Car:Driver::Barrel:Fish. Not being mistaken for this guy is reason enough to minimize your time behind the wheel: Short Schrift: My Secret Shame Ah, the old “cyclists are ruffians” argument. What color was that pot again? If it were possible to cheat the rules on the road in a car the way it is on a…
Rants Archive
The Rants category was added in the early days of Cyclocosm to differentiate opinion pieces from the daily news recaps.
Derailing the Carbon Drivetrain
Sometimes, I find myself faced with crises of purpose. What am I doing here? Why can’t I figure out what I want to do with my life? Will I ever find something that satisfies me? It’s enough to really get me down sometimes. It’s a good thing I’ve got the boneheadedness of the bicycle industry…
The Dope's On You: The Missing ProTour Revision
Argument number one billion to revise the UCI ProTour: the sport’s “minor leagues” end up stacked to the brim with tainted athletes. Unconvicted doping pariah du jour Michael Rasmussen is currently in talks to ride with Acqua-Sapone for the rest of the season, and believe me, he’s not their first liaison. The Italian squad even…
The Tailwind Backstab, Tour of Germany
Man, I feel really sore all of a sudden. I’m thinking maybe this had something to do with it? I mean, this is a new era in cycling. I was jonesing hard for that “I’m about to get busted” confession. I suppose with old Johan looking over his shoulder, we should have never expected anything…
Tour de France '07 – Casar Wins, The Fans' Blind Eye
Say what you will about doping; I think today’s finish was the saddest and most unfair of the entire ’07 Tour. Not that three-time runner up Sandy Casar was an undeserving winner – he bounced back from an early spill, made his turns in the break, and played his speed edge perfectly in the finale….
Tour de France '07 – No Rest Day for Dopers
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, with all the savagery and suddenness of a Great White, word of another positive test. Can I call it, or what? Kinda gives new meaning to Bobby Julich’s nickname for the about-to-be-disgraced Kazakh, doesn’t it? Throughout my outrage at the suspensions last…
What a Lousy Day
I am not a happy camper. Cyclingnews was sold last night, to an evil publishing conglomerate – an evil publishing conglomerate that already owns, among 150 or so other publications, ProCycling, Cycling Plus, MBUK and What Mountain Bike. Since the Podium Cafe seems to have taken the mature, cautious response to this development, I’ll spend…
The Passion of the Floyd Continues
Ah, there’s nothing like struggling with the eccentricities of your local shop, assembling a new bike, changing banks, attempting to file a warranty claim with a defunct company, sending in ludicrous hard-copy forms after filing taxes on-line, correcting addresses (since the benefits and payroll offices at my “real” job can’t seem to compare records…) and…
To the Inevitable Extinction of Tyrannasaurus Pat
Not that I ever liked Patrick Lefevere, but man, I really don’t like him now. The Quick.Step director is reportedly “encouraging” each member of his 30-man team to sue a Belgian newspaper that that accused him of a generation’s worth of doping. With pupils like Johan Museeuw, Richard Virenque, Frank Vandenbroucke, most would see the…
More Races Like Het Volk, ToC Means Less UCI, ASO and Carmichael.
Reason #426 I’m looking forward to to Het Volk: it’s neither a ProTour event, nor owned by Grand-Tour organizers ASO, RCS or Unipublic (henceforth referred to on Cyclocosm as The Cartel), and thus provides a much needed reprieve deLaclosian squabble raging between those two camps. After months of posturing, threats and fruitless negotiation, the fact…