With it being a rest day at the Tour, I decided to take the afternoon for long ride on the path. The last couple of weeks, most of my afternoon riding has been on the trainer with the Tour on the TV, so yesterday afforded me the opportunity for an actual ride. Plus, for once, it wasn't raining. Yet.
I looked at the forecast (rain dictates which bike I will take) and it was in its usual vague state. The clouds above the city weren't friendly looking and there was a strong wind blowing up from the south. Sigh. I went for the fendered FX. Lately, the FX has been the only one getting out. I guess there is a reason they call this the Eisleck, Ice Hole.
I decided to ride south towards Mersch. Besides the Echternach route, it is one of the only other routes in the area that sticks to the bike paths for the most part. The chances of me getting lost or committed to a congested stretch of road are greatly reduced. Off I went.
I wasn't long before I realized it was going to be one of those rides. The kids are out of school right now, which means they're running amok more than usual (I swear they're only in school for like 3 hours a day as it is). One of their favorite places to lurk is on the bike path. They sit on benches and smoke and sip Diekirch beer trying to be little gangstas (which, you know is hilarious, since they live in Luxembourg and wouldn't survive 5 minutes "on the streets" in Philly), they stand in the middle of the path with their friends completely oblivious to the fact they are blocking a thoroughfare, and they dart out of no where on skate boards, inline skates (yes, people still use those), and BMX bikes. When school is out, I basically feel like Frogger.
In addition to the increased teenager congestion there are the usual bike path amblers. The amblers are old folks and not so old folks who like to stroll aimlessly on the pathway without a care for the world around them. Their behavior is really perplexing. There can only be two explanations for their manners: they are either all blind and deaf or they flat out don't give a crap about the world around them. I'm willing to give the teens the benefit of the doubt; they're being stupid because they're teenagers. We've all been there. I have a harder time not getting ticked at the fifty-something couple who refuse to slide over half a foot so I can pass after I've been ringing my bell to death and yelling "PARDON!!!!" for the past two minutes.
That's just what happens when I approach from behind. If I'm coming towards them, you'd think it would be much easier to share the trail. Nope. They see you, yes, but they still won't move. They'll either hold their ground forcing me to pass so close that only deft handling prevents a collision or they stop dead and stare at you as if it were 1819 and you were riding the first velocipede in town. You've never really experienced a stare like the ones thrown by old Luxembourgish ladies. Positively gives one the shivers. Nothing beats being involved in an unpleasant experience like gasping for breath while climbing a tough hill only to see some old guy stop in his tracks to stare at you with disdain over his pipe.
Well anyway, there was a whole lot of this sort of thing going on along my way to Mersch. There was also a whole lot of trail construction. Luxembourg loves to tear down and rebuild things, something to do with government spending or whatever. It's basically a national pastime. The USA has baseball, the Luxembourgish have construction. Seriously. I went in a toy store the other day and most of the toys had something to do with construction- trucks, hard hats, action figures, plastic tools, etc. We are currently living smack dab between three construction sites right now. Honestly, I don't remember what life was like without the sound of hammers, drills, and saws in the background.
Every mile or so, there'd be some sort of construction on the trail. A pile of large tools strewn and abandoned for several yards. I've never had to perform evasive maneuvers around pipe wrenches, tire irons, and hammers before. A giant pile of fist sized gravel spread out in front of me with no foreseeable way around. A massive section of asphalt that has been cut away leaving a hole 6 inches deep blocking the path. A big construction vehicle straddling the path. If I'd known it was going to be like that, I would have borrowed my husband's cyclocross bike. Of course, all of these things would either be at the top, middle or bottom of a hill. There's something particularly irritating about losing your momentum on a hill.
There's something particularly irritating about a bike ride that can't seem to get going because of nonstop obstacles. I probably would have had a better time on the road.
The one high point, besides all the climbs, was passing through Pettigen and getting an "Allez! Allez!" from a couple toddlers. Definitely not very fitting to the situation, but cute nonetheless.
By the time I met my husband for his ride home from work, I was grumpy. Alas, I didn't make a very good companion. Of course, it didn't end there. Somehow and the cause is still a mystery, the outside of his panniers got caught in his rear wheel, ripping them open and maiming his eyeglasses case.
We finally made it home and got down to the evening chores, making dinner, etc. My mood improved significantly after dinner and we settled onto the couch for a couple episodes of Lost on Netflix. The woes of the day slipped away and the frustration of an unpleasant bike ride became a thing of the past.
Then, I checked Twitter.
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| Wort.lu |
I'm not a die-hard fan of any cyclist in particular. I don't really have favorites or riders I've chosen to loath. Am I cheering for Evans or Wiggins? Neither, honestly. I love the sport overall, not the riders themselves. That being said, I do causally support the local guys. I think it's fantastic that two guys from a wee little country have become so successful. Because of them, more people have learned that Lux is a legit sovereign nation. I also support them because, well, they just seem like decent guys. I haven't met them, and I really don't know too much about them. But, they just struck me as honest.
Also, I've been feeling pretty bad for them and the whole team this season. After a pretty successful season in 2011, 2012 can only be called a failure. Team politics, public scandals on the road and off, and debilitating crashes are just the tip of the ice berg. With Andy abandoning most of his races and Frank quitting the Giro after performing rather well, 2012 has been disappointing for a casual supporter. I can't imagine how the fans feel.
Then, the news came that Frank is leaving the Tour because of failing a drug test. A drug test.
The Schleck brothers are already popular punching bags for critics, now he's given them something that deserves abuse- cheating. I couldn't believe it. Granted they found Xipamide (a diuretic), not a banned substance. But, diuretics are usually used to mask banned substances and for weight loss (which improves performance in cyclists). Granted, the UCI leaked the results (against their policy). Granted, his team pulled him from the Tour even though he isn't required to drop out. Granted, as soon as he found out about his test results he went to the police station to be interviewed. Andy emphatically denied that his brother took anything. Also, Frank released a statement today saying that he is demanding the results of his second test, B sample, and if that is positive he believes that someone poisoned him.
Despite all that, it does not look good. With all the drug scandals in cycling, fans are used to watching this play out. We've heard the contaminated food/drink story before. A conspiracy or wanton sabotage is possible (team manager Bruyneel isn't exactly known for being an upstanding guy and he and Frank do not get along), but is it probable? Or did Frank give in to temptation? He was not in contention for the GC and the RSNT team only has the team classification going for it. Why cheat now?
I don't have any answers. No one does at this point.
What I can say is this, and this is why I was positively, flat out angry last night. If there wasn't a conspiracy, if he did do it:
Then anyone could be doing it. He has insulted all those fans that kept on supporting him, his team, and his brother through their worst season. He gave those haters a real reason to hate. He pulled the same crap that has been pulled over and over again for generations. He's lent credence to the rampant speculation that RSNT is a dirty team. He's dragged Cycliste Luxembourgeois through the mud. He's ruined a well respected family's reputation. He's basically ruined his brother's too. He's insulted our intelligence. He's betrayed the sport, a sport that doesn't need any more betrayal. He's made that souvenir bottle sitting up on in my Cycling Stair Well of Fame a sore reminder of that. He's made all those fan flags, T-shirts, and signs unwaveable, unwearable, and unusable. He's made my support for the local guy completely misplaced.
So, for the love of cycling, I really hope his story is the truth. I really hope there is some giant evil anti-Schleck conspiracy that spiked his drink or that he stupidly took some legal substance that had Xipamide in it without realizing it or that it was just a false positive. I really hope that's what happened.
At this point, I can't say I'm a believer. I'll need some more evidence before I make a call.
But, I can say that today I'm not angry. I'm just miffed and a little sad. Such are the hazards of being a cycling fan. So, what can ya do?
Pedal on. I think I'll go north.
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