Sad.  I watched the Versus special on Lance’s 2001-2003 Tours tonight, and there’s the scene from 2003 where he crashes  when the fan’s musette bag catches his bars….

In the front group with Lance:

Basso, Ullrich, Mayo, Tyler Hamilton, Vinokourov not far behind, and C. Moreau.

ALL found (or admitted) guilty of doping.  Except Lance.

I can see how people think they’re all cheating.

…Can be busted if you have to travel with your own bike. What a beating that is.

If business or personal travel takes you to Monterrey, the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, or anywhere in NorCal…you should get to know Karl @ Silicon Valley Cycling Center.

SVCC offers a service that they call Bike Concierge, a rental service for high end road bikes.

Not only is the selection of bikes choice, but Karl Etzel (the proprietor, and general nice guy) has a supreme knowledge of bike fit, and of the roads in the area that ANY pro team could benefit from. He’s a former racer himself, and I got the idea that he’s ridden over every road in Silicon Valley….so when he gives you the map, and shows you some good routes….ride confident in that he’s ridden them a hundred times, and knows how to get you the kind of riding you want.

The Bay area has to have some of the best riding on earth, but traveling with your own bike sucks. Do yourself a favor, and get in touch with Karl before your next trip. He’ll set you up with a bike that’s at least as good as the one you have (I got a Look 585….a substantial improvement) and get you a helmet, bottles, nutritionals, and directions… all you have to pack is the easy (and small) stuff…your clothes, pedals, and shoes, and HRM.

The service is reasonably priced (about the same as checking your bike on a plane for the round trip) and the shop is convenient to get to…although a little hard to find.

I wish every city that I travel to had a service like Karl offers @ Silicon Valley Cycling Center.