Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Wednesday Roundup

Muggles get their wish

Now at the FreeFloyd store at CafePress. Other styles also available

News
Dallas Morning News has a story about the Richardson appearance

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The Austin American Statesman (a free subscription may be necessary) writes that Floyd Landis is not exactly in is element this year as instead of wearing brightly colored spandex, he is in suits and touring the country in his quest to regain his reputation and raise funds for his fight against doping allegations from WADA/USADA:


He should not be pedestrian, wearing a charcoal gray business suit as he takes on the role of attorney/politician/lobbyist/fundraiser. His team no longer features domestiques and mountain lieutenants. Instead, Landis is joined by a business manager, a publicist, an event organizer and a personal doctor as they conduct a barnstorming tour of this country's cycling hot spots.

"At my age, the damage that's already been done to my career is not going to be fixed," said Landis, who's 31. "But we feel nobody should have to go through this.


The CyclingNews has done it again, they can't seem to print anything about Floyd Landis without some kind of snark attached. This time the headline reads:" Pose with Landis, at a Price."

The Raw Story provides an AFP article ,reprinted in many overseas outlets, about Floyd Landis' fundrasing event yesterday at the Richardson Bike Mart in a suburb of Dallas, TX.


Bicycle Retailer blurbs Floyd Landis' upcoming participation in the Teva Mountain Games.

Blogs
Le Grimpeur writes an interesting discussion of climbing power vs weight and cites Dr. Allen Lim's studies of Floyd Landis' wattage outputs in 2005 and 2006. He cites other riders as well:

For the 2005 Tour de France, Floyd Landis’ coach, Allen Lim, monitored and published Landis’ power data for the race. He did the same for the 2006 Tour and was able to show how Floyd’s performance on the infamous stage 17 was within his physical capabilities when compared to training data, for what that comparison was worth.

In his paper on the 2005 Tour, however, Lim discusses a number of interesting facets of the power component of climbing. For example, in terms of power output measured in watts, to ride the Col de Galibier at the pace of Vinokourov, Botero, or Rasmussen required around 5-5.5 watts per kg of rider and bike, or 350-375 watts for a 70 kg rider. Lighter climbers weighing only 60 kg would, in contrast, only have to produce 330-330 watts.



Velo Swiss slips out for a bit of a ride and is still surprised to see so many Phonak kits considering the sagas of Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton.

QuickRelease.tv
tells the parable of Mr. X, at a hospital that wants to cut off his leg as a result of some tests...

Zone5Training stopped by the Richardson Bike Mart last night to burn off some energy before a race and found Floyd Landis there. While not Gretzky, he reckons Floyd is a pretty nice guy. He shares some cycling tidbits too.

Dugard ruminates about British sporting history, the London Marathon, covering the Tour de France this summer, and the fact that without Lance or Floyd the Tour of Georgia holds little interest for him.

WhiteRockRabbit was at the Richardson Bike Mart yesterday to meet Floyd Landis. He is against doping in cycling, and had second thoughts about sneaking out of work early to meet Floyd, but is glad that he did and he wishes Landis good luck..

Bicycle.NET reprints a story about the Landis appearance yesterday at the Richardson Bike Mart in Richardson ,TX not Houston. There is also a snarky animation of Floyd, but the "no doping" cartoon almost makes it worth the visit.

FreeFloyd.org shamelessly hypes the new mugs and other highly collectible themed items.

SprinterDellaCasa writes about the B sample tests, considering all possible outcomes, in a way suitable for beginners. He also has some amusing suggestions for how tests should be done, and where to get control samples.

LinkFilter.net
, new to us, has us nominated as a good blog by "Mac". Vote early, vote often.

Email
An emailer sends more about the Richardson Bikemart appearance:

Mega-Contributor and supporter Jim Hoyt hosted Floyd, Will, and one other FFF staff member from 3 to 5 pm at the Richardson Bike Mart in Richardson. Camera crews were in abundance, as well as over 150 people. Floyd signed autographs, gave a short q & a, got numerous hugs, and was gracious and humble. There were always about 25 people in line for autographs, and one of the two tills (there was some confusion about how and where to pay) broke $1000 in the first hour. SEVERAL contributors, however, paid extra for a private dinner with Floyd. He stayed late to talk with several junior cyclists who had to fight school and the rain to get there right at 5pm.

In the end, the boy got a lotta love, wore a smile the whole evening, and hopefully slept well, knowing that North Texans care deeply about him, his case and his future.


Forums
STLBiking, new to us, has a thread about the current B sample testing.

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