Lance Armstrong

I do not know Lance Armstrong.  I am not a member of the professional cycling world, I have not worked on or with a cycling team, nor do I have any connection that provides me with inside information.   If I were you, I would argue that I have not done enough due diligence on this subject to render a completely educated opinion.  However, I am amiss and I am going to spout off anyway.

I took some time to brief myself on this week’s USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) accusations against Lance Armstrong.  Here is my current evaluation… Professional cycling is a pathetic mess when it comes to managing their blood doping and performance enhancing drug policies.  Not exactly breaking news, I just needed to say it.

The USADA has initiated action against Lance Armstrong which could result in stripping him of his seven Tour De France victories because he might have broken the law. They are doing this while ignoring the fact that he passed over 500 blood tests during his competitive cycling career, without disclosing the evidence they claim to have or by identifying the accusers involved.    

They are instead going to ride into their own self absorbed glory on the coat tails of accusations made by “anonymous,” “unidentified” self proclaimed liars and cheaters such as Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton.  To top it off, some of Lance’s Tour crowns will likely be handed over to runners up Jan Ulrich and Ivan Bosso who have previously been caught cheating and lying.

This is absurd.

If Lance Armstrong cheated during his pro cycling career then you would have to accept that he and his little band of conspirators figured out a way to pass all the blood tests.  Lance is the most tested athlete in professional cycling ever.  If you believe he doped, then you have to believe one of the following.  1. Lance is smarter than everyone else. 2. Lance is luckier than everyone else.  3. Lance has a magic wand that turns urine into water.  I am going to go with the magic wand theory.  It’s the most plausible.

Here is some professional cycling governing body logic for you.  Let’s take away Tour wins from someone who might have cheated and then offer them to people who have been caught cheating. 

How on earth does any governing body come up with a decision like that?  What is this, the United States Congress?  That is the last place I encountered such stupidity. 

If the rebuttal is Jan Ulrich and Ivan Bosso were caught blood doping but they did not fail drug tests during the Tours we are going to give them the crowns for, that would be even dumber.  If you feel like you have a case against Lance Armstrong, at least don’t make the mess bigger by crowning riders who have been caught cheating with the victories. 

If you take Lance’s Tour victories away on the basis that he cheated then you are acknowledging the testing process is failed and there are ways to blood dope and still pass the tests.   If you hand the relinquished victories to Ulrich and Basso, who have been caught cheating, then you are accepting they cheated but not on the years they are being handed the Tour De France victories for.  What is the basis for that logic, the fact that they did not fail tests on those particular years?  Well, neither did Lance and he won.

There is the other side of the argument.  Maybe Lance did dope. I certainly do not know him personally.  The closest I ever came to knowing Lance Armstrong is I almost got to shake his hand before an annoying reporter from the Des Moines Register nudged me out of the way and started interviewing Lance.

Maybe Lance failed a test and we don’t know about it.  If that is the case, why don’t we know?  There are apparently all sorts of people out there that want to bring him down so if there was a failed test I would think it would hit the “front pages” immediately.

I love the line from the USADA about blood samples collected from Lance in 2009 / 2010  “fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.”  The USADA conferred with a politician to come up with that little nugget.  What the heck does the quote even mean?  Did he fail or pass the test? That is what I want to know. 

I am puzzled as to why there would be such a wide spread conspiracy against Lance.  What did he ever do to make so many enemies?  He has come out on many occasions and sited resentment, bitterness, etc. as reasons for the persecution but has not really offered up much in the way as to why there would be a conspiracy against him at the level it seems to be.  Resentment as the main motivation for the constant hounding about cheating is not adding up for me.

The man is a bit of a magnet for sure.  He is a house hold name in many countries throughout the world.  Maybe the conspiracy just goes with the territory.  He does seem arrogant and cocky which can rub people the wrong way but show me a person that is as successful as Lance and I will show you someone who is arrogant and cocky.  Being arrogant and cocky is the same thing as being self confident and talented but the observation is coming from a different vantage point.

My post obviously offers an edge to believing Lance Armstrong when he says he didn’t cheat.  I try to stay open minded to the information that is out there but I am a Lance fan and it is difficult for me to participate on the other side of the argument because I do not want it to be true.  Even if he admitted cheating, I would still admire the other successes in his life.  He didn’t beat cancer by cheating.

One thing is absolutely for sure.  Lance Armstrong has done much for many and he has done this by choice.  I may not have had the opportunity to shake his hand that day but I do have personal experience in working with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, LIVESTRONG, and it is a truly amazing organization that is truly necessary in our crazy little world.

We are all free to chose what we believe on this subject, and in most cases, people do not even really care all that much.  Professional cycling fans form a relatively small circle so there will not be very many people that spend their time trying to form an educated opinion.  It is unfortunate, but true in many cases, that most people assume “where there is smoke there is fire” and not give it another thought.

Unfortunately, those people will also allow their negative and uninformed opinion to impact a decision about donating and supporting LIVESTRONG and that is a misfortune.  LIVESTRONG and the people who run it are inspiring, motivated, selfless and necessary.  There is much at stake for many.

One more thing…  Lance, if you did cheat during your professional cycling career, own it.  If you didn’t, fight them all like one mad s.o.b. to the very end.

Planning and Other Poop

In the same week I was told I needed bifocals, was put on medication to mitigate problems with high cholesterol, was told I needed to loose 35 pounds and was diagnosed with sleep apnea.  I celebrated at week’s end by stopping off at McDonalds for lunch.  I justified it by assuring myself I could not see what I was eating and after taking a quick 2 hour nap in their booth, I had forgotten all about the event.

In my younger years a typical physical included a list of questions from my doctor.  “Do you have heart palpitations, how many times do you get up to urinate during the night, do you have problems with dry mouth, do you have issues with headaches, does it hurt when you poop, etc….

As I have been getting older, I have been anticipating the list of questions would only get longer but I have noticed the list of questions has gotten shorter.  Now I go to the doctor and I start the conversation “Doctor, it hurts when I poop!”  Only to get the response, “Yup.”  I now realize they stop asking some of the questions because in our early years they are considered symptoms but as we age they become expectations.

I recently got rid of my car payment and my gas guzzling truck and purchased the oldest car with the highest mileage that I have ever owned (my car hurts when it poops too..).  For the first time in my life I went to a car dealership, signed only one document and plunked cash on the table.  It was simple.

The car may require the occasional tow truck to get me where I am going but when I do have one of those frustrating days where I have missed my ‘oh so important’ engagement, I can at least be comforted by the fact that when the tow truck driver drops me off I do not have to go in the house and write a check to my bank for my car payment.

My house is younger than I am and it is a much nicer house than I ever thought I would live in.  A good friend of mine has often referred to it as a “starter castle.”  It has a huge yard that I do not like taking care of, it has a huge concrete driveway that I do not need which takes forever to shovel and it even has three bathrooms for two people.  By golly, if we have to go number two at the same time, my house still has room for someone to stop in as they are walking by and use the can.

When people visit, they often comment on how much they like my house.  What I find interesting is that while I am receiving these accolades from friends and relatives, I am often thinking to myself, “why is it that I do not like it?”  Then I recall, “oh yes, it is because I am the poor ol’ sod who is spending weekends digging around in flower gardens so others may enjoy looking at them.

If I look back at my perception of the relationship between speed and time, I have had what I understand to be the typical experience.  Even though time moves at the same pace, many of us do not experience it that way.  I am in my mid forties, 46 to be exact.  Years 25 to 35 went fast.  Years 35 to 45 went even faster.  The entire block of years 25 to 45 went faster than years 5 – 25.  When I do that kind of math, my analysis is that I will be 65 tomorrow.

I am seeing old up ahead (and for all you 60 something’s, I do not leverage the term old in a derogatory way). My point is not that I will be old and decrepit in 20 years (I guess I might be, but if I make good choices about my own health and well being, chances are I will not be) but to look forward and have a plan that leads me in a direction.  This has prompted me to ask myself “What do I want the next 20 years to look like and where do I want to be when I am 65?”    

I have recently gained awareness that in the past 20 years I have admired the people around me who have things. I am beginning to see the value in not having things and I may spend the next 20 years ejecting things in favor of having the time to harbor the experiences around me.  At least that seems like a good goal.

It may be time to trade the starter castle in for the starter home.  One bathroom will do the trick. I can trade square feet for easy to clean, flexibility for usability and impressive for comfortable.  I can trade space for charm and get a whole new kind of freedom.  I can trade working on the yard for sitting on the porch.  It just might be time to trade the things I want for the things I need.

It is time to trade the car payment for the car repair.  It is time to trade in the boat and go fishing with a car and a pair of waders. It is time to trade my quiver of bikes for my favorite bike.  I am tired of choking on my stuff.

I have heard this adage a few times.  “Experiences are more important than things.”  It has not always been this way for me but today, I would rather spend $5000 on a vacation to Europe than buy a $5000 television.  Maybe that is easy for me to say since I already have a nice television but I certainly didn’t shell out $5000 for it and experiencing Europe seems like a bargain at that price.

I guess when it comes down to it; we all have our things we love too.  Ask me the same question about $5000 but change the television option to a new road bike and I will have to do some noodlin’ on that one. I just might go for that new bicycle and leave Europe to others for today.

A friend of mine who I very much look up to often says “Life is what happens when we have other plans.”  Change is common and plans are frequently altered but these are not reasons to campaign against planning.  I think a good plan in your pocket is worth the time it takes to maintain it.  By the way, if you Google “What is shorthand for Life is what happens when we have other plans” it returns “Poop Happens.”

Well, I have run out of thoughts and I am not even sure what point this post is meant to convey.  It may seem to you that I was only looking for a reason to reference poop several times.  I have declared a position that will likely change for me tomorrow.  I will probably move to the country, purchase a home with a huge lot and spend the next 20 years mowing the lawn, cleaning my swimming pool and complaining about how long it takes to commute into town.

But…maybe… it will be something I haven’t even thought of yet.  If so, when the time comes, the first thing I will do is poop, then I will take a nap and then I will alter the plan and move ahead.

"20From101" Fundraising For Cancer Campaign

In November of 2010, my Mom, Judy Thayer, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung Cancer.  Since then my Mom has exemplified remarkable strength as she has taken a stand against the Cancer that has invaded her life.  Cancer is without a doubt no picnic but Mom has leaped the hurdles that Cancer has presented and continues to fight a good fight.  She inspires us all.

Mom’s diagnosis has influenced me to take action and do what I have the power to do to make a difference for people who are affected by Cancer.  Each day I find myself even more motivated to roll my sleeves up and lend a hand so for the second year I am going to join Team LIVESTRONG and ride RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa).

LIVESTRONG seeks to inspire and empower people affected by Cancer, and with Team LIVESTRONG I'm picking a fight with Cancer and uniting with others who are interested in making Cancer a global priority.  From July 22^nd to July 28th I'm going to ride RAGBRAI which is a 470 mile bicycle ride across Iowa.  In concert with this, as part of Team LIVESTRONG, I'm hoping to raise a minimum of $2020 for the fight against Cancer. With your help and support, I know I can accomplish both.

From the day I started fund raising and training last year, all the way through crossing the finish line in formation with the other riders of Team LIVESTRONG I was constantly exposed to inspiring Cancer Survivors.  Regularly, I heard compelling stories which deeply influenced me.  I truly felt like I was part of something remarkable and that I found a way to make a difference.  I was proud to be involved and I was ever so grateful for the people who chose to donate to the LIVESTRONG cause.

One thing I have realized since Mom’s diagnosis that I really never thought of before is that Cancer has affected just about everyone around me.  A person has either had Cancer, is fighting Cancer or has a loved one who has been afflicted with Cancer.  This disease is truly everywhere and affects us all.  The statistics are staggering.  I could write pages on this alone.

The “long arm” of Cancer has inspired me to keep fighting and it is what causes many of you to choose to donate to organizations such as LIVESTRONG.  Many people made their donation last year with one or more loved ones in mind and I rode every mile with them on my mind.

For everyone who donates, whether I have had the privilege to meet you or not, please let me know if you are making your donation in the name of someone who has or has had Cancer.  I will be making a shirt with the first name and last initial of everyone my donators have known who have or are battling Cancer.  I will ride RAGBRAI with pride when I wear a shirt that commemorates these heroes.  As an added incentive, the 3 highest donators will receive a copy of the shirt.

This brings me to my 2012 fundraising campaign I am calling “20from101”.  My fundraising goal last year was $1500 and due the generosity of almost 50 people we raised $2020.  This year I want to meet last years mark of $2020 and I would like to accomplish this by collecting $20 from 101 people.  Will you join me?

I've established a personal website, http://laf.livestrong.org/goto/20From101, where you can learn more about my participation and contribute to the cause. Remember, every dollar counts. If you are not comfortable with a $20 donation, please consider another amount.  If you feel inclined to donate more, please do.  Can I suggest $20 for each adult in your household and $5 per child?  One issue I am faced with regarding my 20from101 campaign this year is that I do not know 101 people! If you are so inclined, please forward my campaign letter to someone you know who might be willing to donate $20 to fighting Cancer.

In any event, I guarantee the money will be very well spent.  Your donation to LIVESTRONG will help support the many programs they fund such as the LIVESTRONG Guidebooks, LIVESTRONG at the YMCA, Fertile Hope and a host of other programs that focus on Cancer survivorship.  LIVESTRONG provides vital support that guides people through the Cancer experience, bringing them together to fight Cancer and work for a world in which the fight is no longer necessary.  You can find out more about LIVESTRONG at http://www.livestrong.org/.

Once again I'm riding to stand up for the 28 million people living with Cancer worldwide and also for the very important memory of the many millions more that have succumbed to this terrible disease.  I'd like to thank you in advance for considering a donation.

Thank you and as you face this sometimes challenging thing called life, remember to LIVE STRONG!