been thinking

after reading a fellow grassroots racer's post on this whole thing w/Floyd, my first reaction was pretty negative, but it also got me thinking. it's interesting how that works, it takes reading something you don't agree with to think about your stance. here's the paragraph:

"somebody needs to stop the whining about the drugs problem in cycling, it's not a problem, it's a reality. deal with it, ride your bike. i have never finished a race and thought oh crap! with a bit of juice i could have won, or won by more. wtf? just ride, beat the guy next to you on the start line and try to beat your time if you race the same tt course all season. don't blame floyd or tyler or roberto or jan or ivan because you suck."

with a kid coming anyday now, i'm beginning to try to see things from a little tykes perspective - and the last thing i want to teach my kids is that you should do whatever it takes to win. work hard? yes. cheat? no. but it's so much more complicated than that. in cycling (and many sports) they all (elite pros) do the same things, so it's not cheating, it's doing what you have to do to compete. but, that's a pretty advanced topic to teach a kid... then i begin to think, why'd Floyd get caught if they all do it? is it really a conspiracy? am i wrong, do they not all do it? is it just a select few desperate to win? or did Floyd do the same things the night before his infamous ride he always does and they decided to make an example of him to fuel an anti-drugs agenda that will go nowhere and do nothing? who knows, and in many respects, i don't think us mere mortals will ever know the truth - and that lack of knowledge doesn't change the fact that cycling is the most beautiful sport.

in other news that's kinda-sorta related, i'm planning on racing cyclocross this season, am buying a bike off bruno, learn the ropes. cruised-over to cyclingnews to check-out some scheduling and saw this lame article by Harry Wolfson titled "an overview of cyclocross". i didn't make it past the first paragrapgh where he states: "...the Americans (who invented mountain bike racing) are no longer dominant. Europeans win almost all the races. It's not because they picked up on mountain bike racing quickly, it is because of their background in Cyclo-cross." HAHAHAHA! now that's some funny shit. Harry, it's called dope. drugs. juice. it's the same reason our track athletes dominant the europeans. in that culture, we got the good stuff - and the scandals to prove it. but thinking about mtbike racing, and how our athletes are clean, the euros aren't (so i say), makes me... sad? makes me wish for things that are impossible, that no one does anything to give themselves an edge besides train... it's a foolish wish - and i give our mtbikers so many more props for racing clean and getting whipped by the euros in penance for their honesty. that's what i believe.

but you know what? with this post, i'm done thinking about this shit! all i know is i sure love riding my bike. and my wife. and beer. and my friends. it's a pretty simple life full of simple black and white decisions - and it's good.