Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Random bits and Tour stuff...

Sorry I've been gone the past few days, but I've had lots of decent excuses. It's been a busy week... even busier than all the other busy weeks I've been complaining about.

Monday was a big day for me; the PIN came out of the right thumb! It's out and the bone looks good and like it is healing well. Today I had my first session of physical therapy specifically for the thumb and the elbow. Things are looking better, little by little. I am now 100% hardware free and it feels pretty good. I was supposed to have an MRI on the right knee tonight as well, but somebody apparently didn't tell the MRI office and I ended up wasting my time waiting for an appointment that wasn't.

The tools of medieval torture... and pin removal.

Nervousness kicking in...


UGH... that's an ugly image, but the bone looks good.

Pin free- yep, that's a hole in the end of my thumb!

That's a big pin!

The Tour de France continues. Another rider has been tossed out of the race for a "non-negative" test result. The teams of the ProTour have decided to leave the ProTour and will not be renewing their ProTour licenses with the UCI next year. ASO is now worked up in a lather over their self-importance. The doping lab behind the tests this year is the same lab (AFLD) that mishandled the Floyd Landis tests and was chastised by the CAS for their shoddy procedural record. L'Equippe has been instantly leaked the results of the failed tests seconds after the tests are done and before the teams even know. The power-brokers of the sport continue to make cycling look like a minor three-ring circus- the kind that drives around in a beat-up old van with fake wood panel sides and 4 bald tires. It's a farce. Maybe the teams pulling out of the ProTour will for the UCI to try to work better with all the other parties involved. ASO needs to grow up as well before they help to kill the sport for good. The dopes in the sport need to be driven out on a rail and never allowed to return. I really like guys like David Millar and others who have seamlessly returned to racing, but being able to return to the sport means there is less strength behind enforcement of the rules- which ever rules we end up trying to defend and enforce. This has been a great race so far and I am really excited to Evans in yellow, as he is a great bloke by all accounts, even if he doesn't like the press very much. All of the drama surrounding the race is sucking the joy out of the experience for me. Once again, it is the circus and the dopers that are grabbing headlines and not the riders on their bikes. It's another year of having to defend cycling to my non-cycling friends and family. To say it makes me angry is an understatement. I look forward to the day when we simply talk about the riders and their bikes... that'll be a great moment.

An old friend and former co-worker of mine, John Holderness, is the man behind a cool new cycling social media site called CyclingNutz.com. I'm a cyclist and a social media geek... so I took a look through the site and it's pretty damned cool, so I suggest you give it a look. Adding to the Six Degrees of Masiguy, the photos scrolling through the header are by one of my former Excel Sports Boulder teammates- Mark Johnson/ Ironstring. Join me in welcoming John's site to the family (and in singing a verse of "It's a Small World After All..."). Seriously, go check it out... it's cool... I promise.

Speaking of cool and speaking of speaking... the latest Spokesmen Podcast is up and ready for your listening enthrallment.

The new Masi Fall 08/09 catalog is now done! All the hard work has paid off the create what I can unequivocally say is our best catalog to date. It's a beautiful catalog, the bikes look great, the photography is excellent... the only weak link is the copy I wrote. But the bikes are pretty.

Next week is out National Sales Meeting, so I'll be in and out of the online world again/ as usual. Posting might be sparse again... ok... WILL be sparse again. But I promise I'll get pictures and I'll do my best to post and get more Tour coverage for you too.

Ok... my eyes are crossing, so I'm heading to bed.

Tim

7 comments:

blackmountaincycles said...

Hopefully, the bar tape application on the new catalog bikes is exemplary. Just gotta keep you on your toes. ;-)

I Can't Keep Up said...

Glad you are recovering so well!

If the Tour were really serious about ending doping, they would implement tough testing standards. They could use Garmin-Chipotle's model as an example. The negative PR they are getting by not solving the problem is costing the race, and the sport, far more than the price of tests for every single racer on a regular basis. And that's not even taking into account lost sponsorship dollars.

Anonymous said...

Awesome news about your recovery.

I once had to help hold someone's arm down while a doctor removed a pin. The sound was a bit unnerving, and I remember my friend's face turned green.

I usually wouldn't reuse this in any context, but since you're a cyclist, live strong, my friend.

The Talbot Family said...

I've been looking at purchasing a MASI and came across your site. Recently broke my clavicle and in the process of recovery so I REALLY empathize. Glad you're healing well. Diggin' the blog. http://www.joshuatalbotdesign.com/blog/2008/06/27/bionic-man-sort-of/

Psimet said...

You'd think by now you'd figure out how to keep the pin OUT of your finger when pinning your numbers on.

....newb.

;)

CyclingNutz.com said...

That is a good looking thumb! Thanks for the plug and hope your readers like our site.

Anonymous said...

Tim

I feel differently to you regarding the dope cheats on this years tour. While last year I was saddened and ashamed of my sport, this year I actually feel they are beating the cheats. Yes there are some on the start line but they are being caught and everyone is happy to see the back of them as they climb into the gendarmmes car.I am not convinced that last years race was won by a clean ride...but I am pretty sure this years race will be. And that will be the first time in a long time. In my humble opinion, the ASO holds the moral high ground, the UCI have lost the war and the cheats aren't far behind.