Do as I say, not as I do.

Going over the edge.


The maxim I tend to use when coaching riders is simple, 'Do as I say, not as I do.'

My main areas of 'not as I do' tend to be: A training programme that whilst it is based on a detailed plan, actually, when executed turns in to acts of randomly riding the bike, a diet that places Chocolate as a key element and an excess in the area of recovery.

Still my words of wisdom will I hope be followed by Mr Eric Zabel. You may well remember Eric, he won the Green Jersey, oh, about 6 times, Milan - San Remo four times and so on and so on.
But now days, what I remember Eric for is his claim that he once saw the letters E, P and O written down on a sheet of paper, not that he ever picked it up, oh no, Eric has told us that he wouldn't stoop so low.

And Eric needs some coaching advice as he is now an 'adviser' for the Columbia team! I know, it's a little unexpected, but hey, this is cycling after all.
So what sort of advice will Eric be offering to the worlds most successful sprinter, the man who picked up 6 Grande tour stage wins in 2008? Can Eric's incites help the mighty Cav get to 20? Will his knowledge help the best lead out train in the business be even faster and more efficient? Who knows. What I do know is that I find it a little odd that a team with such a strong anti doping ethic should hire a Zabel, but then I guess they took him at his word, I wonder what the word was?


Dicks out again!

Dicky Pound has resurfaced. It would seem the famous toilet inspector is back on the scene. And it's good to know that he still hates anyone that rides a bike.

Apparently we're not doing all we could to halt the scourge of doping, no really? Neither is any one else, but hey why mention that when you can kick the crap out of cycling. Was Dicky boy denied a bike as a small child? Are we paying the price for some deep childhood trauma? I mean there has to be some reason for his morbid fear of cyclists.

Still the reason for this is that Jaksche did not find a new team for 2009, and that Sinkewitz had to settle for a ride with PSK Whirlpool. I quote "The fact that Jaksche was unable to get a job again is a tragedy"
Er, hang on, the reason Jaksche didn't get a ride, was he told everyone he was going back to college and didn't want to be a bike pro again, OK he may have subsequently changed his mind (mainly I understand, due to the fact that he failed the entrance exam for University, spelling his name correctly was a problem and it was all down hill from there). And Sinkewitz, seen as the final nail in the T-Mobile coffin, washed up at Whirepool as he is so bloody toxic that no-one in their right mind would touch him.

Now don't get me wrong, during his time Pound was the hammer of the dopers, something we need in all sports, it's just that the only people he seemed to hammer were cyclists.
Did he criticise the IOC when only a fraction of Olympic sports signed up to the athletes whereabouts pledge? No, Did he go after the Beijing organisers and testers when it was found that a fair proportion of samples are worse than useless? Er, nope. Has he been vocal in his condemnation of other sports approach to testing? Hummm, tough one that.

What the WADA needed was someone who got down to business behind the scenes, making the case for stronger punishments, stricter testing and whereabouts programmes, hounding the IOC, talking to Governments, securing funds to support anti doping operations, etc, etc. What we got was someone who loved the limelight, loved to see his name in print, his photo on the front page and seemed to have a unnatural fear of bicycles.
My personal view is that Pound during his time in office did little to help the global fight against either in cycling or in sport as a whole.

The flat earth society.

In the UK it's been suggested that 30! professional football players sign up to an athletes whereabouts programme. That's 30 out of God knows how many hundreds.

Football is a sport that requires endurance, speed and explosive power. At the top end players earn money that make even Lance Armstrong look like a pauper. So obviously no incentive to dope there then.

Gordon Taylor - the footballers' union chief executive in case you've not familiar with the name, has said "Is there really a necessity to be dropping in at players' homes and invading privacy when there is such an availability of access for the vast majority of the year?"
Er, yes there is actually.
He went on to offer the observation that:
"I don't think we have a problem with performance-enhancing drugs,". And he knows this how? Through a rigorous testing process? Through detailed analysis of blood and DNA? Er, no on both counts. It would seem that My Taylor just knows, in a similar way that I know the Earth to be flat I suppose.

F1 for F sake.

Apparently Max Mosley, who is clearly not the man his father was, has just said that spending £250 million a year to run a team may, just, considering these times of belt tightening and strictness, be well, be a little on the steep side.

There are somethings better left unsaid...........


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