Nice Job Guys

Last weekend the HIncapie DEVO squad took many results- from our domination in Rome, GA withthe 1/2 riders to our girls with cinthia finishing 2nd in an open womens race and Angela winning top cat 4 womens honours to Blar and Strad cleaning up the cat 3 race in SC-----



I take some side joy in this in that they are both KingdomSports.net coached athletes.

great job to all

carp

Happy St Patricks Day!!!

Yep- I'll have a few this evening. Enjoy responsibly and have a good time.......

and for musical selections throughout the day; U2, Oasis, The Pogues....to name just a few.

RIder Down

I should have posted this last week but did not. Chattanooga and the world lost a truely good person last week when he was hit by a box van while commuting to work on thursday morning. David was a Husband, Father, Frame Builder, Cyclist, Adventure racer among other things. He was a freind to all on the bike in many ways and his life was shortened by what appears to be at the minimum inattention at the worst criminal. There is one individual who knows the truth but that doesn't bring this beautiful person back. I wasn't in his inner circle but he was always exceptionally approachable even though that wasn't the case.

We could have all learned more from him and I feel for his family. The outpooring of support in Chattanooga and the feelings of loss are incredible. It makes you think and fear that as a rider you will be uligized in a public forum, I hope this never happens in our city again but I am a relist and know that it very well may.

Lets all be careful out there......

the Season is upon us

so, the season is here. Started racing (or atleast I'll call it racing) in Greenville this past weekend. Saturday didn't go bad but mostly I sat in and just worked on moving around in a field again, Sunday was horrible with strong winds and me missing a gap that formed early- no worries though, I'm a bit further along this year then last so I'm ok with it. it's tough when you take the first few angry pedal strokes each year, but it gets better.

on another note, our team bikes are here- the Scott Addict complete with SRAM Red- they are SWEET!!!!! corner very smoothly, seem to descend nicely (only taken it down 2 so far, both with hard cross winds so I can't make a full assessment- but good initial vibes on it). plus, it weighs 15 pounds!! actually 15.18 pounds of pure fluid artwork is what I call it right now.

so, all is good, looking forward to the season and hopefully to regaining my previous climbing abilities

carp

The Greater Good.........

Sometimes we don't think about why things happen the way they do. Why ceratin teams come out on top, why soemtimes people fail. But then sometimes, we see the result of that outcome. And in this case, it is definitely for the Greater Good......

When Santonio Holmes made that incredible catch in the Super Bowl a few weeks ago it just looked like another great athletic feat. Now, it is so much more then that.

http://www.cmarket.com/auction/AuctionHome.action?vhost=reebok&cm_re=1-_-Gloves_Constellation_Icon-_-Gloves_Auction

Gets you thinking on how you can give back........

carp

DOPERSSUCK.COM

check this out- click on the word "aim" under "recent posts"


DOPERSSUCK.COM

Dopers SUCK>>>>>

yeah, dopers suck. With the news of A-Rod testing positive in 2003, it got me thinking.

It's well documented that sports organizations like MLB, the NFL and the NBA have minimal testing programs and even less sanctions when then actually do (most likely accidentally) catch somebody using banned substances. On the other hand, we hear about cycling's "drug culture" and it being a "drug ridden sport" but nobody is putting things into perspective at all on the matter.

So- here's a very simple 2003 statistic.

In the news it is now being said that 104 MLB players tested + in 2003. That is out of about 1,000 players. NOW, compare that to the USADA statistics for ALL Olympic sports (except Baseball obviously)- there were 7448 tests (in and out of comp) performed by USADA in 2003 and there were 52 findings- yeah, only FIFTY TWO!!!!! And that is not in cycling but in cycling, swimming, track and field, weight lifting, skiing, triathlon, yada, yada, yada.........

Keep in mind these are US tests- the WADA (world anti doping association) in 2003 did over 5000 out of competition tests and only 28 adverse findings- (I couldn't find in comp results)

so, over 10% of athletes tested positive in MLB in 2003- and this is assuming that ALL players were tested- they were probably not testing everyone.

Here is the problem-

MLB penalties for steroid use
First positive: Treatment
Second positive: 15-day suspension or $10,000 fine.
Third positive: 25-day suspension or $25,000 fine.
Fourth positive: 50-day suspension or $50,000 fine.
Fifth positive: one-year suspension or $100,000 fine.
Note: All suspensions are without pay

Yeah, tough penalties for sure-

oh, what are cycling's penalties-

First positive: 2 year ban
Second positive: lifetime ban

yep- that's it, one and you are out for a long time, 2 and you're done.........

And that's just the comparison of MLB. The NFL and NBA aren't any better.

Wake up people, cyclists test positive because they are actually tested often. And the rates at which they test positive is very low compared to other sports.

I know my opinion, hopefully more people will start to look at what really goes on in professional sports and put the pressure on other governing bodies to clean up their sports.....

CARP