Saturday Roundup

Yolk of the Day

Yesterday I received my FreeFloyd mugs. They're real and they're fabulous, and most importantly, they don't leak.

Ba-da-bing!

(Pommi will be there all week.)

News
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, in its editorial section, gives the "thumbs down" to the international cycling community, but more specifically to WADA and USADA for having no credible and globally accepted testing system in place.

The Times Argus runs an AP piece, as does the IHT, on the disappearing cycling star, many of whom seem to be fading into the fog of scandal. The piece, by Raf Cassert, was written during the beginning of this year's edition of Fleche-Wallonne and notes that Ivan Basso fans were searching for his bicycle among the Discovery teams entries and of course was not found. Along with Basso he also mentions that Floyd Landis is still an asterisk almost one year after his disputed Tour de France win.


Blogs
ABD Elite Team Blog's Josh Carter just got around to sharing his experiences up on Brass Town Bald during this year's Tour of Georgia after which he got to have dinner with Floyd Landis. He admits that the Bald is definitely for climbers, not sprinters!

More Mind Food wants us all to know that even though he reported this week about Floyd Landis' "B" sample testing at the LNDD, he rode with Floyd as a teenager and thinks that Floyd is no doper. He just yesterday watched Stage 17 from last summer's Tour de France and after seeing it is convinced even more so that Floyd didn't cheat. And he links TbV to boot!

She Knits by the Seashore isn't buying the "Floyd Landis is guilty" "B" sample brouhaha that was revealed on Monday. She notes that the "A" portion of the samples tested negative, and that the procedures agreed to by the arbitration panel were not adhered to.

An Across America Cycling Adventure, who is actually riding across the country with several other people, was in Arizona yesterday and one of the group happens to have the last name "Landis", though he has no relation to Floyd. The riders hit a hill and started doing impersonations of Phil Liggett, Bob Roll, and Paul Sherwan commentating on Floyd Landis climbing a hill in the TdF. Not much Landis content I know, but you have to admire a bunch of guys cycling across the country.

Back at Rant, comments dismantle Mr. Wiggan's whinging about Stage 17, pointing out he'd finished 40-50 minutes behind the top 21 riders, not just Landis.

Strider revels in the link we gave him the other day, and expands "his holy quest against the cyclist":

And who is this Floyd Landis anyway? The name sounds as real as Homer Simpson.

Right, "Strider".

Radio Free Newport wants to write about Landis, but gives us a link instead.

Introspection-section dreads mentioning us, because we'll link him and he's afraid he'll get flooded with spam, or beratement, or something, like creationists do to evolutionist blogs, I think he says. Huh, never been called a creationist before! He doesn't much believe Landis. Or Tyler, Lance, Jan or Ivan. But he does believe in the 12-27 cassette. TBV believes in the 12-34, and the 34/50 compact, because he's old, fat and slow.

Pommi covers some interesting ground, pointedly separating Landis' personal fortunes from the inherent (un)fairness of the enforcement system. He also tells of bailing on a Diablo when he felt the 83 degree heat at the base and exercised discretion instead of his dehydration tolerance. Maybe if he gets to the Athenian at about 8:30 he can get some company...

Forums
rec.bicycles.misc passes on a Wall Street Journal article about Freds using wind tunnels, just like Floyd and Levi. TBV wishes he could pedal fast enough that aero positioning would make a difference.

Thought for the Day

The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man... It is more powerful than external circumstances.

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca-