Friday Group Ride #23
Here in Cycletopia there is only one approved topic of conversation this week, and it’s NOT whether Richie Porte is going to win the Giro d’Italia. Accordingly, we are going to take the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach to the Group Ride in an effort to get the bicycle racer formerly known as Floyd Landis out of the collective system.
As if that were possible.
Personally, I was grateful to Padraig as well as some other commentators on other sites for helping me wrap my tiny, transistor-based brain around the whole thing. The tentacles of Landis’ “confession” reach in so many directions and touch so many riders/doctors/trainers/managers/teams, that I would have had a very hard time making any cogent analysis of the situation at all.
Do you come from the “what if it’s true?” angle, or the “what if it’s false” angle or even the “Landis is lying, but what’s he’s saying still might be true” angle? How do you factor out the fact that you might even like some of the riders who now stand accused, as I am doing with Dave Zabriskie, to remain impartial enough to wait for the truth? If the truth never comes, how will you retain your passion for the sport, and who’s fault would it be if you couldn’t?
As is usual in a situation such as this, there are more questions than answers in the beginning, and as a result, our Group Ride asks a question about asking questions, i.e. If you could ask Floyd Landis ONE question right now, what would it be?
Please limit yourselves to one question. There are plenty to go around.
Image: John Pierce, Photosport International
Why didn’t you choose to die by your sword from the start? Hari-Kiri Floyd, absolution only comes with purification by pain. I love the irony.
When will you apologize to Greg LeMond?
I’m limiting myself to no questions.
A confession won’t really shake things up until it comes BEFORE the confessor gets caught and put through the ringer.
How´s life after moral death?
Why didn’t you have the cajones to take it on the chin in the first place and then waited to see if your humility would make the others feel wussy and be forced admit their own guilt?
What was the proverbial last straw that made you want to come “clean” and give cycling another black eye?
I come from the “It is true” angle and I like DZ. I will retain my passion for the sport because I know that there is better coming through. Yes it may take a firestorm to rid the scene unwelcome history and that might take with it some of the traditional cycling countries, but there is new blood from new directions coming through, and I believe in a lot of them.
As for Landis, I’d ask him how he is doing, if he’s OK.
Observation: The person who so far has emerged from all of this looking best? LeMond.
Question: One of the most respected men in the peloton, Michael Barry, denies all the allegations about him (curiously, he doesn’t specifically mention Lance, Hincapie, Levi, DZ) and says if you’re saying he’s a doper you’re either lying or have mistaken him with another rider. Do you stand-by your allegations about Barry in particular?
My question is, So, why did you lie and why should we believe you now, putz?
Despite all of this nonsense I’ll keep following the sport I have loved for over 50 years! There are wankers everywhere they just seem to be more concentrated in the professional peloton!
What was it like to stand on that top podium step?
I personally just like to watch them race and doping controversies have little effect on my enjoyment of cycling. I sincerely hope the various governing bodies get a handle on things but all of us spectators should really take it all a bit less seriously. It is only a sport, after all.
I tend to ignore doping allegations unless there’s actual evidence other than hearsay. Perhaps some of the accused doped, perhaps some didn’t. Unless there’s some actual evidence (positive test, paper trail, confession, &c.), I have no way of knowing. The accused is given the benefit of the doubt.
My question for Mr. Landis: “It seems that riders who admit their involvement with doping after getting caught are given a degree of acceptance and forgiveness upon their return while those that continue to deny doping through their suspension are seemingly despised upon their return. If that’s true, what did you hope to gain in maintaining innocence before, during, and after your suspension when confessing would have allowed you to move on easier?”
Cyclevaughters: motorcycle – refridgerated panniers
Cyclevaughters: on the rest day
Cyclevaughters: floyd has a photo of the thing
FDREU: crazy! it’ just keep going to new levels
Cyclevaughters: yeah, it’s complicated, but with enough money you can do it
FDREU: they have enough money. Floyd was so pissed at them this entire tour
Cyclevaughters: anyhow – i just feel sorry for floyd and some of the other guys
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/landis/instantmessage.html
Easy enough, those pics would put DONESTAMP on this one.
My question would be, Can i have a refund on Positively False.
I’m with SinglespeedJarv, Landis clearly is on need of some support. The hole he has created for himself (or perhaps with the help of some others that now disown him) is way deep.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Christian or any kind of do-gooder.
But I hate to see desperation. That’s a state of mind that is one of the last on the road to the end.
I’ll keep it in the spirit of “one question.”
Dear Floyd:
We know the why, we know the how, but what can we do next?
I don’t really have a question, just hoping the Giro gets back in the limelight so it gets it’s due… I’m finding it one of the most entertaining grand tours in years.
Yeah, when Floyd Landis can overshadow one of the greatest grand tours in my lifetime, that’s some serious flailing and screeching.
i was a bike messenger for several years. some days i just DID NOT want to ride. if there had been a magic pill to make those days more bearable i might have taken it. this coming from someone who’s been clean and sober 10+ yrs. i can’t pass judgement. i tend to believe there’s some element of truth to floyd’s rants and i’m getting a little sick of the whole “lance can do no wrong” thing, but all this is just crazy! WTF! whatever, Vino is still the most fun to watch.
Pause….and silence for an uncomfortably long time…..as I would just look at him, get up and walk out and fart a really nice big one.
Will you pay back all the money to the people that you lied to?
its likely that some of it is true, but the way and timing of the confessions (accusations) makes the whole thing a farce. It comes off as borderline blackmail/vengeance/bitterness, not a come-clean.
in short, I’d like to think this could route out some more of the cheats in the system. However there are so many warped motives and falsenesses in how and when Landis did this, there is almost no credibility to the detail… even if systemically the accusations seem entirely plausible (which is not to say true, but just highly possible).
What a dope. He squandered it. In every way, no matter what the truth!
ps – now I have the experience to comment on it: seeing Basso winning does feel better than seeing Vino winning.
For all the reasons previously outlined by others on this site!
@mark looks like he’s checked that one off the list