1987 Trek 1000

Facts about the old classic aluminum frame trek bicycles link here.

Parts list:

Bontrager handlebar gel tape.
Cateye Enduro 8 cycling computer.
Suntour Cyclone 7000 front and real derailleurs.
Suntour 6 speed freewheel.
Decals: Trek (white with gold streamers.)
Down Tube Shifters: Suntour Cyclone 7000 (black/gray.)
Side Pull Breaks: Dia-Comp Alpha-Tau 400 (black with white lettering.) Date Stamp B86.
SR Sakae "250" Oval Tech chain wheel rings: 52-42.
Matrix Titan S Wheels. Made by Tru America, Waterloo, Wisconsin. (black rims)
Trek TX Aluminum Alloy Tubing.
Paint: metallic gray/gloss black.
Pedals: Shimano 105.

Here are some updated photographs of my 1987 Trek 1000 Aluminum Tube Bicycle. The bicycle has one drawback, poor acceleration off the line, and the SR Oval Tech chain wheels are difficult to adjust to, but they were in vogue once. Compare to Shimano Biopace. At a certain point in the stroke, the oval wheels were supposed to increase power from a 52 to 53, or a 42 to a 43. I doubt whether an increase in power is helpful on a difficult mountain climb, and there have been suggestions of knee damage with oval chain wheels.

This bike is in excellent condition and has received many flattering complements from people. Yes, the bicycle and the Matrix wheel set are original and were built in the United States of America at Waterloo, Wisconsin. Nowadays, Trek is a huge behemoth and the lower end Trek bicycles are built in China.  Bikezilla thinks the imported 1000's are junk.

Aluminum frames have a very short lifespan, about five years. Every time I rebuild an old bike it is like rolling the dice, you never know when the frame will break, you never know what people did to the bike before you found it, and believe me, I have had steel frames break at the most unexpected moments. But as Tommy Simpson says, get off the pavement, dust yourself off, and "put me back on my bloody bike."













Notice the Shimano 105 pedals and the beautiful, exceptional paint job.



Notice the unique front derailleur mount.  Two hex screws inserted into the seat tube.  Suntour Cyclone 7000 derailluer.  Matrix Titan S Wheels.



Trek TX Aluminum Alloy Tubing




SR "250" Oval Tech Chain rings 52-42 and Suntour Cyclone 7000 Front derailleur.






The classic steering tube Trek logo.




White decals with gold streamers. Down tube shifters. Suntour Cyclone 7000.



Suntour cyclone 7000 real derailleur and Suntour 6 speed freewheel.



The cockpit.  Bontranger gel tape.  Cateye Enduro 8 Cycling computer.

Aluminum spelled out across the top tube, 1000 on the chain stay.

The side pull breaks are Dia-Comp Alpha-II, black with white lettering.

Thanks for looking at my steed!  Have a nice bicycle ride today!

Tour of Utah: Stage 4 Photographs

Yes, the Tour of Utah is over and yes, defending champion Levi Leipheimer won again. The results of Stage 4 link here.

Stage 4 of the Tour of Utah consisted of a loop throughout the downtown area with climbs and descents with varying degrees of difficulty. Some of these photographs were taken at the intersection of 11th Avenue and Virgina Street and others were taken at President's Circle on the University of Utah campus, they will be marked accordingly. The photographs show the lead group followed by the chase group for a few of the laps, stragglers are not shown. Although the quality of the photographs are limited due to an archaic digital camera shutter speed, they are shown as a part of the historical record, and serve to document the changing composition of the pack during a criterium style race.

The Stage 4 temperature was around 98 degrees Fahrenheit. The pavement was dissolving in some places on the Virgina Street descent with an oily, slick, shiny sheen. I can verify this fact from personal race time experimentation, because after watching a couple of laps on 11th Avenue, I told a race marshal that I was going to ride down to President's Circle via Virgina Street. Happily, I hopped on my trusty steed and loosened the reigns, zoom! On the descent I felt just like Joseba Beloki moments before a momentous crash. Very lightly feathering the breaks, my cycling computer instantly hit 34.5 miles per hour, vortices's and eddies of air streamed off my body into space. Exhilarating! No time for riding in the drops, no time for an aerodynamic tuck. Suddenly, I spied a policeman frantically waving an orange flag and blowing a whistle, at me! The police ordered me instantly to exit the course at 5th Avenue thus ending the experiment, but unimpeded, I could have rode down Virginia Street, up University Street, and in triumph around President's Circle like one of my heroes without interfering with the race in any way, shape, or form.

Imagine the riders drafting in the sweet spot down that hill on 53x11 carbon fiber steeds. Whee!

For general information: Ski Utah had some of the men's team riding the course handing out long red plastic horns. I shook my head "no." I didn't want to be any part of the girl who kicked the hornets' nest.

Steve Miller would do every radio race fan a favor and fire 1320 KFNZ. It is obvious to every professional bicycle racing fan that the local KFNZ sport jocks know nothing of bicycle racing and it seems too much of an effort for the Tour of Utah to either hire or provide a professional racer to explain stage racing tactics to them. KFNZ has an idiot who can croon out refrains of Queen, [Bi-screech-cycle!] and then giggle uncontrollably for fifteen minutes, but KFNZ does not have five minutes to spare during a local show to include an exclusive Tour of Utah segment that contains an intelligent discussion of the daily stage, the general overall classification, the teams, and other rudimentary points of the race. Unfortunately, in addition, the Tour of Utah real time race updates were so rare that it did not seem worth the time to listen to the third rate rants and obscene shouting arguments over every trivial point of the local Brigham Young University versus University of Utah rivalry that seems to obsess these people.

All in all, the Tour of Utah seemed to pass like a thief in the night, but one stage was better than nothing at all, since unlike years past, the prologue and most of the stages no longer funnel into Salt Lake City. Maybe the expanded stages to include more of the state was an improvement, it is probably a matter of perspective.

Lap 1. 11th Avenue and Virgina Street. Here comes the pack!




The team cars. Lap 1. 11th Avenue and Virgina Street. At the turn pandemonium ensued with screaming breaks and several near collisions as riders and team cars fought for position.



President's circle. University of Utah Campus. The lead group riding hard, the gap board read 2:20.



Team Radio Shack setting the chase tempo.



The breakaway group: "Paco" Mancebo attacks out of the saddle!



The pack descends from President's circle, across University Street, and down 200 South.



Stage 4 had 7.4 laps around the loop, I think this is the end of the chase group.



Team Radioshack on the front. Yes, that is Levi Leipheimer in yellow, and yes alumni, that is the Park Building.



Thanks to all the teams and riders who participated in the 2011 Tour of Utah. See you all next year!

2011 Tour of Utah Preview

The 2011 Tour of Utah touted as America's Toughest Stage Race, with thirty thousand feet of climbing, begins with a prologue time trial at Park City, Utah, on August 9, 2011. The race has been updated to from a USA Cycling sanctioned race, to UCI 2.1, which has increased the stature of the race, and the quality and number of participating teams. The course has been altered significantly, the Ogden, Morgan, Big Mountain, Emigration Canyon, Research Park stage has been changed to a loop starting and ending in Ogden, Utah. And the downtown criterium that circled in a flat loop around the Salt Lake City Public Library has been expanded to include a very large area downtown, with a steep uphill wall past the Utah State Capitol Building on Bonneville Boulevard, a loop and descent to flat riding past the Salt Lake City Cemetery on 11th Avenue, then a quick hair raising descent down Virgina Street, to a turnaround point on President's Circle on the University of Utah Campus, then a short and quick descent to South Temple and flat riding with a slight downhill slope back to Bonneville Boulevard and back up the wall. Virgina street seems to have a very rough pavement surface with numerous exposed sewer lids, beware! but the University of Utah seems to be engaged in a resurfacing project of President's Circle, for aesthetic purposes? the condition of South Temple looks bad in some spots too.

The time trial at Miller Sports Park has not changed and the queen stage up Little Cottonwood Canyon has not changed.

Who will win the 2011 Tour of Utah? The best team, if everyone stays healthy, would be BMC, with Jeff Louder, Winner of the 2008 Tour of Utah. Brent Bookwalter, and George Hincapie. In 2010, George Hincapie had an unexpected crash and withdrawal from the Tour Of Utah after a freak accident on the Mount Nebo climb which injured his knee. Nevertheless, BMC has the most experienced team and should be dangerous contenders.

Team Radioshack has fielded a team with defending Tour of Utah champion Levi Leipheimer and rock hard teammate Jason McCartny. Even though Levi Leipheimer did not have an over successful 2011 Tour de France, suffering from multiple crashes, and finishing the race twenty minutes behind race leader Cadel Evans, he should still be regarded as the favorite to win the 2011 Tour of Utah.

Then there is realcyclist.com pure climber Mancebo Francisco "Paco" Perez the winner of the 2009 Tour of Utah and runner up in the 2010 Tour of Utah. If there is not a major accident or illness the race may come down to a duel up Little Cottonwood Canyon in queen stage 5 between Levi Leipheimer and "Paco."

However, there are other competent contenders who could throw a wrench in the mix. Garmin-Cervelo sports Christian Vande Velde cannot be ignored, a very consistent, tough UCI pro tour rider. United Health Care features Rory Suterland a exceptional professional with a very extensive history of success. And HTC Highroad features Danny Pate who was under twenty three time trial champion, who should not be considered a threat on general classification, but who could win the time trial stages and provide a great deal of entertainment for raced starved fans. Then there is the wild card team Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antio with a group of Coumbian riders born to climb and an unknown factor...

The Final Podium

1) Francisco "Paco" Mancebo Perez
2) Levi Leipheimer
3) Christian Vande Velde

See you there!

Cadel! Cadel! Cadel!

Abandon hope all who enter here
-Dante

Or the admonition written on the gate to sinners destined to hell, in the epic poem The Inferno. Indeed, there were doubters, cynical people who insisted, with some justification, that the Australian sensation Cadel Evans would falter somewhere on the torturous cols of the Alps. There was some very strange behavior on the Alpine climbs: on the south side of the Galibier Alberto Contador struggles to survive, on the north side of the Galibier Alberto Contador attacks then inexplicably soars up L'AlpeD'Huez like a falcon. Thomas Voeckler crashes his bicycle into a roadside automobile, he loses contact with Alberto Contador on the Galibier and slams his water bottle into the pavement in frustration, his legs finally lock up on L'AlpeD'Huez, and after ten heroic days his quest for the malliot jaune ends. Then there was the bewildering, almost fatal tactical blunder. On the col Izoard, thirty miles from the finish, Andy Schleck attacked the Evans group and amazingly no one responded. This was a brilliant move by Leopard Trek because Andy Schleck joined a teammate down the course who had escaped from the peloton in an earlier breakaway. Therefore, Andy Schleck rode as a protected rider: paced and sheltered from the wind by his teammate. Meanwhile, Cadel Evans seemed to be waiting for someone to chase down Andy Schleck who was gaining more and more time, and when nobody responded, he was forced to lead the chase himself, unprotected: fighting the wind, in a brutal out of the saddle effort. This worked to the advantage of Frank Schleck who rode protected in the group and was required to do no work to keep pace. What happened here? Obviously, Frank Schleck was not going to chase his brother and teammate. Thomas Voeckler was riding on borrowed time, so he had no inclination to chase. The other riders in the group were not serious enough contenders in the general classification to have an incentive to chase. There is unwritten etiquette in cycling races: there comes a time in every Tour de France where the riders will back off and let the two men with the highest certainty to win fight: mano a mano, in single combat. The reasoning: if Cadel Evans wants to win the Tour de France he has to prove it by chasing down Andy Schleck by himself, without help, and if he founders he will get no sympathy from us! It is astonishing that Cadel Evans and his team did not realise the danger and the implications of not responding in a responsible manner. Andy Schleck gained 2:15 on the col Izoard, won the stage, and moved into second place in general classification. Frank Schleck moved into third place in general classification, and Cadel Evans dropped from second to fourth in general classification. Malliot Jaune? Thomas Voeckler.

In retrospect none of this mattered. Andy Schleck was crowned malliot jaune on L'AlpeD'Huez after Thomas Voeckler faltered. But the critical time in general classification between the Schleck brothers and Cadel Evans did not change on L'AlpeD'Huez. The "race of truth" would decide the issue once and for all.

Cadel Evans standing on the podium, on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, malliot jaune. A proud man. There is hope for cycling yet.

Andy Schleck will win the Tour de France. Andy Schleck is most likely the true winner of the 2010 Tour de France. There is a WADA doping appeal pending in the CAS against Alberto Contador. Abandon hope all who cheat here?

Au revoir mesdames et messieurs until next year.

Next stop? The Tour of Utah.

2011 Tour de France: Second Rest Day Reflections

The second rest day of the 2011 Tour de France is past; hopefully without a performance enhancing repast as of days of yore. Very suspicious the performance of past champion Alberto Contador: in the early stages he suffered from numerous crashes and bruised his knee, he looked weak and unable to keep pace with the attacks of Andy and Frank Schleck, he lost time, he looked cooked. But wonders! After the second rest day Alberto Contador seemed to regain his form, attacking on the Category 2 Col de Manse, out of the saddle in explosive bursts, only Samuel Sanchez and Cadel Evans were able to keep pace. The Schleck brothers were dropped like a rock. Perhaps this recovery in the performance of Alberto Contador is a little too unusual? It would be no surprise to anyone, given the past doping history of Alberto Contador, if Christian Prudhomme arranged UCI and WADA sanctioned anti-doping chaperons to sprint to the finish line, urine sample beakers in hand, and escort Alberto Contador to dopage control for a sample forthwith! It is equally astonishing that the French gendarme did not invite themselves to the second rest day Saxo Bank team meal, darbies in hand, to taste the meat before it was served to the riders. Thus the police could have provided samples to confirm the concocted alibi with self examination of the evidence.

Alexander Kolobnev tested positive for a prohibited substance during the 2011 Tour de France, hopefully this will be the last positive test.

UCI President Pat McQuaid assures us that because Thomas Voeckler maintained his malliot jaune throughout the demanding Pryenees stages that this is an indication that anti-doping efforts are working. Pat McQuaid also assures us that if dope was not detected during the Tour de France then the anti-doping efforts are a failure.

Perhaps the logic of Pat McQuaid is flawed; Thomas Voeckler was malliot jaune during the 2004 Tour de France; riding against a large collection of suspected and convicted dopers. A wonderful film exists on youtube called Jan's Attack. In the film Jan Ullrich is hammering up a hors categorie (beyond category) climb at an astonishing rate of speed, attacking and dropping Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, and the US Postal squad like a rock. Meanwhile, Thomas Voeckler is wearing the golden fleece and he is clearly suffering, cycling for dear life, out of the saddle, in a fruitless attempt to keep his jersey. There is an astonishing number of miscreants in the film: Ivan Basso, Richard Virenque, Floyd Landis, Jan Ullrich! Probably the only person not juiced to the gills on performance enhancing drugs is poor Thomas Voeckler! Thus, the Pat McQuaid logic seems flawed at best and irrelevant at worst.

There is still L'AlpeD'Huez to come and if Thomas Voeckler is still malliot jaune, he may win in Paris. But Thomas Voeckler is such a practical man that he admits that this possibility is very remote, if not impossible. A very honest assessment from a very likable man.

Unlike Pat McQuaid who is an idiot and an embarrassment to cycling!

Cadel Evans will win the 2011 Tour de France.

Thomas Voeckler: Malliot Jaune

Thomas Voeckler is the current malliot jaune of the 2011 Tour de France; [per Stage 11] a Frenchman and very charismatic man who fights to maintain his laurels with honor, a very rare quality among riders these days. Thomas Voeckler is a man of supreme tenacity and the golden fleece will not be easily lifted from his back; but alas, Thomas Voeckler is not a gifted climber, his time gap over the best climbers is not large enough, he will be caught and dropped on the cols of the difficult Alp and Pyrenees stages yet to come. Although Thomas Voeckler will be malliot jaune on Bastille Day and though this may briefly re-assure the patriotic athletic sentiments of the French people, on the Champs Elysees in Paris, a Frenchman will not win 2011 Tour de France.

Some favorites are still competing although many have dropped from the race in bloody crashes. Gone are Tom Boonen, Alexandre Vinokourov, David Zabriskie, littered along the road in wet, bloody, bandaged, broken heaps. Inexplicably, collisions occurred between riders and motorcycles, riders and press cars, sending riders into barbed wire fences and off to hospitals.

Rain has pounded the race with a vengeance causing a great deal of suffering with the mountains still to come! Long descents in the pouring rain can lead to incredible accidents if not managed properly; Bobby Julich in a decent during the 1998 Tour de France left the road and ended up plowing into a recreational vehicle while trying to negotiate a turn. Luckily no one was seriously injured! The 2011 Tour de France seems to be haunted by a pernicious kami.

Barring another catastrophe one of the following riders will win the 2011 Tour de France.

Cadel Evans. Very good climbing skills, very good time trial skills, formidable. May finish on the podium. Grade A
Andy Schleck. Excellent climbing skills, good time trial skills. Second to Alberto Contador in 2010 Tour de France. May finish on the podium. Grade A-.
Frank Schleck. Excellent climbing skills, good time trial skills. May finish on the podium. Grade B+
Andreas Kloden. Very good climbing skills, very good time trial skills, past podium finisher. Grade B
Ivan Basso. Excellent climbing skills, good time trial skills. Won Giro d' Italia. Grade B
Damiano Cunego. Very good climbing skills, very good time trial skills. Won Giro d' Italia. Grade B+
Alberto Contador. Excellent climbing skills, good time trial skills. Three time winner Tour de France, winner Giro d' Italia, winner Vuelta d' Espana. Grade A-

Levi Leipheimer can no longer be considered a threat after his acrobatic crash and loss of time. Leipheimer lost traction after riding on a wet zebra stripe and nearly impaled himself on a roadside guardrail. Only a miracle of misfortune will find Levi Leipheimer on the podium this year.

Final Podium
1) Cadel Evans
2) Andy Schleck
3) Alberto Contador (if he is not disqualified before the end of the race for blood doping or performance enhancing drug use.)

2011 Tour de France: Year of the Aussie?

Blood and carnage everywhere you look in this year's Tour de France with multiple crashes on multiple stages. Christian Vande Velde went down in a rush and his head went bang right off the pavement with terrific force; the best argument ever for wearing a helmet, protecting your dome. The asphalt is hard enough to crack your skull and fracture your bones; as most riders can testify to; pain twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, for years...then arthritis.

Yeah. Alberto Contador went down too and has lost time from being caught behind an earlier accident. After stage 5 Contador is 1:42 behind mighty Thor Hushvold: world champ and maillot jaune. Cadel Evans beat Alberto Contador by a tire width in stage 4 on a climb; even though Contador tried an out of the saddle attack, an attack that dropped nobody and may have shown his vulnerability; "man where is the clenbuterol!"

Yes, yes, yes, time for a change! Back in the olden days the British Empire transported the garbage to Australia and America, the poor people, the criminals, the Scots, the Irish. The American exports came back to Europe and dominated your Tour de France for eight straight years! The Europeans hated the American dominance so much that they had to make an example of the American riders as performance enhanced drug fueled cheating rotten liars. Alas, not so the European riders and most certainly not the French contingent. Bernard Hinault, the badger, how did he suddenly evolve into such a fearsome competitor, the snarling, roid rage induced snears? How about the Deutsche Telekom erythropoietin fueled Tour de France victory of Bjarne Riis, the only serious threat was teammate Jan Ullrich. Doped to the green gills. Ah, yes, then there was Festina and the French darlings. A double standard in cycling does not exist! Alberto Contador is allowed to race unmolested; the Spanish darling. Tyler Farrar sprinted to victory! take a lab sample and run every number! American riders cheat!

Yeah, right. Cadel Evans is a good man. He has never been implicated in anything except exceptional athletic ability on a bicycle. He has never been accused of attacking a malliot jaune with a dropped chain on a col, or of eating imported contaminated meat, or of anything else suggesting nefarious race behavior. Cadel Evans is a "diesel" a guy with great big legs and a great big heart, and barring injury hopefully will stick it to the Europeans and win the 2011 Tour de France!

Serves them right for throwing us under the bus in the first place, stinking hypocrites!

Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton Barroom Brawl?

Just when you thought nothing else could happen in the perpetual Lance Armstrong versus the world federal doping investigation; a strange encounter ensued at a popular Aspen restaurant, which Lance Armstrong frequents: Tyler Hamilton entered with a complete legal team and supporters to dine at the establishment, and alas a confrontation erupted between the two former US Postal teammates who unfortunately happened to be in the bar at the same time, a verbal confrontation, which Tyler Hamilton claims contained threats to his reputation as a potential prosecution witness. Lance Armstrong was reported to have said, "We will rip out your lungs on the witness stand and make your life a living hell," according to Chris Manderson, Tyler Hamilton's lawyer. Manderson accuses Lance Armstrong of witness tampering and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) thinks the encounter serious enough to do an investigation into the matter. Problem is that the witnesses to the Armstrong/Hamilton discussion have no recall of what the conversation was because no one could hear them talking, there may have been some choice words spoken, but certainly not fisticuffs, the body language postures between the combatants suggested nothing of the sort. And so on. Another in a long series of he said/she said unverifiable accusations that seem central to the Lance Armstrong doping investigation, and after hours of grand jury testimony, still no indictment.

Yes, the wheels of justice move slowly, ask Alberto Contador. Declared innocent by the Spanish Sport Federation as a victim of clenbuterol meat contamination innocently introduced into the Alberto Contador diet by an unsuspecting friend who provided beef stakes from Spain. During a Tour de France rest day team meal, no less. You can't get more imaginative than that for an excuse. A work of art! Soon to be emulated by other athletes. Horrible. Anyway, the nutcase WADA and UCI faction that is supposed to be ensuring "fair play" appealed the whole contaminated meat charade to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) who promised a speedy resolution to the case, at least before the beginning of the 2011 Tour de France. Christiane Prudhomme, the Amaury Sport Organisation guru, is befuddled by this development and is in a quandary. The 2011 Giro d' Italia winner, Alberto Contador, is a man who is accused of doping, lying, and cheating in the 2010 Tour de France and has a pending doping case before the CAS. Alberto Contador could be suspended from the day of the offense if found guilty and forced to forfeit all of his prizes from that day forward. Yes, indeed, Alberto Contador could be the first man in history to forfeit two Tour de France titles and one Giro d' Italia title on the same day: an eternal monument to scoundrels world wide. Christiane Prudhomme could circumvent this possible disaster by refusing to invite the Saxo Bank Cycling Team as Tour de France participants because the Tour de France is a privately owned entity and teams are allowed to enter the race by invitation only.

Racejunkie made me laugh with her Ben Hur allusion to bladed wheels in a race, not bladed spokes. The epic Ben Hur criterium, four horse power chariots, with beautifully matched horses, and a bum dressed in purple who has an uncanny resemblance to Pat McQuaid. The chariot race can be seen here and is good for a laugh. The moral is quite clear, cheaters never win: even with bladed wheels, bullwhips, and doped horses. The tactics used in the chariot race are deplorable but so adaptable to modern bicycle racing, criteriums, classics, and grand tours. And unlike the movie, cheaters do often win, often frequently, and they never get caught! And Pat McQuaid is still dressed in purple.

The Lance Armstrong Doping Investigation Heats Up

The Lance Armstrong doping investigation is heating up with a new round of accusations by Tyler Hamilton on 60 Minutes. Most of the Tyler Hamilton allegations against Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, and the United States Postal Professional Cycling team cannot be directly confirmed, except for the claim that Lance Armstrong tested positive for recombinant erythropoietin (r-EPO) during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland. It has been reported on Fox News Radio that an investigation is currently underway in Switzerland to either confirm or deny the Tyler Hamilton allegations of a positive rEPO test for Lance Armstrong. If a positive test for rEPO exists, the Tyler Hamilton assertion that Lance Armstrong paid the International Cycling Union $100,000 for a drug testing machine and an additional donation of $25,000 to the UCI slush fund to suppress the positive rEPO test may have some relevance. Currently Pat McQuaid and the UCI deny any such cover-up deal with Lance Armstrong.

One aspect of the Tyler Hamilton interview that seems concerning is his denial of doping during the Olympic games, where Hamilton won the Olympic time trial gold medal, when the Olympic testing laboratory found markers in his blood indicating a double cell population, common with blood transfusions. This is very ingenious because there exist documents written by WADA warning Tyler Hamilton of blood irregularities long before the Olympic positive test. Tyler Hamilton was allowed to keep his Olympic gold medal because the Olympic laboratory froze his confirmation sample by mistake rendering the blood useless for testing purposes. The fact that Tyler Hamilton kept the medal, instituted a campaign to deny his doping, and even at the present time, denies any doping during the Olympic games, renders his testimony very self serving and very questionable.

Marion Jones, non analytical positives, and USADA

USA Today writer Christine Brennan wrote an article that quoted an interesting e-mail reply from Travis T. Tygart.

The fear of testing positive serves as a strong deterrent for many athletes who might otherwise make the decision to defraud sport by doping. That being said, we know that some well-resourced, sophisticated dopers with the infrastructure in place can evade a positive test. Fortunately for clean athletes, authorities also have the ability to sanction athletes using dangerous performance enhancing drugs based on reliable evidence other than a positive test.

Christine Brennan says: "That's the way the U.S. Government finally caught Jones, and it might be the way it gets Armstrong, if he's indicted."

Clearly Travis T. Tygart is correct in suggesting that teammate testimony may lead to an non-analytical positive and a suspension if there is proof of the allegations. But Ms. Brennan's conclusion is certainly incorrect, a non-analytical positive did not catch Marion Jones. Advances in doping detection and some good luck caught Marion Jones.

1) Athletes testified to the fact that they saw Marion Jones using the "clear," a newly formulated, previously unknown, and unlisted designer steroid.
2) Anti-doping laboratories chemically typed and developed a test to detect the "clear" (GC/MS) after a track coach provided a sample of the previously unknown steroid.
3) Olympic laboratories and international laboratories had stored Marion Jones urine samples "on ice" and her career urine samples were available for re-testing for the "clear."
4) The anti-doping jackals were closing in.
5) Knowing that she was caught, Marion Jones confessed to using the "clear," surrendered her Olympic medals, and admitted that she lied under oath about never using performance enhancing drugs.

Lance Armstrong, sans a possible positive test for r-EPO during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland, has never tested positive for any performance enhancing drug even though a test for r-EPO was available, and even though Lance Armstrong was extensively tested for performance enhancing drugs from 1999-2005. Thus it is very unlikely that a unknown designer steroid magic bullet exists with Lance Armstrong, a "smoking gun" that could be identified with re-testing of his urine samples. However, Lance Armstrong does have an unusual case history that seems suggestive of possible performance enhancing drug use.

1) Teammates accuse Lance Armstrong of using r-EPO and other performance enhancing substances. (1999-2005)
2) A test for r-EPO existed in 2000 to present.
3) Tyler Hamilton claims that Lance Armstrong and USPS used r-EPO during the 1999 Tour de France.
4) In 2004 French WADA accredited laboratory LNDD (Chateny-Malabry) claims to have detected r-EPO in Lance Armstrong's 1999 Tour de France urine samples.
5) Emile Vrijman hired by the UCI to investigate the 2004 LNDD "scientific" re-testing of the 1999 Tour de France urine samples declares that the testing "constitutes nothing" and recommended that the UCI take "no action," because their was a lack of security, no clear chain of custody in regards to the urine samples tested, and other problems that invited sample tampering. Other problems emerged concerning the 1999 urine sample re-tests. All four of the prologue samples tested resulted in 100% isoforms of r-EPO. Christiane Ayotte called such results "surprising" and "improbable." Ayotte explains that r-EPO is a biological agent and is therefore prone to degrade over time even when stored at -40 Celsius. The 100% prologue isoforms imply that the r-EPO was in pristine condition, almost like it was added to the samples the day before! There were other problems, the aliquots were labelled with the dates when the samples were taken and possibly the athlete doping control form numbers. Mario Zorzoli the UCI medical expert provided L'Equipe reporter Damien Ressiot with all of the Lance Armstrong doping control numbers form the 1999 Tour de France. Consequently, it is logical to conclude that Ressiot and some LNDD miscreant put two and two together and knew which samples belonged to whom and engaged in sabotage. Interestingly, L'Equipe knew the results of the Lance Armstrong 1999 Tour de France tests before WADA or the UCI. The UCI requested no rider suspensions result from the alleged r-EPO "positive tests."
6) A controversy erupts over a cortisol (cortisone) topical cream Armstrong used for saddle sores during a Tour de France. There is some argument over whether Armstrong filed a valid medical therapeutic use exemption for cortisol.
7) France accused USPS Professional Cycling Team of using actovegin after a French television station recovered some USPS medical waste from a dumpster. Actovegin used with localised platelets at the sight of injury is supposed to speed recovery. However, actovegin may have no medical efficacy other than a placebo effect. Actovegin is currently a banned substance and it cannot be imported into the United States. After a two year investigation the French government decided that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Armstrong and USPS were engaged in doping practice.
8) During the Motorola period (pre-cancer) Armstrong is accused to testing above the testosterone 6:1 legal limit.
9) Betsy Andreu claims that Armstrong admitted to using e-EPO and other performance enhancing drugs during the Motorola period (pre-cancer)in a medical interview with Indiana University Medical Center doctors. Frankie Andreu claims to have heard the Armstrong admission. No medical records of such an admission exist. Frankie Andreu also claims that USPS used performance enhancing drugs.
10) Lance Armstrong had a business relationship with "Doctor Blood" Michele Ferrari.
11) Michele Ferrari was convicted of providing r-EPO and doctored blood products to athletes by an Italian court.
12) During a Tour de France an enraged Lance Armstrong chased down and threatened Filippo Simeoni after Simeoni accused Lance Armstrong and Michele Ferrari of having an improper relationship.
13) Greg LeMond accused Armstrong of making threats during a cell phone conversation that LeMond received at an airport. Kathy LeMond supposedly transcribed the conversation. LeMond claims Armstrong stated that he could provide a hundred witnesses who would claim that LeMond used r-EPO.
14) Floyd Landis claims that the USPS team used r-EPO. Landis claims that the USPS team would stop along a Tour de France course and receive midnight team blood transfusions at rest stops on the team bus.
15) In 2009 a AFLD chaperon showed up at the Astana team facility to gather out of competition hair, blood, and urine samples. There seemed to be some dispute over the credentials of the AFLD chaperon, so while Johan Bruyneel called Pierre Bordry for confirmation, Lance Armstrong left the presence of the chaperon to take a shower, which is a direct violation of WADA code and should be construed as a punishable violation. Many critics complained that Lance Armstrong was doing more than showering, like employing strategies to defeat detection.
16) Ed Coyle, a University of Texas physiologist concluded that several factors accounted for the tremendous improvement in Lance Armstrong's athletic performance post cancer, post Motorola, and post Cofidis. Improved pedal efficiency, performance increase per kilogram of weight loss and low lactic acid production. rEPO use would also account for about a 15% increase in performance if Lance Armstrong had not used r-EPO pre-cancer. Micheal Ashenden and other excercise physiologists assert that Lance Armstrong is not a unique cyclist, his physiological parameters are a wee bit above normal, but not exceptional. The post cancer weight loss has been questioned and discounted, so how do you account for such an exceptional increase in performance post cancer if Lance Armstrong was using r-EPO pre-cancer? An abnormal hatred of Cofidis?

And yet... there is more, probably so much more... and yet...there is nothing but smoke and mirrors. The anti-doping agencies did not suddenly discover a new BALCO designer steroid magic bullet with an unknown chemical signature, or an exogenous designer steroid that did not appear on the WADA prohibited list. Consequently, the non-analytical positive sanction that USADA and the Federal Government is planning on, without an admission by Lance Armstrong of engaging in past doping, is unlikely to happen ever. So you might agree with some of the critics who proclaim that this investigation is a colossal waste of tax payer dollars that could be spent more productively on anti-doping research to catch the next batch of the "clear."

Giro d' Italia Fables and Other Fables

There has been a virtual cavalcade of bad news for Lance Armstrong lately. His trusty lieutenants from his incredible seven year Tour de France reign have turned and are now accusing Armstrong of using and encouraging the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Some of the former teammates of Lance Armstrong have mental and long term substance abuse issues. Floyd Landis confessed to use and abuse of performance enhancing drugs throughout his career. During the 2006 Tour de France, Floyd Landis tested positive for metabolites of synthetic testosterone. But, instead of an admission of testosterone use, Floyd Landis mounted a vicious innocence campaign, accusing the WADA accredited laboratory LNDD with sloppy laboratory practice. Landis had a good grounds for his attack because examination of the evidence suggested an incredibly appalling laissez faire approach to laboratory testing, poor work, errors, mistakes. In reality, WADA and their laboratories had never been challenged openly in a public arbitration hearing where their mistakes were openly exposed by the defendant, [Landis posted his Lab Document Package online]. Every numerical item of the Floyd Landis Lab Document Package was debated by experts in gas chromatography substance identification, numerous errors and omissions were detected. The problems were so severe in analyses of the Floyd Landis data that a clear question emerged, is Floyd Landis innocent? No. The single metabolite above threshold was the correct finding; synthetic testosterone was present. Over two years and millions of dollars were wasted; people were duped into contributing money to the Floyd Fairness Fund convinced of his innocence, money which Floyd Landis has never re-paid. Defenders of his honor were exposed as dupes. Floyd Landis can not be trusted, now, in the future or ever. His testimony should be regarded in all cases with a severe degree of skepticism, if not as outright fabrications or embellishments of the truth and discarded as nonsense. The man has no honesty and he is a master manipulator. Beware of this clown.

Tyler Hamilton is another case of mental illness, substance abuse, cheating, lying, and should never be believed, ever. The Tyler Hamilton Foundation "Believe Tyler" campaign of innocence, created after Tyler Hamilton tested positive for a double red cell blood population during the Tour of Spain, was a masterful show of manipulation, featuring beautiful women groupies wearing "Believe Tyler" tee-shirts shouting out "Believe Tyler!" to any dupe within hearing range. Tyler Hamilton was guilty as sin of blood doping, he was correctly detected, he lied then, denied, denied, denied, refused to surrender his Olympic gold medal, lived a lie, then dropped an atomic bomb on the world with accusations against his former patron and teammate Lance Armstrong in a 60 minute interview.

Egad! Where do these people come from and is cycling forever to be plagued by a group of mentally incapacitated people? Believe me, a good lawyer is going to have a field day with these people, their reputations as outstanding members of the community are forever tarnished by endless doping, cheating, lying, why should anyone believe their fables of wrongdoing by other people other than themselves?

If you believe Alberto Contador and his fabrications of tainted meat caused his "analytical positive" for an anabolic steroid; clenbuterol, then you are another in an endless list of dupes ready for the slaughter. Are cycling fans dupes? You would think that Diogenes could find an honest cyclist in the peloton before he could find an unobstructed bicycle lane, but alas no. If I were running the Giro d' Italia, I would have stopped every vehicle crossing the Italian frontier and demanded an inspection of the meat.

"And what, signor, do you intend to do with these steaks? To the dining table of Alberto Contador, the cyclist? What country of origin, Spain? Arrest this man! To the laboratory this meat immediately!

Damn straight. No cover-ups with fantastic fables in my Giro d' Italia!

Tyler Hamilton: Bold Accusations

Tyler Hamilton has created another seismic shockwave by accusing seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong of using and facilitating the use of recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) during the 1999 Tour de France when Hamilton and Armstrong were teammates at the United States Postal Service Professional Cycling Team. Tyler Hamilton has a long history of doping and mental illness, commented upon by this author two years ago when Hamilton was banned for eight years while United States road champion for taking a holistic substance to battle ongoing bouts of manic/depression.

"Rise and Fall of Tyler Hamilton" created some adverse comments from people who mistakenly thought that the article was an attack on people suffering from the debilitating medical and behavioral effects of manic/depression. Not true. Mania and retarded depressive disorders cause long term adverse effects that can cause disastrous long term results, not only to the people suffering from the disorder but to families, friends, acquaintances. Manic episodes have long been argued to be independent of voluntary cognitive control in some cases; "word salads" incoherent sentences of incoherent rambling thoughts totally unrelated in context to one another. Before the discovery of psychoactive drugs (lithium salts) that lowers the resting potential of the neuron from an hyper-excited level to a normal range (~-70mv) some manic patients were warehoused in the back wards of mental hospitals for years, lost causes, never to be restored to a level of behavior that would be considered normal in society.

Drug interventions stopped superstitious reasoning of mental illness that predominated during the "dark ages." Early superstitious "causes" of mania and schizophrenia were attributed to demonic possessions and required exorcisms, among other idiotic cures. However, with the accidental discovery that lithium salts caused rats to behave more tranquilly, and that this discovery might have application with human beings, did it become obvious to psychiatrists that manic episodes were a medical condition. Lithium salts do allow chronic manics to function quite well in society, absent the word salad cognition, and uncontrolled impulsive destructive behaviors. As long as they take their medication as prescribed.

As everyone knows psychoactive drugs cause side-effects and have different medical efficacy depending upon the patient, the medical condition, duration, severity. There has never been or ever will be a snake oil that will cure everything. If one drug does not help, talk to your doctor, he or she will try something else, there is no need for self experimentation with holistic drugs or herbs. In fact self-experimentation with herbs may lead to toxic results because in some drugs the therapeutic dose and toxic dose are almost identical. Blood levels of lithium salts must be monitored at all times to prevent toxicity because lithium is stored in blood platelets and can reach a toxic level even though a doctor prescribes a therapeutic dose. Thus the problem.

Therefore, Tyler Hamilton has no excuse for experimenting with a drug that had no proven medical efficacy and that also contained an ingredient that is on the WADA prohibited substance list, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone.) Tyler Hamilton admitted that he knew that the herbal remedy contained DHEA and that this substance was banned. Tyler Hamilton, was not so incapacitated at the time that he needed immediate relief from a manic state that would have resulted in behavior considered "harmful to himself or others." Suicidal ideation or behavior reported as harmful to others usually requires hospitalization of the patient, even if only for a brief period. But maybe Tyler Hamilton wanted to self destruct, his marriage was falling apart, maybe he wanted people to feel sorry for him, maybe he was feeling sorry for himself, maybe he wanted to be banned?

So what is with the new Sixty Minutes Tyler Hamilton accusations of Lance Armstrong? More self-laceration? Does Tyler Hamilton crave attention, is he envious of Lance Armstrong's seven year reign, is he another idiot like Floyd Landis? Is Tyler Hamilton seeking a large, lucrative advance on a potential book? What is his motive? And does Tyler Hamilton have any proof?

So, no, we cannot simply leave Tyler Hamilton alone. So sorry.

At the Pioneer Park Downtown Criterium

Out for a ride I ran into a couple of Ski Utah women riders at a rail road crossing, who were waiting for the train to cross. I did not speak to them at the time, not wanting to be considered an intrusive, rude bore, and because I thought they were merely out for a training ride. Little did I know that there was a crit in process at Pioneer Park. Imagine my surprise when I glanced down the street to check traffic at an intersection and saw a pack of riders flash past. Whoa, a crit! I must check this out immediately!

A group of category 5 men riders were half way through their race, the wind was blowing from the West at about ten miles an hour. The view of the race is unique for a crit because the park is very flat and there are very few obstructions to block the view. Into the wind the pack tended to spread out somewhat, but by the time the pack reached the start/finish line with a tailwind they were gruppo compacto in the classic arrowhead formation. All of the weak attacks off the front, and they were rare, were promptly reeled in by the peloton. The race ended in a classic every man for himself mad sprint to the line.

Good show. Next race, much to my surprise, was the women category 1/2/3 race, and the Ski Utah women that I saw at the railroad crossing were participating in the race! [The results are found here.] At the start the women rode gruppo compacto until a green lap. A green lap offers a premium to the riders, usually in the form of money, for the first rider to sprint across the start/finish line. In this race when the women sprinted for the line a gap opened up in the pack like magic, and in spite of my better judgement, I started shouting, "Well done! You have a gap! Go! Four of the ladies went, much to my immense satisfaction. When they completed one lap and went past again I could not resist shouting, "Work together! Form an echelon! Take a pull and rotate! When they came around again I saw the ladies riding a perfect pace line, three riders in the fast lane and one in the slow lane, pull and rotate, much to my immense satisfaction. The gap began to widen with every lap. Perfect. They will never be caught.

In fairness, I tried to convey to the chase group the same strategy as the escapees. Work together in a pace line and you will catch them. Because the chase group contained more riders than the escapees, it is only logical to assume that the work load and energy expenditure among the chase group would have been much smaller than with the escapees. Even the weaker riders among the chase group could have skipped a pull and rested because of the superior number of riders. But, if riders of the escape group would have skipped pulls, even if it was only one rider of the group, it is safe to assume that they would have been caught. And the momentum of the chase pack of riders would have had a superior push/pull effect, the front riders are pushed and the rear riders are pulled by sheer force.

Well, I thought the outcome of the race be clear, until a second green lap, when the announcer offered a fifty dollar premium to the chase group of riders only. Near the start/finish line the ladies went into an all out sprint with determined effort and bang the gap diminished to the point where I thought the escapees would be caught outright! But, after the premium sprint, for the rest of the race, lap after lap, the same lady pulled the chase group and the other riders followed in her wake, they either could not or would not work, while the escape group continued to work together and ride a perfect pace line. The escape group was never caught and finished the race and their names should be written in gold, one, [151] Laura Howat (Ski Utah) two, [153] Kristen Kotval (Primal Utah) three, [157] Chantel Thackery Olsen (Primal Utah) four, [155] Laura Patten (Ski Utah Market Star). Only one problem ladies, when you have two team members in a four person escape group you should win the stage with ease with a lead out and a sprint. Protect your teammate until the last minute, shield her from the wind, she should stick on your wheel like glue, while your opponents are playing cat and mouse games with each other and with you, while eating wind! With a sudden burst of acceleration the victory should be a forgone conclusion! You have to decide among yourselves who is strongest, and make a sacrifice for the team.

Yes, I was very happy watching the ladies on the day before Mothers Day. I was in my element surrounded by cyclists and racing. The women probably wondered who was that deranged clown, gesticulating and shouting near the start/finish line. Even so, it was a great day with lovely weather, blue skies with wispy cirrus clouds, and there were great races with A+ performances.

Wouter Waylandt killed during a terrible accident during the Giro d' Italia, R.I.P.

Giro d' Italia Follies

Poor Floyd Landis is being attacked by the UCI, again. A lawsuit is filed against Floyd Landis for impugning the integrity of the anti-doping crusaders, who claim never to protect performance enhancing drug abusing cheaters, neither suspected clenbuterol user Alberto Contador or suspected Michele Ferrari supercharged blood transfused seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong! Indeed, who would ever suggest that these two entirely clean, upstanding examples of cycling purity would need protection against alleged accusations of doping?

Not Pat McQuaid, who denied ever knowing that a clenbuterol positive for Alberto Contador taken during the Tour de France ever existed! If an enterprising German television reporter had not learned of this positive [through a verboten laboratory leak?] the world would live in ignorance and Alberto Contador would be allowed to continue to race, even to compete in the Giro d' Italia with the blessing of Angelo Zomegnan himself!

Good old Angelo Zomegnan who has decided, as a professional medical scientist, that he should determine the amount of time needed for a rider to return to a "normal" physiological level. According to Angelo Zomegnan, some riders return to a "normal" physiological level at an unusually rapid pace, and this suggests manipulation of "abnormal methods" that leads to "normal" results. Whatever that means. Of course, with everyone these days, with the exception of Floyd Landis who endures daily verbal attacks from the cycling establishment, Angelo Zomegnan refuses to comment on the Spanish Cycling Federation exoneration of Alberto Contador, who is innocent until proven guilty! What a change from the days when Angelo Zomegnan threatened to refuse to allow Alberto Contador and Team Astana to ride the Giro d' Italia, the team was relaxing on the French Riviera, drinking cerveza and scoping out lovely mademoiselles, instead of training rides and power bars, bewildered because Angelo Zomegnan was accusing former USPS director sportif Johan Bruyneel of running an organized team doping program with Astana. Nevertheless, under tremendous pressure and at the last moment, Angelo Zomegnan collapsed and invited Alberto Contador and Team Astana to participate in the Giro d' Italia, which Alberto Contador won. It is interesting that Angelo Zomegnan can accuse Johan Bruyneel and the USPS Professional Cycling Team of doping to the gills and testing positive in repeated tests, the results of which were suppressed by WADA and the UCI, and face no sanctions or lawsuits, but when Floyd Landis makes the same claims, he is sued to the gills by WADA and the UCI.

These Floyd Landis lawsuits by WADA and the UCI are a little premature are they not? The Jeff Novitzky investigation is still ongoing is it not? The Federal Grand Jury still hearing witnesses and evaluating testimony are they not? Zut alors!

The CAS Upholds the UCI Biological Passport

Just when you thought Angelo Zomegnan was fast asleep, he has resurfaced with another round of controversial statements relating to his total commitment to protecting the sanctity of the sacred Giro d' Italia from the ever present scourge of doping. Angelo Zomegnan has informed the world that the current system of punishment in doping cases is insufficient to deal with the offenses and he recommends the world adopt an "additional quarantine" or an additional period of time for an athlete to return to normal health, the same way cyclists who have suspicious biological values above the normal range are suspended for health reasons, until the values return to normal. Who can argue with that sort of logic?

This is old news, but the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) has confirmed the notion that doping violations can be confirmed using longitudinal biological values, without a direct confirmed positive test for a prohibited substance, Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti were suspended for two years. The Pietro Caucchioli CAS award is included here for students who are interested in how the CAS justifies their actions, even though it is in French, because these awards suddenly vanish into the ether, never to be seen again. The Franco Pellizotti CAS award was impossible to find even after an active search of the Internet. There merely exists a carefully orchestrated CAS press release stating that Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti were suspended, without providing the awards. What seems to be the problem in examining CAS awards in cotroversial high profile cases where the public has an invested interest in knowing what the CAS is up to?

This once again is a reflection of the arrogant attitude that exists among the anti-doping crusade, this lack of access to important ground breaking awards. All CAS awards should be a matter of public record, indexed, archived, and available though a standard Internet data base at a click of a button. CAS awards should be available in both French and English for perusal. The era of the vanishing CAS award should cease.

Never mind the platitudes of WADA and the UCI. The glowing approval of the Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti CAS awards can be found in unlimited press releases. The reversal of the Fanco Pellizotti Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) exoneration, which stated that although some suspicious blood values did exist: this did not establish guilt, therefore warranted no suspension, was in fact, overturned by the CAS. The legal reasoning for this reversal, the justification of the UCI biological passport as a legal bases for guilt without a positive test for a probhibited drug, is explained in the award, and to understand what legal logic and medical justifications the CAS used to arrive at this conclusion, the award must be read.

Spring Reflections: Bad Drivers Kill Cyclists

Spring has arrived once again in the state of Utah, with typical twenty four hour temperature fluctuations of forty degrees, with clear, broken, overcast skies, and with rain and snow all occurring in the same day; nevertheless, cyclists are emerging from their cocoons like multi-colored butterflies. Which is a good sign. Too bad the driving behavior gene of motorists in Salt Lake City has not mutated, because you see the weirdest driving behavior of local motorists on a bicycle. Automobile drivers who refuse to yield when they are required to by law, but, who refuse to proceed at an intersection when the law requires the cyclist to yield. People who use scarce bicycle lanes as a parking or construction lot. People who pass you on the left, then turn right, or worse stop and back up. There is nothing more frustrating in this world than a brain dead motorist who is unqualified to drive a car, or a twenty thousand ton bus, or a loaded "eighteen wheeler." There are people who drive down the bicycle lane instead of in the traffic lane, and who insists on merging right, right over the top of you. There are times in life where you are tempted, against the rules of cycling etiquette, against the rules of common decency and common sense, to middle finger idiot motorists who lack common sense and a brain. Unfortunately, an irresistible temptation also exists of shouting out instructions on how to drive, "put down the cell phone and pay attention to what you are doing!" The exasperation factor approaches critical on so many occasions. Of course, in these cases you invite aggressive people to perpetuate assaults, and that is a very bad idea, because cyclists are assaulted enough already for no reason at all by idiot motorists who have no business on the road.

That felt good, for the moment, erupt like Mount Vesuvius. But there is forever the sickening news reports of dead cyclists, of injured cyclists, of hit and run cyclists, who die because of inattentive motorists, or who were driven from the road intentionally by some psychopath who had a bad day. People who scream in your ear to "get off the road."

WADA director general David Howman wants to resurrect the idiot concept of abandoning the "B" urine tests that confirm that the "A" tests have validity and reliability. In all doping cases where a positive test for a prohibited substance has been found, a "B" confirmation test is currently required by WADA code if requested by an athlete, and the testing procedure may be witnessed by a scientific expert representing the athlete, if requested. David Howman considers these safeguards costly and unnecessary because WADA labs have a very high confirmation rate of "A" sample diagnoses. Once again WADA expresses the concept of an unwarranted laboratory infallibility and a flippant disregard in respect to athlete rights and protections. Howman argues that there is no need to continue to ensure protections of these rights against possibly unwarranted assumptions or accusations. Incredibly, even doping expert Don Catlin disagreed with David Howman's opinion, citing a limited quantity of sample available (blood or urine) for testing and the possible necessity of testing needed to confirm a result; a "B" test without any material available to conduct the test.

It is endlessly the same old nonsense with these people! Spend the money to ensure fairness, David Howman, that is the right thing to do.