TwinSix and Dubba have combined forces on this one. It means what it says. I think the next one should have a blood infusion machine with wings and of course a skull with the unmistakable shape of the cyclist formally known as Bernie.

I hate myself for liking Boonen. No, loving Boonen. I'm a tank like him (6'2" 180) and always empathize with the big men who have to suffer like pigs when the terra firma tilts up and the waif's float away. God help them when the land flattens out again...

Anyways, oops, he did it again. The boy's definitely got a problem. This is not recreational use (WTF does that mean anyways) in my opinion and the fact he's turning to blow again...after what all thought was a rad and remarkable step back up to the peloton's 'top step' after his Roubaix win this year and with it erasing all that bad in his past from his first cocaine bust...

So how's it going to end?

It's all going to end up on Belgian reality TV. Probably right after Wellens and Me re runs or that crappy show about the Planckaerts. I can see it now: It'll be about a struggling Boonen, all bloated, working in a factory being managed by Ludo Dierckxsens, as he tells tales about depression and pressure and....(insert the 'where are they now?' TV show play book from VH1 here).

Pressure? Try growing a family, Boonen. Get laid off and push hard to continue supporting your family. Try maintaining some self respect and salvage the respect little kids have for you in Belgium while they read your own comic book.

Hit the buy now button folks...

I've always been enamored with this cherub like son of Flanders, Wim Jacobs. Former Belgian Worlds selection, former Fidea rider and most recently with Morgan Blue, home boy got blasted with a positive and requisite suspension recently. The kid looks like a brick house and I'd specifically pick him out over the years to watch his style and technique. He's a mudder for sure.

I got to see Wim every weekend we raced in Belgium, warming up with him on the courses, saying hello. An absolutely nice guy. But aren't they all? Which leads me to that age old question: Why? I don't want this to turn into a messy rant but in the case of Wim, it must be desperation. Let's face it, Wim's face isn't seen on the pointy end of races at the GVA's or SP's. He's a mini celeb in the smaller local races, still dwarfed by Geert Wellens or Arnie Dahlmans if they were there, but at races of substance (read: coverd by sporza n the boob tube) that really have the cash purses, he's fodder.  So I guess to maintain the ability to stay out of the factories or paving streets, I suspect these kids have to keep the results flowing in to keep those minor contracts alive. And thus to the butt comes the needle.

But I digress. I'm just sick and tired of the joke the sport has become. I'd hope that 'cross was somehow going to side step the doping drama but I'm a fool for thinking that.

....in Germany. Part H20, part CERA, I guess.
Get yours here.

I can't get it out of my head. As I spun it out today after my ride with Dubba getting our cross juices flowing it came across my iPod....

Mother dear, the world's gone cold
No one cares about love anymore

Jeff Buckley WAILING away on this rarely heard song. All about hard core realizations about place on earth; place in and around your loved ones. Heavy duty stuff. But alas...

I'm thinking the Tour. My love for the sport....

Does anyone care about the Tour any more? I love it with everything I've got, but this year will have to be it for me. It was this mental line in the sand I've drawn.

I resisted....but got caught up at the end. Only when I heard Carlos may be close did I jump back in and listen. All due props and respect to Christian and the Slipstream...er, ah Garmin...boys mind you, but there's something about Carlos that I feel is transparent and at the core good.

Make it so. Don't let me hear of a Floyd-like post podium debacle, Carlos. Allow my lady and I to go and see it next year as I become SUPER FAN on the slopes of some God-forsaken hill in France or Italy or Spain (wherever the sickness is to go down). I did get a vibe that the peloton is now self regulating. Identifying the p.o.s.'s out there and throwing upon them the due cross hairs. That boy and girl of yours, Carlos, on the podium: never let them doubt you. Never let them tilt their heads sideways and say 'huh?' What is doping, daddy? I think that the last time trial was real. Absolutely exhausted athletes who have not been able to myst-raculously recover in a night's time to drop the hammer upon the skulls of your nemeses.

My heart can't take this anymore...
What will you say?

Carlos, my friend. Ensure it is real.

No, not the type that you do to get fit to drop your buds on your weekend rides. I'm talkin' about the type you need to do to keep WADA off your trail so you can dope in absolute privacy. Just witness Michael's program

Oh, Tommeke, you f-ing fool. Amature hour, for sure. Shame that all of that fame and fortune is getting to your head. You're awesome. Totally gifted. Blowing it, you retard. I wonder what the next comic strip will entail you doing in your adventures. What'r all the young Belgie kids gonna read?

"An den, I ripped six rails, and road za cobbles like Johan Museeuw, mijn hero."

What a joke.

So, therefore you need to update your wardrobe with this new Limited Edition beauty. Dubba, you made me spit my meatball out when I saw this..Buy one from DopersSuck and wear it with pride. All hail Ben Jacques-Mayne. We need something real to believe in.

Hmm. Since the bomb went off between Trek and Greg Lemond, there seems to be an immense level of activity with respect to Lance's 'training' activities during his seven year reign as king of Le Grand Boucle. As an example, this site, InvestigateLance.org has surfaced bringing to light some interesting topics on Lance's cleanliness during that time. So, It should be looked at and you as a cycling fan and a fan of clean sport should formulate your own opinions on the subject.

I love that expression. Especially when Phil Liggett blurts it out when a sprinter comes across the line first, arms outstretched with a bike length or more in front of 2nd place....thus the guy relgated to 2nd getting to see the winners clean set of wheels.

And so it was the case for our HOME BOY Pete P-Lo Lopinto in his first two races of the season! Chalk two 'W's up for the small teams! Pete, a former crit guru on the Kodak Sierra Nevada Team last season is now using all his experience to mentor and lead his new THF Realty Cycling team. After pulling in the W at the Scottsdale AZ Grand Prix, P Lo and the THF Realty crew lined up with the Toyota United's and Rock Racing's of the world at the DU crit here in D-town and threw down. Read all about it on their web site but the most CLASSIC result of P Lo's victory here in Denver this weekend is again his truly CLEAN set of wheels, a set fueled by bread and water. You GO P Lo!:

Photos by Serge Desrosiers

So it looks like Team Fidea has ponied up and signed an ethics charter to support anti doping. Roughy translated from Cyclocross Info:

The Fidea-team wants to support the fight against doping. The ten racers on who the team counts all signed a “sport-loving charter” (Greg: That is a hilarious translation), an internal regulation that will issue fines and other sanctions in case of a positive.

"We are a leader in this area", said manager Van Kasteren. "We want contribute with the Fidea team an even playing field. We already had an earlier agreement, but now we’ve elaborated and refined it.”

The charter contains also a general ethics code of conduct. It has directives concerning clothing (Greg: Huh??), training periods, handles press... "a first of its kind in Belgium."

I guess I'm down with anything that moves the ball forward on this front. But, these Belgian 'renners' have been, are and will always be heroes more than bike racers to their supporter clubs. It's not about winning but about being heroic. It's about the ability of the rider to merge their guts and effort with the Belgian countryside...the same one they came from and where they're going to be buried some day. 'Cross in particular is even more poetic in this sense. Traversing their desolate countrysides of muddied cow pastures and barns. That's why it's so core to them and why we in America think...well...think differently. We like the winner....the result....the prize. Nothing wrong with that but the question of doping fades into the background for a Belgian when it isn't helping anyone necessarily win (it may), but is assisting, quietly, the suffering heroism going on for their fans and countrymen.

I'm going to get the shit kicked out of me in Belgium. HA!