Man, that guy isn’t a brain surgeon. It is amazing to what extent these guys will go to try to ride their bikes fast. Here is the first article about Riccardo’s kidney problem a couple days ago. I was thinking the worse. Now here a piece that says that he was having some “issues” with a blood transfusion that caused the hospital visit.

This whole thing isn’t confirmed, though. Here’s the statement by his team director – Luijckx hasn’t been able to reach Riccó and his manager and while he’s not overly optimistic, he’s trying to maintain the appropriate level of impartiality. “We have to make do with the news from Italy. The fact that he is not reachable, I find it strange,” Luijckx told news agency ANP.”We assume it’s true. But as a good employer should, we apply both sides to the present situation. We are working hard on it, but it is not easy. “At the moment I’m assuming the worst.”

Isn’t it so nice that they decided to let him race again this last season and win all those races. And he’s still on the start list for the Tour Méditerranéen Cycliste Professionnel in two weeks. Maybe he’ll feel better by then.

How many chances to do these guys get? Is it all going to have to go so underground that they start killing themselves again like they did in the ’90s? Kind of seems like it.

This is all seems like some kind of interlaced conspiracy. The cycling community is so small. Here’s a link to another group of guys that seem can’t seem to get it through their heads that doping is now “frowned upon” from the police, sporting media and some of us riders.

I guess there is too much money involved. I don’t know. It is pretty depressing in general. That is all I have to say.

What a perfect couple.

When I was taking to Micah Rice at USAC a couple days ago, he was talking the corporate line. He asked me what year I raced my first cyclo-x Nationals. I told him I think it was 1979. And then he told me to compare that to Bend. The point he was trying to make is that the sport has grown dramatically. So, I’ve been thinking about it a couple days and I’d have to disagree.

I think the media coverage of the sport has become more accessible, but I’m not sure the sport has grown proportionally. At least not here in the US.

Obviously, MTB racing has taken a hit from its peak. There isn’t and won’t be a time when MTB racing is as popular as it was during the ’90’s. The MTB saved a lot of bicycle companies from going bankrupt. And, in the case of Schwinn, not participating in the sudden popularity destroyed a family business. The sport is a shell of what it used to be.

Cyclo-X is obviously more popular. Here in the US at least. But, it’s not popular enough to support full time professional racing. There are maybe 5 guys in the US that could make a living off exclusively off racing ‘cross. That isn’t enough to qualify it as a breakout segment of the sport.

And road racing. I don’t think it has progressed too much either. In the late ’80 we had just about the same schedule as is going on now. Instead of the Tour of California, there was the Dupont Race. Instead of Quiznos, it was the Coor’s Classic. And then just about every other weekend, there were races that had bigger price lists than just about any race now. A pretty good year for prize money back then was between $20-$30K. That was each member of our team. I very much doubt that many riders on PRO teams now make anywhere near that much in prize money.

And the races had more spectators. Many more. It is so easy to forget what it was like, hardly ever racing in front of less than a few thousand people.

I remember the photo from Nevada City a couple years ago with the Lance and Levi show. In 1984 when my team mate Greg Demgen won, there were more spectators. And a much bigger prize list. Greg won 2 ounces of gold and our $$$ splits were huge. That was 27 years ago.

I’m not complaining about where the sport has gone or how it got here. But, let’s not go patting ourselves on the back and think we’ve made it to the big leagues. I see in Europe where the “big leagues” take us and I am hesitant to want to go in that direction.

Nevada City 1984

Ron Keifel winning North Boulder Park.

Levis Team winning overall.

Dupont Criterium in Minneapolis.

And cycling was making the front of Sport Illustrated for sporting accomplishments, not the front page of the New York Times for drug usage.