This morning, my inbox was flooded with emails along the lines of “Did you hear?” Unfortunately, I did. Again. Another cyclist coming clean after years of protesting his innocence. Increasingly, I am getting disenchanted with my sport.
I started this blog in July of 2006 and found it fun and cathartic to express my views on professional cycling. I would scan the news and provide a brief interpretation from my point of view. Shortly after starting my blog, the Floyd Landis story broke. I weighed in occasionally, tried to lighten the mood often, and really tried to keep the other news alive. I did not want my blog to become a doping column. The problem is that quite often, the only stories were of doping. Basso, Hamilton, Vinokourov, Heras, Rico, and on and on and on. Dick Pound got more cycling press than anyone. His “Q score” in cycling was probably higher than Alberto Contador.
Then cycling acquired an autoimmune disease and started to attack itself. Pound vs. McQuaid became a bigger draw than MMA. Over the last year, my writing became sporadic since it was no longer cathartic but maddening. I’ll still write from time to time but I’m in a cycling low right now.
I still read the news, follow the races, and cheer for riders. And pray they are clean.
