Thursday, March 27, 2008

AS GOOD AS IT WAS EVER GOING TO GET

I happened to be talking with a buddy of mine on the phone while I was in the basement working on a bike when an old Black Flag song came on my Ipod. I mentioned it to him as I knew he was a Black Flag fan and he told me the following story.

It was Sunday, July 29, 1984 and it was his birthday. He got up in the morning, traveled to Yellow Springs, Ohio with his team mates to participate in a road race. He won the race.

Then he traveled back home and got there just in time to watch Alexi Grewal from the United States win the men's Olympic Road Race in stunning fashion over Canada's Steve Bauer who many thought would kill Grewal in the sprint.

He then picked up his date for the evening, went to a Black Flag concert which kicked ass, took his date home and proceeded to get lucky.

July 29, 1984. If he had only known then that at 24 years of age, it was all going to be down hill from there.

Classic.
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2 comments:

SLOVER said...

Your friend or Alexi Grewal
http://www.velonews.com/article/74053/an-essay-by-1984-olympic-gold-medalist-alexi-grewal

9:19 AM
Anonymous said...

Alexi Grewal's article was nothing more than self righteous exercise in self induced catharsis. I hope he feels better (actually I don't). It annoys the hell out of me because it confirmed what I had suspected years ago; virtually all the cat1 riders and the many others in the pack were doped when I was competing against them. Yes, I should have known better but call me idealistic.

As if it wasn't hard enough with the usual and normal challenges: to compete against others with better equipment, who didn't have to work for a living, had reliable transportation to races, could afford lodging for overnight races… now it comes to light that Alexi (and others in that era, my era) had had yet another advantage over the honest and clean riders.

Grewal's article comes across poorly since he is unapologetic for cheating and being part of the corruption that stole victories from the riders who were clean and truly earned them. His false concern for the "good of the sport" is bullshit. This is obvious when you read the VN interview as he bellyaches his excuses ad nauseam. Grewal needs to come to grips that he is a liar, a cheat, and his actions were criminal. It is a shame that competitive cycling is polluted by assholes like Grewal and his ilk.

12:48 PM

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