HumanPoweredTransport

That's Not Joey

Some poor old guy riding his bike along Grand Ave. in Chicago had quite a case of mistaken identity thanks to the local papers.

Lonesome Whistle Blowin'

Wade Exum is singin' a song, and it ain't pretty for America's vaunted Olympians.  20 years of covered up positives is the name of Mr. Ex's tune. Hello Carl Lewis, can you hear me knockin'?
Meanwhile the NFL and MLB are doing a dog and pony show for Federal Grand Jury investigators while Tyler continues to spin spin spin to the media. 

Unisexroids

Juice.  Not just for breakfast and apparently not just for boys.

Ability

Emmanuel Ofusu Yeboah.  A hero to Ghana.  A man with one leg who changed a King's perception of the outcast disabled to one of respect.   See the film about him, which we saw at Artivist - a festival of politically activated films.  Both are worthy of your time.

Insuring Results

In the name of outrageously audacious behaviour of the rich and famous, Lancelot has revealed that he helped fund the UCI's anti-doping efforts last year.  Err, that's a wee bit of the old conflict o' interest, no?  These folks think so - I like the guy who compares it to Capone giving money to the cops.  Omerta!  In true Texan bluster, ol' one-ball can't resist claiming every egotistical action he takes and spinning it to a presentation of a selfless effort supporting our fair sport.  This one is just a little too spun to swallow though.

One Nut Out, Two Nuts Sacked

Old one-ball has called it quits after this years Grande Boucle; now he can do The Hour and chill with Sheryl, er, I mean his kids.  Little marble-balls has gotten bitchslapped with a two year suspension; now he can go smoke and drink with Millar in the Basque country while he sits it out.

One Of The Good Ones

A moment of silence please for Marla Ruzicka.  The founder of CIVIC - a group dedicated to providing relief and aid for Afghan and Iraqi civilians effected by the war - was killed yesterday by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.   RIP.

Hondo Takes a Bongo and Other Drivel

Hondo's b-test got him fired from his team and likely banned from the sport for two years. 
Yay Georgie for 2nd at Roubaix.
Flecha took 3rd on a full CX rig.  Some folks rocked canti's, some top-mount brake levers, but Juan Antonio went the full monty and saddled up a real cyclocross thoroughbred for the Queen of The Classics.  Netting 3rd place ain't bad, and as CX bikes become lighter and more roadie-like, I wonder if we won't see more Hell of The North riders atop mudpigs next April. 
The HPT blinglespeed project is underway in Wisconsin.  Jonny makes nice steel!
HPT will miss Bike Summer in LA in order to unload bikes in Ghana; look for updates from the road in May.

Dope Holds 4th Place In Pro Tour!

Ok, so there's a new game in racing town, the UCI Pro Tour.  Today, on the 8th of April the UCI released the current official standings, overall points tallied from the early races of the season.  Two days ago, the 'A' sample blood test of Danilo Hondo, a pro for the bottled water giant Gerolsteiner, tested positive for a banned substance.  By the rules, if his 'B' sample get's the light as well, he and the team could go down.  Meanwhile, Hondo sits 4th overall in this new, very high-stakes cycling league series.  You might also recall that in the glory years of the Lion King, Danilo was the loyal leadout dog.  It's gonna be an interesting summer of racing.  The tests are better, the detectives more vigilant, the race calendar closer together, the stakes higher and bigger names than ol' Dani boy are gonna fall. 

Having said all that - the horses will be turned loose in the Hell of The North on Sunday and you should be awake at 3am, screaming at a pirated Belgian satellite feed to see the best race of the year.   Or sleep in and read about it on the 'net.  Viva.

Backspin

Coupla weeks back, in the high stakes game of landing the host city bid for the 2012 Olympics, Lancelot threw his hat down for Paris.  Americans, and particularly rowdy New York newsmen got  peeved, as noted previously  here in a previous post. Yesterday, Mr. Yellow was in Manhattan, throwing up spin and claiming NYC as always having been his top pick for the Olympiad.  Apparently he had to call out Paris while in France or he'd have lost a few toes in his dance to win over the French public, blah blah blah.  Wadda wuss.  Me, I'd pick Moscow or Madrid.  Yo L.A., if you're really down for NYC, put in a word for the Critical Masses.  Viva!