Amstel Gold Race Hills

I'll have things to say about Obama, the rest of the West, and Russia later, but first a quick report on a pretty good day on the bike in Zuid-Limburg, the area where the Amstel Gold Race is being held every year. It's a two-hour + drive to get there, but it's worth it (at least on a Sunday, when Dutch traffic is manageable). We rode out of Gulpen on a warm and somewhat humid day. It's up-and-down almost non-stop. You get quality miles, in other words, and 52 today was a very fine total. Leaving Gulpen, we took a little road toward the Belgian town of Teuven. There, we followed the signs to the Gelato Farm--unfortunately not to get gelato (we had barely done five miles, although I do want to check out the home-made stuff they offer there), but to do the "bovenste bos" climb, and nice, gradual, not too difficult 1-2 miler through the woods. The next climb was after Epen (where someone was being serenaded by the local marching band for his or her birthday): the Camerig, a longer one of about two miles, sort of toward Vijlen. I attacked this one happily in the 19. However, as the climbs kept appearing in quick succession, I was happy to revert to the 21 and 23 and eventually looked over at what seemed to be 25s on my companions' bikes with some envy. From Vijlen to the three-country point (those would be the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany), by way of two more uphills. "Vlaai" (local pie) at a pretty nice restaurant there, then on to a couple of hills they ride in the finale of the Amstel Gold Race: Kruisberg (short but steep), Eyserbos (steep, but not so short), and Keutenberg (of legendary steepness). Instead of heading toward Valkenburg and the Cauberg (too much traffic, and we had gotten used to nice little roads without too many cars or even motorcycles), we went to Gulpen and it's "berg" (easier through the woods from the town side that the open back side from the town of Partij). Then to Eys and the Eyserweg, which runs up the same hill as the Eyserbosweg but at a lower grade (and therefore longer). Right at the top toward Simpelveld, from where we tackled the Hulsbergerweg. There, my tongue suddenly started to stick to to roof of my mouth even though I thought I had been drinking well. But I hadn't, because soon after that climb I began to have cramping symptoms which became cramps on the last climb we did: de Dode Man (appropriately named) just before Gulpen. Eleven climbs, and we did our best on all of them, and so back in Gulpen we agreed that we had earned our pancakes. We must have looked like we needed them, because they brought them out at this busy place by the mill within five minutes after we placed our order.

Dekker and Other Alleged Dopers, P.S.

Let's not forget that just about every professional rider caught using banned substances is also--actually first and foremost--a very talented, hard-working athlete. It's nothing new but it bears repeating: people take "doping" for all kinds of reasons, but doping can never turn a mediocre rider into a champion. And the line between riding "clean" and breaking the rules is blurred, gray one--not a sharp black one. This is because racing and training at the top level in this sport (and everyone in the peloton is at this top level) is fundamentally unhealthy. It often makes you sick, and thus you need medical care in order to be able to do your job. So what medical care is permissible, and what crosses "the" line? There will never be unambiguous answers that settle every conceivable issue, because medical science, for one thing, continues to evolve. Yet, the debate--distinguishing between stuff that's mostly in the interest of the rider's health on the one hand, and stuff that's primarily performance-enhancing on the other--is essential. Try to imagine, really imagine, a world in which anything goes. The best we can do is to make distinctions (and devise sactions) that are as honest, fair, and as clear as possible. Exactly where EPO (for a roadie like Dekker, in December) would fall is an interesting question.

If It's Too Good To Be True ...

... it probably isn't true, not in the world of professional cycling, past or present. Latest example: Dutch prodigy Thomas Dekker, still only 24. Long considered one of the biggest talents of his generation, he won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race in 2006, and the Tour of Romandie the following year, but last year he left Rabobank under a cloud. Strange things appeared to be happening with his blood values, and in addition the rider had been working independently with a controversial Italian doctor/coach--all things Rabo considered too risky after the Rasmussen affair of 2007. (There's another example of "too good to be true"). Yesterday it was announced that a second test of an out-of-competition urine sample from December 2007 revealed the use of EPO (dynepo). Dekker has responded (today, in the Dutch daily de Telegraaf) by saying that he feels he's being screwed: a retest just before the Tour de France, what's that all about? Interestingly, in this response he doesn't comment on his possible use of EPO (no denial, in other words). Interviewed on Dutch radio this morning, new national coach, former TI-Raleigh and Kwantum team member, and Amstel Gold Race organizer Leo van Vliet made sure to point out that Dekker so far only has been accused (B sample still to come, I suppose), but that if guilty, a two-year ban would be too lenient. According to Van Vliet, to play around with EPO at a time (2007, of all years) when cycling's reputation, indeed its survival, was at stake is terribly irresponsible. The Volkskrant this morning took it one step further, right at the beginning of its report on the matter: Dekker's career is probably over.

Obama's Foreign Policy: End of the Honeymoon

I have an op-ed this week in the papers of the GPD (in Dutch, Nederlands Dagblad today) about how Obama's ideas about America's relationship with the outside world ("engagement" and such) are running into the realities of that world. Iran is the best example, but we'll also have to see whether the president will be able to move Israel's government in the direction it wants it to go. In Iraq (withdrawal from towns and cities) the administration is sticking with the agreed-upon game plan, but even though that whole thing was someone else's idea and Obama was opposed to it from the start, if things go wrong it will still be his responsibility (nicely ambiguous term, allowing for the author to mean: his fault, his problem, or both--not advisable for use by students). Not that Obama's new foreign policy emphasis is a failure already. It's more that the rubber (vision) was going to hit the road (real world) at some point, and now things are the way they always are: difficult but not hopeless. Another reason why things aren't hopeless (the word really is inappropriate) is that the goodwill Obama has been able to create around the world through his speeches (Prague, Cairo), his ban on torture, and his planned closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center is real and is likely to help his diplomacy down the line. Read all about it!