Foiled Again By The Weather

This weekend I primed all of the lugs and sanded them smooth, cleaned them, then applied another coat of primer to even out the surface. The unbelievable amount of moisture that has been dropped on the Northeast in the last few days has delayed the application of the glossy black and chrome coats. I really want to do this step right, so I will be patient and wait for a clear, dry day without wind!

I received the Tour de France review issue of Cycle Sport magazine, and I found the commentary by their panel of writers very interesting. Yes, it was a more competitive tour than we've seen for a couple decades, but they argued that it may have been so because of the apparent cleaner (as in free of performance-enhancing drugs) racing environment. Riders who normally may have not been able to hang with the "superhuman" cheaters, now had an opportunity to keep up with the lead pack. Because the top contenders were so close in ability, teams were forced to try other tactics to get away, be it a one-two punch attack tried by the Schlecks or a very early surprise break tried by Alberto Contador during the final Alpine stage.

Curiously, Contador was not as dominant in this year's Tour as he was the past two. I know Contador may have been fatigued from winning the Giro d'Italia, but I think he is also distracted by the allegations of drug use. Fans and the media question his every success and see justice in his failures. I think his talk of "tainted meat" is a joke, and the way the investigation has dragged on is ridiculous. Several lesser profile cyclists were immediately suspended with less evidence against them!

I'm not a big fan of Contador, finding him a bit of a punk with his finish line/podium pistol-shot salute - NFL end zone celebrations don't belong in cycling! I didn't like that he attacked the yellow jersey wearing Andy Schleck in last year's Tour when he had a chain problem. He saw it happen and chose to break the cyclists code of sportsmanship. I absolutely HATE it that he tells the press when he concedes a victory to a breakaway companion. Why cheapen the success of a fellow cyclist with such arrogant talk? Again, trash-talk is NFL, not UCI.

Now I have to admit that one of my favorite cyclists, Alejandro Valverde, is currently serving a suspension for alleged drug use. His case dragged on, mostly because the main evidence against him was association with the wrong doctors. Like thousands of other fans, I was stunned and disappointed when I found out the truth about one of my cycling heroes. I hope he gets things turned around and comes back performing well, and clean.

I was reading a bit about cyclist David Millar and how he has turned his career around after a drug suspension. He recently wrote a dark book in which he was very revealing about everything that happened to him, and avoided making excuses. I found it amazing that one piece of evidence police found when trashing his room was a used syringe that he saved as a souvenir to remind him that he cheated to win a stage in the Tour de France! A few years ago Garmin-Cervelo gave him an opportunity to join the squad under close scrutiny. Millar's (natural) abilities helped lead them to an overall team title in this year's Tour, four stages total, including a stage two team time trial, Millar's specialty.

Cheaters do occasionally win, but we should expect them to be exposed. If they get a chance to admit their mistakes, hopefully they'll do so and encourage others to go a different route.