Rock Racing and VDB???

Everyone else has written something about these guys, why not me? And no, it's not what you think, that Rock Racing has hired VDB, read onward...

How is it possible that that VDB is still riding a bike as a professional bike racer? This is something that I just don't get. The man not only has 9 lives, he has about 20 lives as it pertains to being a pro bike racer. He has found yet another team that will carry his sorry ass for this season. Granted, they are a smaller team, with a smaller budget, but he's still riding professionally. I think between the suicide attempts, his craziness, drug sanctions, health issues, and everything else he's been through he's raced about 3 times in the last 4 years, mostly dropping out before hitting the hard parts of the races he was riding in. It's insane really, totally, and completely and utterly insane (sort of like VDB himself). This is a man that when investigators found EPO in his fridge at his house, he said it was for his dog. Yeah, a new level of doping proclamation, it was for my dog. Just when you thought that pro bike racers had made up all of the excuses you thought entirely possible, we get the "dog" defense. VDB should not be allowed to race bikes just for bringing the dog excuse into the cycling vernacular.

For instance, we have a solid pro rider like Allan Davis. He's won some races, has a great work ethic, and works hard for the teams that he has ridden for. The problem is, his name got brought in Operacion Puerto, which he was then completely and fully cleared of, and yet he has a hard time finding someone to ride for. VDB who has taken more drugs than Timothy Leary has a team to ride for. Again, a smaller team, but a team nonetheless. Allan Davis is left sitting on the outside looking in and wondering if he'll ever be a bike racer again. That's not a good place to be in. I'm hoping that Allan Davis has a ripping Tour Down Under in Australia, and then a team realizes, hey, we've got room for this bloke, let's hire him. I don't know why I've fixated on Allan Davis, it's just some recent things that I've read about him is all. I'm sure that there are plenty of others out there as well.

Look, for those European teams out there thinking about hiring VDB in the future, just knock that shit off. Let the man go completely loco crazy, and lock him away for the good of the cycling community in general. I don't hate him, I enjoyed watching him race when he was doped to the gills (Paris-Nice, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the like), but his time has passed him by. He's 33 years old, and ready to be put out to pasture. Maybe he'll do something this year, but I doubt it. He doesn't have a team to support him, so if he does do anything at all on the bike, he's going to have to do it alone. Having a bunch of kermesse riders supporting you in the Spring Classics is not ideal for anyone. Good luck VDB, you're going to need it you psycho bastard.

Moving on now.

Rock Racing. Yes, the favorite subject of most in the cycling realm of the US these days. Rock Racing, being run by Michael Ball of Rock and Republic Jeans (most famously) is catching a lot of flack these days. Reading an interview with Floyd Landis (where he was portraying the ANGRY Mennonite) on Velosnooze the other day, he did bring up some good points about Rock Racing. People are giving him a hard time for hiring Botero. For hiring Hamilton. For hiring Sevilla. They say that he can't seriously be anti doping if he has hired these guys. Bear in mind, the only one of the 3 who was ever sanctioned for doping was Hamilton, who "served his time" and can now race again professionally, if someone is hardy enough to give him a job, and Ball is that man. Sevilla, never sanctioned. Botero, never sanctioned. I find it ironic that the same people who are yelling and screaming about Ball hiring these guys to ride for him are the most ardent supporters of David Millar, a known and sanctioned doper. But they say, it's different for Millar. He came clean. Look people, the only reason Millar came clean is because he pooped in his khakis when the Gendarme busted into his flat in France and started searching the place for evidence of doping. Also bear in mind that it was what? 7 or 8 months AFTER he had doped to the win the World Championships in the TT that he finally "came clean". I guarantee you that if those French cops hadn't busted into his place, and they hadn't found his empty EPO vial, he never would have said a word, and would still be wearing his world champion rainbow stripes on the sleeves of his jerseys. Don't fool yourselves kids, the only reason Millar came clean is because he got caught. As with the others, he served his time, and now has a nice new life as a pro bike racer, so good for him. Why can't Hamilton, Botero, Sevilla, and others like them get the same shot? They should, and they will with Ball. Why are people so concerned that Rock Racing will get blackballed because they have Hamilton on their team? Millar still gets to ride the big races, and nobody says a word. There is no difference between the 2 folks, no difference at all. And I also ask you to consider this. When Hamilton got busted, I found myself in the distinct MINORITY of people who were chastising him for being a doper, and for calling him out for being a doper. I got beat down in cycling forums that I frequent as being a "hater" and all. Now though, these folks who were yelling at me for calling Hamilton a doper are now the same people, more or less, who are saying he should be burned at the stake. My how times turn around. Again, the man served his time, let's let him race again if someone is willing to give him a spot.

Rock Racing is also bringing some serious "noise" to the US peloton. Cycling in general, is so catty. I'm sorry, I don't know how else to explain it really. I say that it's "catty" in the sense of, when something new comes along, the people who have been there for awhile, or the established teams always poo-poo the new guy on the block. It happens EVERY SINGLE TIME. The US peloton doesn't like change. They don't like something disturbing their nice little world of US pro cycling. Something like Rock Racing comes along, with a team owner like Ball who is brash, egotistical, and a little maniacal, and the end of cycling as we know it is pronounced, and immediately people dismiss Ball and his team as some sort of flash in the pan, and everyone buries their noses and talk about how we don't need a team like Rock Racing. I think we do. Why? We need some press about our sport. Look, just because you, and 20 of your friends are racing a crit in some un-completed cul de sac in the middle of tobacco fields somewhere downeast in North Carolina doesn't mean that people understand, or even want to think about cycling as a sport. Most people in the US considering cycling a nuisance, and something to be done by kids who don't have a driver's license. Ball can bring the noise, and the promotion that nobody else in the cycling world in the US can do. Why? See the list of reasons above (brash, egotistical, and so on). The man runs a multi million dollar business, and is from what I've seen, not prone to failure at any point in his life. Sure, he's a little crazy, but don't you worry. He's going to be just fine, and his team, is going to win some pretty big races around the US I think. He's going to be out front, promoting his team, promoting cycling, and get over it. He's here to stay I think. Why? Mostly because of you assholes discounting him, and dismissing him. He's going to stay in your face so that in every race you line up at, you're going to have to deal with him, and his team. And let's look at his team. A bunch of great guys. Who else is going to let David Clinger race for them in the US? Seems to be, someone already fired him because he tattooed his face. Clinger has talent, Clinger has the drive to be a great rider. Just because he got ink on his face, he got blackballed. If for no reason other than to give David Clinger a place and a team to race for, I will support Rock Racing. What about Bahati? Possibly one of the best crit riders in the US, and a great track rider as well, but alas, he's not "mainstream" enough to apparently ride for a pro team, and now he's got a place to ride as well. Again, I'll support Rock Racing just because they gave Bahati a place to race.

Buckle up people, and buckle down. I think Ball and his merry band of strong racers, and misfits are here to stay, and they're going to be in your face, winning your bike races, and you're going to be crying about it. Me? I'm going to be laughing mostly because I told you so.