Monthly Archives: November 2013

Johan Bruyneel isn’t the Devil, yet……

This entry was posted in Comments about Cycling on by .

Okay, I told you so. I predicted, a couple different times, that Johan Bruyneel would not go to arbitration. It actually isn’t confirmed, but Johan did say that he is “pretty much done with cycling.” If that is the case, I very much doubt he is going to try to defend himself in a couple weeks at his arbitration hearing.

I would love to hear what he has to say. In the interview, Bruyneel does say-“I don’t see myself as the devil. People are trying to picture Lance and myself as the bad guys, but that’s wrong.” I think it is super important for cycling to get the knowledge he possesses. The whole problem, I can’t see Johan coming clean on his own without a little, or a lot, of incentive.

So, just like I wrote last week about Lance, I believe we need to think extreme. The knowledge he has is very time sensitive. So, I have another idea. The UCI should pay Johan a million dollars to talk. Actually, thinking about it, that seems like a lot, but it won’t do it. The UCI should pay Johan $10,000,000 dollars for his knowledge.

I know, that sounds crazy. But it is cheap when you really think about it. Bruyneel knows more about the issues of the current doping in cycling than any other person alive. Well, that might not be a fact, but he would be the guy that most everyone interested in the problem would love to hear. He is the guy.

I say that cycling pays Johan a ton of money to spill his guts. Tell everything from square one. Name names, procedures, payoffs, etc. All the down and dirty. The UCI sits on this, keeps it under wraps. Then the UCI does their truth and reconciliation deal. They do a one time offer to anyone, and everyone, that wants to stay in the sport, to come in, come clean on their own. I’d bet there would be a ton more “honesty” from all involved when there is common knowledge that Johan has already testified. Unless the system has some leverage on the confessing folks, then the half-truths are going to keep coming and coming.

I know that 10 million dollars seems like a ton of money. But you have to remember the circles that Johan has been hanging in. Ten million might not even be enough. There are a ton of “important” people out there that don’t want Johan to say a word, but I think Johan wants to talk. I’m sure that the UCI could come up with that amount, at least. That’s approximately $555,000 per World Tour Team if there are 18 around next year. I know Jonathan Vaughters, from Garmin, has said that the World Tour Teams need to step up and assume a bigger piece of the financial pie of keeping the sport clean. This could be the start.

I know this would open Johan to some civil exposure. I don’t care if he demands that they deposit his money on the Isle of Man, or some obscure Caribbean island. If that doesn’t work, the UCI is in Switzerland. The way the UCI has been acting the couple decades, they might even have some connections to some unclaimed Nazi gold laying around there. I don’t really care what they do to convince him to part with his secrets. Give him another book deal, whatever it takes. Even if it takes the get-out-of-jail-free, 6 month suspension deal. The knowledge is worth more than one injustice.

Johan isn’t the devil, anymore than Lance is. There isn’t one guy to to bust here. There isn’t a head to put on the block and then the problem disappears. The problem was systemic. It still is. There are gazillions of ghosts in the closets. Johan doesn’t know them all, but he might know more than just about anyone else.

In Johan’s interview, he says – “I think that Brian Cookson is definitely the right man in the right place, but I don’t think that major changes in the system or the structure are going to happen overnight.” It might not be overnight, but let’s get it all out on the table, done. It isn’t going to be pretty, it’s not going to seem fair, but it’s time we finish this once and for all.

Didi's knees are a little suspect. Maybe Johan could replace him after his, potential, 6 month time out.

Didi’s knees are a little suspect. Maybe Johan could replace him after his, potential,6 month time out.

I wonder if Lance would do the foreword for a tell-all book?

I wonder if Lance would do the foreword for a tell-all book?

Breakfast

This entry was posted in Just Life on by .

I really like breakfast. Actually, I love the food that we/Americans eat for breakfast, so of course I like breakfast. I could eat breakfast type foods for lunch, breakfast for dinner, breakfast for a snack, it really doesn’t matter. It is sort of like pie. I can eat pie for breakfast, lunch, dinner or in between. Pie is really my favorite food. I know it isn’t technically a breakfast food, but since it is my favorite food, it fits in that category.

Racing bikes means big breakfasts. One of the great benefits. I usually eat breakfast 4 hours before most races. By most races, I mean most US races. And by that I mean criteriums, cyclocross and MTB races. I do this so my stomach is pretty empty for the intense efforts of these races. If I do a longer road race, eating so early isn’t mandatory. But, recently, the past year or two, I’ve been eating closer to the start. Sometimes as close as two hours. I’m not sure why that is, but it seems to be working out, so maybe it isn’t that important.

I like riding to eat breakfast. I started this back when I was in high school. I used to ride over to Lawrence on Saturday mornings and get the .99 cent breakfast at The Good Earth. I did this pretty much most Saturdays with my friend Judy Hudson. I’m sure Kris, Mike and a few others went along sometimes, but it was always Judy and I. It was 60 + miles roundtrip, which seems really far back then, especially in the winter.

A few years later, I was staying in Cardiff California one winter, training for riding an hour record attempt. Once again, there was a Good Earth in La Jolla village. Nearly every weekday morning, Trudi and I would ride the 15 miles to La Jolla, get the .99 cent breakfast special. It was whole wheat/cinnamon pancakes and eggs. After, we’d go down to the cove and watch the whales that were migrating down to Baja, then head back. It was pretty great having 30 miles on my legs before I’d even trained for the day.

I don’t hardly ever eat cold cereal for breakfast. My friend, Glenda Taylor, who grew up on a farm, once told me her mother wouldn’t let them eat cereal until they’d already had some “real food”. That makes sense. Most cold cereal is just a sugary snack.

I like most everything, pancakes, waffles, eggs, all types of hot cereal with fruit and nuts. I drink hot tea in the morning. I’ll drink coffee if I’m going out, but at home, it’s hot tea. Iike English Breakfast the best, but just about any black tea will do.

If I had to choose just one breakfast food, it would probably have to be pancakes. I’ve had the same pancake sourdough starter for close to 20 years. I thought I’d lost it once when I returned from a long trip and the mason jar the starter was in had exploded in the refrigerator. But a few months later, I was helping Keith and Catherine move and there in the back of their fridge was a jar of my starter that I’d given them. I was so stoked.

Anyway, I though of this because I am pretty much skipping breakfast today, just raisin toast. A couple times a week, I’ve been going over and walking Catherine’s mom’s dog, Jason, a little Pomeranian. When I do this, I end up eating lunch with her. It is a full meal deal, more like dinner. I normally skip lunch. I’m usually riding or doing something and just snack between breakfast and dinner. So, when I eat a full lunch, I have to cut back before and after. It’s not a very good trade-off.

My sourdough starter. I know it looks a little rancid, but it isn't. I only use real maple syrup. I like Grade B better than A, it has more flavor.

My sourdough starter. I know it looks a little rancid, but it isn’t. I only use real maple syrup. I like Grade B better than A, it has more flavor.

I usually put yogurt and fruit on waffles.

I usually put yogurt and fruit on waffles.

This is the best bacon I've ever had. It is from Steve Myrland from Madison. He brough it up to Dennis' and wasn't shy about proclaiming he makes the best bacon in the world. He was right.

This is the best bacon I’ve ever had. It is from Steve Myrland from Madison. He brough it up to Dennis’ and wasn’t shy about proclaiming he makes the best bacon in the world. He was right.

Jason.

Jason.

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