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June 30, 2006

The Day Professional Cycling Died

The Spanish media has released the names of professional cyclists associated with Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, the Spanish doctor at the center of Operación Puerto, a massive doping sting. The two biggest names at the top of the list?

Jan Ullrich

Ivan Basso

On the heels of the news, T-Mobile and CSC have suspended the riders for the Tour of France (though it is important to note that neither rider has been directly accused of doping, although Ullrich lied about his association with Fuentes), and it is expected that a gaggle of other rides will not line up for the start of the race tomorrow. T-Mobile has also suspended their director, Rudi Pevenage.

There is, however, a silver lining, especially for the Americans in the Tour. Suddenly, with the two riders most considered to be in the fight for the win out of the race entirely, an all American podium isn't unreasonable. Discovery's George Hincapie, Phonak's George Landis, Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer, and even CSC's Bobby Jullich will be in the hunt for the yellow jersey. This could truly be the most wide open Tour in years.

June 27, 2006

Surly Shout Out

The boys at Surly have stepped up as sponsors for the Rallycat, and their generosity is greatly appreciated. They sent along:

* 1 set of New Track Hubs (!)
* 4 t-shirts
* 5 pairs of Smartwool socks
* 5 chain tensioners

Thanks guys.

Timbuk2 has already donated a messenger bag and t-shirts, and if another sponsor's donation actually gets here before the race, I hope to be able to donate 95% of the registration fees to Bike Pittsburgh, the fine folks who have created BikeFest.

June 26, 2006

Some Things

Random World Cup notes...

I won't comment much on the U.S. team, other than to say what a poor showing. Too bad Claudio Reyna had to go out that way.

Argentina is putting on an absolute clinic. This goal is how soccer is supposed to be played--there were twenty-some passes leading up to it. Yes, Argentina had to go into extra time with Mexico, but they won, and an all South American final (Argentina v. Brazil) is quite possible.

England must finish better. Thanks to Rooney and Beckham, the final score of the Ecuador game should have been 5-0 instead of 1-0, but several English players squandered absolutely perfect chances. Beckham's goal was pretty, but Ecuador's keeper gave up too much of the near post. It's also worth mentioning that Beckham was impressive despite suffering the effects of dehydration. Yes, he was dry heaving, but he was also making plays on boths ends of the pitch.

Cycling...

I missed two races this weekend, the track night at the Oval, and the War Haul alleycat. Rain kept me from going down the track on Friday (though the races were run), and a wedding kept me from the alleycat. I've got five more days to prepare for the Rallycat, and things are going well. I'm mostly just nervously waiting for prizes. Turnout was apparently very good for the War Haul, so I'm curious if I'll get more than the 20 or so I'm expecting.

I'm not sure what think of Greg Lemond's accusations against Lance Armstrong (scroll down). Really, I don't.

Other things...

Note to Rod Dreher: please cut down the number of anti-Muslim posts. They may belong on the Corner, but not a Crunchy Con blog. His BeliefNet blog has been an interesting contrast to the old CC blog on the National Review site. At the NRO, Dreher spent his time fighting against mainstream conservatives, and came out looking a bit progressive (in a traditionalist conservative sort of way). Now, in the more liberal environment of BeliefNet, Dreher has slipped a bit back to his NRO columnist ways.

June 18, 2006

New Bag

Jen and the boyz got this for me as a father's day gift. Apparently my nearly ten year old bag smelled really, really bad, which is not surprising considering I've been riding in it daily for the last four years. Timbuk2 has really upgraded their design since I last purchased from them. The bag (their largest) is bigger than the model I have (which used to be their largest), and the interior pockets/organizer have received a significant upgrade.

And apparently, thanks to the color choice, I should probably switch my World Cup support to the Netherlands, eh?

June 17, 2006

On All Things

Yes, an extended silence means a scatter-shot post on various and sundry things.

The World Cup...Yes, the U.S. squad was absolutely embarrassed in the opener v. the Czech Republic. At the moment, they are knotted with Italy at 1-1 at the half. Apparently, they've turned things around, but the Azzurri will happy to take advantage of a mistake and counterattack for a goal. With Ghana beating the Czechs today (2-nil), the group is a bit more wide open, but the U.S. has to win its net two matches to have a hope of advancing.

Bike Fest approaches...It kicks off Friday night at the Oval with track races. I'm very tempted to head down, as I managed to beg off racing last summer, but we'll see how the week goes. There's also an alleycat on Saturday (the War-Haul), which, if I do race at the track, would likely become a leisurely stroll instead of a proper race for me. I can't imagine having the legs to ride hard after a full week of commuting, plus an evening hammering around the Oval. All in good fun though, so it shoud be worth it. My event runs the following Saturday. I'm still waiting on prize donations from a few sponsors, but it looks like I should have a nice prize list, and should be able to donate most of the entry fees to Bike Pittsburgh.

On the neighborhood...As I type, the (former) teachers of the public grade school across the street are gathering their things. The school was closed by the district as part of a massive overhaul of the local system. This leaves us (Morningside) with an empty building on our hands. Apparently, the school board has been trying to sell it, and I can only hope that perhaps some developer would like to convert it to apartments. I just hope they don't lock up the playground for the short term.

June 12, 2006

Porteur

I think this bike is really neat. That's right, it has gears on it, but that's ok. The design philosophy is very unique (but note, not groundbreaking) in that it allows the bike to be both comfortable and efficient. It would be a blast to ride, being able to better handle grocery runs than the Surly (try carrying a week's worth of food in your messenger bag!), and would likely allow for a slightly fast commute, thanks to a few gears. I'd probably set it up with a Shimano Nexus hub instead of the standard derailleur, just for a more classic look.

June 09, 2006

Reactionary Radicals

Bill Kauffman closes out the Reactionary Radicals blog with this bit of wisdom:

Chesterton told us that the patriot never, under any circumstances, boasts of the largeness of his country, but always, and of necessity, boasts of its smallness. Dorothy Day spoke of the Little Way. Or little way. As the anti-American Empire crumbles into unlamented dust, patriots of the little America, on their front porches and in their backyards, will reclaim our country. Read back through this discussion. Our side is fiddles and poetry and baseball and country churches and the local beer. Their side is bombs and tanks and television. How can we lose?

June 07, 2006

Covenanter Group Blog

De Regno Christi

On Politics

Dan Knauss outlines his political beliefs in the New Pantagruel's forum, and I find myself agreeing with much of what he says:

In the past, I probably would have voted for FDR as a conservatizing Social Democrat concession from a Socialist standpoint of displaced German-Americans who had a big distrust of state powers and fairly medieval and family-based conception of socialism.

Conservatism has always been Statist to the extent that the mainstream of the tradition is Anglo-Protestant. Protestantism and Statism are integrally related, excepting the fringe reactionaries: radical Calvinists who want their own states if they can't take over the existing state, and Anabaptists who lean anarchistic.

Consider the 2 Kingdoms: Augustine writing in the profound decay of the empire when the vandals are killing and enslaving the commoners describes a fundamentally different mentality than Luther writing during the profound growth of the aristocratic territorial state when the aristocracy is killing and enslaving the commoners. Think about that for a while.

If mainstream Conservatism historically has had a pro-monarchist Tory bent, it is a post-Restoration Anglican/Episcopal monarchism, which is romantic nostalgia grafted onto practical whiggery. This is all the more evident in the American offshoot.

Anti-statist Conservatism, if it excludes most Libertarians, is a fringe handful of philosophically conservative anarchists, those radical Calvinist and Anabaptists, and the largest part of this fringe would be the odd gamut of anti-Statist Catholics. All of these people see a highly decentralized social order as the ideal model. Catholics of this sort see it as having been realized at a high level by about the 15th century in Europe and ruined by the consolidation of power in monarchical bureaucratic states over against the church and commons. They think (correctly) that this change was enabled by the Reformation in which the reconceived protestant church was completely manipulated and coopted by the secular state. The radical Calvinists and Anabaptists perceived this when the state commenced killing and suppressing them. They don't grasp their part in their own screw-over, but they really want to go medieval too in what is a rejection of the refortmation as a political event. Of course this is often romance as well, or truly bbelieved principle not put into any real action because one likes to have indoor plumbing, etc.

I am only an anti-statist in theory; I am not an activist for the downfall of the state. Were it to become sufficiently corrupt and weakened, I would probably make that jump, along with many other people, out of necessity. Natural response to power-vaccuums. When the federal system fails, the maximum political articulation will contract to the states or state-sized regional entities, or smaller units, depending on the degree of disorder that emerges. I think this will eventually happen--it always does, as no political organization larger than a city-state is a sustainable enterprise in the long run. Our system is, I believe, reaching its end. Probably in the near future of our own lives, but maybe later. Ironically, the longer it takes, the worse it will be. However, I think it's worth propping up the current system for the order and benefits it affords until the drawbacks for me outweigh the benefits.

A purely rational calculation would be to instigate secessionist movements and regional confederacies now, but even though almost everyone can see how this would be rational, they can't admit it. It is "not practical" mainly because we have an ingrained superstitious devotion to our version of the imperium. American society is now like a class waiting for a teacher to show up. 5 minutes pass after the bell, then ten. Who will be the first to leave? Will someone get up and clown around? Will someone assume leadership and start talking about what the group should do? We're just sitting and complaining now.

June 06, 2006

Look Homeward

Daniel Nichols, at Caelum et Terra, has a wonderful review of Bill Kauffman's Look Homeward, America.

June 04, 2006

Lessons Learned

We've just returned from our first trip to the New River Gorge with two children. Two lessons were learned.

First, we lack the energy and/or patience to climb with a three year old and a six month old. While we managed to do a reasonable number of routes on Saturday (given our rather un-alpine start), today was a wash. Both boys were tired and grumpy from getting considerably less sleep than usual, and they needed near constant attention from us at all times. We can certainly handle them for a day trip (as we did last weekend at Coopers Rock), but a full weekend is a bit beyond us (and, really, them) at this point.

Second, I am still a climber. There has been some doubt about this, since I haven't been to the gym since February or March, and I have spent more time on my bicycle. But, a few moves into the 5.11 I started with on Saturday, I realized why I have been climbing for nearly fifteen years. The simple flow of moving of stone, feeling out the ripples and edges, creeping ever upward. For a moment, I even entertained the idea of training again, to make the most of our meager time at the New. I thought the better of it, though, knowing I have not the time nor the motivation. No matter, I could always climb, just climb, even if it means top-roping 5.11, failing miserably on 5.12, or padding up 5.7 on gear. Climbing, just climbing, for the joy of it.

It's likely we won't try to make the trip the New again for some time. We will, however, make more frequent trips to Morgantown, or explore some of the newer, local crags, whose existence we ignored when we had the time and energy to travel further south.

Yes, I am still a climber.

June 02, 2006

Third Parties (2)

Charles Morris has an op-ed piece in the NY Times that speaks more directly to the sort of discontent and displacement that Peggy Noonan touched on. Rod Dreher has already weighed in.

Third Parties

Peggy Noonan's column suggesting that now is the time for a viable third political party is making the rounds. While I agree with Noonan, and Stegall and Dreher, I wonder if we can do it right this time. Even if a third party candidate could take the White House in 2008, I'm not sure that person could be an effective leader. The Congress will controlled by one of the main parties, and while the President could expect some cooperation on shared issues, how could any major policy shift (especially in a direction that is not distinctly Red or Blue) be pushed through? A proper, grassroots populist movement should start locally and grow organically. Perhaps in five or ten years, a handful of third party politicians could be voted into Congress. Yes, a third party President could shake up the establishment, but could that President actually accomplish anything?