Wednesday 15 April 2009

This is a brewery, you use it to get pissed.


Now I'm all for the banning of dopers, ex-dopers, riders with dogey hair cuts, poor looking bikes, or long black socks from bike races. But whats going on with ASO? ASO, well known for banning anyone who is remotely linked with doping or possible dopng crimes, seem to have missed a trick or two of late.
The organisers of Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege have, quite rightly, banned Di Luca from riding their races and yet Vlad the impaler or Valv Piti or that bald Spanish bloke or whatever his bloody name is, is being allowed to ride. Why's that then?

Not a Lot Oh!

Meanwhile Lotto are desperate to salvage something from the part of the season they regard as theirs and theirs alone. Forget Le Tour, the events that really matter to the Lotto bosses, GS's and funders are the spring classics. Lotto are currently having their noses not just rubbed in it but stuffed full of shite by Quick-Step and lets face it even by landbouwkrediet-tonissteiner. Still, it is worth pointing out that if you buy a Lottery ticket you stand more chance of getting sod all than you do making the podium.

Still, with Cadel preparing for le Tour all their hopes of success now rest with Desmond Double Dekker! There's a thought to put a smile on your face. Of course Des talks up a good race, the only problem comes when it comes to riding one. Des's legs have a massive talent, sadly what goes on between the ears whilst being massive doesn't stretch to talent. Too often Des seems to throw victory out of the pram along with the toys. It's a shame, I'd like to see him get his head together and start winning some races.

Oh, Kaisen wins a stage in Turkey, so no need to worry then Des, have the rest of the season off, oh, you'd already planned to eh? Ah well.....

We don't sell bikes OK!

Over in the UK Halfords are ditching their Bikehut brand. Quite what this means for the Bikehut team is beyond me. Still it seems a purely business decision. Much in the same way as the banks buggering themselves up seemed to be a business decision.
Bike sales are up, and this is expected to contribute to Halfords making in excess of £90 million proffit, that alongside expansion into Europe, which is reaping financial rewards, would seem to make this decission slightly odd.
Not only do Halfords sponsor a team, they also sponsor the season long Premier Calender series. Well I say season long, as the 'season long premier calender' series gets shorter and less season long by the day.

Halfords always seem to sell an odd mixture of bikes, on one hand there were the Billy Boardman bikes and on the other there are the bike shaped objects, that appear on closer inspection to be made not from metal or carbon, but from rice pudding and jam. And then there's the odd range of accessories, again Boardman branded items, all in a fetching shade of dirt and then theres the pink knee pads and the my little pony bells.

And talking of pony why didn't Boardman enterprises bother employing someone with a bit of design flare? No doubt the bikes are amazing value and good quality, after all if Cycling Plus like them that should be good enough for anyone in their right mind!!!!! Certainly when I made a finger the Boardman vist to the local Bikehut I liked what I saw, but only in a technical way, good choice of components etc etc. But the design left me cold, Grey and black with a hint of anemic yellow? No, no, no. No matter what the technical design quality and performance if a bike doesn't have a nice paint job there is no point in buying it is there?


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