Wednesday 10 October 2012
The Only Reason I Hate Sport
In 2004 when I was 22 I came 76th at the sixth round of the mountain bike World Cup in Calgary Alberta. UCI points were awarded to riders who came in the top 75 and my goal for the race was to earn at least one UCI point so that I could race a World Cup again the following season. I missed out on my goal by one placing. The guy who won crushed the field by more than three minutes, and after making the trip to Canada from Europe he admitted it was a bad decision. Not because the flight was long or anything, but because drug testing was more stringent in North America and he got busted for doping after the race.
Obviously this guy could have beaten me down into 76th without dope and I'm not saying that I would have placed 75th had he been clean, but hearing that I raced against a doper made me feel disappointed. Doping in mountain biking is much less common than in road racing, in fact that's one of the last doping stories I think I can recall from mountain biking, but it still left a sour taste in my mouth.
I think something that most people don't realize is how doping in sport doesn't affect the top ten riders as much as it affects the riders who are trying to break into the sport. The rider who came second in Calgary was probably super pissed off that the guy who beat him was cheating, but he was also probably being paid $500k/yr to race his bike. Doping cases in the media also deter sponsors from wanting to contribute to the sport, so lesser riders suffer again at the expense of one cheater.
I don't see how dopers or cheaters can be given second chances in the sport as well. Once someone has cheated and used drugs to make their body stronger, how are they not stronger when they compete six months or a year or two years later? With EPO their blood obviously doesn't have the same ability to carry oxygen, but they are used to faster speeds; they are capable of pushing their body further; their heart and muscles are stronger from having been able to train at a much higher volume and intensity than someone who didn't cheat. As far as I'm concerned, Basso, Millar, Mancebo, Zabriskie, Barry, Hincapie, Armstrong, Landis, Hamilton, Filip Mierhaeger or anyone who has been caught cheating in sport should be stripped of all their accomplishments, all of their money, and never be allowed to participate in a race ever again.
If someone gets caught cheating in a casino, trying to take money from some wealthy billionaire, they are hauled away and thrown in jail. They'll never be allowed in another casino again.
How is doping any different? Doped riders are cheating and taking money away from other dirt-poor riders who are trying to gain sponsorship and progress in the sport; people who are super motivated and sacrificing possible careers for hard-fought athletic success.
I currently compete in National and Provincial level races, with an occasional international race thrown into my schedule, and I know that I have raced against riders in the past year who have taken substances to help them race faster. It's sad, but there are riders who have nothing to fall back on if their bike racing doesn't go to plan. I know with Armstrong being caught and with the sport 'cleaning up' it looks like things are changing for the better, but considering the fact that riders are only admitting guilt when caught and returning to the sport six months after getting busted, I think penalties should be much harsher. Dopers should be ousted. They should be boo'd loudly. They should bring shame to the country that they were born in. If it were up to me I'd suggest that stealing from a casino would be put on par with stealing from fellow athletes, and the old adage 'cheaters never prosper' would always hold true. This is how I think we can change the reputation of our sport.
I apologize if this posting seems like a rant, and I realize that I might look like an unsympathetic jerk by writing this, but I'm disappointed that more non-doped pros haven't expressed their disappointment in having their results compromised because of cheaters. Obviously this blog posting read daily by over twelve people (eight of them being my mom) isn't going to be the start of this change, but I feel that voicing my opinion can be a good example for others, no matter how few.
I consider myself a positive person and absolutely love bike racing, but for the sport of cycling to really change I think that penalties need to be harsher. I don't ever want to race against a cheater again, and although I want to beat everyone I race against, I respect my competitors enough to want them to never race against a cheater either.
Tuesday 9 October 2012
Cross Time!
It's still summer! After being busy for most of the summer in school at UBC it's been nice that the summer weather has been sticking around a little longer than usual. I banged out a few good adventures in Vancouver before I left, including the Lions hike and some good rides up Seymour, Cypress and Fromme.
I'm back in Vic now having some fun with cross, and I think the Cross on the Rock race series could quite possibly be the funnest racing I've ever done. Beer primes, awesome courses, amazing atmosphere, lots of people out cheering... it's amazing and I have so much fun at these events. I've been racing the mountain bike in them so far because the new cross bikes haven't arrived, but racing on a mountain bike is kind of interesting, because you can see where cross bikes are faster and where their weaknesses are. Overall a mountain bike is definitely slower, but it's still awesome to come out and race.
Here are a few pictures from the races so far. I'm currently sitting 2nd overall in the series, but hopefully that will change when I get my new bike!
Reppin' the 80's skinsuit with OBB on the front
Post-race bro/sis beers
Snapping pics of Alex getting too sideways
Making good use of the MTB in singletrack
Tuesday 26 June 2012
Test of Metal
Boom! A couple pictures from the Test of Metal a week ago. It was a mudder. The last week of school was hectic, but now it's a week off, ending with the Furious 3 stage race in Fernie. I'm excited for some Rocky Mountain Biking!
Thursday 24 May 2012
April and May
Wow. You'd think that I would be more anxious to update my blog and brag to the internet after winning a race, but nah. Once again with all my homework and stuff to do I left this boring un-read pot on the backburner where only my mom will read it now.
Anyways, lots of happened in the last bit. I won Hammerfest in Nanaimo, on a wicked course in super nice conditions; I finished my practicum which was one of the hardest things I've done in my life, and I negotiated my third move of the year back to Vancouver, so this is where I'll be spending my summer. This past weekend I did a local crit back in Victoria in the rain... yes a bit sketchy at first, but I realized rainy crits can be good because it's only nervous for the first 5-6 laps while the sketchy riders crash out, then after that it's down to only the decent riders. Anyways, I tried attacking back and forth with Craig a little before we realized that nothing was getting away due to the pancake flat course, so I ended up giving him a lead out for the sprint which wasn't fast enough. Both Jeff Sparling and Curtis Dearden came around him to take first and second, but not being taken down in a crit is a victory for me. Those things sketch me out.
Between doing Hammerfest and the Windsor crit I did lots of fun training rides. Craig and I did an epic I've always wanted to do; 270km from Vic to Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan to Duncan and home. It was a tough one alright, but it was lots of fun. I had the best muffin I've ever had in my life, and Noe invited us over for a BBQ after which was right on the money. Love that gal.
Anyways, now it's back into the homework/reading routine, followed by some evening rides and new races. I'm doing the Nimby 50 on my new Norco 29'er this weekend, then the weekend after I'm borrowing my brother's nice Easton wheels to race Bastion Square and road provincials. It should be hard and I will probably crack, but it will be good training. Stay tuned for more procrastination followed by multiple race reports in one blog post!
http://oakbaybikes.com/hammerfest-race-report-tom-skinner/
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/177549790
http://duanebc.smugmug.com/Sports/Victoria-Cycling-League-2012/Windsor-Park-A-May-20-2012/23088944_SxcvQQ#!i=1858528071&k=PVKc2H6
Anyways, lots of happened in the last bit. I won Hammerfest in Nanaimo, on a wicked course in super nice conditions; I finished my practicum which was one of the hardest things I've done in my life, and I negotiated my third move of the year back to Vancouver, so this is where I'll be spending my summer. This past weekend I did a local crit back in Victoria in the rain... yes a bit sketchy at first, but I realized rainy crits can be good because it's only nervous for the first 5-6 laps while the sketchy riders crash out, then after that it's down to only the decent riders. Anyways, I tried attacking back and forth with Craig a little before we realized that nothing was getting away due to the pancake flat course, so I ended up giving him a lead out for the sprint which wasn't fast enough. Both Jeff Sparling and Curtis Dearden came around him to take first and second, but not being taken down in a crit is a victory for me. Those things sketch me out.
Between doing Hammerfest and the Windsor crit I did lots of fun training rides. Craig and I did an epic I've always wanted to do; 270km from Vic to Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan to Duncan and home. It was a tough one alright, but it was lots of fun. I had the best muffin I've ever had in my life, and Noe invited us over for a BBQ after which was right on the money. Love that gal.
Anyways, now it's back into the homework/reading routine, followed by some evening rides and new races. I'm doing the Nimby 50 on my new Norco 29'er this weekend, then the weekend after I'm borrowing my brother's nice Easton wheels to race Bastion Square and road provincials. It should be hard and I will probably crack, but it will be good training. Stay tuned for more procrastination followed by multiple race reports in one blog post!
http://oakbaybikes.com/hammerfest-race-report-tom-skinner/
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/177549790
http://duanebc.smugmug.com/Sports/Victoria-Cycling-League-2012/Windsor-Park-A-May-20-2012/23088944_SxcvQQ#!i=1858528071&k=PVKc2H6
Tuesday 20 March 2012
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Island Cup #1
Second race of the year was Island Cup #1 at the Dump in Victoria... and I wasn't really sure what my goal was. I should have been more confident like Mike Tyson and told everyone on the start line that I wanted to eat their children, but instead I just kept quiet like a little wuss and pulled up to the start line in the third row. (Thanks to Shanks who pushed me up to the second row just before the start). I was already making excuses and telling myself that I was tired from a 3h MTB ride the day before, and a 2h ride out to the race, but I need to tell myself to toughen up more.
I knew there would be lots of people flying (like Carter who's been crushing everyone on the local rides, Trace who manhandles everyone on a weekly basis (figuratively, not literally) and Cory who just won a 24 hour race in the states), but I thought I might have a chance to be up in the mix. I waited a minute or so after the start to move up, and slowly worked my way to the front. I got on Trace's wheel through the first singletrack section, and we were riding in second and third. I had a chance to go by him on a tricky rocky climb, and I led the chase for the lead about 5-10 min into the race.
Steve Noble had a decent little gap on Trace and myself, but when I led Tyler through the singletrack I was able to close most of it before a longer section of fireroad. Just as I was closing the gap to ten or twenty meters, Steve's chain broke, and I was left in the lead with 2.5 laps to go.
I wasn't sure if I wanted the lead. An hour TT by myself? With my wuss brain always thinking that I would be caught, or that someone would close the gap to me. But I just kept riding steady and tried not to push too hard so I could save something for the last lap. It turned out that I was fine riding solo. I built up a solid lead of around 3 min, but then with half a lap to go I saw that my front tire was going soft, and my tire sealant was spurting out trying to fill the hole. It sealed it a little, so then I stopped to add some air and the whole thing went flat. I didn't think I was that far from the finish so I started running. What usually is fast on a bike though, is very slow by foot. I got close to the finish and thought I could still win, but then three riders passed me with a few hundred meters to go. I didn't even make the podium.
I guess it could have been worse; I could have been riding slow and had no mechanical problems. Or I could have been bouncing off trees in the singletrack instead of riding like a boss, which I think I was. Anyways, there's lots of racing to go, and now I'm stoked to get out on the new Norco and carve up the trails like a piece of celebratory pie that I'll crush at the finish.
I knew there would be lots of people flying (like Carter who's been crushing everyone on the local rides, Trace who manhandles everyone on a weekly basis (figuratively, not literally) and Cory who just won a 24 hour race in the states), but I thought I might have a chance to be up in the mix. I waited a minute or so after the start to move up, and slowly worked my way to the front. I got on Trace's wheel through the first singletrack section, and we were riding in second and third. I had a chance to go by him on a tricky rocky climb, and I led the chase for the lead about 5-10 min into the race.
Steve Noble had a decent little gap on Trace and myself, but when I led Tyler through the singletrack I was able to close most of it before a longer section of fireroad. Just as I was closing the gap to ten or twenty meters, Steve's chain broke, and I was left in the lead with 2.5 laps to go.
 |
| Photo credits to Brad Head |
I guess it could have been worse; I could have been riding slow and had no mechanical problems. Or I could have been bouncing off trees in the singletrack instead of riding like a boss, which I think I was. Anyways, there's lots of racing to go, and now I'm stoked to get out on the new Norco and carve up the trails like a piece of celebratory pie that I'll crush at the finish.
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