Back in the Saddle

Things have been a little sporadic over the past few weeks here because I have been on vacation and recovering from said vacations but I'm back in the city now for the rest of the summer and hopefully this blog will pick up a more frequent posting schedule and I am told that is the key to a good blog. Well that and decent content. So I still have some left over bike pics from the CMWC to throw up but for now I'll open with a bit of Tour de France rant. I hadn't really been watching the tour for the last few years because for whatever reason the proliferation of doping in the peloton ruined the credibility of the sport for me. I thought that it was odd at first for that to be the case because in regards to doping in American sports I wasn't nearly as turned off by what I knew to be tainted endeavors. Perhaps it was the odious intersection of American chauvinism and righteousness about the dominance of "Mellow Johnny" while unequivocally denying the possibility that he too was doping. That possibility was something that should have been up for debate given the prevalence of doping within the sport and his dominance of said sport, which should either implicate him in the doping, undermine the beneficial effects of doping, or put him into some superhuman category of athlete. I don't think it diminshes the radness of his accomplishments because relative to his competition he was an extradinarily dominant athlete but still a little more give and take on the subject would have been appreciated.
Well back to the Tour at hand. I have been enjoying the hell out of this year's little jaunt through the French country side. I do honestly believe that the sport has done its best to get the doping out of cycling which has left the peloton cleaner than it has been in the past and made for a more "real" event. Most importantly it looks like there is a new generation of riders that are riding clean and seem to have a promising career ahead of them. (Sidenote, I was really enjoying Ricco and his riding and that little EPO piss positive was a serious downer, especially because he is such a shit talker off of the course.) The man from the Isle of Mann, Cavendish, was a blast to watch ride and it's been a blast watching Vandevelde ride so well has been great as well. Most importantly, there has been a good mix of tremendous individual efforts coupled with solid strategic team riding that has led to high drama in both the individual stages and on the overall leader board.
All of which is a round about way saying that watching the tour this year has gotten me hyped to be on the bike, hammer out some longer rides, and push my own skill level. And really that is what it's all about. Rah Rah, solidarity, and what not