My Thoughts on Floyd

I like Floyd. I was able to meet, ride with, and dine with him and his wife Amber in January in Temeculah. I think he's cool, honest, cavalier, and off-the-cuff with his commentary about pro cycling life. I also think he's worked damn hard to achieve all he's done. He's put in the sweat and the hours. He's hired the best in the biz to help him focus. And he's been sticking with it for more than a decade.

I've been known to make the blanket statement that "all pro cyclists dope." Unfortunately, I believe it's part of the sport. If all pros have basically the same potential, and Cyclist A improves his performance by 30% through doping, then the rest of the peloton must follow suit to keep up, right? Well, except for those few genetic freaks. Yeah, there are varying levels of "medical" support available, but I think in general the pros will use what means are available to them to achieve peak performance capacity.

But I had hope for Floyd. His story is so gritty and real; so moving. And he made me want to believe he's clean. And with that hope, I also thought maybe I was wrong in my blanket statement.

Well, he's hanging tough. Given his honesty and his "no excuses" attitude, if he were guilty I'd imagine he'd fess up. He's not fighting it kicking & screaming, but he's being rational and calm and quietly collecting his defense.

And I hope when he's found innocent (now that's a backwards statement), he'll stick it to McQuaid, the UCI, and every other yahoo who's been slamming him. And I hope he sends Greg Lemond a nice care package of horse shit.