Pro cyclists really are crazy

OK, most of us know that you need to be a little strange in the head to go into pro cycling. These guys watch their weight like college wrestlers, they spend hours making their lungs scream by riding bikes up mountains into thin air, and then they ride down those mountains going much faster than a car ever would wearing nothing but a helmet and spandex. But the story in the New York Times about Svein Tuft of Garmin Slipstream takes it to another level. This guy literally is a mountain man turned pro cyclist. For several years the guy just packed up his stuff in a trailer and rode his bike out into the wilderness. This quote pretty much sums it up.

“It was by far the most content I’ve ever been,” he said. “My bike was a piece of junk. I had nowhere to go, no place to be. Didn’t have anyone telling me what to do. If I felt like lying on the side of the road, I did.”

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Also over at the Garmins Tom Danielson spoke with VeloNews a few days ago about his new time trial position and how much more efficient it has made him. If these gains are legit he could really improve on his results in the stage races and at the U.S. championships. But what stuck with me was how they mentioned the results he's had in the Vuelta a Espana, finishing sixth and seventh a couple years back as well as winning the Tour de Georgia. He's been way off my radar. I'll be interested to see whether he turns out to be the captain for the Tour of California this year or whether it will be Christian Vande Velde.

Too many bikes!

I've moved to the new place and have now combined my two bikes with my girlfriend's bike to create one super bike I call the tricycle! OK, I just mean we've now got three bikes clogging up the ol' apartment. I've been thinking about getting one of those bike stands that you can stick two bikes on to save some space. I'm not sure how well they work and I've seen prices ranging from $50 to $250. I'll probably end up checking out the bike shop to see what they've got, but will their stand be a lot better than the cheap-o Target version? Or will I be paying twice the price for something that's not that much better. Whatever I end up doing I'll let you know how well it works out.

Sounds like he learned his lesson

So apparently the UCI is going to still allow Triki Beltran to race because he failed a dope test at the Tour de France, which was being run by the French doping control and not the UCI. This makes no sense at all and I'm still not sure I believe what I'm reading. Of course Beltran is the source of all of this and he may just be full of crap. Anyway, he had this to say about how terrible he was treated after ... you know... being the first guy caught cheating at the tour last year.

"It is a surprise after I have been treated so badly. But the truth is that I do not mind. I was really depressed after the show that set up around me. It's something I would not wish on anyone, and frankly, I do not know what will happen in the future," Beltrán said in the local newspaper Ideal.

"It's a complicated situation. Right now I am not optimistic, but I would like to show that my professional career is still alive. There has been a turning point in my life since July, 2008. I had a model behavior; I have been honest and I have not had any problems with the anti-doping controls, so I cannot explain why they have gone after me."

Poor saint Beltran, why is everyone so mean to you? I'm sure he would have been happy to head back to Astana and work for Lance again like in the old days if this stupid little positive doping test hadn't mused everything up.