Floyd Landis - peaceonabike

June 16, 2016August 29, 2020

Estes Park

ESTES PARK, COLORADO

It’s the shortest day of the week at 49 miles and the day that cyclists will fall hard; hard in love with the majestic state of Colorado. West to East, across the Continental Divide, Trail Ridge Road hugs high alpine ridges with stunning views near and far. Cyclists will be treated to 11 miles above 11,000 ft. with many scenic overlooks and beautifully maintained roads all the way to Estes Park. Rocky Mountain National Park affords the most iconic ride in our Centennial State; and one you’ll treasure for a lifetime.

I left Daven Haven Cabins and rolled out to the Ride the Rockies headquarters. It was 59°. I assumed a vest for Trail Ridge Road with arm warmers would be enough.

Almost immediately after turning onto U.S. 34 to go into the Rocky Mountain National Park, the temperature dropped 25 degrees. That is, if it ever was 59° this morning. We could see our collective breath as we rolled into the park.

RTR16_5_02 — Switchback on Trail Ridge Road

Admission was free to the park if they could see the RTR wrist band or bike tag. I rolled through the gate. Freezing. The temperature had dropped to 34 degrees. My fingers were freezing. I regretted not bringing along long-fingered gloves.

I pulled into the Aid Station #1. The line for Flippin Flapjacks was incredibly long as was the line for the porta-johns. I left.

I began the climb up Trail Ridge Road in earnest. I was getting warm. I unzipped the vest and let it dangle. I was feeling good.

When I reached Medicine Bow Curve, a sharp right-hander above the tree line, I turned into the wind. It almost blew me over. It was strong (estimated by me to be 40 mph) and cold (mid 30s). I pulled over simply to put my vest back on. I had to turn my back to the wind to get it zipped. Then I was off pedaling into the wind.

It was harder pedaling into the wind than climbing. Reaching the Gore Range Overlook many people thought we were at the summit. We weren’t. I turned the corner and was hit with a wicked cross wind. I’d rather have the head wind than the cross wind. It was hard to control the bike even while going uphill.

RTR16_5_13 — Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes, Co.

The next couple of miles could best be described as rollers. And then the descent began. A very dangerous descent. The winds made it wickedly dangerous. The bike had the wobbles.

I wanted to let the bike go (which means go really fast) but it was prudent to proceed down with caution. Darn it. Once reaching the tree line the winds were mostly blocked. Then I could ride more freely (think: no brakes). I stopped to watch a group on horses cross the road. Then made my way to Estes Park.

At the RTR Headquarters I spent a bit of time with Clare from the Hot Shot display. She explained to each and every rider who approached that what we think about cramps is completely wrong. She introduced us to her product which was part cinnamon and part chili pepper. It will fool the nervous system and make the cramps go away.

While there I won a T-shirt. The DJ who appears at one Aid Station every day found it too windy up on Trail Ridge Road. He was in the parking lot at the end. And he offered one of his Tour T-shirts to “the male with the longest hair.” There were already two guys there. One, a 12-year-old boy, but his hair wasn’t very long. But there was a 20-something who did have longer hair. I sort of felt bad for winning. But not.

RTR16_5_12 — Rocky Mountain National Park

The afternoon cycling session was Allen Lim, PhD. He is a sports nutritionist and founder of Skratch Labs. He spoke about where cramps came from. What he said, an error in the nervous system, tracked what Clare has said earlier.

After the session I met with Allen. I told him I had two questions. The first was about Floyd Landis on Stage 17 in 2006. Was it the Jack Daniels? Damn, you had good oatmeal? Or holy s–t?

To his credit Allen told me, along with Ron and Erlinda Kiefel, everything about that day in France (and not repeating it here). I also asked about cramps and he confirmed, without endorsing, what Hot Shot was offering. I’ll be carrying that with me.

RTR16_5_16 — Riding Partners – but not today. Barry, Christine, David

February 16, 2009May 7, 2016

More Rain, Flooding, then Sunshine!

SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA

Flooding, blowing rain, cold in Santa Cruz. I wasn’t looking forward to this day. It’s a long day standing out in raw conditions to watch a race go by.

Phil Gaimon wrote “Stage two started at 8:30 a.m., with a neutral, wet, cold, seven-mile ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was pretty scenic. That, and a pee break a couple hours later were the only pleasurable experiences of the day. As Floyd Landis told me during the pee break, ‘You have to take pleasure in the small things.’ So true, Floyd.” (Bicycling.com) There are two riders in the race I have personally met. Phil Gaimon (Jelly Belly) and Floyd Landis (Ouch). And here they were talking about taking pee breaks.

Phil is the only rider in the peloton who has beaten me in a race. I love writing that. Not many riders would be in a position to do a race like Mt.Washington. Most have other team and training commitments but Phil raced Mt.Washington before he joined Jelly Belly.

I met Floyd a couple of years ago in Arlington, Va. when a number of us who believed, and continue to believe, that he was innocent of the doping charges and rightfully won the Tour de France, met with him an evening before he was to discuss the tactics of the USADA with Congress.

I am tired. Each day began with a check-in around 8:00 then out to the course sometimes three hours (today it was 4) before the Tour would come through. Then it’s pack up and drive to the next location.

My location today was on the worse possible position to see the tour. On the downhill grade at the bottom of a steep hill. It’s also one of the most important positions for a marshal because the riders are going so fast it’s even more important to keep an eye on spectators to make sure none run out, even innocently to cross the street, while they are descending.

I was thrilled by the presence of two visitors. The first was Daniel Wenger. Daniel lives in Santa Cruz and we have corresponded over the years on genealogy. One of my lines is Wenger as is my watch. Daniel is my 5th cousin. I trace my family back to Lancaster Co., Pa. in the 18th century including a line named Landis. Hmmm.

Barry (L), Daniel Wenger (R)

Daniel, IMHO, is the preeminent Wenger researcher and I defer to him on Wenger research. He traced Floyd’s line as well and Floyd also descends from a Wenger line. But so far, we haven’t connected my Landis to his or his Wenger line to mine.

Then Nina Simon came by. Nina used to work in D.C. and moved to Santa Cruz a year ago. It was great to see her again as well.

Nina Simon, Barry Sherry

As for the race — it rained. Riders got soaked again beginning with their crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Lance crashed but got back on the bike. Levi led to the end but didn’t contest the win letting Thomas Peterson take the win at the end. Levi was interested in the overall lead.

Levi Leipheimer followed closely by Thomas Peterson

The people in our spot were great. It was a residential area and most seemed to be retirees. It was a nice block party. One woman came by to offer her bathroom for breaks. Later she brought us hot tea.

I have discovered that I am an encyclopedia of biking information compared to most volunteers. Once the questions start, most volunteers clam up and I then answer their questions.

The riders came by in waves. Levi and Peterson. Then a chase group of 18 led by Astana and Lance Armstrong. They were racing hard down the street. It would be another 90 seconds before another group of 20 went by. Then at 5′, eight more riders went. At 11′ another 15 riders came by and they appeared to be more relaxed. We saw some smiles and mostly light pedaling. At 17′ another large group came by. Smiles. Relaxed pedaling at the front and coasting, COASTING!, at the rear for this group. Just glad to get home safely.

At 24′ a few more came by then at 25′ we saw the last four riders come by. And we saw cheating, wink wink. These were Francesco Chicchi, Fabio Calabria, Anibal Andres Borrajo, and Phil Southerland. I noticed that they were riding side by side with their team cars. One grabbed onto his team car and hung on. Another drafted behind his team car. Some spectators asked me if it was legal. Uh-uh. But who’s watching? Those boys worked hard on a long, cold, rainy, hard stage and were glad to get home upright on their bikes.

(Note: I saw two of the four riders grab some assistance but could not tell you which two did and which two didn’t.)

Despite the rain of the day, by the time the riders came by, the sun peaked out for an hour or so. It was a good day.

February 14, 2009February 15, 2022

Tour of California – Prologue

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

Although reporting time was 8:30 a.m. I was checked in by 8:00 a.m. In the Q-S line with me was a volunteer from Redding, Tamy Quiqley. We would be paired as volunteers. After getting our bright orange course marshal T-shirts we headed to our posts. But it was way too early. So we walked the entire 2.4 mile (4k) course. Even then we were back to our posts by 10:30 a.m. and the race would not begin until 1:30 p.m.

The temperature was in the low 40’s but eventually warmed up to 50. The rain that was feared held off until the last rider, Levi Lepiheimer, finished.

Early on we were treated to watching individuals riders and teams warming up on the course. And we helped get a community ride started at 11:30 a.m.

Team Astana warming up
Lance Armstrong in black

The volunteer manual asked us not to take pictures because our role was to watch spectators — not riders. Indeed, the toughest part of our task was keeping people from crossing the street once the race was underway.

But we were able to see Team Astana warming up and I felt no guilt snapping a picture of Lance Armstrong. He had retired after winning his seventh consecutive Tour de France in 2005. The rumors persisted earlier this year that he was going to come out of retirement and race again and almost all of Sacramento had come out to see the comeback.

But what happened to Anthony? Anthony Colby, Colavita-Sutter Home, was listed in our handbook as a climbing specialist but did not report to the start line. I was carrying a personal message for him from Mary Power, the event coordinator at the Mt. Washington Auto Road. I was proud to tell anyone that Anthony beat me (and 160 others) last July in the race up the mountain, Newton’s Revenge.

But I was glad to see Phil Gaimon race. He just joined Jelly Belly over the winter and was named to their starting team. Phil also beat me at Mt. Washington. He finished second in July at Newton’s Revenge but won the Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb in August.

I was on the first part of the course which went out and back. That was my penalty for signing in early — assignments were handed out in order. Maybe if I had shown up later I would have received the finish line. The out and back section created a large four-block median in which people were trapped once the race began.

It was dangerous to cross the street during the race. These time-trial machines with their aero bars and disc rear wheels fly and are very hard to control. Our instructions were to keep people from crossing the street once the race began. If we weren’t serious about this, the Sacramento Police showed up and walked the lines with us to enforce it.

Some volunteers took this more seriously than others. I tried to identify those who looked like they wanted to cross and just talked with them. With thousands of people needing to cross the street for no other reason than to use the porta-johns, the crowd eventually won. I’m for safety of both the riders and the crowd but to have nowhere out for three hours or more was unworkable. It was a bad design. When enough people ignored the volunteers and even the police, they eventually instituted one intersection where we could send people to when they needed to leave.

The first rider went at 1:30 p.m. Thereafter, one rider per minute until all 136 riders came through. Excitement rose towards the end as all the big names came by. I even violated my own rule by trying to take a picture of Floyd Landis. It was great to see him ride again.

As the first riders departed they got cheers from the folks behind us (I was on the inside of the median island) and I often turned to see who was riding. The early riders took about 1:10 to go from behind us out to the turn to pass us on the way back. But the big boys, Lance, Fabian Cancellara, Levi Leiphiemer, and others, could do it in 60 seconds. And when they went the cheers were louder. We were enveloped in a sea of cheers. While our group was yelling loudly for Floyd, just one minute behind was Levi going out to loud cheers. It was a great sound effect.

According to VeloNews, “George Hincapie described the scene at the Amgen Tour of California prologue in Sacramento Saturday, saying only Tour de France crowds could compare. And those crowds were treated to a Tour de France-caliber show, with Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) blazing the downtown 3.9km course with a winning time of 4:32.“

But it was a long day. I was on my feet from 8:00 a.m. until 4:10 p.m. when I got in the car to drive to Santa Rosa. But it was a great day, made greater by the fact we missed the rain.

RESULTS

February 6, 2009September 7, 2020

Looking Forward to the Tour

WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA

An unexpected trip had me at the Super Bowl on Sunday. Thoughts of working the Amgen Tour of California disappeared beneath the excitement of the Steelers 27-23 victory in what some experts proclaimed the greatest Super Bowl ever.

Getting back to earth, I am looking forward to working the Tour. I will be a course marshal on two stages. The rosters were just announced. How about these names?

Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Christopher Horner, Yaroslav Popovych, José Luis Rubiera, Andy Schleck, Fränk Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Jens Voigt, Stuart O’Grady, George Hincapie, Mark Cavendish, Kim Kirchen, Michael Rogers, Christian Vande Velde, Thomas Danielson, Danny Pate, David Zabriskie, Tom Boonen, Oscar Freire, Ivan Basso, Cyril Dessel, Carlos Sastre, Thor Hushovd, Alexandre Moos, Floyd Landis, Rory Sutherland, Ben Jacques-Maynes, Kirk O’Bee, Anthony Colby, Phillip Gaimon, Oscar Sevilla, Tyler Hamilton, Victor Hugo Pena, and Freddy Rodriguez.

You’ve probably heard of Lance. Probably Levi and most of these guys. But how about Anthony Colby? Or Phil Gaimon? These guys are on our domestic teams — Colovita-Sutter Home and Jelly Belly, respectfully. I’ve had the privilege of having them kick my butt up Mount Washington, New Hampshire.

Anthony won the Newton’s Revenge race July 12, 2008 while Phil finished second. In August, in the Bicycle Hill Climb Race up the Mount Washington Auto Road, Phil won (and he would want me to tell you that Anthony wasn’t there).

I know I won’t be able to get close to Lance. I hope I can talk to Floyd even briefly. I sure want to say hi to Anthony and Phil. Mary Power, the events director at Mt. Washington, even sent instructions with me to give them both a hug from her. I think I’ll pass but will pass on her greetings.

This is going to be good.

September 20, 2007September 13, 2020

NOT MY Cousin Floyd

WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA

This does not make sense. The arbitration decision in the Floyd Landis case was just released with a 2-1 decision against Floyd. The panel ruled that the French lab did not follow World Antidoping Guidelines in testing Floyd’s samples. They further ruled that “if the practice is continued that future results would be overturned.”

Huh? So future results by the same lab using the same flawed procedures would be overturned but these ones would be accepted?

To the uninitiated, after bonking on Stage 16 in the Tour de Farce, Floyd rode away to a victory the next day. While he was hailed as having ridden one of the great races ever, the truth was he rode well — but not like Superman. The teams that should have organized early and chased failed to do so which allowed him to open a nine-minute lead on them.

Floyd knew if he won the stage he would be tested. It would be foolish to cheat. Floyd stood up like a man and at every opportunity maintained his innocence, all the way to the Court for Arbitration for Sport. They were especially annoyed that he had the balls to fight the charges and not only found against him on June 30, 2008, but also fined him $100,000. How dare someone questions their authority.

I met Floyd in January 2007. He came away as believable to me. For full disclosure, I have to mention that I am a genealogist. I trace some of my ancestry to a Landis family in Lancaster Co., Pa. in the 1700s. Floyd, of course, is from a Mennonite family named Landis in Lancaster Co., Pa. However, I have traced some of Floyd’s lineage and have yet to make a connection. Cousin or not, I believe him.

A real analysis of the data is at Trust But Verify. Another good blog is Free Floyd Landis.

AUGUST 17, 2010 — Well, aren’t we all the fools? In May at the Amgen Tour of California, Floyd, after being denied entry into the Tour, followed through with his blackmail threat and claimed that he and Lance Armstrong were dopers.

In January 2007, Floyd made his rounds proclaiming his innocence and asking for money from people like me. And I gave. Twenty-five dollars to attend his stupid Evening with Floyd event. Then $50 and $25. And I bought his book. And it was all a lie.

Floyd – I want my money back.

Floyd and Barry, Arlington Draft House, Arlington, Va., January 2007

FEBRUARY 29, 2012 — It continues. And it’s going to continue.

I don’t want my money back. Floyd lost his best friend, his wife (who may have been his best friend), his family, his house, his money, his integrity. He can keep my money.

I have my own theory. I believe Floyd was innocent of using artificial testosterone as he was charged. I suspect when he heard he was caught he thought “oh crap” but when he realized it was artificial testosterone, he fought that. In the end, they wore him down and he eventually confessed to being a doper – at least using blood transfusions.

Unlike Lance, he was not a good liar. It was his good Mennonite upbringing. In his first press conference after the initial doping allegations, Landis was asked flat out: “Have you ever taken performance-enhancing drugs before?”

After a pause, he replied: “I’ll say no.”

I think he speaks the truth about doping in the peloton but he lost his credibility by not confessing when he had a chance and down is discredited at every chance.

And we have found no genealogical link between us. Floyd is not my cousin.

EDIT/EPILOGUE – Ten years after the race, I had the chance to talk to one of the inner members on Floyd’s team, Team Phonak. Floyd bonked on Stage 16. But then, apparently having lost the Tour, he drank a bottle of Jack Daniels (which would be part of his convoluted defense). His team was pissed at him for drinking that night.

The team member put together two lists. And at three in the morning, woke Floyd up screaming at him. He said he had two lists: Why Floyd is the biggest A-hole in the world and Ways Floyd could regain the time he lost and still won the Tour. Which did he want?

Floyd chose how to win the Tour. Team Phonak had a plan. First, Floyd would have to get into the breakaway that sticks. And, no longer within striking distance of winning, the teams should let him go. Second, once in the break, he would have to attack them and go solo. And here was the real plan. Since it was a very hot day, almost 100°, being in a solo breakaway would give Floyd access to his team car. Indeed, throughout the stage one can see Floyd next to the team car, taking on water, often pouring it over his head to keep his core temperature down.

They had prepared 200 bottle of ice water that day. At least 100 would be dumped over his head. Not only would Floyd have access to cold water while riding this day, each bottle would be a “sticky bottle.” At 200 bottle hand-offs, and three seconds per bottle, this was the equivalent of holding onto the team car for 10 minutes. This would be a huge savings of energy. It was also pushing the rules if not breaking them, but much like soccer, you play to the level the referees permit.

Once Floyd got the lead, he held it. My recollection was he did not gain more time on the climbs against the peloton but did gain time on the descents. So when he won that day, his team merely thought their plan worked to perfection.

If Floyd doped, he apparently did it without knowledge of his team. After he had left Postal (USPS Cycling) whatever doping he did was on his own. He tried dirty doctors but found he couldn’t trust them. I don’t recall if he testified that he doped that night with his Jack Daniels or if he was popped for elevated levels of synthetic testosterone because he had doped in preparation for the Tour. Whatever it was, he was popped and the team would lose its title sponsor. Twenty-eight cyclists and support staff were now out of work because of Floyd.

Not my Cousin Floyd.