(edited)
It seemed a bit darker than usual when I rolled out of bed at 5:45 this morning, and by the time I got out to the levee to meet the group, I could see why. In the dim pre-dawn light I could already see the dark, low-hanging clouds flying up from the Gulf. Atop the levee there was an occasional light mist and a strong sustained wind out of the Southeast. Only 7 or 8 riders were foolish enough to show up, and it was quickly decided that we would turn around a few miles early in consideration of the headwind we would have to battle on the way back.
By the time we were half-way out, it was already raining a bit, which wasn't too bad with the wind at our backs, but after the turn-around, it was a tough ride home in the increasing rain and wind - a remnant of Hurricane Ivan that had looped around in the Atlantic and come back across Florida for a repeat performance. At least it wasn't cold!
By the time I got home, the tops of my socks were black and I had road grit everywhere. I just hate it when that grit gets into your mouth, as it always does, and you can feel it between your teeth. The bottom of the tub was full of dirt and grit after my shower this morning.
Meanwhile, on the international front, Tyler Hamilton is in deep s*!t, having tested positive for homologous blood transfusions at the Vuelta a Espana and also at the Olympics. He's already been suspended by his team. I can't really see Tyler cheating that way, and I have to wonder how he would be testing positive for this (presumably they detect multiple blood subtypes) and yet not show an elevated hematocrit, which would be the whole point of this type of blood doping in the first place. Something doesn't add up here and it will take some real biomedical detective work to figure out what's going on with the testing or with Tyler.
Hopefully, his backup blood samples will not test the same and the test procedure will be inplicated.
*Update*
Looks like Tyler lucked out on the Olympic medal. They screwed up and froze his "b" blood sample and so there weren't enough intact RBCs to do the analysis, as reported by Cyclingnews.
1 comment:
I know what you mean. Before the put the paved bike path on the levee, it was covered with clam shells (commonly used filler around here in the past). I used to ride a section of it fairly regularly. It really makes you appreciate fenders!
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