HA! I’m on to you, Lance Armstrong...don’t try to fool me.... Now that I hear you are a Cyber Criminal (hmm - not sure when you found the time to become a programming expert). But, never-the-mind, logic or rational thinking do not apply anymore in the headlines. So now I know who is responsible for few things that have happened to me lately. OK. I’ll just name them, I’m not afraid...

Come on, Lance - ‘Fess up. My battery died in my Polar Heart Rate Monitor - couldn’t figure out why it went so soon, but now I get it. It’s Lance, the Polar Criminal. No doubt about it - if I asked Betsy, I bet she’d agree. And, My Man, what about the problem with my Dish TV that mysteriously went blooie during my fave Nip Tuck? Well now, Lance the Dish Criminal, I’m on to you.

AHA - I just remembered that a couple of months ago, very mysteriously, the batteries in both my car and my old beater truck went dead.... You know, I thought something was very fishy about that. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Nope, it was Lance Armstrong, that tricky old Battery Criminal. And.... what about the flat I had on my Trek bike? What about, it Lance? Are you sabotaging your sponsor’s product that I am riding on? Giving me a flat tire, huh? Lance, you Flat Tire Criminal, you....

Whoah! I’m really gonna get you in trouble with your old bosses, Lance. A letter came in the mail to me last week. It had been opened! So you think that you can get away with opening my mail here in San Jose, CA, do you? Just because you were Numero Uno with USPS, don’t think I won’t report you... Lance Armstrong, the Letter-Addressed-to-Somebody-Else-Opener, Fake-USPS-Mailman. I’m gonna ask for an investigation....

And what about all the Mailer Daemon Undeliverable Mail that I’ve been getting by the dozens because some a#%& spammer is using my podiumgirlgonebad.com as a return address. Well, Lance Armstrong, I never thought you would stoop so low as to become a spammer... Lance Armstrong, the Podium Girl Gone Bad Spammer Criminal.

Know, what Lance? I’m gonna sit down and think about anything else that has happened to me lately. Anything that is so absolutely ridiculous, ludicrous, preposterous, stupid, asinine and totally impossible that I could accuse you of doing. Who knows what I will figure out next that you’ve done to me? You just better hope that I don’t turn up pregnant, Lance Armstrong.....

Early this morning, my Belgian connection gave me the news that Isaac Galvez was just killed during the Six Days of Ghent - how horrible and tragic. Sounds like he collided with another rider and flew into the rail, with full impact on his chest, and died on the way to the hospital. Fans in the stadium and race organizers are devastated. The race was cancelled.

I wonder if people in general, and even cycling fans, fully realize that every rider daily faces the danger of disabling injuries or death. We think of danger when we see a pro rider descending a tricky and dangerous road during the Tour, but the reality is that they daily ride with danger and train with danger on their heels. Who would think that Death would do the Madison at the Ghent Six Day? Condolences to the new bride, family, friends and teammates of Isaac Galvez...

And speaking of sad stories, here, in the Link below, is a follow-up on the suicide of Floyd Landis’ father-in-law. What we cycling fans saw were the headlines from the slime squads, hinting at a connection between Floyd’s Tour de France results and David Witt’s heart-breaking suicide. Which. of course, is nonsense... But this story in the San Diego Tribune tells about the sad and courageous efforts by Rose Witt and the staff at David’s restaurant to keep on keepin’ on, when their devastation from the loss is almost insurmountable.

It sounds like David was struggling with depression, concealing the signs so well that his family and friends only, in retrospect, saw them. Depression is an insidious disease that so many thousands of people are suffering with, and unfortunately, still has a stigma of mental illness that prevents people from seeking help. In fact, depression is a biological, chemical illness that can be from situational or genetic origins. Depression can be treated by your physician just the same as if you had diabetes, or high blood pressure or migraines.

If any of the symptoms in the story about David Witt seem like they are what you are experiencing and feeling, call your doc and get some help that will get you back into life... If not for yourself, do it for your family and friends.

I finally got the time this morning to take a long look at Dr. Arnie Baker’s slide show presentation at El Tour de Tucson. Click on the Link below or go to www.arniebakercycling.com. This presentation is not only a voice of sanity and scientific examination, but is a stunning, scientific revelation of the crap that emerged from the Chatenay-Malabry cesspool during the 2006 Tour de France - about the Floyd Landis case. It’s 44 PDF pages long, and you need to read each page.

The obvious errors are appalling and disgusting. In one page of the testing results, Floyd’s barcode number isn’t even listed, but the results are attributed to him. In another, the original number is whited-out and re-written to be his barcode number. On another page, two tests of the same urine sample showed a 300% difference in results. The errors go on and on. There isn’t “one small administrative error” - Oh No, M’sieu - the whole thing is full of errors and screw-ups.

Violations of WADA rules and protocols are norm, not the exception, in Floyd’s testing process. Clearly, WADA should sanction and jerk the license of this dishonest cesspool lab. Erik Zabel was right, heads should roll....

No wonder the French are freaking out about the hacking - all their dirty secrets and cover-ups could be exposed. More power to the whistleblowers and hackers, as far as I’m concerned. This dirty, iron-clad cloak of secrecy has to be penetrated, in spite of Dick Pound and WADA being in bed with the ASO organization, including L’Creep.

I urge you to take the time to read the entire forty-four pages of Arnie Baker’s presentation. I don’t see how any American cycling organization could even think of sanctioning Floyd Landis if they carefully read just this part of Floyd’s defense. Floyd should never have been put through all this muck and mire - this is an absolute disgrace and shame for WADA and Chatenay-Malabry.

At the end of the slide show are email addresses for important participants, from USADA to LNDD (the cesspool lab) and Arnie Baker. Use your power and speak out for Floyd Landis.

Here’s the latest press release from PJ Rabice about the hiring of Ivan Basso and DNA testing:

DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM AND BASSO CONFIRM AGREEMENT FOR DNA TESTING

Discovery Channel and Ivan Basso confirmed today that under the terms of their contract, the Italian rider has agreed to provide a DNA sample if this is requested in a national judicial or disciplinary investigation.

“There has never been a DNA issue,” Johan Bruyneel said. “Ivan agreed through his lawyer even before we signed to give a sample. He just wanted to make sure that the guarantees provided by the law would be respected.”

Bruyneel said parts of the Code of Conduct hastily adopted by the teams should be reviewed.

“We believe that even an athlete is innocent until proven guilty. A French prosecutor announced an investigation of Lance Armstrong in January 2005. Just this month, 22 months later, he announced that he was dropping the case. Under the Code of Conduct, would we have had to sideline Lance from the 2005 Tour?” the Discovery Channel team director said.

The Code of Conduct provides among other things that teams will not allow any rider to compete if there is any disciplinary or criminal proceeding pending, even though no guilty verdict has been reached. The Code also requires any rider who is found guilty to be excluded from racing for four years after the guilty verdict, even if the official suspension is for shorter period.

“The Code of Conduct creates some issues that we will have to work together to resolve,” Bruyneel said.


Yes, Johan, somebody sure needs to speak out about that insane agreement that prevents riders from competing if some assinine allegations surface anywhere in the world, setting the media frenzy in motion. I can't believe that the team managers ever agreed to this "Code of Conduct", with no protection whatsoever for their riders.

What a Crock... Here is an article from the Guardian Unlimited, where the French Minister of Sports speaks about the Floyd Landis testing "typo": "When such a mistake is made, everything is governed by transparency and all the parties involved are immediately notified."

Really? Governed by transparency? Does he really believe that crap, or expect us to believe it? I am so laughing about this statement, but it really isn't funny. It clearly tells us what the official position is going to be, and cleaning up this cesspool is an almost impossible task...

I don't recall reading anywhere that Floyd Landis was notified about any mistake in his testing paperwork.. If not, then either the Chatenay-Malabry cesspool grossly violated their protocol, or the French Minister is doing the usual CYA bullcrap....

From the Guardian Unlimited:
French minister defends lab in Landis case
By Chrystel Boulet
PARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - French Sports minister Jean-Francois Lamour has defended the country's anti-doping laboratory which has come under fire after admitting it made a typing error on the report on Tour de France winner Floyd Landis.
"The laboratory of Chatenay-Malabry remains one of the most efficient. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regularly sends blind tests to other laboratories to monitor the quality of the job done here," Lamour told Reuters on Thursday.
Lamour said the administrative error on Landis's case was a minor one.
"It was only a typing error made in the analysis report. Two figures were transposed.
"When such a mistake is made, everything is governed by transparency and all the parties involved are immediately notified."
Landis's spokesman said on Wednesday that the error, reported in French daily Le Monde, had boosted the American's claims of innocence.
Landis is fighting to clear his name after tests on his two samples showed he had elevated levels of testosterone in his system when he won the Tour in July.
He will make his case at a hearing by the American Arbitration Association early next year. The rider will be stripped of the Tour title if the loses his appeal.
Lamour said police had been asked to investigate after hackers broke into the computer system of the laboratory, on the outskirts of Paris.
He told Reuters: "We must remain calm and keep our feet on the ground. The hacking is regrettable but it's one of those things that occur when you've got a difficult fight on your hands."
Landis's coach Arnie Baker is due to make a presentation about the latest aspects of the case in Tucson on Friday.

Teeny, tiny typo in zee cesspool - zat is all. Ce n'est pas important. Oh, Mon Dieu, Now I know - It must have been an associate of Floyd Landis who did that bad typing thing - Or maybe it was Lance sneaking in there, trying to make us look bad... But - Not Us.... Oh No - Non - We do not make mistakes. Dick Pound, and zee ASO, and zee other officials have zee utmost confidence in our lab results...

So the computers at the Châtenay-Malabry have been hacked, and before we can blink an eye. L’Creep trumpets that it was done by a “person with close ties to Floyd Landis”. Here is the quote from cyclingnews.com, “ According to L'Equipe, a person with close ties to Floyd Landis has been identified as the author of the e-mails by French investigators.”. L’Creep has an uncanny way of knowing all the inside information at the Cesspool and the inside information from French investigators, it seems.

Sounds to me like further attempts to trash Floyd, and to CYA at the Cesspool. Maybe the officials have finally made it to the end of all of Dr. Arnie Baker’s documentation of the screw-ups at the cesspool, and see how bad the cesspool lab looks..

If you are around the Tucson area, here is a posting from Floyd’s blog about an event where you can see for yourself what the real facts are in the “doping” case. And be sure to catch El Tour de Tucson on Friday... Maybe you will see Floyd there. Sure wish I could be hanging out in Tucson.

Arnie Baker, M.D., will be at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZ on November 17 at 5:30 p.m. to present an updated version of the Floyd Landis slide show. Now with additional scientific arguments supporting Landis’ innocence against allegations of doping in the 2006 Tour de France, the presentation will take place on the eve of the 16th El Tour de Tucson, a 112-mile fundraising bicycle ride. The ride attracts approximately 5000 participants annually. Dr. Baker and Floyd participated in 1997, finishing first in the All Male Tandem class with a course record time of 4h12m. For more info on El Tour de Tucson, please visit: http://www.pbaa.com/Home.html. .

Hmmm - Can't remember exactly where I took this shot in France a few years ago - maybe it's the headquarters at the Châtenay-Malabry cesspool...

Click on the Link below to read Graham Watson's comments on The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team and their new star, Ivan Basso. Graham says, " The announcement that Ivan Basso has signed for the Discovery Channel team for 2007 is one of the most exciting developments to hit the headlines since many a year, and is perhaps the most positive news this sport could have hoped for in these troubled times." Graham has the very first images of Ivan Basso in a Discover Channel Pro Cycling Team kit.... He looks damn good in it... Lean and Mean...

The furious DNA sample debate and the hiring of Ivan Basso by the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team are inciting and exciting all the bloggers, posters and letter-writers, as well as the media. Everybody has a definite opinion and, of course, they are Right. Just ask them...

Maybe I have a little different take on this, but I am offering my thoughts - right or wrong - it’s all a matter of opinion. I am thinking of all professional cyclists on the UCI or Pro Tour teams, or teams anywhere that are hired, work for a salary, and have contracts. These people, these riders - women and men - are Employees. Right? They work for a company, a business organization, and for sponsors. Right?

So, tell me, how many companies here in the US could get away with requiring all their Employees to give blood samples for DNA testing and to keep for future use? How about in Great Britain, or Italy, Spain, Belgium or France - shall I go on listing countries where employees have acknowledged rights?

Can you imagine what Hell would break loose if General Motors, or Bristol-Meyers Squibb, or Yahoo, or Ebay, or Citigroup, or Hewlett-Packard, or Verizon - or name any of the Fortune 500 companies, (or any company big or small) would make an agreement between themselves that, as a condition of employment, they would require blood samples from each employee to use as they see fit at some future time?

Or what if the big unions in this country with members who are teachers, teamsters, farm workers, retail clerks, television and radio artists, health workers, journalists, AFL-CIO - the list is humongous - would all agree that, as a condition of membership, their members would be required to submit blood samples for future use?

Can you imagine the uproar in the media about human rights and worker’s rights? The American Civil Liberties Union would be deluged with calls - there would be strikes and work stoppages, marches in the streets, and lawsuits up the ying-yang. Elected officials would jump into the fray to speak out for our rights and the press would have a hey-day. It would make Watergate and Enron look wimpy...

Every damn one if us would be absolutely outraged and absolutely refuse to give blood samples for DNA testing and storage. Yeah, I know that companies can require drug testing, and you pee in a bottle. Required blood drawals and blood storage is quite another thing. Hell No, we wouldn’t buy that for a moment. Who, in their right mind, would obediently line up and stick out their arm? Would you? I sure as Hell would not...

So why is it different with riders on Pro Cycling teams? Why should those guys line up and give their blood to “prove that they are innocent” from current or future gossip, rumors and allegations? What a bunch of crap that is! Number One to be required to give blood, and Number Two to prove that you are innocent. And what a bunch of crap to then assume that a rider is guilty because he refuses a DNA test...

Don’t these professional cyclists (human beings) have the same human rights as the rest of us? If some rumor goes around your office, how do you prove that you are innocent? Should you be required to do that as a condition of staying employed or being hired? Should you be required to give a blood sample?

Yeah, I read all the comments from team managers who are so upset and pissed-off that Ivan Basso got hired by Discovery Channel without giving a blood sample to prove that he is innocent. Might I be so bitchy as to suspect that these same team managers are really pissed-off that they didn’t have the euros or the balls to hire Ivan Basso themselves? All those team managers who are now seeing their chance for the top spot on the podium go down the drain with the Basso/Discovery powerhouse in the line-up.

You know what I say to all of them? Quitcherbitchin, shut up and ride....

Welcome Ivan Basso to the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team! The official announcement should come out later today, but Lance has confirmed that it is a done deal. Tour de France 2007 - here we come!

Here’s some good news for all you track riders and fans. And some good things, like this, are happening in the cycling world. Let’s all get behind and support the good stuff, OK? Just received this press release from Pro Cycling Tour Communications

INDOOR VELODROME TO BE BUILT NEAR PHILADELPHIA

EAGLEVILLE, PA November 2, 2006: Lower Providence Township Manager, Joseph C. Dunbar, along with investors and project developers, announced today that the first indoor velodrome and events center on the East Coast will be located on a 14 acre site not far from Valley Forge National Park just outside of Philadelphia.

The 2,500 seat arena and world class velodrome will be capable of hosting high level national and international competition and will provide a much needed year round facility for training and development of American cyclists. Although the velodrome and comprehensive cycling program will anchor the facility, the building will be designed for multi-use including expanded seating capacity to over 4,000 for concerts, other sporting events and community activities. Initial plans also call for connecting the velodrome, via bike path, to the widely used Schuylkill River and Perkiomen bicycle trails.

“Cycling is a great lifetime sport that promotes health, fitness and family recreation,” Dunbar said. “The Velodrome and related facilities will be the perfect recreational and entertainment addition to our area and will ensure that Lower Providence Township is in the forefront of bringing unique and exciting events to our township and the surrounding Delaware Valley.”

Jack Simes and his company, Veloplex Arenas, will be engaged to help plan and construct the facility, anticipated to feature a 250 meter board track designed and built by Peter Junek of Canada. Simes, a three-time Olympian and Olympic Team coach, will also work closely with VMG to create an innovative racing format with unique spectator appeal.

Image is one that I took at Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose, CA during the World Deaf Cycling Chapionships earlier this fall.