Cycling Entertainment for the Week of March 22

READING
First up is from the blog // The Inner Ring.  I always enjoy this blog and his take on cycling and stories that usually aren't being told.  Here is another great insight into some of the current new stars in cycling and how one race in 2010 predicted great things from them all.

• The Future of 2010

American World Domination - Its a Mindset

Tejay with the Scriven family in the background

WORLD DOMINATION
This is an idea I've had for quite some time but never got around to writing about it completely.  However, with the accelerated rise of several young American cyclists on the world stage I thought I should get this out now with the hopes of starting some excitement for my vision - world domination by the USA.

I'm not talking about a James Bond villain or the Mike Myers version of the 007 nemesis in the form of Dr. Evil.  Rather I'm referring to actually producing an American winner of the Cycling World Championship Road Race.  Specifically I'm focusing on the Men's race because as I see it, the problem doesn't exist in the women's side of the event.

THE PARTICIPATION PROBLEM

One BILLION dollars!

What's the deal?  Well, looking over the history (modern history at least) of the World Road Race it's pretty easy to mention the only American winners of the event, Greg Lemond (83 & 89) and Lance Armstong (93).  Of course we all know about Lance's recent "troubles", but for the sake of this little post I don't even care what he was taking, injecting or if he was "glowing"... all I care about is whether he was participating.  My issue with the US team since Lance's victory is that they've sent a lackluster squad to the worlds to compete when on the sidelines have been some of the worlds best cyclists at the time.  Participation is the problem here.  I wrote previously in support of Taylor Phinney representing the USA at the Olympics and derided the other top Americans that had skipped the World Championships where participation and getting a top 15 would have produced two spots for an American in London rather than just one as we had for the 2012 Olympic Time Trial.  So this trend continues.  What I hope doesn't happen is that Taylor and the other youngsters decide to forgo the World's race once they hit their stride and make a mark on their career.

Tattooed by the Asphalt and "There's a New Kid in Town."

Tattoos - some visible and some not.

Cheapest Way to Get a Tattoo
Former eclectic cycling pro and now current TV analyst Bob Roll once recounted in a PezCycling interview his views on tattoos vs. scar tissue:

Now crashing, on the other hand, gives you scar tissue, and scar tissue tells a story no idiotic tribal barbwire tattoos ever will.  And as the stories of your scars are retold, you'll get hungry for sour mash and pork rinds.

Now granted, I'm not entirely sure where the mash and pork rinds reference comes into play, but the rest of scar tissue v. tattoos thing rings true to me.  Personally, the part where you create the scar tissue is not my favorite and I'm sure much like getting a tattoo it's the most painful.  The past few weekends of racing I've had my fill of what Bob Roll would call "stories" with the most recent crash at Land Park being the most absurd, painful and quite honestly as regrettable as getting your ex's name tatted on your neck.

Helmet straps, most aggressive and some road rash

Eric attacking after Casey is caught.

What a weird day of racing.  The Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic offered up a great criterium today with a nice technical race in downtown Merced.  The 2013 McDonalds Grand Prix (as the race today was called) is part of a stage race for the Pro Men and women and even some Master's racers.  But for me, it was a one day event starting with packing the kids in the car at 7 am and heading south for a speedy car ride.  If my memory serves me correctly, I did this stage race several times in the late 90's with Oilme Racing and I had a few demons to exercise.

At the start line Data Driven Athlete Racing team lined up four guys with Eric, Casey, Curt and Tyler (myself.)  While waiting for the start, veteran US cycling announcer Dave Towle remarked how he liked our kit.  Thanks Dave!  As is the deal in racing, with a nice looking kit that grabs the eye (see our bright helmets and matching shoes) you have to back up your appearance by racing like you deserve to wear it.

But backing up our sex-appeal took a hard hit right as the race started when Curt's helmet strap came undone.  I mean, it didn't come unhooked, the little mechanism used to keep the straps together actually came undone.  Curt tried to get a "free lap" (as is available in a crit for a crash or technical mishap) but the race officials said "no" commencing in Curt giving chase for at least 5 laps.  While this seems like a rookie move  by Curt (he's no rookie), ask yourself when the last time you checked your helmet strap was.  Probably never.  (on a helmet side note, when was the last time you washed your helmet?  Wearing that grungy stink sponge for all those training miles and never washing it is likely why most guys never get to ride with the hot girls - but I digress).