Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Clocked by the cops

On Saturday, I was riding my bike to watch Georgia Tech play Boston College. Just commuting to a restaurant a few miles from my house that had the game on. As I was was riding along, I passed a Police Department Patrol car parked on the side of 3rd Ave. When I passed, I heard, "Good job, 19!", out the window. I looked at my bike computer and I was going 19.4 mph. I wasn't hammering the pedals by any means, so without max effort, I was making pretty good time on a slight uphill.

So, while I wasn't speeding, I did feel fast. I mean, how many people get radared and called out by the police while on a bicycle?
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In other cycling news, it appears that Lance is returning to competitive cycling. Why can't athletes just stay retired? A few quick thoughts on this annoucement:

- Lance would not return if he could not compete to win. I promise, he's fit. He placed second in the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, a brutal off road race that starts and ends in Leadville, CO, the highest incorporated city in the United States (elev 10,430ft).

Lance being led by eventual Leadville 100 winnner Dave Wiens

- Perhaps he will tarnish his legacy by competing and not winning. On the other hand, if he competes and wins, he might solidify his legacy more. Though he has never been caught, Lance cannot escape accusations of doping. With the emphasis on weeding out dopers, Lance racing what would be seen as a "cleaner" Tour might add legitimacy to his legacy. What would be really impressive is if he joined a team with its own comprehensive testing program such as Team Slipstream/Garmin-Chipotle or Team Columbia.

- He says he wants to bring more awareness to cancer. I hope he's sincere.

- Maybe he wants to win Sheryl Crow back.
- No matter what Lance does, I still am pulling for Christian Vande Velde and Garmin-Chipotle in next year's Le Tour.

2 comments:

Emily Bradford Routon said...

up with vande velde!!!

Mestlers said...

Nice! It would be good to be clocked by the cops on a bike! I've never achieved that although I have in my car :-(