Tour de France syndrome 2007... part I

ZENers, my apologies for bein' damn silent. My apologies, I want to post this and will have to do the links later... (memory moment!)

My deepest regrets for not providing a nearly 'You were there' type of commentary on this year's Tour de France.

And 'chagrin total' that you are reading something different, perhaps negative, about this Tour, from ZENcentral.

It could have been different, this is true.
It could have been cleaner, also true.

But as far as we know today, of the 189 riders who were designated 'apt' to start their Tour, 2007, only //three// (watch this number change) were controlled 'positive' while on this Tour. Yet four riders left the race, ostensibly due to 'les affaires du dopage'.

One racer, Patrik Sinkowitz from the German T-Mobile team, was controlled positive in early June and announced positive July 18, 2007, was already sidelined from a post-race, severe collision with a spectator, was in the hospital and 'hors combat' before the news fell. T-Mobile stayed in the race.

Alexander Vinokourov, wearing the thorny crown of pre-race favorite, was victim of a fall, severely impairing his chances for “GC” (general category) victory, and, upon winning the Stage 12 time trial in Albi on Saturday, July 21, apparently was tested positive for homologous blood transfusions by the same laboratoire that impugned the 2006 Tour de France Champion, Floyd Landis, on his testosterone test.

//update: Iban Mayo controlled positive for EPO //

Astana, the team for whom “Vino” races, was requested to withdraw from the 2007 test, based on the information provided to it, and to the public by: L'Equipe. Astana did withdraw. Vinokourov is a man without a team.

L'Equipe: aka “The World Cycling PRESS Authorized Source of (Bona Fide) Test Result Leaks” is the national French daily sporting newspaper,. It alone provided the announcement of Vino's positive A Sample test result; this came prematurely, and illegally, on July 24, 2007, through L'Equipe. This came through the long-established fact that L'Equipe is without equal in having sources in at least the French national laboratory: the Laboratoire Nationale du dépistage du dopage, from which it culls and illegally publishes premature and unconfirmed A Sample test results.

That fact, combined with another fact, creates a huge Conflict of Interest. The other fact, is that the paper 'L'Equipe' is owned by Amaury Sport Group, owners/promoters of the Tour de France business.

The paper L'Equipe, being owned by the same group that owns the race, is perenially in violation of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) rules concerning 'Results Management' and their International Standards for Laboratories Appendix 'Code of Conduct'. Savour that thought-sequence, as we continue to surmise in the greatest French tradition of insinuation(s)...

Returning to our saga, Vino was the first of //three // controlled racers to be forced out of the competion, based on the positive results from A Sample tests; the second was Cristian Moreni, an Italian who rides for the French team COFIDIS. Third Mayo.

Also prematurely announced through the L'Equipe paper, from leaked, unconfirmed A Sample results, his test for testosterone 'revealed' him as being 'positive'.

COFIDIS happens to be a French team that has long pronounced itself in favor of draconian reprisals against teams that harbour dopers... it was obliged to withdraw based on its own damning attitude announced publically: that Astana should not stay in the Tour after Vino's 'positive'. Falling on its own sword, it nearly instantly announced its departure upon public disemination of this news.

Yet the pièce de resistance was the news-media-tornado that occurred when the Danish Cycling Federation announced, on July 19, 2007, that the current Maillot Jaune, Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen, had missed at least two unannounced doping controls, which resulted in two warnings (ed: a third warning in an 18-month period would have incurred the equivalent of a confirmed doping test violation: a two-year suspension).

The furor around this incident was inflamed by the constant inuendo and rumour-mongering of L'Equipe and French TV. Added to it were other factors that appeared to augment these charges.

The case was built on a factoid, that the Union de Cyclisme International (UCI) had not received the mandatory quarterly submission of Rasmussen's actual whereabouts; he, as a professional racer, must offer the UCI accurate data concerning his location, so that these unannounced controls are not wild-geese chases, depleting the valuable financial resources of the UCI in their quest for clean sport.

Problem was that his claim of being in Mexico, and being only guilty because the Italian Post system had 'lost his mail', was countered by the submission of Italian reporter Davide Cassani of RAI, that he'd seen Rasmussen in Italy at the same time that the team Rabobank cyclist announced he'd been in Mexico, with his Mexican wife and her family. Further insinuations published by the L'Equipe, proferred evidence that a US-based Mtn Bike racer, accused Rasmussen of requesting his aid in bringing 'doping substances' into Europe in his luggage, under the guise that the box contained some new 'cycling shoes'.

A rumour and a case of lost mail, some leaked A Sample results (actually two: one (Vinokourov: blood transfusions) was the same 'modus operandi' that effectively ended Tyler Hamilton's career; second (Moreni: Testosterone) was the same as Floyd Landis), and ONE verified result (Sinkewitz' June tests based on A Sample, and B Confirmation results), were the nexus for all four to exit the Tour via la petite porte. Two of the known best (Vinokourov and Rasmussen), and Moreni, one of the domestiques (the worker bees of the peleton, who support team leaders, sprinters and climbers with various talents they may bring to a cycling team), while Sinkewitz was reaping the 'joy' from his hospital bed.

Now don't come down on ZENcentral, yet: all ZENmud people are against “doping” by pro athletes for temporary physical and professional advantage (in quotes because the term has expanded from substances (amphetimines, cocaine, etc) to include hormones, steroids, and “blood-packing” (transfusions from one's own stored blood or, from compatible human sources).

What the greater picture of MACRO-ZENism reveals, is that somehow, a very secret link exists, between the French Government, which oversees le Ministèrie de la Santé de la Jeunesse et des Sports (Ministry of Health, Youth and Sport: thus also the Agence Française de la Lutte contre le dopage (AFLD), which directs the LNDD), and Le Tour de France, via the leaking tandem of source provider and reporter (Marc Ressiot of L'Equipe). This exposed link via leaks has direct bearing on the Tour and its outcome.

Stand by, however, because the end of the Tour came about with the succession of Alberto Contador, a young Spanish star who was recently drafted into the Discovery Channel team, and who quickly became the next victim of French insinuendo. Given that this team, directed by Belgian Johan Bruyneel, has won eight of the last nine Tours de France, flames the questions that arose from Contador's association with Manual Saiz, who was forced out of cycling from the esteemed 'Operacion Puerto' case that has cast an evil light on a large number of cyclists and other sporting individuals.

A 2007 Tour, which began with the promulgation and signing of the newly-drafted UCI Charter, and the requisite pre-Tour testing for all 189 riders (all tested negative), ended with the second-best mountain rider (as long as we saw Rasmussen besting most of Contador's efforts, as and when needed) being awarded the prize. A 24-year old vanquished a decimated field of predicted leaders, some who 'fell by the wayside' by injury, others staggering under the race's demands, by imperfect training, improper mental focus or tactical errors.

And veritable bombs were lobbed between the ASO company and the UCI Federation, that will assuredly become the focus of these next two months of ZENtalk. ASO described UCI directors as 'incompetent, or bent to destroy the Tour', while UCI vented about its rôle and its desire NOT to be a (paraphrased) “Dick Pound toy for political use and gain”.

If we are to be assured of a future of cycling, my ZENfriends, and we are talking about the cleanest sport in all sports (3 of 189 of the Best cyclists in the world, my friends: find me 189 tennis players, NFL, NBA, MLB, soccer, track and field, or swimming stars, and we'll compare notes!), what has to happen is a fantastic ZEN experience.

An Epiphany, between those who cry “SCANDAL”, those who promote events, and those who promote the racers themselves: they share a Golden Egg that only they can break.

A Concord, the ZEN Cycling Concorde, if you will, that stipulates in any order you wish, that:

Racers will be clean, through force or voluntary methodologies to be determined, improved or repaced;

The WADA Codes and other Rules documents will be re-drafted to represent the better and best use of financial resources, to increase the burden of proof by laboratories of their honest efforts in following the mandatory and efficient ISO and WADA Standards at all times, with severe institutional and personal penalties accruing to the dangerous aspect of false, or negligent results and results-management, as is required.

The UCI will continue to apply the pressure necessary to change the culture of cycling, offering in its rôle, support to the redrafting of WADA Codes and Rules, and increased vigilance within the 'family' of cycling, the rather in-bred group of former cyclists that create the mechanics, the coaches, the medical and therapeutic staffs, the directors sportif, media announcers and cycling products sponsors or sales.

The UCI will re-consider its ProTOUR concept, and refine and revise with current membership how to insure licensing fees and Team promotions are to be objectively reformed and reviewed, in liaison with...

The major and minor event sponsors, from the ASO to the other Grand Tour directors, who all must continue to prepare in harmony with the UCI the proper means of promoting the sport and the races that define who The Best of The Rest may be, from tomorrow and the tomorrows to come.

Little time remains, and ZEN is going to publish here, and wherever else he can, the ideas that spring from an 'outside the box' mentality, or maybe...

An OUTSIDE THE PIE point-of-view.

Because even as the World of Cycling exists in its glory and history, cyclists earn nearly minimum wage, unless they are an Undestroyed Hero in a cycling world gone mad.


COURAGE ...

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç

Tour de FRANCE : Saturday to Grand Bornand

ZENers,

It's Thursday morning here, and you've heard rumours of the film I'm creating for my day at the Tour de France... patience!

Using a new software, isn't the best way to rapidly go from Computer to YouTube to my Blog...

Update 19 February 2008: here is the YouTUBE AT LAST...




Anyway, Saturday was a perfectly SCORCHING summer day, just as it was last year, when Our Hero Floyd Landis wailed up those Cols towards Morzine, and regained 7 of the 8 or more minutes he'd lost when bonking the day before.

I live near Geneva, on the shores of Lac Léman, and I was about 60+ km from le Grand Bornand, where Saturday's stage would arrive. My ride across the French 'countryside' involved one of their "N" roads ('National route'), the equivalent in the US would be a 'US Highway' like Route 6, which comes across Colorado and winds its path out across Utah and Nevada...

Around the first foothill, across the valley of the Arve river, born in the glaciers of Mount Blanc, to the foothills of the Massif des Aravis, is about 55km, or about 32 miles. My only problem, was an increasingly loud, grating Bottom Bracket, the axle which unites the crank arms and allows the pedaling action.

So I thought it unwise to climb too high up the pass Col de la Colombière. As well, I really wanted to see the finish, and I knew if I stayed on the lower half of the hill, I could watch the beginnings of the tactical assault, yet still early enough that the sprinters' 'Gruppetto' would still be less than a kilometer or two behind the stronger climbers.

So I found a tight, climbing left-hand turn, which crossed a beautiful small brook, and had plenty of shade for the four-hour wait, plenty of relief from which to take films, and a gorgeous old stone bridge that served well as a backdrop to the action: the corner was so tight, that no one sane would think to stand there.

I met a nice family from Telluride, COLO (aka To-Hell-You-Ride), and the wife mentioned that they had only gone climbing in the Dolomites of Italy, and 'by hazard' found that their drive back to Paris would cross the Tour route: their finding the same corner as ZENmud allowed us to reminisce about the Colorado Rockies (ZENmud hails from Vail, you see........).

Anyway, I was travelling light, took no food but a cereal-bar, found a café, at the base of the ascent, wherein I purchased a liter of water, hoping that the sponsoring Aquarel trucks would be lenient on their passage... four hours anywhere at an altitude of 8-900 meters is thirsty time.

So waiting and chatting with strangers, seeking the faces of anyone I knew, knowing various comrades were across the ranges, towards Italy or Val d'Isère, was a warming thought.

The show begins as it does, often with the French police screaming up the hills in cars, vans and motos; our 'highlight du jour' was the little French Peugeot police car that FUMED a sinister amount of pollution, while the crowd HOWLED and ran for cover, escaping the clinging blue fumes that he laid upon us like a wet blanket of death... GASsssssssspppp

Then the sponsor's caravan, a truly French spectacle which can be best understood if you seek the great animated film 'Les Triplettes de Belleville', which was written and directed by Sylvain Chomet, and personally a ZENfave film...

How to show the hundreds of thousands of TourFriends along the route, the commercial aspects of this spectacle, is difficult, unless you form a parade about 25km long, pursuing their own company's image while racing by the very fans, some less than some centimeters away from cars doing 30-80km? How to throw 'gadgets' so as not to leave scars?

And then... what's that noise? The Helicopters!

Down across the valley, the heli's are following the leaders, and we all revive our lost adrenalin, to anticipate when the leading police cars, Commissaires' cars and police motos will give way to the screams of racing fans lining the stretches below us!

And then it's THAT MOMENT... Taking films means not being 'in the moment' directly, anxious to maintain camera angles and ensure proper enregistering of their passage...

So hang on, you know by now what happened, and within hours or days I'll have put my YouTube films in this and subsequent posts.

COURAGE ...

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç

What PRICE, What FUTURE?

If you look, my fellow ZEN'ers, to the right-side column, somewhere over there >>>>

You see the 'Cost of the Iraqi War' statistics.

I wrote this harshly-titled column, "IS America a LIE?", which included this quote:

Yet! External costs DO NOT EXIST, per se (I believe that external benefits DO EXIST, btw): every planetary decision bears a pricetag, and that pricetag may be sometimes too high.

Your factory pollutes: external cost?
Your car burns MY future food-processing and transportation processes: external cost?
Your ARMY kills my neighbors: external cost?

But there are no EXTERNAL COSTS. There are present costs, and FUTURE COSTS.

You would, perhaps, understand that the fact of 'war costs' is not simply 'US taxpayer costs'.

Other costs, those soi-disant 'external costs', can be traceable to the actions of the 'internal costs' reflected beyond the scope of that measure.

What?

So if we have 'spent', in US dollars, some 450 billion (any day now, by that link above), and we do NOT factor in:

- the long-range medical care costs for returning veterans;
- the long-range criminal costs, by-product of anticipated under-treatment of the recurring and severe mental problems afflicting some of those returning soldiers;
- the long-range costs of the debt-burden joyously awarded to We, THE PEOPLE by a deranged and power-mad Republican 'War on Terruh' Congress (now in the hands of Democrats: as yet no different, nor is the prognosis good)...

And we should factor these, of a non-exhausted list of 'External Costs', into the basis of our country's financial future.

BUT! Iraq?

The 'Arab Street'?

The Islamic world population? Is any American looking down the road thirty years? Wait, friends, let's discuss five or ten years down that road.

In 2012, what will Iraq be? A second Somalia, a lost country under UN protection? An Afghanistan? A West Iran, or East Saudi Arabia? Kurdistan? Ask your friends: I surely cannot conceive of the means whereby Iraq will dust itself off, thank us so very much for providing so much RECONSTRUCTION to achieve.

In 2017, will Iraq emerge, as did Vietnam eventually, to rejoin the World Community on its joyously global capitalistic movement into global apocalyptic climate change? External costs... summed up by Dahr Jamail's recent email column which provided Ali al-Fadhily's column at IPS:

"It is clear now that any Iraqi who refuses to serve the American plan is considered an enemy of the United States," a community leader in the city who did not want to give his name told IPS.

He said some people are angrier with other leaders supporting the U.S. forces. "The whole world is responsible for these murders, and a day will come that we say to the world, 'you supported Americans who killed us'."

A man wearing a mask, who appeared to be a resistance fighter, spoke with IPS just outside Baquba on condition of anonymity.

"Hundreds were killed and thousands evicted from the city while the so-called al-Qaeda fighters survived," he said. "Americans must be told that we will never stop killing their sons who came to kill us unless they leave our country in peace."

I regret sharing "the horror, the horror" with you all, but standing by, while good men do bad things, standing by, while War Criminals do HORRIBLE things, cannot stay my voice... and yours.

Think of the costs!!!


COURAGE ...

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç

Fourth and Final America's Cup Commentary by Ricky of California

Dear ZEN’ers,
we have for you, somewhat after the fact, the second of a series of posts from a friend (if I may), a man I’ve corresponded with through our passion for Truth, and the Floyd Landis case of unproven Tour de France doping, which you can trace through these posts (one, two, three, more).

Ricky hails from the USA, and loves sailing as much as we both love cycling.
Ricky has permitted me to archive some posts, which he began providing to answer questions from some of us land-lubbers!

They are impressively well-written, I’ve slightly reformatted and edited them for precision. I believe this first post covers the third regatta.

Take it away, Ricky from California!:

Another AC is in the books, although no one could have predicted what a wild race the last one would be. If you didn't watch it you missed a race that will go down in history as the wildest, most unpredictable and craziest race in cup history. The impact of race 7 of the 2007 AC cannot be overstated. Here's a brief summary:

NZed is in a do or die position: if they win today they still have a chance, if Alinghi wins, the party begins.

The entire crew of NZed is nervous, twitchy and jumpy. Even his mirrored shades can't hide the nervousness on Terry's face as they boats enter the starting box.

Brad, not to be outdone, sports his own pair of mirrors and stares across the water as the two boats converge. Neither wants to incur a penalty in the starting box so the pre-start maneuvers are careful.

The gun goes and NZ leads them out of the box by inches. Both boats drag race out toward the right side of the chessboard, where Alinghi attacks. NZ, ahead by a few meters, lee-bows the Swiss and the tacking duel ensues. Every time the boats converge Alinghi is a few inches closer.

Terry eventually breaks off the duel and hightails it toward the port layline and Alinghi is forced to tack under them. Until now Ed and Brad have been pretty civil toward the Kiwis, but now the gloves come off and Ed suddenly luffs his boat head-to-wind, forcing the Kiwis to turn hard to avoid hitting the Swiss boat, and killing their forward momentum.

Ed bears off and the result is another five or six meters gain for Alinghi. The Kiwis bear off and begin to accelerate toward the mark and Ed throws another sucker punch at them, forcing them to swerve once again to avoid contact. This time the Kiwis have a hard time getting back up to speed and Alinghi rounds the weather mark half a boatlength in front.

Then Brad suffers another stupendous brain-fade as he allows the Kiwis to get on top of their wind and roll past them. Ernesto (Bertarelli, the billionaire owner of Alinghi) manages to maintain his cool, but clearly, things are tense on the Swiss boat.

In the overall scheme of things it is rare that one boat passes another in AC racing. Usually the boat that get the first jump on the other wins, and while they are beautiful to watch, AC match races are usually fairly un-thrilling to anyone but die-hard sailboat racing fans.

That was not the case today. The TV announcers were hoarse and all but spent as NZed rounded the leeward mark well in front of the Swiss.

As the boats settled into another drag race out to the right side, Alinghi slowly chipped away at NZ's lead until, unbelievably, they had caught the Kiwis once again just this side of the weather mark.

Deano, still shaken from the bare fisted thrashing he got the last time they were here, tried to avoid the same scenario and land a punch of his own, bearing off hard as he tacked toward the mark, but Ed, not to be intimidated, held his course and forced the Kiwis to swerve yet again to avoid a collision.

This time the Ernesto and the boys cried 'foul' and the umpires ruled in their favor, handing the Kiwis a penalty. A penalty means that the offending boat must do a turn, we call it a ‘360’ in sailing parlance (for AC racing it's a modified 360), before they finish the race. The Swiss relaxed and began congratulating themselves on wining the 32nd America’s Cup. For all intents and purposes, there's no way the Kiwis could catch up and pass them, then gain enough time to perform their 360 and finish ahead of them.

So the Swiss sail along as if it's Sunday and they're about to get out the beer n sandwiches.

Brad, being Brad, lets the Kiwis jibe away and sail off toward what he thinks is oblivion while he ponders the mega-offers he's already gotten from Ernesto and his old pal, Russell Coutts. The boys are so busy thinking about the post race festivities, they don't notice the change in the weather.

All of a sudden the chute's collapsed and “WHAT THE FUUU...THE BLOODY KIWIS ARE STILL RACING!!!”

In a matter of seconds, it seems, the wind has shifted a good 150 degrees, and the peripatetic Terry Hutchinson not only saw it coming, but maneuvered his boat to take full advantage of it, hoisting the jib and rolling down toward the finish, gaining precious seconds on the frantic Swiss who, in their haste, muff the spinnaker douse and stumble around trying to get a jib up.

Meanwhile on the Kiwi boat, spirits are lifting. Three minutes ago, the weight of losing the race, the regatta and the Cup was weighing on everyone from Terry and Deano, to the sewerman, who toils in solitude down inside the boat, organizing sails and lines in the black confines of the hot, narrow, noisy carbon fiber cave he calls home while the boat is racing. He hears the excited shouts of the crew above and sneaks a peek out the forward hatch.

Holy mother of yacht racing, he thinks, the Swiss can't get their jib up in time. "My god", he shouts in amazement, "we're f'ing passing the bloody bastards!!"

The Swiss finally find the gas pedal and Alinghi starts to move forward again. But in the new wind, just a light breeze, they accelerate ever so slowly while ZN, romping in better winds to their right is rambling down to the finish line.

Christ, what a race!!

Terry and Barker have to time their penalty turn perfectly if they want to win, but god, if they do, it'll be the greatest comeback in sailing history. Nervously they watch and listen as the navigator counts down the distance to the finish line. Patience, patience.

Terry squints through his mirrors and says tightly to the crew, "Boys, we can do this." And he outlines his plan.

They all listen intently, sweating, focused on what may be the very last maneuver of their Americas Cup careers. "Now!" shouts Terry, and Deano spins the wheel. Men jump to their posts, sails flap as the boat turns head to wind and slows almost to a halt.

Alinghi, in the distance is rolling now, sweat also on the brows of her own nervous crew. Can they just finish this now, or will they have to sail another tension filled race tomorrow??

Slowly, the Kiwi boat bears off and Barker points the bow toward the finish line. They're still ahead but time is running out, can they accelerate enough to cross the line ahead of Alinghi? The seconds tick by as twenty five tons of carbon and kevlar begins to move in the light wind. They're coming on fast, but Alinghi's faster, the meters turn to inches and suddenly Alinghi's bow moves forward of the Kiwi boat just before they reach the line.

The Swiss win, but by the narrowest of margins, their bow crossing the line not more than two feet ahead of NZ.

The billionaire smiles, elated at his victory, but it's bittersweet because he knows that this crew, that worked so hard for the last four years to win this regatta, will be gutted tomorrow. The best of his crew has already been claimed by the man who stood in the shadows of this regatta, but who also cast his shadow on it. Russell will have his team back, and Ernesto will have to find a different way, somehow, to fend off the world's best in the next AC.


(This is PART FOUR, of FOUR America's Cup posts, featuring commentary by Ricky of California: click here for Part ONE, Part TWO, Part THREE)


Thanks Ricky - Premier Guest Commentator at ZENcentral!

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç

THIRD America's Cup commentary by Ricky of California

Dear ZEN’ers,
we have for you, somewhat after the fact, the second of a series of posts from a friend (if I may), a man I’ve corresponded with through our passion for Truth, and the Floyd Landis case of unproven Tour de France doping, which you can trace through these posts (one, two, three, more).

Ricky hails from the USA, and loves sailing as much as we both love cycling.
Ricky has permitted me to archive some posts, which he began providing to answer questions from some of us land-lubbers!

They are impressively well-written, I’ve slightly reformatted and edited them for precision. I believe this first post covers the third regatta.

Take it away, Ricky from California!:


No racing today. The wind gods picked up their ball and went home. So … I'll give you a BRIEF analysis of race five, in which the Kiwis tore a page out of Brad Butterworth's AC book.

Yesterday Ed Baird actually took it to the Kiwis at the start and had them pinned on the left side of the starting line but Deano managed to wriggle off the hook (speaking of wriggling off the hook, remind me to tell you about the big one that got away yesterday), and jibed in front of Alinghi and got away for a good start.

Here is where Terry stumbled. As the boats drag raced out to the starboard layline, the Kiwis had the full measure of the Swiss, but Terry forgot rule number one, and let the Swiss get some lateral separation and Brad pounced, snatching the lead after a tacking duel in a right shift just this side of the weather mark. This AC regatta will go down in history as the most competitve ever, with the winner of each race doing it by sailing smarter than the competition.

Remember what Dennis Conner says about yacht racing:
"He who makes the fewest mistakes wins."

So Alinghi rounds the top mark in front and keeps a tight cover on the Kiwis, sailing a good defensive race until Brad lets go again and allows the Kiwis, who were well behind, to jibe away and pick up a left shift and sail right up to Alinghi's transom. But wait, what the bloody...?

Terry jibes away!! Why?

Match racing aficionados across the world scream at their flat screens, "Nooo Terry, don't do it!! No, please don't....Ahh, he's gone and done it"

Hutchinson jibed away and left the Swiss to sail down the course and jibe in a puff and scamper on down to the finish line a hundred meters or so ahead of NZ.

Terry suffered a tactical breakdown with that jibe. Those of you who don't follow the game all that closely may ask why it was such a bad move to jibe away at that critical moment. The answer is that they were sailing down to the port layline, basically the edge of the world in match racing.

The Swiss couldn't go on much longer, they were going to have to jibe to lay the finish. All Terry had to do was stay right on their transom and jibe exactly when they did and they would have blanketed the Swiss boat's wind and accelerated ahead to a hero's welcome as the fanatical Kiwi fans blasted their horns and shouted themselves hoarse over the Kiwis spectacular come from behind win.

Of course that's not what happened. Why did Terry jibe?

Well, one can only speculate, but the only LOGICAL reason is that he noticed some big wind over on the left side of the course and wanted to sail over there and take advantage of it. Of course it was just a figment of his imagination. There was nothing over there and Terry tossed a fighting chance for a figment. Foo!

Terry suffered from the same mistake that generals, captains and leaders throughout history skewer themselves on. He let wishful thinking obscure reality.

He wanted to believe that there was more over there than there actually was instead of facing the fact that he was going to have to maneuver perfectly over the Swiss and fight to the death right there at the port layline. Still it was an exciting race in spite of the disappointing denouement.


(This is PART THREE, of FOUR America's Cup posts, featuring commentary by Ricky of California: click here for Part ONE, Part TWO, Part FOUR)

Thanks Ricky - Premier Guest Commentator at ZENcentral!

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç

Second America's Cup commentary by Ricky of California

Dear ZEN’ers,
we have for you, somewhat after the fact, the second of a series of posts from a friend (if I may), a man I’ve corresponded with through our passion for Truth, and the Floyd Landis case of unproven Tour de France doping, which you can trace through these posts (one, two, three, more).

Ricky hails from the USA, and loves sailing as much as we both love cycling.
Ricky has permitted me to archive some posts, which he began providing to answer questions from some of us land-lubbers!

They are impressively well-written, I’ve slightly reformatted and edited them for precision. I believe this first post covers the third regatta.

Take it away, Ricky from California!:


Today's race could have been a classic AC slugfest, but equipment failure took the slug out of the fest. Deano did a great job of forcing Alinghi over the start line before the gun went. As you know, both boats must be on the correct side of the line before the gun. Baird was fortunate to be able to sail way off to the right and into the spectator fleet.

Why would he do this? Because the Kiwis forced him over the line and as weather boat he was obligated to keep clear of the leeward boat which was doing everything to stay just to leeward of them. The spectator boats offered salvation to Ed as he went forward of a big old cruiser and NZ went behind, This gave him enough room to jibe and get clear of NZ. On the drag race back to the start line, Ed trailed the Kiwis and managed a decent start half a boat-length behind NZ on starboard, headed out to the correct side of the race track.

In a case of role reversal, the Swiss drag raced out to the starboard layline just to leeward and behind NZ. T

his is a minor violation of Ricky's fifth rule of match racing:
When behind, do something.

For you students of match racing, remember, if you're the trailing boat, the closer you get to the layline, the fewer options you have. If you just give up and trail the windward boat out to the edge of the world you run out of options and you've just handed the weather boat the leg. If you are smart and aggressive, you tack well before the layline and move the game back to the middle of the chessboard. By doing that, you give your opponent opportunities to make mistakes and you open up possibilities for passing that are only a dream if you've sailed out past the layline.

So, Brad and the boys are content to trail the Kiwis out to the layline.

What did we learn from this? Well, the most important lesson is that in 14-15 knots of wind, NZ is every bit of the boat Alinghi is, contrary to popular belief. Before today the smart money was betting that in 15 kts and above, the Swiss owned this event. I liked seeing Deano living large right there on Alinghi's weather hip. That'll give the Swiss something to think about tonight.

So NZ rounds ahead of Alinghi by a boat-length or two. Knowing Terry as we do, we're sure he's going to point NZ deep and stay between Brad and the mark.

Uh oh, the bowman is on the horn and he says we've got a bit of hole in the luff of the whomper.

Terry:"How bad is it, can we sail the leg with it?"
"I dunno, boss, she looks pretty bad to me." says Jeremy into his waterlogged mic.
"Okay, get the A2 on deck and hooked up. We'll hoist it as soon as you ....whoooaa…shit, The kite just blew!!! Get the other kite up NOW!"
Jeremy, "Wait, wait, I don't have the sheets and guys hooked on....Oh noo!"

The second kite goes up without sheets and guys, which means it might as well be the Swiss flag.

Ernesto (Bertarelli, the Swiss billionaire owner of Alinghi) is busy taking a bearing with the rangefinder, but he forgets the numbers on the display as the sight of NZ's shredded kite fills the viewfinder. By then every one on Alinghi is watching as, unbelievably, there are two kites flying on NZ, one in tatters and the other out like, well, like the Swiss flag. Ironically, Switzerland's flag is red with a white cross on it. I'm sure, however, that the boys on both boats weren't thinking in metaphors at that particular moment.

Anyway, here's NZ, wallowing down the course with two kites up (neither drawing), and the big Swiss boat rolling by like the TGV. Brad, not doing too well in this regatta, breathes a sigh of relief. He wants to wave to Terry as the go by but he knows Ernesto doesn't like his boys fraternizing with the enemy.

The Kiwis struggle to get another kite up, but they're running out of the damn things. You can only carry so many of them, you know. So they rummage around in the bottom of the boat and find one more asymmetrical that looks like it'll hang together and they hoist it and trundle on down to the leeward mark.

The rest of the race is pretty unremarkable. The Kiwis keep chipping away at Alinghi's lead, but nothing is going to keep the Swiss boat from winning this one unless they break a sail or Brad has another brain fade.

So what have we learned from today's racing? Well, the first and most important thing is that the Kiwi boat is more than just a light air sliver. the boat seems to be a match and more for Alinghi in everything except for the 10-14 knot wind range. In that range, the Swiss boat may be a bit faster, but we're expecting winds more like what we witnessed today for the rest of the regatta, so the Kiwis have to feel fairly comfortable with the horse they brought to this event. On the other hand, Ricky sees some vulnerability in the Swiss side.

Mainly, they appear to have come to the regatta thinking they had boatspeed on the Kiwis, and the Kiwis may have been playing a bit of a head game, letting the world think they were bringing a knife to a gunfight.

For us spectators it means that for the first time in about 20 years the AC regatta is proving to be extremely interesting. I could go on about the nuances in the design of each boat, which is by itself very interesting if you're into such things.

Anyway, the commentators are all atwitter over the 'momentum' of Alinghi, but if the Kiwis can keep their boat together, they stand a good chance of recouping the cup.


(This is PART TWO, of FOUR America's Cup posts, featuring commentary by Ricky of California: click here for Part ONE, Part THREE, Part FOUR)

Thanks Ricky - Premier Guest Commentator at ZENcentral!

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç

Several America's Cup Summaries: Ricky from CA

Dear ZEN’ers,
we have for you, somewhat after the fact, a series of posts from a friend (if I may), a man I’ve corresponded with through our passion for Truth, and the Floyd Landis case of unproven Tour de France doping, which you can trace through these posts (one, two, three, more).

Ricky hails from the USA, and loves sailing as much as we both love cycling.
Ricky has permitted me to archive some posts, which he began providing to answer questions from some of us land-lubbers!

They are impressively well-written, I’ve slightly reformatted and edited them for precision. I believe this first post covers the third regatta.

Take it away, Ricky from California!:


Another painful afternoon for Alinghi. The Kiwis did a fine job of fighting for the boat end of the line and the Swiss were happy with the fact that they got across the line on starboard tack at full speed. Then the first brain fade.

Brad failed to tack and cover. The whole world knew the right side of the track was favored, yet Brad and the boys wandered off to the left so that when they finally did get around to tacking they were nearly 200 meters back. Ordinarily the winner would be a foregone conclusion.

But the Kiwi boinked the douse and wound the kite into the genoa lead block and couldn't get the jib in, then muffed the cut tack, squandering virtually their entire lead. At the next cross Alinghi is handed the lead when ETNZ performs a weird and slow tack. This was Terry's brain fade. When the guy on port is bearing off to duck, he's handing you chunks of time. The right move would have been to force the duck then tack, effectively pinning Alinghi out at the Stbd layline.

Okay, back to the comedy of errors: Alinghi has about a 3 boat lead coming away from the weather mark...close, but defensible. The Kiwis jibe a couple of times and the Swiss cover. On the next jibe Brad forgets about rules 1, 2 and 3 in match racing. I'll present them here for the non-sailors among us:

1. Stay between the opponent and the mark.
2. Stay between the opponent and the mark.
3. Stay between the opponent and the mark.

While Brad is busy forgetting about those simple but vital rules, the Kiwis scamper down the course, picking up the lead again. Fortunately they're almost to the finish line and there isn't much time left for another mistake so the Kiwis manage to sail across the line first. The Swiss, however, feel that there is time for one more mistake so they jibe just before the finish line, costing themselves another boatlength, but giving the crew a bit more jibing practice.

I'll wager the Kiwis could hardly believe the way the race went. The Swiss proved beyond a doubt that while they have a fast boat, they've grown soft and vulnerable. Brad is not the razor sharp tactician he once was.

This race had better be a serious wake-up call for team Alinghi, or we'll be watching another AC regatta on the sunny waters of the Hauraki Gulf again.

Russell's got to be LHAO, while Ernesto (Bertarelli, the Swiss billionaire owner of Alinghi) ponders what might have been.

(This is PART ONE, of FOUR America's Cup posts, featuring commentary by Ricky of California: click here for Part TWO, Part THREE, Part FOUR)


Thanks Ricky - Premier Guest Commentator at ZENcentral!

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç

Alinghi-web, Alinghi-web! In the Jungle, the Mighty...

This post is for a man and a team, neither of
whom do I know very well at all... although
someone I know does Bertarelli's stationary :-)

There's a certain RR, who may reveal himself,
who provided me and a select circle of friends
with an amazing commentary for the
America's Cup race...

I can't remember better insights, and
comprehension-sharing, from ANY professional
sports-commentator.

My advantage, living in Switzerland, is to have
a photo to share with him; this photo of Alinghi
was taken last fall, I believe (running to my
laptop to check dates)...

Friday, October 20, 2006

Alinghi made its passage via convoy to the sea.

Ricky, thank you.

Ernesto, and your team: BRAVO.

If I'm VERY lucky, I'll see and have photos from its return Sunday!

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç

Noctilusense...

Dear ZEN'ers...

With the summer comes long fun frolicking evenings, and you can forgive a ZENish guy for taking the time to profit from real-space and real-time friends, aspects which leave little time to get back into regular posting.

Especially now that ALL the World is as aware as you and I, what travesties remain behind the inTOTALcompetence of this Bush misAdministration. But this phenomenon of the skies...

(ZENmud was once a student of meteorology and astronomy, before his life took him skiing for thirteen years!) and the lovely photo bears a posting. The phenomenon is newly discovered (or witnessed), and in English they are known as 'Noctilucent clouds'.

An excerpt from the site Livescience (With this article , entitled Mysterious Clouds Creeping Out of the Artic photo credit Veres Victor/NASA):

A new NASA satellite has recorded the first detailed images from space of a mysterious type of cloud called “night-shining” or “noctilucent."

The clouds are on the move, brightening and creeping out of polar regions, and researchers don't know why.

"It is clear that these clouds are changing, a sign that a part of our atmosphere is changing and we do not understand how, why or what it means," said atmospheric scientists James Russell III of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. "These observations suggest a connection with global change in the lower atmosphere and could represent an early warning that our Earth environment is being changed."

As is often the case, a new phenomenon like this must be studied and pursued, prior to hasty conclusions being drawn. But! Will our 'Panic! To increase our media SALES' TV and newspaper friends exploit again your fears, or help you to understand what this may actually mean? STAND CALM, friends: we'll know soon enough. But tomorrow's a good day to cycle, or take the bus to work (As ZENman has for the last ten years...).

courage!

ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç