aprox 10 mins) and the next day rides his ass off and gets it back who is he trying to fool not any cyclist who puts his or her heart and soul into the sport for true results
Regards
Barry Nelson.

I was sorry to hear about Landis. I was really pulling for him throughout the whole Tour & even after the first implications. I feel really sorry For Pireiro who know looks to be the winner. He was robbed of the chance to stand atop the Podium in front of god & everyone showing his victory. That to me would be the best part of winning the whole event...

As you know from my previous posts, I believe that there is a certain amount of drug use by athletes at the top. How much is open to question.

To quote OLN's commentator Bob Roll (a former TDF cyclist) "Can one sample be nearly three times different in 24 hours than a previous sample?

Can the body absorb, metabolize and convert any substance into a controllable sample that has been recorded to be a ratio of 11 to 1 of testosterone vs. epitestosterone -- almost three times the allowable ratio in one single day?"

I still have questions in my own mind about how well the "chain of evidence" was maintained on Landis' samples.

Cheers!
Dave

Barry

Nice bike. Dura ace and all - you are spoilt by your son there supplying such a nice bike from his shop...%/

Will be in Vietnam this week so will not pick the new utility up until I get back. Anne has added a week on by asking me to meet her in Bangkok for an extra week of R + R..:3DSMILE:

Take care on the road there.

*13*

Sounds dangerous there in Santa Monica!!...:eek:

If you said it was Santa Barbara and a red pick up I'd know who it was..:LOL:..Mulv and I went through there recently in a hurry..**)

Mmmmm one quick trip back to Phoenix..**)

Seriously, the same weekend as the Knotts Kit Car show Santa Barbara hosts a street show that would arguably be the best one day event I have been to. A main streetshow that has the such a variety of cars. I counted 30 Cobras. Worth attending next year if you are free...**)

Bicycle burnout
 

How's this for human power, doughnuts and burnout.
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/7...140165b275.htm
Cheers,
Bryan

Hey Bryan,

Fantastic, with all that energy I should give him a job..:LOL:

Seriously now I know why I'm wearing my bikes back tyres/tires down so quickly...**)