Finally back on the bike

Sunny and 70, a light breeze, a very, very nice day, although it has cooled off pretty rapidly since the sun has started down. After three days away I finally got back on the bike. Just exactly as the adage says, I did not forget how to ride. I had forgotten, or at least failed to remember how nice it feels to feel really fresh and strong after a few days off. I didn't push at all, just rode easily but it was fast and I did feel strong. It was fun again.

This is a picture of one of the places in Saint Paul where I once lived. That's Section 5, Kirk Hall, on the campus at Macalester. My bike is trying to hide in the shadow there in front of the window but that's my window. Charley Welton and I shared a two bedroom suite. Those two windows to the right of the entrance are the two windows in our living room. There are two bedrooms on the other side of the living room, facing out onto the street on the other side of the dormitory. My bedroom was the one on the right, next to the arch.

Welton had a TV, I had a stereo, the suite came with a couch and a couple of chairs. Also, this is the first place I had my own phone. The number was 698-1777 and the last people to have that number before me were the Allegrazas and we still got an awful lot of calls for them.The world of professional bicycle racing is in the process of coming apart at the seams. The sport is being undone by a growing scandal which began with an aggressive prosecutor's pursuit of a doping doctor in Spain. The scandal, which has already swallowed up last year's winner of the Giro, has now spread to Germany. The T-Mobile team, formerly known as Deutsche Telekom, is being exposed by its riders as a nest of doping. First Jan Ullrich was implicated in the Spanish probe. Then yesterday multiple Tour de France green jersey winner Erik Zabel admitted to the use of the performance enhancer EPO. And today Bjarne Riis, 1996 winner of the Tour de France while with Telekom, the rider who dethroned Miguel Indurain, and the current director of Team CSC, admitted that he was taking EPO during the 96 tour. This is horrible, horrible news for a sport reeling from the positive drug test of last year's Tour de France winner, a test result still being protested by the ever more guilty appearing Floyd Landis.

I went to the VeloNews website message board and found the following analysis of the 1996 tour, the first after 5 straight wins by Indurain:

What would this list look like if we took out all the dopers?

1996 Final results for General Classification as reported by CyclingNews:

1. Bjarne Riis (Den) Telekom 95.57.16
2. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom 1.41
3. Richard Virenque (Fra) Festina 4:37
4. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Festina 5:53
5. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) Carrera 7:07
6. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti 10:03
7. Piotr Ugrumov (Rus) Roslotto 10:04
8. Fernando Escartin (Spa) Kelme 10:26
9. Abraham Olano (Spa) Mapei 11:00
10. Tony Rominger (Swi) Mapei 11:53
11. Miguel Indurain (Spa) Banesto 14:14
12. Patrick Jonker (Aus) ONCE 18:58
13. Bo Hamburger (Den) TVM 22:19
14. Udo Bolts (Ger) Telekom 25:56
15. Alberto Elli (Ita) MG-Technogym 26:18
16. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Spa) Mapei 26:28
17. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Refin 27:36
18. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina 32:11
19. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MG-Technogym 37:18
20. Yevgeny Berzin (Rus) Gewiss 38:00

Let's see how it breaks down....

1. Bjarne Riis (Den) Doped
2. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Doped, but will he ever admit it?
3. Richard Virenque (Fra) Doped
4. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Doped
5. Peter Luttenberger (Lux) 5th in '96, never again approached that result, suspicious.
6. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Probably doped, ex-Festina rider
7. Piotr Ugrumov (Rus) Doped
8. Fernando Escartin (Spa) Probably doped, team Kelme
9. Abraham Olano (Spa) Olano could have been clean. Mapei was pretty adamant about their program, but see Rominger, also a Mapei rider.
10. Tony Rominger (Swi) Many suspicions of doping.
11. Miguel Indurain (Spa) Anybody really believe he won 5 straight in the era of EPO without doping?
12. Patrick Jonker (Aus) Could be clean, but rode for ONCE so who knows?
13. Bo Hamburger (Den) Doped
14. Udo Bolts (Ger) Doped
15. Alberto Elli (Ita) Doped
16. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Spa) Best lifetime result, never again placed this high.
17. Leonardo Piepoli (ita) Still active, but the length of his career makes you wonder.
18. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Doped
19. Michele Bartoli (Ita) La Gazetta today reported link to Operacion Puerto doping scandal.
20. Yevgeny Berzin (Rus) Doped

Indurain's doctor for 4 of his tours was Padilla. He left him to go to the Spanish football club Valencia FC where a few of the team players tested positive. After Padilla Indurain used Conconi, regarded as the father of modern oxygen vector doping and teacher of Ferrari and Checchini. Ferrari is the doctor convicted by an Italian court of involvement with doping. Draw your own conclusions.

The Giro d'Italia continues for another week. One wonders if anyone will care.