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In Minnesota, even in the southern-most tropical region of the state, the abundance of this winter’s snow harvest continues to pile up. The 3.5 feet sitting in my yard no longer represents a winter wonderland, but a multi-layered, crusted reminder of days, weeks and months of wind-whipped bitter cold.
However, in the winter of my discontent, I’ve found my cycling motivation for the upcoming year. I followed an actual training program, spending about 8-12 hours a week on the trainer, mixed in some strength training, ate smart and worked with a trainer partner that kept us both motivated. I managed to drop about 15 pounds so far, a couple more veins have chosen to make their appearance on my calves and I’m feeling a lot stronger. All in all, pretty damn happy with the way this winter has gone.
The rest of the winter’s program has me targeting building up more fitness and riding strength along with dropping another 10 before the pretty ambitious race schedule I set out for 2010 comes about this spring. No problem, let me see now…check the calendar…Holy S#@t, my first race is in 6 weeks.
All of a sudden I find myself less worried about whether or not the winter will end and if the snowmelt will leave us in a giant Great Plains-sized flooded mud pit until after the 4th of July and more worried the starting-line jitters building in my gut and how I’m going to attack the first climb. I know it’s a bit premature, but given my stellar effort at last year’s offseason training stupidity, early season incompetence and overall failure in my racing ‘program’ last year, I’m anxious for this year’s racing to start. I took the time to learn from my mistakes, train smart, make progress and set goals…you know, all that stuff they write about in magazines and people pay coaches to help them with.
The Glory I’m searching for is glory on a Very Small Scale. Cat 4 Masters Road and Citizen class MTB wins. Results that you have to scroll down 3 pages to find my age group and class to reach. The fun I’ll have pursuing this Small Scale Glory and the happiness I’ve had along the way will be far greater than any medal I might receive. The smile on my face that was missing through many years of workaholism is back, and I don’t want it to leave anytime soon.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to contain my starting line nerves until I actually reach the starting line. However, my outlook has changed a little – the winter can’t last forever, I can now envision myself out riding in the sunshine and my competitive side has started to stir. So, for those that will be at the opening Psychowpath race on April 3rd – just know I’ll be easy to spot. I’ll be the slightly catatonic, overly caffeinated guy with the big grin on his face.
Until their breakthrough in the Vuelta last year, Garmin boss Jonathan Vaughters did a tremendous job of gaining favor, goodwill and those precious impressions in the media by telling a story after the race of “we were close, but we’re clean.” For some unknown reason, the message of “hard-working” has always been mixed in. I’m not sure there are any real ‘”slacker” teams; my guess is the verbiage is innuendo that since they’re so squeaky, the other teams are relaxing on the beach, transfusion equipment in tow. That bridesmaid/underdog/good guy image along with their multi-musketeer TTT focus was a wonderful marketing tool. Then when Cavendish wasn’t around, they won. Now what?
Apparently, the only guess I can come up with in reading the Mind of Vaughters is that he’s going to instigate, incite and otherwise infuriate a few other teams. Once he’s accomplished that and the competition crushes them mercilessly, he can prop the team up back to that role of underdog or, more likely, the nice guy with a black eye.
The first test of this tactic was last year’s unexplainable peleton-driving effort at the 2009 Tour that kept George Hincapie out of yellow. Vaughters took the “did not” tactic afterwards, but seeing the action and hearing the feedback of Garmin’s own riders convicted Garmin of being that little rich kid that you just want to punch. That move ensured that HTC-Columbia and BMC will take the quick kidney punch if available.
Then came Wiggo-Gate. I do think Garmin was legitimately wronged in this situation. There are certain aspects of professional cycling that make it better than other sports – the storied traditions and honor. Compared to other pro sports where contracts represent nothing than a bargaining chip, cycling hadn’t devolved to this purely business approach. Garmin gave Wiggo a chance and a home, and while business is business, Wiggo was wrong in doing what he did. However, the bad blood created another story in Sky v. Garmin.
Over the weekend, courtesy of the British Press (The Times) came this little gem tucked into Vaughters heartbreak over losing Wiggo. “The 2009 Tour route was suited to Brad, but 2010 is less so. In 2009, the tactics worked in his favor and Astana were soft-pedaling a bit to not embarrass Lance.”
Proof of the Anti-Vaughters French Conspiracy
From a PR standpoint Vaughters, it’s brilliant. Vaughters just ensured his team was constantly mentioned by directly ticking off The Boss. Phil and Paul will overplay and beat that story bloody through July. That is the only possibly benefit I see, because all the other implications just make Vaughters look like his fact-checker had the day off and forgot his filter in his mother-of-pearl buttoned, ostrich-skin messenger bag. Although Garmin came closest, Astana handled the field pretty easily at the TTT at the TDF while Garmin seemed to be slinging riders wayward. Lance came back from retirement and injury to beat Wiggo and reach the podium with his team soft-pedaling? While the odds are stacked against Lance returning to the top step in July, he believes he can do it, and he’s won the thing a few times – I wouldn’t write him off. However, the steely-eyed Texan doesn’t like to be challenged and he has minions. The core of the team that dictated the race at will last year is now wearing jerseys with a big R on the chest. They’re fairly strong. Lance has a fairly well-documented history of making those who challenge him end up with tire tracks across their chest. If he can’t do it himself, he has the people to send up the road to make it happen for him.
Classic Vaughters "Up and to the Right" Pose.
Garmin does have some very likeable folk pedaling for them – Vande Velde, Zabriskie, Dean, Martin and Pate are quality riders with exceptional personalities you want on any team. Bobridge and Stetina represent legitimate Future Big Things. But, the “we’re cleaner than everybody else” mantra has to start being intertwined with actual results. Maybe Vaughters is perfectly executing his private plan to develop nasty rivalries with every team to ensure Garmin is constantly talked about. It just seems to this uniformed outsider that if you’re going to push how much Garmin represents the boy you’d bring home to mama, the talk should match the walk.
Final parting shot – does Vaughters have some sort of secret media agreement that photos can only be taken from his left side and why he’s always looking up? We’re aware of the sideburns. My diatribe aside, people gripe about the Twitter battles and the outspoken, adolescent squabbles. However, give me this any day over the uber-sanitized, homogenized, personality-free comments that come out of an NFL player’s mouth any day.
