@neilroad hates failwhales...

Twitter is where I often go to spout off on a number of subjects. Sometimes those 140 character posts are jump off points for other conversations. For those who are not on Twitter or may just pop in occasionally, here are some highlights from the past week.

@neilroad: Looking at photos from CN’s report on Tour of Beijing I don’t see any spectators? http://bit.ly/oKSsZq

@neilroad: OK…stand corrected. Maybe these images were just added but there are spectators at Beijing finish line http://bit.ly/pio2n7

I got some responses from people actually watching the race in person and they reported that the crowds were in fact sparse. The Chinese police were a little concerned about large public gatherings. I wonder if the Chinese officials realized that watching a bike race required a large gathering? Turns out that bike racing is not an approved Chairman Mao activity.

@neilroad: Trying to read CN story that says UCI deny threatening teams but a 404 error. Has Aigle launched cyber attack? http://yfrog.com/nxo5tpbj

I’ve been reading post-race reports and watching video clips from the Tour of Beijing. Let’s forget for a moment the mutual hand jobs that the race organizer and the UCI have given to each other to make this race happen. From threatening emails sent to team sponsors to how a sport’s governing body has stepped into a role of race promoter – this all stinks to high heaven like the back alley of a Beijing restaurant. Then another bomb dropped which again showed the shadiness of cycling’s governing body.

@neilroad: Wow! Sometimes you think the UCI can’t do anything stupider & then this cock-up. Cycling needs new leadership from top to bottom http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-performed-no-blood-tests-during-amgen-tour-of-california

Hold on! Stop the presses! The UCI didn’t conduct the blood testing like they said they would at the Amgen Tour of California. Also there were no blood testing at Tour of Utah and the Colorado Pro Challenge Stage Race Whatever the Hell They Want To Name It Race? What more can I say that hasn’t already been said numerous times – Pat McQuaid and his cronies need to be removed.

But the best tweets of the week have come from my mom who is visiting from England. Here’s a sample which will undoubtedly grow during her four week stay.

My mom:”what you write can be seen around the world? Me: Yes, on the internet. Mom: “oh, that’s lovely. #shitmymomsays

@neilroad: Spent AM trying to explain why not good idea to walk around w/$100s in cash. “I’ve never been robbed except 1 time in Spain” #shitmymomsays

@neilroad: British people say “nachos” funny. #shitmymomsays

Another Twitter personality, Austin Carroll is going to be on our TourChats show this Sunday. You can tell he is excited:

@AustinCarroll: I am going to be on @TourChats this Sunday!!! More info soon!!!

Another guest will be US women’s TT champ Evelyn Stevens. She’s not on Twitter yet…

Eventually it happens to all of us. You’re on Twitter and a certain someone’s tweets no longer show up in your feed. You swear you follow them, but you double-check anyways – just to be sure. Strangely your Twitter client of choice reports you’re not following that person. You quickly click “follow” but it won’t allow you – you’ve been blocked.

In Elisabeth Kubler-Ross famous book, On Death and Dying, she describes the five stages of grief which I’ve adapted to Twitter.

Denial: “It can’t be happening. It must be the Fail Whale’s fault”
Anger: “Why me? It’s not fair. I only (mocked his intelligence, questioned his race tactics, called a family member a derogatory name, declared he was a doper)”
Bargaining: “Just let me see one more update about (his evening, who he’s eating diner with, his children’s after-schools activities, how his training ride/life is so much better than yours)”
Depression: “I’m so sad, why bother following anyone? What’s the point of even following @Fakefloydlandis?”
Acceptance: “It’s going to be OK. I can still follow @Alyssa_Milano“.

Unfortunately there’s a journey before you arrive at acceptance of the reality that you’ll no longer get 140 character updates from your person of choice. Realize you’ve been blocked and seek out others who have been blocked by that same person. Some people block others as often as you change your socks, so you’ll probably find a group rather easily. Talk among your fellow blockees and let the emotions flow – “He’s a dick and I’m glad he blocked me. He only twittered stupid stuff anyways!”

Once you’ve accepted that you were blocked you need to let it go and give it to a higher power – Oprah or the afore mentioned Alyssa Milano. Follow these ladies and allow the bliss to wash over you like gentle waves of contentment.

Finally, continue to be involved in Twitter. Don’t let the occasional blocking ruin your experience of casting your opinion onto the Internet. Remember, a complete cure is almost impossible. It’s a daily battle. However, if you really need to know what’s going on in that person’s Twitter feed, you can do a search. Once again you’re privy to such juicy tidbits of information such as their favorite meal.

However, if none of this works, just write a blog and throw everyone under the bus. Oh, and drink too.

Sure we had our mandatory doping bust during the rest day of the Tour de France, but more importantly it will be known as the day Jens Voigt joined Twitter. Just hours before his Leopard-Trek teammates had hinted that they had in fact persuaded the very popular German rider to pick up his smartphone and unleash his thoughts 140 characters at a time. Then came his first tweet, “Hello world, here I am! Thanks to the boys of @leopardtrek!”

It was quickly followed up by, “omg this goes fast!!!!!already 1500followers,hope i can live up to everybodys expectations”.

Voigt’s comprehension of the English language, including nuances and using humor, has endeared him to English speakers. Yes, he does write a blog for Bicycling Magazine, that is undoubtedly edited for grammatical mistakes that even native English speakers might make. But Twitter peeled that facade away revealing his love of popular abbreviations, lack of capitalization and excessive use of exclamation points.

His tweets ended for the day with an update, “and just to let you know,i actually did really enjoy my restday,one day without pain and stress,and i am ready for the next stage!!!” In the span of three tweets he had gained 22,000 followers and made cycling history.

Another non-native speaking cyclist on Twitter that is popular with the tifosi is ex-time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara. While Voigt’s syntax is mostly correct and understandable, Cancellara’s borders on a new language named “Fabianese” by the kegels world champion @mmmaiko. Myself and others are hoping that Cancellara’s English doesn’t improve as his placement of nouns and adjectives in sentences are delightfully refreshing. Please. I beg of you on Twitter – don’t correct Fabian!

While we welcome a new pro cyclist to the ranks of Twitter, let us not forget those who paved the way for non-native English speakers. Here’s to Cancellara. May ride well. Must go bed now.

Cleaner look for 2011

Team RadioShack just officially released images of their 2011 kit. In my opinion a better looking design from the red strapless dress look of 2010. All the usual sponsors are on board for the jersey: RadioShack (title sponsor), Trek, and Nike. Along the side panel of the shorts is “The Shack” – the cooler name that the board of directors thought the kids would dig and reportedly what they were going to re-brand the failing stores. One new logo has made its way onto the front of the jersey – the ubiquitous bird icon of Twitter.

From the RadioShack press release, “Since the inception of Team RadioShack, we’ve relied heavily on Twitter to help keep our fans around the world updated and engaged, so we’re excited to embrace them on our 2011 kit.” That well over 140 character statement from the mouth of executive vice president and chief marketing officer for RadioShack Lee Applbaum. “It is a very natural fit for our Team and our brand,” Mr Applbaum succinctly continues.

So is this any surprise to us that RadioShack’s most well known member and seven time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong will have the small Twitter icon on his chest? It shouldn’t be. The blog, “Mastering the Uphill Shift” correlates some interesting facts about this 140 character form of communication and how it gained a foothold in professional cycling.

“The cycling community is not large and the pro cycling fan base is even more not large. This is where Twitter comes in. Twitter gives us cycling fans a place to find like- minded individuals, a place to follow the pros through their training, races, wins and loses, a place to follow races which aren’t shown on TV or are available online only with Dutch commentary, a place to connect with fellow race watches around the globe. Through Twitter, pro cycling becomes so much more than just what comes through the TV or computer.”

I am interested to see what RadioShack does with this medium of instant communication. Are they using it to remove the middleman (AKA – journalists) to get their message out and to keep their vision on point or whatever executive vice presidents and chief marketing say they do? Ironically earlier this evening I believe @mmmaiko Twittered that Armstrong has the itchy trigger finger with blocking Followers who aren’t “Team Lance.” Will that “Block Follower” button get a rest in 2011?

Anyways its 1:15 in the morning and I needed to get that off my chest. I’ll look for any obvious typos later today.

I told you that there would be crashes with broken collar bones at the Tour of Qatar. Vaughters twittered that Cozza broke his collar bone and Sky’s Kurt Arvesen also went down in the neutral roll-out. And with the cross and side winds being part of the race you can expect more of the same.

"All you're left with is a plaid thermos..." the wolfman

Speaking of Twitter I gotta hand it to Vaughters for poking the bear this weekend with this quote on TimesOnLine.com, “In 2009, the tactics worked in his favor [Wiggins] and Astana were soft-pedaling a bit to not embarrass Lance [Armstrong].” Armstrong’s Twitter response, “I won’t be forgetting this comment anytime soon. #whatatool” Oh snap, it’s on now! I’m waiting for Vaughters to reply with a “Your mama” joke.

As you might have noticed Floyd Landis continues to give me the exclusive on what’s he doing and why he’s doing it. As always, when I get something interesting from the Land of Landis I’ll post it. I’ve been promised more videos, so keep your fingers crossed.

Locally the Greenville Spring Series is right around the corner and I’m feeling like I got some snap to the legs. We’ll see soon enough if that’s just delusional thinking due to a good ride yesterday. I’m anxious to race and see what kind of bite this old dog has left in him…

2.4 million Followers and growing PHOTO: Al Crawford

Now that I no longer have the relentless work pace of an editorial director of a monthly magazine, I actually have time to read the few that I subscribe to. One magazine that I always have on my bedside table and read cover to cover is WIRED. In the February issue there is an article by Clive Thompson, “In Praise of Online Obscurity” which made me contemplate the Twitter community. Basically the thesis of the article is that the more Followers a person gains eliminates the sense of community among that group. It made me think of Lance Armstrong and his 2.4 million followers. People are still replying to his Tweets or giving Facebook “thumbs up” to updates whether they are about his musical choices, cleaning his closet or fulfilling his contractual duties by alerting us that his new Michelob Ultra commercial will be broadcast during the Super Bowl. But is anyone in the Armstrong/LiveStrong entity listening or caring to the Followers? Do people who reply think that Lance is looking at each Tweet and crafting an answer? In all fairness if he did take the time to reply to even a small percentage of replies his training time would be slashed, he’d be suffering from carpel tunnel of the thumb and going through BlackBerry phones every other week. His online presence has become a faceless corporate entity. There is no sense of community or exclusivity of the Followers to enjoy. No longer is it a select group privy to the minutiae of his day. Everyone knows his every movement and journalists quote his Tweets like they are breaking news flashes.

So what can someone of Armstrong’s stature do? Is it his fault that his online popularity is among the top ten in the world? Of course it isn’t and there’s no way he can disappear into obscurity. However I will say something that is rare for a journalist; Lance you don’t need to tell us everything. Dial back the Tweets and create anticipation for your next post. Your Twitter response on the team time trial returning to the Tour in 2011 implies that you’re contemplating competing in that year’s race. That’s interesting. You watching the football game and announcing the scores that most of America is watching quite frankly isn’t. Rest the thumbs and make us look forward to your next post instead of them arriving with the frequency of an egg timer. I know that not everyone agrees with me. Some people enjoy getting those Tweets of Lance’s daily life which makes him seem more like “one of us”. But hey, maybe I’m jaded and people love to hear and see that stuff. It sure hasn’t stopped people coming in the thousands to his Tweet-Up rides. Perhaps it’s a little of both: having millions of Followers and creating a few events to keep the sense of community alive. As my own Followers grow I wonder how much of a “conversation” I’m having.

HTC-Columbia is killing it at the Tour Down Under

As January winds down the first UCI race of the year is almost complete. The Tour Down Under seems to have been tough enough in 2009 for Armstrong to cause him to have a gut check on whether his return to professional racing was a good idea. This year it’s a different story. He’s been in breakaways and mixing it up. His fellow RadioShackers have also been at the front and have been top three in some stage finishes – so far so good. Now if they can score a win this Saturday… Team Sky came in with the plan of making a race day debut splash, which they accomplished with Greg Henderson taking the win at the Cancer Council Helpline Classic. But from there on it has been Andre Greipel of HTC-Columbia putting on a daily sprint clinic. I know it’s way too early to make predictions but damn, HTC-Columbia seems to have picked up where they left off last year, dominating anything that ended with a sprint finish. Once Cav gets his choppers sorted out he’ll once again be racking up the wins as well. One bit of advice for Cav: Resist the urge to go with Team Sky. I can’t put my finger on it but my Spidey senses tingle in a bad way with the thought of him joining Sky. When his contract expires I fully expect him to hear the siren call of racing for a British pro team like any American who wasn’t racing for 7-Eleven in the ’80’s.

While teams like HTC-Columbia, RadioShack and Team Sky seem to be enjoying a healthy budget, other squads don’t seem to be faring as well. Milram, Caisse d Epargne and Saxo Bank as title sponsors are getting out of the cycling game at the conclusion of 2010. Also, Quick Step is cutting back on their racing schedule due to budget constraints. Here in the States races and teams are scaling back. One rider is taking the situation in hand and is becoming the master of his own domain. Burke Swindlehurst, a strong climber on the Bissell squad last year, is going solo in ‘10. He has cobbled together several individual sponsors and is going to be competing in both road and mountain biking. Is this the new cycling sponsorship business model in these tough economic times? In mountain biking teamwork is not a factor, however road racing is another thing all together. In crits and road races he’s going to have to rely on being in the right moves at the right time with no margin of error. That said, in a climbing race it can become mano-a-mano and Swindlehurst can climb with the best of them domestically. I’m always a fan of the underdog, so I’m betting on Burke to pop up here and there on the leader’s board. I have suggestion for Burke: install a PayPal donation widget on your website. There’s fans out there that love to see you race and can appreciate you being a fly in the ointment. Plus your musical insights are priceless, so why not let people throw a couple of bucks your way.

One last comment I have is regarding a Twitter post I read from David Zabriskie and a few Garmin-Transitions riders. It looks like today was Media Training Day for the team. I’ve sat in on a few and if you saw the bio film, “Blood, Sweat and Gears” you can see how much the media is loved by riders and staff alike. I’m curious now that most riders have Twitter accounts as well as Facebook pages, how much random, unfiltered Twittering is going to occur. As a personal plea don’t let the P.R. people completely neuter your thoughts. Those 140 characters offer a tiny glimpse of who you are as a person beyond the rolling billboard you’ve become. And that glimpse behind the curtain causes people to become fans of a sport that could use a few more.

Brian gets the shot from the top of the many rolling hills in the area

Brian Hodes of Velo Images is in Tucson at the RadioShack camp and gave a quick report from his view behind the lens. Immediately following our conversation he headed out to the hardware store to purchase rain gear. The forecast tomorrow in Tucson calls for rain and the team is riding regardless. Oh yeah, Brian is on a moto tomorrow.

The day starts off early as Brian met with the media liaison, Philippe. After introductions and a few ground rules, Hodes’ trigger finger is itching to shoot. Other than Casy Gibson, who is shooting for Lance in Liz Kreutz’s absence, Hodes is the only still photographer there. That situation will change quickly tomorrow as it becomes “media day” and journalists from around the world will be arriving.  Also in attendance this first day is a camera crew filming a  Armstrong documentary.

After a closed door meeting, the 2010 RadioShack team gathered their new bikes and headed out for their first ride as a team. The riders are contractually obliged to ride with their current team kits and to quote @theteamshack “the (RadioShack) Team Kit design is locked up tighter than a ’73 Bottechia Campy BB. Latest is Lance will debut it via twitter when ready.” After the ride it was back to the rooms for massage and dinner. This is basically the routine that the riders will have for the remaining week. That and a few dozen interviews.  Tomorrow the Livestrong U23 team arrives which includes 2009 U23 Paris-Roubaix winner and Olympian Taylor Phinney.

Here’s hoping that Brian gets enough waterproof clothes…

Brian in action

@neilroad hates whales...

I’ve been on Twitter for a long time. I registered an account almost immediately and I believe I’m one of the first 20,000 people to have done so. Originally I used the micro-blogging site as a way to be a smart ass, make stream of consciousness comments or get into random arguments with random people. Sometimes it got me into trouble, especially after a few drinks. Now Twitter has morphed from not just a way to post the minutiae of your life but a source for late breaking cycling news and much to the chagrin of PR people, the sometimes unfiltered opinions of the pros. One of my favorite Tweets was a late night post-Champs-Elysee-Tour-de-France-celebration Tweet sent by Bradley Wiggins to someone I believe is Cavendish. I feel your pain Wiggo, I’ve sent a few out like that too.

For those who like to get their pro info unfiltered and from the source a Twitter account is a must have social networking app. Luckily a fellow Twitter person, @zoerochelle has taken the work out of trying to find all the teams and pro Twitter accounts for us. She has complied a list on her site, twittercycling.tumblr.com listing all the pros, team, directors and races. So if you are looking to drive your significant other crazy with your cycling obsession, subscribe to the list. Do yourself a favor, don’t have them all go to your phone. Oh, and remember to follow me at @neilroad. I’m a big deal in the road bike industry!

Follow @uhcprocycling on Twitter for the latest team info

Team OUCH has changed their Twitter account name to @uhcprocycling to match their new title sponsor United Healthcare Pro Cycling team presented by Maxxis. Their Twitter stated, “exciting stuff to come in 2010.” While Landis has moved on and John Murphy has transferred to BMC for a chance to contest the Spring Classics, several of the key riders from 2009 seem to be staying with OUCH.