Learn some culture, broaden my horizons.
First of all, a rather large shout out and larger thanks to Richard over at Cyclelicio.us for sending me my brain fodder for the night.
He ran a contest over there and lucky moi won!
Winner winner, chicken dinner!
My first internet prize:
I told you a couple of weeks ago, I'd be getting back to Mr. BikeSnob NYC and here it is.
First of all, I don't read his blog. Well, not regularly anyway.
I do visit once in a while, mostly when others link to his posts. Which, come to think of it, hasn't happened in some time. I did happen to catch his first couple of columns in Bicycling until I let my subscription lapse, and of course, I've been reading about his new book.
So I figured that being sort of a BikeSnob virgin, I could do an unbiased book report.
The book is really nice.
Aesthetically I mean.
It's hardbound with thick pages and nice illustrations. It also comes with a set of four stickers that I suppose you could put on your top tube or helmet.
Or something.
The thing is, it's small, smaller than a trade paperback. Like I said though, it is nice.
Okay, the meat and potatoes.
I'm not sure what audience was targeted. It's a good fast read; I never got bored with it.
As someone who cycles, I was somewhat disappointed; his reputation and all that. I mean the guy is sort of known for writing with an edge; this seemed a bit watered down.
If I was just getting into cycling, I would probably have been more amused.
I enjoyed the early part the best. He gives a brief(very) history of the bicycle and traces some of his cycling roots.
Then it breaks down cyclists into sub-groups complete with definitions and tendencies, then it moves on to some other stuff.
No spoilers here.
Overall, a good way to kill a rainy afternoon.
Now, the cycling world has probably exploded with all this Landis stuff.
Even the local sports talk show featured it, tackling the credibility angle.
The whole thing is pretty crazy when you think about it.
Oh and just in case you've just come back from some brevet or something, Floyd Landis came clean and he also named names.
I'll say this: if you wanted to just come clean like he said, he shouldn't have named specific people.
Reeks of sensationalism.
I mean, Lance and Company is already guilty by association. Just by saying it was during his US Postal days, blows this thing up.
Now, I'm not going to get into his credibility and all that. I suppose we'll learn about that over time, just like what happened with Jose Canseco.
What I will say is that his motivations for coming clean, according to him, and the way he did it, implicating others, seems a bit strange.
What now? Will he write a book?
Oh wait, he already did that.
Work on another book ala O.J. and reveal the sordid details?
Seriously, blow a fortune defending yourself, then admit guilt?
I know they did it, I just don't have any proof.
Where have we heard that before?
Does this really help cycling?
Is this big enough to cause sweeping reform or a paradigm shift?
Did he really call his mother?
Who is this dudes manager?
All this is becoming like climbing the same hill over and over again.
It's time to move on.
Wait, what if it's all true?
To tell you the truth, if all the allegations are true, at this point, I really don't care.
What does this all mean in the big picture?
It's cycling!
People riding around on bicycles!
Now if you said some dude with his finger on the button of ten nuclear warheads was dropping acid, I'd sit up and take notice.
Really, just stick an asterisk by Lance's name and just call it the 'doping era.' Baseball is getting over it, cycling should too.
Professional cycling is entertainment.
Clean up pro wresting while you're at it.
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