Read All About It

For starters: my bad.

I realize I’ve neglected updating this page with as much frequency as I did in the past, although I have placed a fair amount of effort into the updates on the new blog. While the content is unrelated to cycling, I’m confident there’s a fair amount of entertainment to be had, so if you have a moment, check out www.ExpectTheWorst.com.

Before you do that, though, there are some cycling topics to discuss.

First and probably least important, the professional cycling team Astana has been barred from competing in both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.

In my humble opinion, that’s a good thing. After everything I’ve read, it seems as though Johan Bruyneel made a damn good living making sure his team riders were doped up enough to win the biggest bike race in the world--which means he’s the mother of all cheats--and anybody who couldn’t see that has their head in the sand, so hats off to ASO for putting their foot down. If you genuinely believe Lance and Alberto won their Tours clean, wake up and smell the EPO.

Second, it’s f#cking freezing outside although I’ve been using those disposable toe warmers you can find in just about any sporting goods store and my feet have never been happier. Was out riding for over two hours this morning and not a single complaint from my toes, so the toe warmers are definitely worth the $0.99 / pair cost.

Third, I was thinking of starting a racing team in Westchester before I moved back to the city at the end of the year considering Westchester didn’t seem to have a single racing team but when I thought about it some more, I realized it wasn’t really a racing team I was interested in launching. To be more accurate, I wanted to start a team/group that could possibly race, but a bunch of guys who would definitely ride on the weekends and maybe a bit during the week with a bit more cohesiveness than a club group ride.

Know what I mean?

To me, the issue with club rides is that more often than not, you really don’t know the guy ahead of you or the guy (or girl) behind you. The group on Staten Island is the exception to that, but based on what I’ve experience elsewhere, club rides really don’t seem to have the structure and cohesiveness of a team ride.

Then, based on what I’ve only seen from team rides, they seem way, way too fucking serious. What I’m looking for is a team but without the elitist attitude they all seem to hold so dear. I know I’ve said this before, but every goddam time I pass a few team riders on the road, I say hello and they barely even look at me. What’s up with that?

So again, I’m thinking of starting something, maybe something like the CRCA.

Whatever. It’s a thought that will continue to linger until I do something about it.

Anyway, has anyone signed on for the Montauk Century on May 18th? I registered but only for the 65-mile option. Not much desire to be on my bike for more than five hours on a spring Sunday, but let me know if anyone else is heading out as I’ll be there.

And that’s about it for now, I guess.