It's All About the Bike » The Juice

Kirk O’Bee You Are Costing Us Money

moto — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:38:33 +0000

I read with great interest the entire 48 page PDF Arbitration document regarding Kirk O’Bee’s recently delivered LIFETIME BAN from competitive cycling. It’s not just a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. It reads like a good mystery story, complete with a woman scorned, forensic hard drive analysis, and lots of names of other cyclists who now are going to have to do some ‘splaining. I’m talking about you, Nathan O’Neill. I’ve raced in a few races with O’Bee back in the day when I was still trying to race with the big boys. Got my ass kicked by him and many others. But I guess I was one place better than I thought. I have good, close friends who were at one time team mates with O’Bee. I wonder if their salaries would have been a little better had O’Bee not been on their team? How much team budget did this jackass eat up? What races did they not get chosen to go to, because O’Bee was on the roster? Who knows. What I do know is this, regarding the money we pay in license fees and club fees to USA Cycling, too much of it is going to attorneys tied up in arbitration hearings for dopers! We the dues paying members are paying for this shit! I propose to USA Cycling, that every time a cyclist is sanctioned, results nullified, and ordered to pay back winnings, they should also have to pay back every licensed rider and club a portion of the legal fees incurred by USA Cycling. That’s where the money is going. What do you think?

The Juice: Way To Go Dick

moto — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:40:26 +0000

41 year old twat waffle Duane “Dewey” Dickey get s lifetime ban for popping EPO and other performance enhancing medicines, and for failing to cooperate with an out of competition test by USADA. Read all about it in the Velo News. Let’s just say, when you have been racing as long as I have, you hear rumors. And we’ve all heard the rumors.

Why is this significant, that a little known local legend from the midwest gets a lifetime ban? It’s significant to me, because when friends and family members ask me with disbelief “do you really think local guys are doping just to be top cat in the local race series, I always have a tough time being emphatic solely based on just hearsay and rumors. This is sad really, I don’t know this guy, but generally don’t give much credit to lifetime cheats. You cheat all your life (or most of it), you should get a lifetime ban. Scratch another name from the 40+ Masters Nationals start list in Bend next summer! It might just be me and you, Timmer.

Chiming In On Cheating

moto — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:40:28 +0000

This shitstorm was opened back in April, regarding the currently suspended masters phenom, Kenny Williams, who was suspended for a positive dope test. I wrote some of my thoughts down in this post when the story first broke about Kenny. Read this article by Charles Pelkey of Velo News. Williams has apparently showed up at a few local training races, to the objection of a few local, non-cheating, ethical type bike racers. It has thrown the Northwest scene into a tizzy over the definition of “suspended” and the definition of “cheating” and the definition of “race.” After Pelkey’s article, there is a sounding board of comments. Here’s my take. Other racers on the scene are criticizing the rider who wrote the letter of objection. Kudos for Mike Hainsworth for speaking up. Suspended means suspended. There should be no place for dopers to keep racing, to keep their fitness sharp for when they make the big comeback. You know Kenny can’t wait to get back to racing when his suspension is up. What do you think?

It’s a Juicy Friday In The World Of Professional Doping

moto — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:31:07 +0000

Wow. VeloNews. Lots to report today. BMC draws first blood (no pun intended) and suspends Swiss rider Thomas Frei after he tested positive for EPO. Read the story here. This is after they suspended 2 riders for being implicated in an ongoing doping investigation in Italy. Unfortunately, Alessandro Ballan, last year’s World Champ, is one of the riders who has been suspended. Things are not looking good for Lance Armstrong’s Radioshack team mate Fuyu Li. Fuyu is the first rider from China to ride for a ProTour team, and now he becomes the first one to receive a doping suspension, pending the analysis of his B-sample. Read his story here.

U23 Kacper Szczepaniak Attempts Suicide

Moto — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:12:03 +0000

Kacper Szczepaniak Attempts Suicide

March 15th, 2010 Filed Under cyclocross news

The U23 podium in Tabor © Bart Hazen

Kacper Szczepaniak, the young Polish rider who placed second in the U23 World Championships in Tabor and subsequently tested positive for EPO, tried to kill himself. His brother Pawel, who won the event and also tested positive for EPO, confirmed the news and reported to Belgian publication Het Laatste Nieuws that it was their father who intervened.

Hans Van Kasteren, the manager of the Telenet-Fidea squad for which Kasper rides, claims to have two sources that point at the brothers’ Polish coach for encouraging them to dope. “We never approve of doping, but can understand how the boys were tempted,” Van Kasteren told Het Laatste Nieuws. “Their father earns just 250 euros per month, while Kacper with a world-caliber team could easily clear 2500 euros.”

The Szczepaniak brothers dominated the U23 World Championship race, in Tabor, Czech Republic, with Pawel (20) claiming the title in front of Kacper (19). Frenchman Arnaud Jouffroy finished third, with Belgian Tom Meeusen in fourth. Last week, the UCI released positive doping results for EPO for both brothers. Pending the results of their B samples, the brothers will be stripped of their results and face suspensions and disciplinary action.

See also:
Reactions to Szczepaniak Brothers’ Positive Doping Tests

Szczepaniak Brothers Positive for EPO at World Championships – Updated

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Related stories:

Reactions to Szczepaniak Brothers’ Positive Doping Tests

Szczepaniak Brothers Positive for EPO at World Championships – Updated

Van Der Poel, Szczepaniak win Juniors, U23 in Hoogerheide – UPDATED – Full Results and Photos

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via cxmagazine.com

What a horrible state of affairs that doping has stretched its reach down to the ranks of the U23. U23 used to be called the “Espoirs” category, which means “Hope.” Now it should be called the Despair category. I wonder if this will be the first doping case where two brothers were popped for EPO, let alone from the same race. We’ve heard before of team mates being implicated in doping scandals, usually pointing higher up to systemic doping programs implemented by coaches and trainers. These are dark times. We’re talking about kids here, 19 and 20 years old. I am hoping that young Kacper realizes there is more to life than cycling, and that his life is not over. I’m sure this all sounds awfully judgmental, but when I read the part about how his father makes 250 euro a month and he had the chance to earn 2500 racing his bike, I take on a different perspective. We’re not talking about the level of fraud of a Grand Tour champion who makes millions a year. We’re talking about a blue collar kid trying to eek out a blue collar living, and he rolled the dice. Not saying it’s right. Just saying we all might have a different perspective if we grew up in Poland and ate horse. What do you think?

The Juice: Priamo Dealt 4 Years For Dealing CERA

moto — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:47:52 +0000

Usually the Juicers are reluctant to reveal their sources. I guess the Omerta is to protect other riders who have yet to test positive. If you go down, don’t take anybody with you. Matteo Priamo gets a 4 year suspension for possessing and supplying CERA to Emmanuelle Sella, who did test positive for the banned blood booster. No news as to whether Priamo tested positive himself. Where there is smoke, there is fire. Just goes to show that riders beat the tests all the time. Or are we to believe that Priamo only supplied his mates, but didn’t touch the stuff himself? I think the ban should be more severe, as in, banned from racing for life. What do you think?

The Juice: Kenny Williams & The Smackdown

moto — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:11:19 +0000

If you did a google search for “Kenny Williams Cyclist”, the first result you would find in the search rankings would be for his personal blog. The short description reads “Welcome to Kenny Williams cycling blog. Occasionally there will be posts here to thrill you with tales of what it’s like to lay the smackdown in a bike race …”

You know what? I have raced against Kenny on a few occasions, mostly at USA Cycling Masters National Championship Events when they were held in Park City, Utah. In the 35-39 criterium event, I found myself in a 6 man breakaway with Kenny and 4 other riders. It was a technical course with a screaming downhill, and an off-camber turn that seemed to be too hard for most of the field to figure out. Our group lapped the field at least once. At a certain part in the race, they stopped pulling people who were lapped, and it was a clusterfuck going into the last few laps. I kicked myself after that race for not attacking and taking a flier with one lap to go because I’m guessing the other riders would have watched Kenny for just long enough, it would have been game over. But I didn’t. I waited for the sprint. He won, I got 4th.

So, Kenny, I guess I was one of the racers who was out there when you got to “lay the smackdown.” On many occasions after that race in Park City, I have thought about how nice it would have been to win that day, and pull on the Stars and Stripes while holding my baby daughter on the podium. I just got beat by a couple riders who were just a hair faster. That’s life. But then I see the recent news about Kenny testing positive for taking DHEA. Says he only used it on one occasion to help get back in top form after an injury. Says he’s sorry. The problem with dopers is this: where there is smoke, there is fire.

What should his penalty be for failing both A and B samples? Serve 2 years suspension then be able to come back and compete as a 44 year old? I think I just found the motivation to start racing again, since in 2 years, we would still be in the same age class. It would be interesting to see what sort of smackdown old Kenny could deliver on this anonymous Masters racer at Nationals. Who’s with me?

Double Serving Of The Juice

moto — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:25:31 +0000

As if I didn’t have enough to do today, Velonews released all sorts of Juicy stories, aggregated here in the Juice report:

Italian cyclist Gabriele Bosisio (LPR Brakes) got popped in an out-of-competition test for EPO. He was the stage 7 winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia, and was targeted for this out-of-competition due to abnormalities in blood values throughout the season. What did David Millar once say? If someone’s performance looks to good to be true, it’s probably not. Read the whole story.

And in local amateur “donkey-trying-to-race-with-horses” news, a Houston-based amateur named Mitch Comardo (Bike Barn) tested positive for a a whole grip of substances. Not to take the farm animal analogy and further than needed, he claims all of these substances entered his corpus through an over-the-counter male enhancement supplement, but my guess is the old bodybuilder trick of hooking up with a local vet as a supplier. Read the whole story.

More Fresh Juice: Obee Again

moto — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:59:05 +0000

It’s a busy day at the Juicer today, with more domestic news that Kirk O’Bee has been entangled in another Juicing operation. The sad word here: domestic. O’Bee was lucky to even get a spot on Bissell, I hope he doesn’t bring the squad down, because I’ve got friends there who are clean, work hard, and earn every penny of their paychecks. One thing for sure, O’Bee was clean at Cascade, where he finished off the back with the amateurs most days and then DNF’d the last day. The real Kirk O’Bee. Anybody picking up a little bit of resentment that guys like this racing in the U.S. get paid salaries to race, and the only way they can do it is with the extra %? Must be all the pressure of competing in international events like Superweek. Velonews has the details.

The Waiting Game. Astarloza Popped.

moto — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:35:26 +0000

The Tour has been over for a few weeks, and now the real fun begins, waiting for the results of the dope controls to come back. The first lying cheat to be exposed is stage 16 winner Mikel Astarloza, who tested positive for good old fashioned straight-up EPO in an out of competition pee party just prior to the start of the Tour. Hey Mikel, didn’t you know, they test for that shit now? Read the words on velonews.