I use the Internet all the time for information on how to do things.  How to reset automatic locks with a new key fob for one of my cars, to how to polish granite countertop edges, wet or dry.  It is amazing the extent people will go to give their experience or expertise to others.  And most of the time it is for nothing, just knowing they helped the next guy out so he doesn’t have to go through the learning process that they did.

There is a Youtube video for just about anything you can think of.  It might take a while sorting through them all to get to the one that has the true knowledge, but that is how all learning goes. Sometimes the guy that is the most inexperienced comes up with the best way of doing things it seems.  That is what is really cool about critical thinking.

Learning bicycle racing from the Internet probably wouldn’t work very well.  I think you could learn how to rebuild an STI lever on you bike pretty good, but the actually racing tactics would be nearly impossible.  Or techniques for being a better bike handler, etc. would be very hard to attain through just reading/watching them.  Or course you could read that you should put your all you weight on your outside pedal when cornering in a criterium, but that doesn’t mean it will become 2nd nature when you are doing it.

Becoming super confident on a bicycle, with the ability to handle most situations a race, or even training for hours on the road, throw at you, takes repetition.  It takes tons of times experiencing different situations and reacting instantly.  It isn’t like you consciously think about what you are doing, you are just doing.

At Joe Martin last week, I watched a rider a couple different stages.  This guy was killing it up Mt. Gaylor on Friday, pretty much killing it nearly the whole way up the climb.  He was super strong.  Then on Sunday, in the criterium, I got behind the same rider early in the race and couldn’t believe that he had no ability to turn a corner.  Like he was losing 2 or 3 bike lengths each and every corner.  I only followed him for a couple corners before I realized that I didn’t want him anywhere near me the rest of the race, which would have been nearly impossible for him anyway.  I’m sure the rider will be fine eventually, be he was so far over his head in the criterium, that it will take years for him to be adequate, in my opinion.

I guess that is why I really enjoy the sport so much, and why it never becomes monotonous. There is always something to learn, always places to improve.  Or learn what you already once knew, but were rusty at.

Compare these two videos of Peter Sagan.  It is amazing that he didn’t crash into Fabian Cancellara in Pari-Roubaix.  One legged bunny hop over Fabian.  His skills are crazy good.  Then in the 2nd one, his MTB return in Austria, he looks like a beginning MTB racer.  What a contrast. But, that is the sport. Repetitions or the skills fade.

Tucker is getting more agile by the day. He is super fast and very quick, even compared to last week.

This TUE (therapeutic use exemption) thing that keeps popping up in cycling is complete utter bullshit.  When you are so sick that you need a medication that is banned to compete, then you should not be competing.  That isn’t very hard to understand.  These guys all have such horrible lungs that they all need inhalers to compete.  I remember seeing a race where Chris Froome pulled an inhaler out of his pocket just a couple minutes before he shelled every other rider on a climb.  Pretty ill, huh?

Gerry Ryan is the owner of the Orica-GreenEdge team.  He is worried that his rider, Simon Yates’, adverse analytic finding for testing positive for terbutaline, with be tried in a “kangaroo court”.  Many that is what this qualified as?

I don’t know shit about Simon Yates, other than what I, and anyone else, can read about him. But he had terbutaline in his system at a dope control test at Paris-Nice.  For some reason, Ryan and his team, think that just because the team’s doctor listed the medicine on the form when Simon did the test that they think that excuses him for having it in his system.  Hardly.

I don’t know the protocol of how Orica-Greenedge handles their rider’s TUE’s, but the rider is responsible for the medicine within his body, no one else.  It isn’t that hard of a concept to understand.  And it isn’t that hard of a task for a rider.  I assume that Simon isn’t taking a couple page list of medications that are all banned for competition.  I hoping it is just this, or maybe two. Which is two more than I approve of.

Isn’t it great that Orica is taking full responsibility for this “mistake”.  Orica’s statement -“In this case the team doctor made an administrative error by failing to apply for the TUE required for the use of this treatment. The use of Terbutaline without a current TUE is the reason it has been flagged as an adverse analytical finding. This is solely based on a human error that the doctor in question has taken full responsibility for.” That the rider isn’t at fault at all?  I disagree.  The rider is ultimately at fault here.  He is the responsible party.

And what they all don’t understand is the process.  You don’t administer medicine and then apply for the TUE.  You apply for the TUE and then, if approved, get the medicine.  Pretty simple. Guess they missed that memo.

Lots have been written about cyclists taking asthma medication.  Seems like it is pretty suspicion.  I saw this comment at this article at Cyclingnews.

And in the case of inhaled terbutaline, this recently published study suggests that high-dose usage is performance-enhancing in trained athletes:

“High-dose inhaled terbutaline increases muscle strength and enhances maximal sprint performance in trained men.” (Hostrup et al./Eur J. Appl/2014).

CONCLUSION:

“High-dose inhaled terbutaline elicits a systemic response that enhances muscle strength and sprint performance. High-dose terbutaline should therefore continue to be restricted in competitive sport.”

So, this drug can be used to treat asthma or can be used to increase muscle strength.  I guess it probably does both.  Seems like it shouldn’t be used in competion at all, TUE or not.

My view is pretty simple.  If you are healthy, race your bike.  If you are sick and need banned medicine to compete, you shouldn’t be.  Of course there are going to be a few exemptions to this simple statement, but if you are a professional athlete and you need an exemption for a banned substance to compete constantly, then you probably are in the wrong occupation.  Get another job.

I feel badly for Simon if he is truly “innocent” here. But like I stated above, ultimately he is responsible for what is in his body.

I’ve had a hard time breathing recently.  Maybe this stuff would help me out some.  I think I’ll try it for a little while and if it works, then I’ll apply for a TUE.  Think that is prudent?

Pick your poison.

Tucker is getting big. He is 36 pounds now. He needs his beauty sleep often.