Over on Gwadzilla (http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com), my friend Joel makes an interesting comparison: that, because of his doping, Michael Rasmussen is sort of like Keith Richards, but not (different kind of dope, you see...).  

I wonder what Keef thinks about all this...

At any rate, here's what Comrade Peanut thinks:

But wait, there's more:  Someone else in the pro peloton has something in common with Keith Richards.  Alexandre Vinokourov and Keith Richards have both had blood transfusions (again, a different kind of dope, but still...).

Comrade Peanut will now change the channel.

---posted by josh

just got a series of message from sim over in the south of france.  he just got a cushy gig covering a series of races including flanders.  he sent along some nice pictures showing some of the details of the race.  the text is from his emails...

cobbles: "And here's one for the fine people of DC.  If my memory serves me right, people are often complaining about pot-holes in DC and about the state of VA roads.... "

museeuw's super pimp'd ride: You thought Museuw had horse power?  Sure he did... and still does!  Check "da-man's" sweet, fuel guzzling, non-ecological Audi beast...Shuv that in your Eco-friendly pipe and smoke it.  No doubt about it, this one is on steroids...No need for a license plate on this bad boy... if you can't figure out who's car it is... well.... enough said.

and finally, a cake celebrating the event.  i broke out some shots detailing the details.

this one isfor rudy vercaine, the last flandrian in virginia.  when your country has an equally solid traditionat cycling and at sweets, well, you've got to roll hard.  and these guys roll hard.

and once you're done with the cakes, the kids can take the decorations and have little pretend races.  what's not to like.  i declare this union approved.

you can email sim here and reach him on the web through his workplace here.

- - - posted by scott

it's a sad day for the return of the union book club.  i had hoped to offer inspiraiton for the masses.  for those who chafe at the yoke of imperialist corporate oppression, a literary balm; for those who thirst for deeper knowledge of the revolution, a heady draught; and for those who yearn to further the union message, a constant companion and source of solace.

regrettably, i have found the opposite.  rather than an uplifting message for young cyclists, i have uncovered a conspiracy.  i can say with absolute conviction that up until yesterday, book burnings had seemed laughably stupid to me.  no longer.  the book being reviewed today is a purported children's book called messenger messenger by robert burleigh with illustrations by barry root.  it is subversive, and a clear violation of racing union thought.

this book appears to defy simple analysis.  it also appears to defy complex analysis.  i attempted to take a cue from roland barthes, and used the tools of structuralist poetics and literary deconstructionism, but found myself no closer to a breakthrough.  it's just not clear what message this treatise seeks to pass along to our youth on bikes.  because i am so unclear on where this book is going, i have attempted a sort of photo essay, in which i document the experience of reading it and the reactions of the union's young pioneers who have perused it as well. 

in the following picture, it's not clear if calvin is cold as in frigid or cold as in "stone cold freak".  i'm not down with the hipsters and their modern urban patois so i think i miss a lot.  even my five year old son thought he was smoking.  and what's with the beirut/haifa street landscape he's riding through.  it's surreal.  he's biking through a war zone with smoke coming out of his mouth.

lest you think the sketchy landscapes will give way to safer suburbs or the relative security of the big city, think again.  apparently a good part of messenger man's job is floating around exceedingly flaky locales and making pick ups and deliveries of non-descript materials.

but messenger man can't do it on angst or urbane cool alone.  no, he needs fuel.  my son took one look at this photograph and asked me if i rode my bike like this, with no hands, eating and drinking, with cars very close by.  i was dumbfounded.  you sort of have to wonder if the guy who drew this picture even knows what riding a bike in traffic is like.  there may be people stupid enough to try to pull this off, but i've never seen them.

if there's any upside, it's that he wears a helmet.  and though this is a positive, like so much else, it just seems to show how out of touch with bike couriers the illustrator is.  we all know that the cool couriers don't wear helmets.  and what's up with the circa-1976,white formula one car in the background?  this is simply a myserty wrapped in a puzzle shrouded by an enigma.

the sole member of the racing union's young pioneers who this was beta tested on seemed to take a shine to it, though he admitted to a considerable amount of confusion regarding the images and text.

attempts to debrief this child were made.  when this didn't go well, attepts to deprogram him from the hipster chic and surrealist guidance that the book contained were redoubled.  appropriate literature was substituted...

but was met with loud denunciations and threats of physical abuse.

so in closing, this book gets no hammers and sickles: the default rating system of the racing union book club.  oh, and formal orders have just been promulgated that...er...um....karl marx has been removed from the racing union young pioneer's official summer reading list and has been replaced with a 24 page glossy stock book called "ultimate nascar", a book about pirates and a book about a robot who is taught to swing on vines by monkeys.  this decision is, apparently, rather set in stone so appropriate orders to local community bookstores should be placed immediately by parents of young pioneers who serve in the vanguard of the revolution.  that is all.

-dear leader

word is rippling out that a certain local administrative affiliate of the national sanctioning body of cycling has gone and found itself a webmaster.  if you close your eyes, you can probably picture the scene that precipitated this.  sitting around some gigantic table in deeply cushioned chairs, they enjoy canapes and brandys.  their normal expressions; the wry and cynical smile that only comes from the smug and wealthy, the blankness that comes from detachment, the carelessness and inattentiveness of the unaccountable, it has now somehow twisted itself into discomfort.  well, as much discomfort as can possibly be expressed by these people.  "THERE'S A REVOLUTION AFOOT" they bellow.

while they sat around on huge piles of cash, the cyclists and citizens oppressed by their brutal yoke have tired of their servitude.  they have organized and rallied around the great and glorious cause.  they have been encouraging people to ride and then to race.  this movement, from the ground up, threatens the very basis for organized cycling.  will the gravy train run off the rails?  they hope the answer is no, but brothers and sisters, citizens and cyclists, we know better.

this is a last desperate measure on their part.  they are attemtping to develop a communications operation like ours but it won't work: a day late and a ruble short.  their days of reclining while casually indulging in the finer things and tossing bon mots back and forth are over. 

the revoluton has arrived.

the supreme revolutionary council for propogation of message has prepared some new graphics to help you better understand the important differences between how mabra continues to treat racers like serfs on their land versus how the racing union seeks to liberate bicycle racing and bicycle riders.

racing union!!  boldest and brightest.  beacon to all who labor on two wheels.  the banner which all cyclists and citizens rally.  hope for all those who ride, inspiration for those who seek an end to the dominance of the four wheeled hegemon.  union!!  da!!

mabra.  unaccountable tyranny, organizational despot, bitter oligarch, wringing the last few rubles from our pockets in a joyless and mechanical fashion.  an organization that now pretends at supporting the cyclists and seeks to provide a messenging platform.  clutching to it's own pretensions it's sense of self importance, the myth it has created of it's own relevence, but ultimately doomed to the dustbins of cycling history.

the time is now.  citizens and cyclists, heed the word.  rally to the banner.  union!  da!  union!  da!

sort of close, and then in the end, not really so much.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/?id=2006/woodland_sponsors

amateur athletics does not benefit from the dumptruck loads of cash that are poured into it each year. 

rediscover what amateur cycling is all about.

it starts here.

- - - posted by scott (link from mike)

garner points out that corporations are dropping sponsorship to usa cycling.

One of the tangible benefits of being a USA Cycling member has been United Airline's voucher exempting members from paying extra to fly with their bikes - saving US$80 in baggage charges each way. However, that benefit will not be renewed as United ends its sponsorships of individual sports.

"United decided to discontinue all of their sponsorships of national governing bodies, so it's across the board, not just with USA Cycling," USA Cycling's Andy Lee told Cyclingnews. "They will still be associated [with the] US Olympic Committee - they were a partner with us for sixteen years which was pretty amazing."

 

The loss of the voucher programme will undoubtedly affect those members who normally count on the savings, but Lee says USAC is looking at similar sponsorships for the future; "That is our goal right now. We know there are members who would pay a little more to fly on United in order to save money on their bike. We are starting to research some other companies that can step in and fulfill that role. The United deal and voucher deal was very valuable to our members, but that was only beneficial to members who travelled and lived in markets served by United. Now we can go out and try to find a sponsorships that could benefit a larger number."

 

United Airlines did not return requests for comment.

this post goes out to all the haters.  you simply would not believe the amount of venemous mail we receive here at central receiving under the plaza de la revolucion.  some people try to emulate our smooth rhetorical style.  others try, but inevitably fail, to achieve the incredibly high levels of truthiness we bring to the table.  but most just take an anemic stab at it; calling us names or saying ridiculous things.  it's really pretty pathetic.  if it were amusing, it would bring us joy, but it's generally just grumpy. 

today, i ran into something that is not bicycle related but which did amuse me.  i wish more of our hate mail was like this.  that would please me.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/editorial/15986574.htm

I believe that this is what passes for a quality argument amongst the "other" side.  this thing is literally a minefield of fallacies, of every shape and sort.  non sequitur?  check.  straw man?  check.  red herring?  check.  fallacy of many questions?  heck, the whole thing constitutes an emphatic yes. 

in many posts, i try to describe something by presenting a dichotomy between them and us, or how we view the world and how they view the world.  this is what we're up against.  literally.  i was riding my bike to work a few days ago.  i was as far to the right as practicable and not impeding traffic from what i could tell.  a car pulled up slowly, rolled down it's window, and we had the following dialouge.

driver: "it's not safe for you to be on this road."

me: "it's only unsafe if someone makes it unsafe."

driver: "you should really be on the sidewalk"

me: "it's actually against the law for me to ride my bike on the sidewalk"

<pause>

driver: "get your %#$&ing bike off the %#$*^&* road."

me: <silence>

now, dear reader, you may wonder why i bring this up.  i see this as a rare glimse into the real thoughts behind the driver.  they were sort of forcing this nice facade and a veneer of caring.  the whole "it would be safer for you to be off the road" is a ruse.  you are in their way.  and they want you to know it.  they try to tell you politely, but that will only last so long.

to tie the whole post togethger, i am beginning to wonder if we are being too subtle and polite to get our point across.  we have tried to take the high road, but it's like yelling at a wall.  maybe it's time to lift the rhetoric a bit.  in the next post, a description of the surreal encounter i had yesterday of how cyclign fits into the "system".

-sg