Well, now it's official with a video from Lance.  He will be racing in the Tour de France in 2009!  I could not be more excited!  As I've noted before in the blog, I have really lost interest in the Tour since Lance left the race.  This means I will actually get to watch the whole Tour on TV, again next July.  Here's his statement from the press release:

"I am happy to announce that after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden. This year alone, nearly eight million people will die of cancer worldwide. Millions more will suffer in isolation, victims not only of the disease but of social stigma. After the passage of Proposition 15 in Texas, a $3 billion investment in the fight against cancer which is helping to make this disease part of the national dialogue in America, it's now time to address cancer on a global level."

Lance says he's doing it to launch an international cancer strategy and he will announce more details about his emergence from retirement on September 24th at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City.

Lance's Comeback to Cycling in 2009 -- powered by http://www.livestrong.com

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on his return, so please leave your comments for us.

Well, that's the rumor from VeloNews.  The new reports that Lance will ride for Team Astana, now run by his former race director, Johan Bruyneel, says Lance is not part of their team.  Bruyneel, himself, said he was unaware of any Lance comeback.  Bruyneel directed Lance's team for all seven of his Tour victories, so I would think he'd be one of the first to know about a comeback.

Of course, this could all be the standard denials typical of a comeback and we'll hear more details about a possible comeback over the next week or so.

Lance really has nothing to prove, having won seven, consecutive Tour victories from 1999-2005 other than maybe that he can win other races, too.  However, I think it has more to do with how far cycling has fallen since Lance's departure.  This past year's Tour was disgraceful.  I'm surprised there were any riders at the end of the race to win.  Every day of the tour, more racers tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and tactics.  I know there are detractors that say Lance is dirty, too.  While I whole-heartedly disagree, Lance will absolutely bring viewership numbers back up for the cycling industry.

I look forward to seeing how this story develops over the next few days.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being a guest blogger over on the mtobikes.com blog.  MTOBikes (Made-To-Order Bikes) "combines the wisdom of the trials behind us with the vision of the trails ahead. With this guiding passion we have sought out a group of knowledgeable professionals and the best vendors with the most durable parts in the business.  Not only do we make bikes at Made-to-Order Bikes, we are riders as well."

My post focuses on the precautions necessary to enjoy a safe mountain biking experience, while balancing it with the joys of the adrenalin rush from the risks involved in a ride.

With the recent story of a missing mountain biker in Missoula, MT,  I was reminded that the concept of safety goes beyond the equipment that I spoke about in my MTOBikes post.  Fortunately, after a long search, the mountain biker in Montana was found safe.  However, a basic ride plan would have helped in the search and rescue process.  Anytime your doing something outdoors, someone that's staying behind needs to have your plan of action.  Whether a float plan for boating, a hike plan for hiking, or a trail plan for a ride, let someone know where you plan to go, what trailhead or ramp you plan to use, how long you plan to stay out, when and where you plan to return, and what stops you plan to make along the way.  This takes just a few minutes and could be the difference between a search & rescue mission or a search & recovery mission.

Back in April, I blogged about Trek and Greg LeMond ending their business relationship with a lawsuit and counter-suit, both alleging poor sales, poor performance, and breach of contract.  Thanks to the The Adventure Blog via BicycleRetailer.com, I've learned that this case recently took a turn towards the bizarre:

In an odd twist, an inmate at a federal prison in Williamsburg, South Carolina filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit in July, alleging that he and other inmates produce bikes for LeMond under the Federal Prison Industry Unicor Program for 12 cents an hour, a violation of minimum wage laws. The inmate also claimed LeMond bicycle are shipped to Iranian troops for training purposes, violating the “Training with Enemy” Act.

Violating federal labor laws?  Treason?  Yes, it seems Trek and LeMond have managed to get themselves in a real pinch!  This will, no doubt, drag the case out for quite some time.  Plus, who knows what other plaintiffs may come out of the woodwork to get involved in this case.  Next thing you'll know, Iran will file for lost ability to perform militarily.

BASF SMILE TRAIN SPRINT TRIATHLON
JUNE 29, 2008

250 Meter Swim / 11 Mile Bike / 3.1 Mile Run

Race Results:

Swim: 3:47(15th)

T1: 0:37(4th)

Bike: 35:46(17th)

T2: 0:51(43rd)

Run: 27:03(86th)

Overall: 29th

This was a very well organized race, with a hilly bike and run course, for a great cause.

Over half of the participants were first time triathletes. It is nice to see a race with first time racers, the excitement, nervousness, and most importantly the future of the sport.

Train Hard, Race Harder

I went back to the Ocala National Forest for another ride, yesterday.  The ride went great...right up until my rear tire lost all it's air.  Luckily, we found a camper with an air compressor that was willing to help me out, but the tire just went flat, again.  Fortunately, we were able to make it back to the trailhead before I had to start pushing the bike.  We were still able to get a good, solid 2 hours of riding in before the flat.

Even with all the rain we've had recently, we still encountered a bit more sand than I was expecting, but the course was still in great condition.  The storms obviously brought down a few more trees, as there were a lot of log crossings on the Motorcycle Loop.  One such crossing provided a bit of a challenge for me at one point.  The challenge was not the size of the log, but the height.  It kind of surprised me, so I did not have enough momentum to get over it.  I attempted to pop the wheel up, but my rear tire just spun on the log it was sitting on (I think this is where the rear tire issue probably began) and I roostered my friend that was sitting right behind me. :)  He said it felt like dirt went six inches up his nose. :)  I have posted video from right after this incident and the clean-up effort to get us going on the trail, again.

Overall, a very fun day on the trail with only a minor glitch.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC.  This is a man-made whitewater river where our Olympic trials for whitewater kayaking and canoeing were held this year.  The Center includes a huge building with a gear store, restaurant, restrooms, and many other facilities.  The complex includes the river, several climbing walls for people of varying abilities (including one that my two year old daughter could maneuver), a high ropes course, a zip line, mountain biking trails, hiking trails, and eco-caching.  You can bring your own kayak or canoe to ride the river for a fee of $20/day or reserve a raft trip.  They also have many classes including canoeing, kayaking, and climbing.

The place was fantastic and unfortunately, I was not able to bring my kayak, but I can assure you, that won't happen the next time I visit.  We took the one-mile hike on a mostly gravel path around the whole river that was just right for the whole family.  In September, they will be having their annual Whitewater Festival that will include a Jeep Adventure off-road triathlon.

I've included the video I took while visiting that shows most of the facility.  I was not able to take video of the ropes courses (did not bring closed toe shoes -- required for the zip lines and ropes course) or the zip line (the current line was not open on the day I visited).  I took the video on my Flip (I know, "You bring a Flip video camera, but no closed toe shoes??!!" -- Yes, that's exactly what I did).

Note: Yes, that is the Amazon video widget.  Yes, those are affiliate links in the video.  Just ignore them if they bother you, I just wanted to play around with the widget.

Last year, when the Ocala National Forest increased the price to ride off-road vehicles on the trail system to $75 per year, I thought they were crazy. The trail system was poorly marked, in poor condition, felled trees to overcome everywhere, lacked sufficient trail heads, and just could not compete with the Croom State Forest off-road recreational area that costs $50 per year. I stand corrected. I reluctantly went for a ride with a friend in the Ocala National Forest on Saturday (I say reluctantly due to the poor trail conditions during my last ride). We parked at the new Delancy Trail trail head parking area and headed off for the Delancy Loops and the Motorcycle Loop. A rider at the parking area let us know that it was a little "soft" on the trails, due to a recent lack of rain. "Great," I thought, more sandy trails to ride. If these conditions were "soft," I must go back out after a good rain to see "hard" conditions, because I don't think I've ever seen trails this well groomed, with the exception of the Chipley hare scramble. The lead-in trail was a little soft, but once we hit the main trail, everything was hard-packed, well marked, and clear. Even the Long-Leaf Trail we used to get to the motorcycle loop (typically VERY sandy and whooped out) was relatively smooth and the sand was tolerable at worst. New signage adorns the trails with warnings before crossings, warnings about trail maintenance crews, directional signage, clearly marked accessibility, and two-way arrows. Several new trail head parking areas are throughout the forest, including a new one right at the Motorcycle Loop.

So, what makes Ocala National Forest better than the Croom State Forest Off-Road Recreational Area? I'm glad you asked. I've outlined my eight reasons for leaving Croom behind in favor of ONF.

1. ONF is centrally located in the state. Although Croom is the most popular place to ride off-road bikes and four-wheelers, it is in the southwest corner of the state, making it a very long drive if you live anywhere in Florida, besides the southwest corner of the state.
2. ONF trails are very well marked. Crooms trails just go off in every which direction without a single marker to indicate where you're going. This works if you are very familiar with Croom and do a lot of riding. However, we tend to ride with people from varying experience backgrounds that results in people lagging behind and getting lost. We end up spending more time keeping everyone together than we do riding. On Saturday, we rode for 3 hours straight without so much as a one minute stop to wait for or find someone. Everything was very well marked and made sense -- it was just loop after loop.
3. ONF has a motorcycle only loop. For those of us on the two-wheelers, it's nice to have an area without the 4-wheelers. It keeps the trail narrow and technical, giving us the opportunity to hone our skills. It also tends to keep the trails from getting that nasty hump in the center.
4. Croom has one camping area for riders that tends to get filled up, fast. Ocala has numerous camping facilities located throughout the forest, including several that are specifically for the off-road trail users (including Delancy West that has had a fantastic renovation with 30 beautiful campsites). Additionally, you can camp primitively pretty much anywhere in the forest, if you don't need those sissy facilities.
5. You don't have to spend $75 or even $50, like Croom. Ocala has a $10 day pass. Had Croom had that option last year, I would have saved $10 versus buying the $50 annual pass. Granted the $50 or the $75 would be more cost efficient if you plan to ride the trails more often, but between all the race weekends and the little practice time I have, I just won't make it to Croom or Ocala enough to justify an annual pass. At least Ocala gives you another option.
6. Ocala now has three separate trail areas with over 100 miles of trails for your use. This accommodates many more riders than Croom, keeping the trails less congested.
7. Trails at Ocala are much better maintained than Croom. Croom has become a spider's web of trails that stay whooped out. The trails at ONF had very few whooped sections and were very clearly marked. The National Forest Service does not allow trailblazing and this keeps the trails in good shape and easy to follow.
8. The terrain and vistas at ONF vary greatly, even within one section, let alone if you visit one of the southern trail sections.

I can assure you, I'll be spending a lot more of my practice days at the Ocala National Forest, this season.

A second rider has tested positive for the blood doping drug, EPO at this year's Tour de France. I'm glad I have not wasted my time with this year's race. This time the racer is Moises Duenas Nevado with the Barloworld team. Additionally, the French police found additional banned substances in his hotel room after the positive test results. The team has indicated that these substances were not provided or prescribed by the team or team doctor.

The first rider tossed out of the race was Manuel Beltran after testing positive for EPO after the first stage. EPO is a shortened version of the term erythropoietin, a hormone that increases red blood cell production, thereby increasing oxygenation of the cells. This especially helps the riders in the low oxygen conditions of the mountain stages during the race.

Blood doping and performance enhancing methods continue to plague the Tour and professional cycling, in general. Professional cyclists are perhaps the most tested of any athletes. In spite of all the testing, riders continue to try to beat the system and get by with cheating. If this is the case in professional cycling, the most tested sport, imagine how bad the cheating problem could be in other un-tested professional sports.

I haven't watched a single Tour de France stage since Floyd Landis "won" in 2006, in spite of watching religiously the prior 7 years. I really lost interest after the initial doping charge against Floyd and all the subsequent riders implicated in the 2006 blood doping scandal. It sucks to find out your sports heroes are cheaters.
I am really at a loss about Floyd. As I learned more about synthetic testosterone and his upbringing and development in the sport, doping really seemed an impossibility for him and I still want to believe he's innocent. The final panel to evaluate the test results even admitted the lab that tested Landis' samples used "less than ideal laboratory practices, but not lies, fraud, forgery or cover-ups," as Landis attempted to assert.
Landis now faces a $100,000 fine to cover legal costs incurred by the U.S. Ant-Doping Agency, as well as the dishonor of being the first Tour de France winner in it's over 100 year history to have his title stripped. Additionally, his cycling future remains unclear and his reputation could be tarnished forever in the cycling world. Assuming he truly is guilty, these are the consequences of his actions that he knew could come to bear upon him for his illegal activities. If he is innocent (although that looks pretty unlikely at this point), it's a shame that an over-zealous governing body has destroyed this young man's career.
Part of my disgust with this event also stems from the labs and the Tour de France organizers that assume all riders are guilty until proven innocent. Additionally, there are several conflicts of interest between Tour organizers, sponsors, and labs that test the samples. Regardless of Landis' guilt, the Tour itself has it's own house to clean before the event can be restored to it's prior glory. For now, I must accept the several judiciary board's decisions that have all indicated Floyd is guilty and hope that he's learned his lesson, pays his dues, and gets back to the pure cycling that spurred his passion in the sport.