Zabel

What can be said? It is the end of an era.

Erik Zabel's last pro bicycle race ended in triumph in Berlin on 27 January 2009. He and Robart Bartko went into the final night of the Berlin Six in the lead and stayed ahead of Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli, the Swiss powerhouse defending champions. Was it by gentlemen's agreement? Very possibly, but who cares: a class act went out in style in his home town in front of 13 000 Berliners and other fans.

In the days of Eddie Merckx, it was common for stars to race everything, from the Spring Classics to the indoor winter Six Day track races, as they needed the money. Now that Zabel has finished up, no one will be. The last hard man has gone home. I wanted to be there, to see it happen but it was not to be.

For the record, the lovely photo (Velo News) is from this year's Bremen Six, also won by Zabel and Bartko earlier this month. Zabel was no tourist in the sixes, having won a dozen of them over the years. What were his feelings when he took that final lap of honour, I wonder?

Zabel is one of the last of a dying breed, those pro bike racers raised in the old communist East German sports system, selected as kids and primed to maximum ability (amongst others - Jens Voigt, Rolf Aldag, and one Jan Ullrich). People always associate that system with massive, organized doping for the Olympic Games, but that's not the point to me. Each of these racers brought something special to the sport. From being coerced into into it by the state, they went beyond that to become stars on their own with their own love of the sport, long after the GDR was absorbed into the West.

The trackies do this tribute thing for winners where they line up standing on either side of the straightaway, saluting with their bikes propped up on the back wheel as the victors roll past.
A fitting end for Zabel, so respected amongst the pro ranks.

Ete, werden Sie verfehlt.

(Ete, you will be missed.)

Men at Sea

Who are the humanlike figures in this photo?
Could they be Canadian national cyclo-cross team members lost in a sea of panic in their current European tour? Is it Floyd Landis and Michael Rasmussen, after having lost their final appeals in their respective doping convictions? 'We're in the same boat, you and I - why not make it a proper shipwreck in an icebox?', said one to the other, maybe.

In fact what we have here are a couple of Burmese fishermen who were found somewhere off the coast of Malaysia or some place, after twenty days shipwrecked at sea. The photo is from the rescuing helicopter. All other hands disappeared in a monsoon/typhoon but these two were smart enough to think of the icebox and use its buoyancy to sail in for weeks.

Perhaps they survived on fish they kept in their icebox while reading that Yann Martel novel about the kid and the tiger in the boat. But the point is that they danced with death in the wide ocean, and lived.

Overbooty Review

Axiom polyester vs M.E.C. neoprene - of course the neoprene is thicker and tougher and has a rubber sole. Which makes it one hell of a burden to yank on over the bike shoe as opposed to the loose and simple but only wind resistant Axiom booty.
The MEC booty sole is designed to be cut to fit the cleat of your choice and the thick rubber actually creates an opening allowing cold air to rush in. Solution: use a thick insole from a walking shoe as insulation.

Bonepicking: Bike Racers Vs Jews

'Exercise? We don't need no stinking Jane Fonda!'






So who is tougher - roadies or Ultra-Orthodox Jews? It's a question on the mind of everyone, so let's not shy away from what medical science has to say on this conundrum.





In this bone density study
(ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed) fifty young Hasidim pulled down their black pants and were examined by experts seeking bone mineral density data. In order to be thorough, crotches were investigated first-off, just to be clear there were no Yentl-benders confusing the sample.


In this study of roadie bone density, by Smathers, Bemben & Bemben (most likely godless gentiles), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11331729, road racers with over nine years (= 7000 pp. of Talmud) of racing under their belts, so to speak, were also tested for bone mineral density but not tzitzit-capaciity. Both groups reveal low-ish bone mineral density, and both pray excessively, leaning forward for lengthy periods, but roadies carry much lighter carbon fibre prayerbooks and have a much more aerodynamic tallis.

As to which group could field a better decathalon team, data projections are unclear. Sorry.

In addition to detailed examinations of Hasidic crotches (itself so unlikely as to be worthy of an entire blog post), speculation was made as to possible causes of osteo-whateveritscalled. "Modest clothing" was cited as it blocks out the sun's rays and the crucia vitamin E. Kosher dining habits were also blamed as "milk products" aren't eaten until six hours after meat is digested.
During that long six hour window, lycra-wearing road racers can plan and execute daring raids on large batches of Hasidic yogurt, a highly sought-after dietary enhancement by men who shave their legs.

Let's Talk About Gaza, Baby

Gaza is burning.

What else is new? An New Year email from a charity I support in the West Bank is all about Gaza of course, because that's where the action is, that's what gets the moneys flowing in so you're crazy not to write about Gaza, even if your org. doesn't exist in Gaza. Never mind that.

Over at the Guardian by way of the Nation, Naomi Klein's gone all pro-boycott and divestment and sanctions, and backs it up with the example of a Brit telecom that's shut off business with Israel since this latest invasion began 27 December '08. Just a practical business decision, she points out, given the general British feelings about Israel in and its occupying and invading, proving that boycotts aren't only for the bleeding heart liberals, and cites a coalition of Israeli academics etc. calling for a trade boycott themselves.
Apparently trade with Canada has risen by 45% since last year - thanks to the Canadian free trade deal with Israel. And they've got one with Merosur now too!

It all has really gone on too long, this Israeli need to crush all opposition to it, be it Hezbollah or Hamas or whoever. It is a hyper-aggressive strategy that constantly claims all terror will stop through overwhelming lethal force. Just slaughter enough opponents and their resistance ideology will dry up and blow away - nothing could be further from the truth in fact, and eight wars and more sit there reminding us. All Israel does is further anathematize itself to the rest of the world and make the Hamas-style line of reasoning make more and more sense.

Why concede to Israel when its principal goal is to obliterate you? Shaheeds (martyrs) only raise the bar of resistance, obligating everyone else to do the same. Hamas has ambitious goals that go well beyond ending blockades on Gaza's borders. Even beyond a viable Palestinian state. They want a 1947 Palestine with Muslim sharia law in full effect and no Jews in sight. So why make peace in Gaza?
Since Hamas won the last Palestinian election, Israel has been stomping all over them, throwing their elected politicians in prison, forbidding their travel to the national assembly in Ramallah, and of late bombing the Gazan Assembly building to bits. All for a few poorly aimed rockets into southern Israel. The only thing that will break Hamas popularity is good conditions in Gaza, to the point where its jihad against Israel will seem less and less relevant.

Does this mean Hamas actually wins politically by losing militarily as Gaza is smashed to smithereens? Yes.

Gran Piedra

Architecture of strangeness: government building in Santiago, Avenida de las americas.

Giant hood ornament; these guys were unloading something from their truck and this beast seemed very eye-catching.

Later I wondered what it was like in those buildings - they had to be ten storeys or more - did they have elevators? Power failures are quite common in that country.

La Gran Piedra - actually a rock on top of a mountain outside Santiago de Cuba. Down on that sunny coast I did stay for a couple of days at Playa Siboney. 1500m up the air is cool and fresh.

It was the one time I wished I'd had a bike as the road up is an epic climb by any measure, complete with a huge collapse at one point with half the tarmac missing. Even descending by car takes about thirty minutes. At the summit is the oddity of the Big Rock, a big bald boulder on top.

Cuba, mi Cuba

Monumento General Maseo (19th c.)

!Deportistas estan revolutionarios!
Typical Cuban shopping attempt.

Santiago de Cuba - full of life, poverty and baseball. I witnessed both the in-stadium national league game and the barefoot in-street game down by the docks where the outfielder kids stand right in the avenida de Los Libertadores. Luckily most of the traffic is donkey-driven around there.