Since I’m racing Chequamegon this Saturday, I thought it would be appropriate to post photos of the first MTB bikes that Kent Eriksen built for the 1983 Nationals.

Before the time trial in Steamboat over Labor Day, Kent took me over to his shed where he stores his skid steer. Up to the attic. He was looking for some sew up tires to put on his tt wheels. Anyway, I stumbled upon this bike, which was one of two bikes that Kent build for Roy and I for the first MTB National Championships in 1983. Kent built the bikes in Steamboat, finished them a couple days before the race, gave them to Alexi Grewal. Alexi flew out to San Diego with them. This was actually Roy’s bike. Jimmy Mac bought the bike from Kent or Michael Fatka, then manager of the Raleigh Team. He had it in Cardiff for a while. Trudi and I once rode this bike down to La Jolla from Cardiff, on the beach. There was a fair amount of time when the bottom bracket was submerged under water. Not to mention the hubs. Mac was bummed. Probably still is.

Anyway, here are a bunch of photo of the bike. It should be in the MTB Hall of Fame or the Smithsonian. Steve Hegg’s 1984 Olympic bike is in the Smithsonian, so it isn’t such a reach.

The bike needs to be restored, but is nearly complete.

I can't believe the fork rake.

The cantilever mounts were innovative.

The stems were a little suspect.

Here's another one of the original Moots Kent made.

This is an example of the new design methods Kent uses today.

And now it is exclusively titanium.

Velonews/Cyclingnews, etc. reported today that Jeannie Longo’s husband, Patrice Ciprelli, bought some EPO from Joe Papp. That is not a good thing.

This story bothers me for a variety of reasons. One is feeling bad for Jeannie. I have known her forever and I have witnessed her doing incredible feats for decades. Way before these oxygen carrying drugs came on the market.

The 2nd is, that it is my opinion, that everyone that Joe has named so far has turned up to be “guilty” of purchasing EPO.

3rd is, why Patrice would need to purchase EPO from Joe Papp here in the United States.

But the real problem I have with this is Joe’s statement that Ciprelli said it was for Jeannie – “Papp said: “I sold EPO to Ciprelli around this time. He contacted our website and specifically asked how much it would cost for 80,000 iu of EPO to be sent to France. He mentioned it was for his wife.” That doesn’t make any sense at all. None. I don’t know Patrice, but I have to say that I don’t know anyone that is stupid enough to be buying drugs from someone and telling them the drugs are for someone as famous as Jeannie Longo.

So I’m in a quandary here. Obviously, we don’t have all the facts. But I’ve come to the conclusion that Joe’s list is accurate. But the statement that Joe said that Patrice bought it for his wife makes the whole thing seem ridiculous. That one statement alone makes the whole thing suspect. I’m hoping it is.

Say it aint' so Jeannie.