Aug 09, 2012 at 04:07 PM
Wow. What great reporting...
In Print: Articles of Interest
Aug 09, 2012 at 04:23 PM
Yeah, I love the "doctors" exaggerating the numbers (CONSTANTLY seeing people hit by bikes) and talking about what *could* happen. We could see liver and spleen lacerations! Yeah, well, you DO see that when cars hit people. And no link to any of the actual studies, just "A Hunter college study".
What about the NYT piece form last weekend:
In the last quarter of 2011, bicyclists in New York City killed no pedestrians and injured 26. During the same period, drivers killed 43 pedestrians and injured 3,607.
What about the NYT piece form last weekend:
In the last quarter of 2011, bicyclists in New York City killed no pedestrians and injured 26. During the same period, drivers killed 43 pedestrians and injured 3,607.
Aug 09, 2012 at 05:06 PM
I love the video with happy harmless Freds riding uprights at 10 mph.
SAVAGE ATTACKER ALERT!
(yeesh)
SAVAGE ATTACKER ALERT!
(yeesh)
Aug 09, 2012 at 06:25 PM
This is pulitzer material. out of 100 cyclists clocked with a questionable radar "gun," 96% were under the speed limit. No wonder it made the front page. No wonder 48,000+ summonses were issued to cyclists last year.
I'm surprised she didn't go after the several people shown on camera running in the bike lane.
Blame Canada!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOR38552MJA
Aug 09, 2012 at 08:56 PM
You've seen him 1,000,000 times in Prospect Park. You know he's probably a little crazy, but now I am sad that there is one mystery that will no longer puzzle me on a daily basis.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/after-a-jog-35-years-ago-hes-still-running-in-circles/
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/after-a-jog-35-years-ago-hes-still-running-in-circles/
Aug 09, 2012 at 09:11 PM
Can there be no mysteries left in the universe?
Aug 09, 2012 at 11:38 PM
There is always the dark matter, which is unexplained by the current state of theoretical physics.
Dark matter cannot be seen directly with telescopes; evidently it neither emits nor absorbs light or other electromagnetic radiation at any significant level.[1] Instead, its existence and properties are inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter, radiation, and the large scale structure of the universe. Dark matter is estimated to constitute 84% of the matter in the universe and 23% of the mass-energy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter
Dark matter cannot be seen directly with telescopes; evidently it neither emits nor absorbs light or other electromagnetic radiation at any significant level.[1] Instead, its existence and properties are inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter, radiation, and the large scale structure of the universe. Dark matter is estimated to constitute 84% of the matter in the universe and 23% of the mass-energy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter
Aug 10, 2012 at 01:47 AM
Okay, Maybe there s that one Professor Stokes. And there's also an ornery looking guy in Prospect Park who runs against traffic in the jogger's lane kicking what look like two enormous medicine balls. He has yet to be interviewed or explained as far as i know.
Aug 10, 2012 at 01:50 AM
@ Neil
That medicine ball guy is soft. I never see him in the dead of winter when I am out riding tempo and putting in base miles. That ultra runner on the other hand has intrigued me for years.
That medicine ball guy is soft. I never see him in the dead of winter when I am out riding tempo and putting in base miles. That ultra runner on the other hand has intrigued me for years.
Aug 10, 2012 at 01:58 AM
@MIke -Perhaps the mystery then is where medicine ball man goes during the winter? For instance, does he go to South America? And if he does, does he rotate in the opposite direction?
Aug 10, 2012 at 03:30 AM
Medicine Ball guy is weird. What about big-chested-russian-with-strap-over-his-head-walking-guy?
Aug 10, 2012 at 01:13 PM
between nytimes profiling the ultra runner guy and the giant feral dog being captured, Prospect Park is a little less mysterious. Now we need some kind of Loch Ness Monster in the lake, to keep me interested in riding in the park again.
Aug 10, 2012 at 03:08 PM
Aug 10, 2012 at 03:39 PM
You've seen him 1,000,000 times in Prospect Park. You know he's probably a little crazy, but now I am sad that there is one mystery that will no longer puzzle me on a daily basis.FTA: "The sneakers Mr. Rios wears today are 20 years old. They’ve ripened into an uncertain shade of gray and are cracked on all sides, with barely a sole left to speak of."
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/after-a-jog-35-years-ago-hes-still-running-in-circles/
I sorta feel like we should take up a collection and get this guy a gift certificate at jackrabbit...
Aug 10, 2012 at 03:41 PM
Ragot bumped up to silver
Aug 10, 2012 at 10:41 PM
Anybody else see the NBC Sports channel ad where they include the shot of Flecha/Hoogerland getting run over from last year's TdF? Drama! Almost getting killed by cars is just part of cycling! Nice crash porn, NBC.
Aug 11, 2012 at 12:40 AM
I always kept that kind of quite. Now you all know.
Ragot bumped up to silver
Aug 12, 2012 at 02:14 AM
JV admits to doping...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/opinion/sunday/how-to-get-doping-out-of-sports.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=all
You know, when people ask me about what I think about Lance Armstrong, I usually have no strong feelings about the matter. Mostly I guess, I'm now realizing because I never had to race the guy. But JV pisses me off...
A few years back, I raced the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic and Jonathan Vaughters was there. On the tough circuit race, I started to struggle, a gap opened up and I reached my hand back to give JV a hand-sling to the group. He didn't take it, I guess whatever dope he was on was plenty of "sling" on its own.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/opinion/sunday/how-to-get-doping-out-of-sports.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=all
You know, when people ask me about what I think about Lance Armstrong, I usually have no strong feelings about the matter. Mostly I guess, I'm now realizing because I never had to race the guy. But JV pisses me off...
A few years back, I raced the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic and Jonathan Vaughters was there. On the tough circuit race, I started to struggle, a gap opened up and I reached my hand back to give JV a hand-sling to the group. He didn't take it, I guess whatever dope he was on was plenty of "sling" on its own.
Aug 12, 2012 at 02:17 AM
@ Marc Yeah, this is pretty big news though.
Can't say I'd be as gracious if it had been me he'd cheated against, but I'm very glad he's being open about it. I also read into it the "you've got to drill Lance as hard as possible" undercurrent.
Strange how it's taken him "3 years to write 1200 words" about his own transgressions and yet he's still mum on the Armstrong issue.
Aug 12, 2012 at 02:31 AM
Marc,
There are plenty of reasons to hate JV, but this isn't one of them.
I believe that he raced clean until 1999. You can find tales of his days on the Spanish Santa Clara team in the mid-90s, when he was getting dropped by heavy sprinters on small hills. He came back to domestic racing, killed it in the US, had a great ride at the Worlds in the TT, and went back to Europe. Then, it appears there was some pressure exerted by a teammate or teammates. While he still holds the record for the fastest time up Mt. Ventoux, set in 1999, he tells people that the TTT victory at the 2001 Tour with Credit Agricole was his biggest victory. He switched teams in 2000. In 2001, he was close to finishing the Tour when he got stung by a wasp. He had an allergic reaction that shut his left eye completely, a reaction that he could have mitigated with a cortisone shot. He chose not to.
I don't know why he didn't take the hand, but don't blame doping.
Aug 12, 2012 at 03:21 AM
ehhhh. JV. Hasn't he pretty much all but admired to doping. I'm always underwhelmed by these things, but I do appreciate his perspective.
Aug 12, 2012 at 11:32 AM
JP, I'll hate whoever I want, for whatever reason I want.
Aug 13, 2012 at 02:29 PM
Re-read the article on the way home from Red Bank. This stood out, "I was 15 years younger then, 15 years less wise. I made the wrong decision, but I know that making that right decision for future generations must begin by making the right choice realistic."
Two problems arise. At least two. First, does this mean he started doping in 1997, not 1999 as I surmised earlier? In 1997, he was racing for Comptel-Colorado Cyclist. He won several stage races, the Mt. Evans hillclimb and some other events, culminating with 15th place at the world TT championships. Or, does it mean he was ready to dope if it came to that--after all, his best Euro results were in 1999, when he won le Route de Sud, 2nd at the Dauphine, etc. 1998, his best result was winning Redlands. In From Lance to Landis, I remember him discussing pressure to dope in 1999 and being told that "everyone does it," and then he found that not to be the case on Credit Agricole.
The second is the matter of "making the right choice realistic." This is an ugly kind of self-justification, and one that ignores the choices many other athletes made. Vaughters claims,"Almost every athlete I’ve met who has doped will say they did it only because they wanted a level playing field. That says something: everyone wants a fair chance, not more." This strikes me as bogus. It ignores the possiblity that others are likewise riding clean and that by joining the dopers club, they're further tilting the field in favor of doping.
Aug 13, 2012 at 03:36 PM
Cavendish to Omega Pharma-Quick Step?
Aug 13, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Outside Magazine has a feature about doping in amateur sports, including triathlon and track & field. It features the Florida Clean Rider Fund. I would link to it, but it is apparently only it print right now.
Go to Barns & Noble and stand in the newsstand area and read it there.
Go to Barns & Noble and stand in the newsstand area and read it there.
Aug 13, 2012 at 10:50 PM
I heard a rumour that the other guy who tested positive at the GFNY was writing an article about the experience. I believe this was supposed to be his excuse and I also believe it may have been for Outside Mag. Is there any truth to this?
Aug 14, 2012 at 01:32 AM
JP what many dopers don't mention is their lack of immediate employment options outside of cycling. Sounds like JV skipped college to pursue a career with limited transferable job skills. He chose to take a likely six figure salary to ride his bike around Europe with LA, the former world champion and cancer survivor extroadinaire who apparently enjoys hookers and blow in the off season. Things were fresh and new back in 99. Thirteen years of failed drug tests, blood bags, Epo shipments, payments to questionable dr.'s for questionable services and even more questionable explainations for questionable performances have left us all unquestionably jaded. JV coming clean now stinks of an attempt to control his own narrative. If he is a witness in the LA trial then he knew his doping admission would soon be made public. His mea culpa then is more about protecting his own reputation than protecting the future of the sport. If JV was worried about the future of cycling and about young athletes entering the sport, why didn't he confess to doping when LA announced comeback 2.0 ? He knew LA was a doper yet he sat back and watched him perpetrate his fraud for another 2 years. I guess this was because Lance was good for cycling, financially anyway. If JV is not a witness in the USADA case, I will eat my cycling helmet, the old nasty one not the the totally awesome giro atmos I won at the castaldi cup....
Aug 14, 2012 at 01:50 AM
@Yaks: I agree the evidence is coming soon so this is clearly an attempt to tell his own story before someone else does. The real question isn't Armstrong anymore but the UCI. Armstrong doped, and there are a dozen witnesses. Levi, Tyler, Dave Z, JV, Hincapie, etc are all going to roll out their stories, but to what avail?
A drunken thug and his family/cronies still run UCI, with zero repercussions.
A drunken thug and his family/cronies still run UCI, with zero repercussions.
Aug 14, 2012 at 03:02 AM
America does not care about some obscure, corrupt Swiss organization...(unless we are sheltering our $$$ from the tax man). America cares about fairy tales where the downtrodden and set upon rise from life's abyss and conquer their demons, kiss babies and cure diseases....all while remaining wirhin the boundaries of fair play. So cheatin bitches will NOT be tolerated !!! Especially by corporate America, who invented the "win at any cost" ethos. If Nike drops Lance...who is worse the man that mislead children or the company that led children to the factory assembly line ???
Aug 14, 2012 at 01:02 PM
@twoyacks Nike didn't pull it's sponsorship for Tiger Woods. Martha "Felonious M" Stewart is still doing her thing... the list is long and (sadly distinguished)
Totally agree that America doesn't care about the UCI, IOC or any other swiss, international organization... but we do.
I fear even if convicted the optics won't be bad enough ("it's a grudge ruling, he still never failed a drug test") for corporate sponsors to drop him and as far as I can tell his influence is big enough that the aforementioned witnesses remain afraid of confronting him.
Totally agree that America doesn't care about the UCI, IOC or any other swiss, international organization... but we do.
I fear even if convicted the optics won't be bad enough ("it's a grudge ruling, he still never failed a drug test") for corporate sponsors to drop him and as far as I can tell his influence is big enough that the aforementioned witnesses remain afraid of confronting him.