Glad to see our man Dave Z get another stars and stripes outfit for winning the U.S. Professional Time Trial championships for the third year in a row. He fought valiantly in Beijing to represent the U.S. of A., but I know his result there wasn’t what he was looking for. Good to see Dark Meat climb back to the top step of the podium. Read the story on cyclingnews.com. You’ll notice that DZ’s Garmin-Chipotle squad owned the top five, with Vande Velde, Cozza and Danielson.
Monthly Archive for August, 2008
The folks at Summit Honda in Park City, Utah have this 2001 KTM LC4 that was taken in on trade. It has 1500 clean miles, and the thing looks like maybe it was ridden through a puddle once. This would be a good starter bike for someone looking to get into adventure dualsport riding, and the price is right, somewhere around bluebook value of $3600. Check it out.
This bike is ready to for someone looking to get into dualsport riding. Fields?
Wow. Just read an article on VeloNews about an apparent exchange of words and blows between former U.S. Pro road race champion Marty Jemison and Garmin-Chipotle team doctor and apparently, former heroin addict Prentice Steffen. I was down spectating at the criterium and saw Marty before the race. He was super-friendly and after exchanging pleasantries, he had a job to do, and we had a race to watch so we went our separate ways. Here’s the thing about Prentice Steffen. What the fuck? What could this guy possibly hope to gain by tarnishing the reputation of a hard-working cyclist who has been retired for years. A guy trying to make a living and support his family through riding a bike, with his tour business. I’m not just sticking up for Marty because I know him, and I’m not passing judgement about whether or not he doped. To my knowledge, aside from the unsubstantiated claims by Steffen, Marty had never been implicated in any doping. The only stain against him is his name was mentioned in the same vein as Hamilton. I’m just saying. This Prentice Steffen guy has a job as team doctor for Garmin-Chipotle. Mind your own business and do your damned job. In the sport of cycling, no doubt there are many people who know where bodies are buried. Move on people. The past is the past. Focus on the now and get rid of the dopers, because there are plenty of them still beating the system. And focus on the future. Make sure today’s young talented riders stay clean. Meanwhile, Tyler Fucking Hamilton, one of the biggest and saddest cheats of all time, was here in SLC racing his bike, courtesy of Michael Ball’s idiotic and pathetic attempt to rescue the careers of proven dopers in hopes of selling a few pair of overpriced jeans. I’m sorry for the language, but I raced against Tyler in New England. He was always good. Better than me. I was stoked when he crushed everyone at Liege Bastogne Liege. Then I almost cried when he smashed his collarbone in the Tour and soldiered on. What a sham. How ironic that while the Olympics were going on in Beijing, Tyler was doing circles around Pioneer Park in Utah. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
Here’s one for you: apparently there is an offer for Floyd to return to racing with Rock. Floyd: don’t do it. You are better than that.
The 2008 Tour of Utah brought big time bike racing back to Utah, and the downtown criterium stage brought enthusiastic crowds and fast action around Pioneer Park. After the exciting sprint finish won by Ricardo Escuela over Fast Freddie, we got a chance to catch up with two local rockstars, Burke Swindlehurst and Dave Harward, as they were warming down. They didn’t have black Escalades waiting for them. They didn’t have team boss clowns walking around with bodyguards. Just two good old boys who ride their bikes really fast, who took time out to say hello to old friends.
T-Bird, the girls and Harward took some time to say hello after a fast stage.
Darth Nater created a nice little Shuttterfly gallery of images dubbed Motodelicios from our recent “Loop the Green River” trip, previously described in an earlier post as the Dragon Canyon ride, well, because Dragon Canyon sounds cooler. Actually, what was interesting was the headstone in the old cemetery that referred to it as Black Dragon Canyon. If Dragon Canyon sounds cool, then Black Dragon Canyon sounds cooler. Not as cool as Rathole Ridge, a road that we decided not to venture down, so as to not get ratholed.
Headstone referring to the Black Dragon Graveyard. R.I.P.
Just a quick post after a weekend dualsport trip to Southern Utah. Although there were a few spills, we all made it back safe and sound. Stay tuned for more photos from Darth and a more detailed description of the route that took us into the Bookcliffs, a night of camping in Dragon Canyon, some high-speed dirt road riding across state borders into Colorado, then finally, redemption in the form of bacon cheeseburgers at Ray’s Tavern in Green River, Utah.
The road through Dragon Canyon claimed another rearview mirror.
It took three of us to get Darth’s land speeder upright. Then we turned around.
Packing up in the morning after camping in Dragon Canyon.
Obi-Ben hoisting up the Reposado while the others set up camp.
About a month ago, professional bike racer Dave Zabriskie called me to see if I knew of any nice places to stay in Park City or Deer Valley. His coach wanted him to train and sleep at an altitude above 8,000 feet. This was right after I started my new job as Director of Marketing for Deer Valley Lodging. Duh. This was a no-brainer. Thanks to a cycling-friendly General Manager at The Village at Empire Pass, one of our Deer Valley slopeside properties, we were able to set him up with some nice accommodations while he spent time motorpacing behind a scooter on the roads of Park City, and sleeping above 8,000 feet. Dave leaves for Beijing on Sunday, and will be representing the United States in the road race and individual time trial. A former silver medalist in the World Championships time trial, Z is no dark horse in this event. He beat Armstrong in the Tour de France to claim a yellow jersey, and I believe he still holds the record for the fastest ever average speed in a TDF time trial stage. And did I mention that he beat Armstrong, which was sweet. Unlike current time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara, who can’t help being Swiss but often refers to himself in the third person, which I find quite annoying, Dave is pretty down to earth despite being an international star. If you read this recent interview on cyclingnews.com, you have to think he’s got as good a shot as anyone for a medal. As you can see below, Z has shorn the Dirk Diggler moustache which he sported for much of the 2008 season, something we have never seen before in professional cycling.
Good luck Dave. I’ll give you ten bucks if you race with a face mask on.