Oh Yikes - Here we go:

Press Release from PJ Rabice:

On Sunday April 29th Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team member Ivan Basso requested a meeting with General Manager Bill Stapleton and Sports Director Johan Bruyneel. At the meeting Basso asked to be released from his contract, effective immediately, citing personal reasons related to the re-opened investigation by the Italian Olympic Committees (CONI). At the conclusion of the meeting Bruyneel and Stapleton granted the request and have taken the appropriate steps to formally release him from the Team.

“This was a very difficult decision, for me and my family, but I think it is the right thing to do. Johan, Bill and my teammates have always believed in me and shown me great respect. This decision is my way of showing them that same respect,” stated Basso. “The Team is trying to find a new sponsor and win bike races, and my situation is a distraction to both of those goals. It is important that everyone knows this was 100% my decision. Nobody asked me to leave. I am grateful to all of the staff and riders and wish them the best of luck.”

In October 2006, the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) officially shelved the Basso case following a recommendation by CONI. However, early last week CONI re-opened the investigation which dates back to July 2006 when Basso was kept from competing at the Tour de France. Tailwind Sports subsequently asked Basso not to compete until more information was available. Basso is scheduled to appear before the CONI on Wednesday May 2nd.

“Ivan’s request was unexpected and he was very emotional, but adamant, about his decision to be released. We spoke with him at length before granting his request. Although he was only on our Team for a short time he was a great leader and a very well respected and selfless teammate. I, along with the entire Team, wish him the best,” commented Johan Bruyneel.

Team Discovery Channel is without a title sponsor at the end of 2007 and Tailwind Sports General Manager Bill Stapleton is optimistic about the Team’s future even without Basso.

“Ivan was a great addition to our Team and I am very sad to see him go. He was one of our leaders and we expected big things from him this season, however, this Team has 15 wins in 2007 and we have great depth and talent on our roster. We will continue to win and be competitive in all of our races, including the Tour De France,” commented General Manager Bill Stapleton. “When we signed Ivan, all the necessary governing authorities had cleared him. He deserved a Team and we had always wanted to sign him. We did our due diligence and we have no regrets.”

Farewell, Ivan - We hardly knew ya.... My very best wishes for the future and I hope we'll see you on the bike real soon...

OMG! This is outrageous and appalling.. Unbelievable! USADA jumps right into the Chataney-Malabry Cesspool and rolls around in the CYA crap with them.

Press Release from Floyd Fairness Fund today -

USADA ORDERS LNDD TO DENY FLOYD LANDIS’ OBSERVER ACCESS TO “B” SAMPLE RETESTING
Retesting Conducted Without Independent Observer Oversight

New York / Paris, April 23, 2007 – Under the order of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Paul Scott, expert consultant to 2006 Tour de France champion Floyd Landis and observer at the illegal retesting of Landis’ already cleared Tour de France samples, was yesterday denied entry to the Laboratoire National de Dépistage du Dopage (LNDD) at Chatenay-Malabry. As such, the analysis of two samples was conducted without a Landis representative as witness. Such behavior constitutes a clear and direct infringement of Landis’ rights while casting severe doubt on the integrity of an already dubious process.

This latest incident comes on the heels of a week in which Landis’ observers have been repeatedly and improperly restricted from accessing key phases of data processing and analysis while USADA’s expert and lawyer were able to have free lab access and directed the retesting process of LNDD.

Per the pre-arbitration process, there was to be an independent expert appointed by the arbitration panel whose role was to determine if the testing methodologies are flawed and to provide an additional degree of protection for Landis. USADA knowingly directed that the testing begin April 16 despite the fact that no such expert had been named.

According to Scott, LNDD lab director Jacques de Ceaurriz did not allow him to enter the facility Sunday morning. Ceaurriz cited direct orders from USADA to prohibit any further observation of the ongoing retesting.

During the analysis, USADA observers regularly provided specific direction to the LNDD, over-ruling the Landis observers’ objections and conferring with LNDD staff in private during sample processing. Landis and his team find this behavior to be particularly troubling as these deliberate actions confirm their position that the samples have been subject to mishandling, further malfeasance and potential results falsification.

Scott, former director of client services at the UCLA Olympic Laboratory, left UCLA last October and shortly thereafter was added as a consultant to the Landis defense team. Early on, Scott cited the poor handling of Landis’ Stage 17 sample as the primary example of the deep problems in scientific method and fact finding in this case.

Scott said, “In my years at the UCLA lab, I’ve never seen anything like what I experienced at the LNDD yesterday. The limitation placed on me and Simon [Davis – an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry expert also selected by Landis to observe the retesting] demonstrates the lack of objectivity in this process, USADA’s interest in controlling and limiting our observation of the retesting is an example of one of the most egregious problems in the fundamental science of anti-doping that I have experienced.“

Given the indisputable conflicts and documented incompetence at the LNDD, testing Landis’ “B” samples there without witness or Panel appointed independent expert highlights USADA’s out-of-control prosecution. The outrageous and improper limitations placed on Landis’ observers reinforce the injustice inherent to this entire process. This is particularly evident in the case of this unprecedented retesting, where both USADA and the LNDD have a vested interest in colluding to corroborate the flawed results of Landis’ Stage 17 sample.

Scott added, “Good science does not fear being an open book. Any science that is not neutral and objective is not science at all. Labs acting under the direction of prosecuting Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) are, by definition, not independent. As service providers hired by ADOs, they have a vested interest in the results desired by their client. In this case, the client is USADA and the lab is the LNDD. From what I have witnessed so far, I have significant concerns that their analysis will render results that are scientifically invalid.”

By exhausting sample material during the retesting without providing the checks and balances necessary to protect the interests of the athlete, USADA has willfully destroyed evidence that can be used to independently verify whatever results come out of the conflicted LNDD facility.

“This is yet another in a series of malicious actions by USADA that tramples my right to have my case heard in fair and just way,” said Landis. “How can I be expected to prove my innocence while USADA endeavors to break their own rules at every turn? I’m infuriated by the behavior of USADA and the LNDD. Together, they have turned this proceeding into a full-scale attack on my civil rights and a mockery of justice.”
___________________

And, once again, L'Creep's hired hands in the Cesspool have leaked the "news" that Landis' B Samples show synthetic testosterone. Once again, confidentiality is breached, more like raped, and the results leaked. And Pierre Bordry, president of the French anti-doping agency, pretends that he doesn't know what the results are. Please, does he think we are all idiots?

And does USADA think we are all idiots that we can't figure out real quick-like that if somehow the two USADA agents didn't show up for the testing that Paul Scott wouldn't be allowed in? Yes, that was the agreement, that Scott and two USADA agents would observe the B sample testing. So, Oh Gee, What A Surprise... The two USADA henchmen somehow just didn't show up, and the LNDD very smugly refused to allow the Landis expert to observe and witness the "testing"...

My God, what flagrant misconduct that these Anti-Doping Agencies are shoving down our throats. What a total abuse of power and arrogant flicking off the entire cycling world. This is truly the Dark Day in the cycling world, not last July, but today.

Seems like the time has gotten away from me and it has been too long since I’ve blogged. I was working the Sea Otter race for a week. I stayed in a cheap motel in Salinas that promised wifi in every room, but only had connection in their lobby, which they locked at 8 pm. So I hardly got in from the long day at Sea Otter before wifi access was unavailable. So no blogging from there.

That’s not to say that there was no excitement in that motel: One night somebody stole a bunch of bikes from a trailer in the parking lot, and a couple of nights later, as I arrived in the dark from SO, there were two or three cop cars there, busting some guy for something... They arrested him in handcuffs and towed his truck away. Maybe he was the bike thief coming back for more, and they caught the SOB - I hope so.. I never found out what team it was that lost their bikes, but that was a s***ty thing to have happen to them.

So the Tour of Georgia sounds like it is really a fan’s dream this year. And Discovery team’s dream so far, too. And how about Freddy getting the stage win today. How cool is that? He is such a great guy and works so hard for whatever team he is riding for. He is the ultimate domestique, and now he has a great win under his belt. Go Freddy!

I put up about three pages of images in www.velogal.smugmug.com from the Amateur Road Races down in the boonies of Fort Ord. What is left of the beautiful place now that they have sold out to big development, which is putting up (I was told) about 1400 condominiums there. The construction has decimated so much land and trees, which are the homes for so many wild animals. They have put some kind of poison or something on all the trees, which have turned brown, and have bulldozed everything else. It is really sad to see. And of course, when the housing is built, and people have moved in, then all the beautiful wild creatures, who have called this land home for centuries, will become dangerous pests to the human residents, and will be trapped and killed.

As Aldo Leopold said,”What avail are fourty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"

More: “The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. This sounds simple: do we not already sing our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love?

Certainly not the soil, which we are sending helter-skelter downriver. Certainly not the waters, which we assume have no function except to turn turbines, float barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not the plants, of which we exterminate whole communities without batting an eye. Certainly not the animals, of which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most beautiful species. A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these 'resources,' but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at least in spots, their continued existence in a natural state. "
From Aldo Leopold in The Land Ethic

2006 Mens Elite Pro 1/2/Espoirs WinnersFrom left: Eric Wohlberg, Ben Jacques Maynes, Jackson Stewart

Here is the press release that I wrote for the SugarCRM Cat's Hill Classic.

April 6, 2007 - Los Gatos, California

The Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club is happy to welcome SugarCRM as the Title Sponsor for the 2007 SugarCRM Cat’s Hill Classic bicycle race. SugarCRM is the world's leading provider of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software for companies of all sizes. SugarCRM, www.sugarcrm.com, offers several deployment options, including on-demand, on-premise and appliance-based solutions to suit customers' security, integration and configuration needs.

SugarCRM Cat’s Hill Classic bicycle race will be held on Saturday, May 5, 2007. This annual race in beautiful Los Gatos, California, is legendary for the brutal climb up Nicholson Avenue. The Pro/1/2/U23 race will start at 12:45 pm this year, racing the demanding one-mile course, climbing the merciless Cat’s Hill for one and a half hours. The Women’s 1/2/3 category will start at 2:20 pm, challenging the Cat’s Hill for an hour of lung-searing laps. The 23% grade of Cat’s Hill is daunting to elite riders as well as amateurs.

The Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club, named the number one amateur cycling club in the USA, has presented the Cat's Hill Classic bicycle race continuously since 1974. The SugarCRM Cat's Hill Classic, totally a volunteer project of the Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club, is one of the oldest grass roots cycling races in the US.

SugarCRM Cat’s Hill Classic is for children, too. The Kid’s Fun Race will be divided into two age groups: Ages 6 and younger, and Ages 7 through 9 years. The kids will get the thrill of crossing the Official Finish Line on Tait and Nicholson Avenues, with applause and official race announcements. All participants will receive first place “gold” medals in this fun race. Registration for the Kid’s Race is from 8:30 am to 12:00 Noon. Parents will register their children at the Registration Area behind the Announcer’s Stand at the Start/Finish Line on the corner of Tait and Nicholson Avenues. Registration is free and kids will receive a race number. Parents must sign a liability waiver.

Go Green for 2007 and ride your bike to the race. The Cat’s Hill Classic committee has arranged for the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition to provide free, secure bicycle parking, located at the corner of Tait and Bachmann Avenues. The SVBC, www.svbcbikes.org, provides secure bike parking for many local events in the South Bay Area.

The Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club has selected the Alex Smith Foundation and the Los Gatos Skateboard Park as the designated charities for 2007. The Alex Smith Foundation was established by Los Gatos resident and 49er quarterback Alex Smith to help foster care youth transition into adulthood. The Alex Smith Foundation will concentrate on developing and promoting programs in six basic areas: Mentoring, Education, Housing, Internships, Jobs and Advocacy. The Los Gatos Skatepark is a combined effort of the Los Gatos Fundraising Committee, Town of Los Gatos, City of Monte Sereno and those living, working and owning businesses within these communities. Their common goal is to provide a safe, easily accessible skateboarding facility for the youth of these communities.

The SugarCRM Cat's Hill Classic is held under USA Cycling (USAC) permit 2007-696, and is part of the prestigious Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Race Series (LAJORS), the Northern California Nevada Cycling Association (NCNCA) Premier Series and the NCNCA Junior Point Series.

For all registration information, race information and directions, please visit the race website at www.catshill.org.

And..... Want to help with the SugarCRM Cat's Hill Classic? We invite you to use our signup system on www.lgbrc.org. You may help by signing up for jobs such as Course Marshal, Photographer, or even working at the Start/Finish line! We hope to see you there, joining our volunteer team. Thanks very much from all members of the Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club.

Finally, it seems that somebody is willing to take action about the "leaks" that consistently make the first headlines in L'Creep. Here's an article from The Age in Melbourne, Australia:

Investigator to Search for Thorpe Leak
April 2, 2007 - 8:49PM

The hunt for who leaked Ian Thorpe's doping test result is set to intensify with the sport's governing body to hire an investigator and Australia's swimming chief pointing the finger at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
As Grant Hackett and Libby Lenton expressed both their support and sympathy for Thorpe's plight, Swimming Australia chief executive Glenn Tasker left no doubt as to who he believed leaked the former swimmer's confidential test to French newspaper L'Equipe.
"I certainly do believe that something has happened in Europe, where as soon as the information was sent to CAS, that seems to be where the leak has occurred," Tasker told the Nine Network.
He later backed up his claim by telling reporters: "CAS is based in Europe, L'Equipe is based in Paris.
"Maybe it is a long bow, but it just seems to me that if one journalist releases a story about (cyclist) Lance Armstrong, then a similar story about Ian Thorpe ...
"He wouldn't have got the Lance Armstrong story from ASADA (the Australian Sport Anti-Doping Authority), he wouldn't have gotten the Lance Armstrong story from (world swimming governing body) FINA. I hope I haven't said anything bad there."
Tasker said FINA would soon hire an investigator to track down the leak, but added there was little chance it would have originated from ASADA.
"There was an issue last year with the AFL, and ASADA had a complete review of all of their processes and systems then, and they were found to be absolutely watertight, so I don't think it was ASADA at all," said Tasker.
Thorpe has vowed to track down and possibly prosecute the person or organisation that leaked his adverse analytical finding in a doping test
L'Equipe broke the story at the weekend, reporting a urine sample Thorpe had given last May had returned unusual levels of testosterone and luteinizing hormone (LH).
The adverse analytical finding to the naturally-produced substances does not constitute a positive test but swimming's world governing body FINA has sought clarification of it through CAS.
Tasker said he was concerned by the time it took for ASADA to proceed with the case, and has urged FINA, ASADA and CAS to clear up the matter as soon as possible.
"They really need to put this to bed as soon as possible. We will be basically having weekly contact with ASADA and FINA to encourage them to do that."
Olympic champion Hackett expressed sorrow Thorpe's reputation had been tarnished.
"I think any sort of allegations or speculation are untrue and pretty much unfair," Hackett said.
"We're certainly all on his side and we obviously want to see him cleared.
"I just feel sorry for the guy that he needs to go through this process after such a stellar career."
Lenton, who had to endure speculation about her own performances and impressive physique last year, agreed.
"I think it's not a very nice thing to go through," said Lenton, who pocketed five gold medals at the World Championships in Melbourne.
"It's an unnecessary cloud that's hanging over his head ... for no real reason at all.
"We obviously support him and believe in him, and hope that everything is cleared and everyone can move on.
"I don't think the general public buys into things that are said by certain media. I think everyone believes in him, and he's one of the greatest swimmers of all time."
© 2007 AAP

That ugly SOB, Cancer, grabs the headlines again. When will we see the headlines saying that cancer is conquered? We all have to join the team to defeat cancer. Now...

From PR Newswire:
In the April 9 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, April 2): "How I Live With Cancer." Senior Editor Jonathan Alter writes an essay about his fight against lymphoma, in remission today, three years after the diagnosis. Also, Alter talks to Elizabeth Edwards about what's ahead for her. Plus: a report from the front in Iraq; the women of Israel pose for Maxim; the God debate; how talking about finances can save a marriage and Boomers and their cars.

NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES 04/01/2007

Elizabeth Edwards Says She's Not Praying for God to Save Her; 'God will
enlighten me when the time comes'; Her View is Now of a God who Promises
Salvation, not Protection
Alter Writes on His Own Battle with Lymphoma; the Candor of Edwards and
Tony Snow 'has helped stimulate a useful national conversation about how
people handle a cancer diagnosis'
Lance Armstrong: We Need to Widely Distribute Information About Cancer
Prevention and Detection

NEW YORK, April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Elizabeth Edwards tells Newsweek that
she's not praying for God to save her from cancer. "I'm not. God will
enlighten me when the time comes. And if I've done the right thing, I will
be enlightened. And if I believe, I'll be saved. And that's all he promises
me." Edwards talks to Senior Editor Jonathan Alter in an interview in the
April 9 Newsweek cover package, "How I Live with Cancer," (on newsstands
Monday, April 2). Alter wrote the cover essay about his own battle with
lymphoma.

Alter asks Edwards about her keeping God out of the public discussion
of her recurrence of cancer. She says she has a different view of God after
her 16-year-old son Wade's death 11 years ago in a car accident. "I had to
think about a God who would not save my son," says Edwards, who describes
Wade as someone who would reach out to people who were misfits and outcasts
all the time. "You'd think that if God was going to protect somebody, he'd
protect that boy. But not only did he not protect him, the wind blew him
from the road. The hand of God blew him from the road. So I had to think,
'What kind of God do I have that doesn't intervene -- in fact, may even
participate -- in the death of this good boy?' I talk about it in [her book
'Saving Graces'], that I had to accept that my God was a God who promised
enlightenment and salvation. And that's all. Didn't promise us protection.
I've had to come to grips with a God that fits my own experience, which is,
my God could not be offering protection and not have protected my boy."
She also tells Alter of their plans for their two young children as
John Edwards's campaign begins. "I think we've pretty much settled on what
it is we're going to do. I think the children will finish out the school
year and then, in the fall, they'll travel with us. We will home-school
them. We'll employ a tutor to travel with us to help teach them. I hope it
will be an extraordinary experience for them."
In the cover essay by Alter, he writes that he found out about his
cancer three years ago, and, at that time, he was writing about the end of
John Edwards's presidential campaign. "Three years later, I'm in remission
and, strangely enough, thinking once more about the future of Edwards and
his family. Like the 10.5 million other cancer survivors in the United
States, I experienced a bit of extra stress last week. When Elizabeth
Edwards's breast cancer recurred in her bones and Tony Snow's colon cancer
recurred in his liver, the cold fear that many of us live with everyday
crept a little closer. The good news is that the candor of Edwards and Snow
(who is recuperating from surgery but has been open about his situation
from his perch as White House press secretary) has helped stimulate a
useful national conversation about how people handle a cancer diagnosis. It
has also exposed the foolishness of a few busybodies who don't have cancer,
but feel free to judge the complex choices made by those who do."
Alter writes about fighting the lymphoma, how he lives with cancer and
with the constant threat that it will return. He writes that his story
isn't typical, because none is. "Every patient reacts a little differently,
both biologically and psychologically. The only constant in cancer is
inconstancy; the only certainty is a future of uncertainty, a truism for
all of modern life but one made vivid by life-threatening illness."
Also in the cover package:

-- Lance Armstrong writes an essay about the fight for a cure for cancer.
"Trust me when I say that I'm not complaining about the attention
cancer is finally getting in the media. But I don't understand why it
requires two very upsetting announcements about cancer recurrence to
prompt a national discussion about our nation's second leading killer."
He writes that the repeated use of the word "incurable" in news reports
about Elizabeth Edwards says "something alarming about the complacency
that leads us to just expect another diagnosis with another new day.
It's clear that the way we battle cancer is deeply at odds with our
values as a country, and with our common sense ... The shameful
reality is that we do not ensure that everyone benefits from what we
know today about cancer prevention and detection." He writes, "We can
prevent about one third of cancer deaths just by widely distributing
information about prevention and early detection -- but we aren't doing
it ... We need an unapologetic effort to demand what is right and
champion what works."

-- Political Correspondent Jonathan Darman reports from the John Edwards
campaign. In the two weeks since the Edwardses learned that Elizabeth's
breast cancer has returned and is incurable, the couple has seen an
outpouring of support, including a call from George H.W. Bush, who
suggested a specialist at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. "When
I walk down the street I can't move," John tells Newsweek. "People stop
me: 'How's Elizabeth? We're thinking about her'." The couple faces some
tough choices about how to balance private and public responsibilities,
most notably what to do about their two small children and keeping
Elizabeth healthy on the campaign trail.

Read entire cover package at http://www.Newsweek.com