The AntiDope

by Chris... on Oct 7, 2008 11:48 AM EDT Comment 62 comments

I'm not going to get into the habit of issuing pointers to fanposts, unless they start coming in too fast to be seen on the sidebar for long enough. But if the latest doping issues are giving you a headache, I strongly recommend the Fanshots section, below fanposts. The one currently at the top is a perfect example: Flying Dog's Lore of the Victory Salute, a link without much comment to a completely charming catalogue of celebrations. Then there are Lyne's and Cyclingchallenge's photos, and assorted other delights.

This is aimed partly at myself -- I haven't been paying enough attention to Fanshots. But it's also a message to newcomers and regulars, that if you want to deposit a short... something: post, photo, link, etc., use the Fanshots. When you don't really have text to add, when you just want to pass on a brief thought, it's a Fanshot. Now more than ever, amusing distractions are just the tonic for cycling fans, and the Fanshots section is just the place to put them.

Or, if you must, you can always join the Rear of the Year discussion in fanposts. OK, carry on.

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And whatever you do

Watch the elkman video in the fanshots section posted by kingofdoping (about 10 from top currently)

It is truly excellent!

by cyclingchallenge on Oct 7, 2008 12:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

there is a small use-ability issue with fanshots

its not visible when reading an individual post

one needs to be (I think) on the frontpage

by cyclingchallenge on Oct 7, 2008 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wonder

whether I can move it into that spot. If not, I can suggest it to the network.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 7, 2008 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

DONE!

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 7, 2008 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

nice

well done

by cyclingchallenge on Oct 7, 2008 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it took

all of two seconds. A drag-and-drop fix.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 7, 2008 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Chris, did you promote the "Lore....." to the frontpage

or does that happen automatically when enough people recommend?

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Oct 7, 2008 12:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I promoted

but too late for it to not be buried, and for some reason I can’t redo the time stamp.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 7, 2008 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mos' Def'

Ask the authorities to give us “revise time stamp” ability. There’s no option for that on the edit – and it would be helpful if there was.

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Time stamp

at least with the fanposts if you update it, it will revise the timestamp accordingly.

by Hons on Oct 8, 2008 10:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yep

Very fond of that feature, actually. It’s nice to be able to bump a fan post to the top of the front page, at times.

by gavia on Oct 8, 2008 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ah

duly noted.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 8, 2008 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

smile

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 1:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Can I hire you

to photo DS Little Bear on his steed?

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 7, 2008 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Peter File bear?

by OctaBech on Oct 7, 2008 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

so what's a bech?

and do you really have eight of them?

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol, you too?

i’ve been dying to know what her name means…

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ouch, this can't be good for my self-esteem

Here I’ve been turning on my charm hitting on the girls only to discover they think I’m one of them. Where did I go wrong?

To your info, I’m a handsome young manly man.

by OctaBech on Oct 7, 2008 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

bechamuses?

lol :-)

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

bessame mucho

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

laughing

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

All this name calling is mildly upsetting

I think I’ll cool off with a musical, chao

by OctaBech on Oct 7, 2008 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

what name calling? is blech a bad thing? if so, why do you have 8 of them?

we were just having fun trying to figure out what your name means.

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I must be doing something wrong :o

First I’m mistaken for being a girl and now my joking is mistaken for being serious.

Anyway, women love mysterious men so I won’t reveal the meaning of my alias(I might not even know it myself ;) ).

by OctaBech on Oct 7, 2008 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oooh I sense a challenge then

;)

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pssst … Octa seems to really be Octavianus, not eight. Helps explain his love for Spartacus, I think. I’ll bet he just loves gladiator movies :)

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Oct 7, 2008 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

:o Didn't even notice that before but you are right

I do seem to have a weak spot for riders like Voeckler, Valverde, Voigt, Zabel and so on.

Must be due to me growing up with 80’s Ninja Films, American Gladiators, Chuck Norris, Ninja Turtles, Jean Claude Vandamme, Jackie Chan, .. what a cheesy life I’ve been living :o But at least I’m not of the Pokémon generation.

by OctaBech on Oct 8, 2008 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's killing me but I have to be nice since he's a dane

I have to make up for my teenage mistakes.

I have taken many a trip to his native land with the sole purpose of drinking as much of their beer as humanly possible and vomit on large parts of their beautiful capital. In my defense I wasn’t alone. We were legion. All vomiting.

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Oct 7, 2008 4:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ha ha a clue... bech translated from Danish to English is...

bech

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As a teenager

you persecuted Danes?

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 7, 2008 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sweden= hard to get beer, Denmark=easy to get beer

So, if highlly vocal drunkenness and projectile vomiting constitutes persecution, then yes.

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Oct 8, 2008 2:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sober or drunk, Swedish people is an ugly sight to behold

But their beer drinking is very good for our economy and will bring us through the global economy crisis. :D

Kidding to the side, Danish people go to Germany to buy Danish beer and then sell it to our Swedish visitors.

by OctaBech on Oct 8, 2008 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The circle of life

Swedes go to Denmark for cheap beer, the danes go to Germany for cheap beer, the germans go to Poland for cheap beer . I have no idea where the poles get their beer but I’m betting it’s from the Ukraine. Swear to god, if they would just lower the price of beer we’d solve the global warming problem right there.

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Oct 8, 2008 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

:D An undeniable fact

by OctaBech on Oct 8, 2008 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah, Polish beer!

I spent three weeks in Poland in 2007, and the only words I learned (and remembered) were Zywiec (pronounced Zhiv-ee-yets) and Okacim. Yummy!

by Ruthann on Oct 8, 2008 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

100% true story

I spent a decent part of college going to Canada to get better beer. Fortunately it was only a 45 minute drive, and it was so long ago that US Customs couldn’t have cared less.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 8, 2008 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah, you are such a

renegade. :-)

by Ruthann on Oct 8, 2008 8:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

so it's your fault that we ran out of beer

at that party a long time ago….

by lyne on Oct 8, 2008 8:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol

Nah, we just like to play with words.

And actually, i read your name as OctaBeth, hence my gendered confoosion. My only excuse is that I’ve been reading far far too much this week. No wonder I can’t spell my way out of a house on fire with all the doors open.

Welcome to the party! The natives are nice. Really.

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah I read OctaBeth the first time too

and then wondered if we’d see a MegaBeth vs OctaBeth fight….

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So you're saying I'm not crazy

Of course, it would have been good if after the first time I actually re-read the name correctly. Alas.

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 8:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's ok

spelling isn’t really the best way to get out of a burning house anyway.

by Katiek on Oct 7, 2008 7:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

phew

that’s a relief

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

f-i-r-e-m-e-n

phew

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

nice work

I’m calling you next time I see a house on fire. I feel confident that you can keep it all straight.

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 8:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oopsy

How did I miss that? Usually I’m quicker. Sorry about that – busy week here on the interwebs, my brain is a tad scrambled.

by gavia on Oct 7, 2008 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Genderstuff

I guess it reminds me of MegaBeth.
Say them together:
OctaBech, MegaBeth. So that makes you sisters. Or something.

’sOK. Many of the guys are honorary sisters, and the other way around.

I notice participants gender seems to be more overtly in evidence recently, and I’m not sure I like it. Posters were primarily known by their cycling interests, general fandom, other sports, musical interests, travels…and sometimes not at all by gender. It made for a very egalitarian sort of discourse that I found refreshing.

For the most part, we kept even the adulation posts fairly non-sexual (in the sense of the poster’s specific history / physical reactions), and that way posters of any sex / gender / orientation would feel 100% welcome to participate just as, y’know, PEOPLE. I could happily go back to not sharing our fantasies about riders, podium girls, each other, etc. etc. and leaving a bit more to the group imagination.

Yes, the site is for and about all of us. But if this site were focused on female athletes, I’d get uncomfortable about having three or four “which ones would you do / cutest / best ass / best tits” threads, or comments along those lines popping up in most of the “regular” threads.

I know, we live in an age where the celebrity’s body is fair game. And listen, I like naked people. I think sex is a fine thing, too. Loving looking at cyclists is a fine reason to watch cycling [duh]—it isn’t all about the stats. And cyclists butts are their powerhouses, so admiring them is laudable in all ways.

However…

I see a difference between looking at pix of someone who has willingly poses for adulation or art shots, and celebrating someone who uses an extreme zoom on a rider’s ass for sexual gratification, clearly without asking. It’s like up-skirt pix taken with shoe cameras. Not hugely revealing, but invasive because of the attitude.

It’s not that I want to know that you (the photographer) have the right to snap said butt because you’re the spouse, or you gave the guy a BJ, or whatever. Well, in some cases I might be curious, but IMHO, that’s why we have the ability to put e-mail addresses on our profiles (and profiles on our profiles, and links to our websites on our profiles). For, you know, private stuff.

Anyway, here’s a suggestion. As a thought experiment, ask yourself, before you post… how would you feel if the genders were reversed? How would you feel if you were the (unasked) subject of the shot? If the answer to both is “great,” then post. If the answer to either is, “no, that’s not a nice idea,” maybe reconsider the post.

And suggestion #2: it is GREAT as a guy to hang with girls anonymously, and vice versa, and for people to hang out as people. Ditto any other divisions you care to name. You learn a lot about life and cycling that way. Please don’t anyone be upset—ever, ever, ever—on this site if someone figures you for the wrong gender (age, race, etc.) And please try not to assume that someone is a specific gender (age, race, etc.) or that their comments only make sense in light of their gender, age, race, religion, etc. (Unless, of course, we’re talking Swedes and Norwegians. I fear there’s no fighting the mutual conviction that they are possibly from different planets.)

by JFS_PGH on Oct 8, 2008 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

I wish I had the ability to put into words my own thoughts as well as you, I’d settle for one quarter as that would be a huge improvement on my part.

I googled it, it must be true.

by flying dog on Oct 8, 2008 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

[blushing] but then there's spelling and grammar check.

Clearly not so hot. “poses” >>> “posed.”

by JFS_PGH on Oct 8, 2008 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Another take

I’m a chick. Two of my best friends are guys, people I’ve known for years online and whom I get to see every couple of years at a conference if I’m lucky. Last year at the conference, I happened to wear to a panel discussion a blouse that was lower-cut than usual—yeah, the girls were getting some air. Afterwards, one of my guy friends came up and told me what a great job I’d done, then announced, "AND she has great tits!" I wasn’t offended. Not only was it funny, but there was context to it: he knows me, respects my work, thinks I’m smart and amusing. But if some stranger had sidled up to me on the subway and said something similar, it would have been offensive.

Now, we who participate in the hotness threads don’t know these cyclists in the same way my friend knows me. But we aren’t exactly sidling up to them on the subway, either. We are fans of the sport. We know their work. We’ve roared at their wins and groaned over their losses and cheered them up those damned mountains until we’re hoarse. They’re amazing athletes…AND Bert looks great in a tux. AND Valverde has a terrific smile. AND Pippo has great hair (okay, most of the time). AND Basso has amazing eyes. AND Boonen’s ass is not to be believed, so he’d better show it to us again (and he usually does).

Maybe you don’t see the difference. I do.

Also, most of our time here is spent discussing subjects other than male pulchritude—you’ll find us everywhere, contributing opinion and news items and digging up factoids and sharing experiences and getting up before dawn for the live race threads. We participate in the discussion of cycling.

But I also like talking to others who find cyclists attractive, because it’s rather an acquired taste. Most of the people around me think they look weird—too thin, all legs and glutes and not enough arms and pecs (now there’s a thought: imagine the hilarity if we tried to put together a "Great Pecs of Cycling" thread). It’s refreshing to find others who actually agree with me.

Hope that helps you see the other side.

by majope on Oct 8, 2008 11:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with this pair of great tits ^.^

(Sorry if I’m crossing the line)

Honestly I do not think there are men out there who would mind a bunch of women drooling over them(my manly compliment may scare them a bit though), it would have been a different story if hang out riders calling them Jan Ulrich like ugly(j/k).

by OctaBech on Oct 9, 2008 1:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've seen a range of other sides.

Majope, I’ve always contributed to the hottitude threads, and defended them, in just about the same terms as you use.

See here (and/or search on the word “jingoism” to pull up the relevant comment).

But I see something different going on now, tone-wise, and it’s getting to me. Maybe it’s because I grew up in L.A., and went to school where they sold star maps on the corners. People drove by our school to point at some of the students who were related to people whom they “knew and loved and followed and considered family.” All that love and fascination and good wishes was…creepy. Not nice, creepy. Not because it was sexual (though some of it was.) But the 60 year old church ladies were just as creepy.

Look, being a fan is NOT actually like being a friend, any more than being a stalker is like being a lover. It’s a ONE-SIDED relationship. It does NOT give the fan perks, unless the star (movie, cyclist, whatever) somehow feels the connection across a crowded room…or is thrilled by the groupie action. (Plenty of that in L.A. in the 70’s/early 80’s, too.)

I’m not objecting to liking to look at the guys. I am objecting to the blurring of boundaries between fantasy and reality, and the tone of entitlement and ownership over someone else’s body, and especially anything like unquestioning enthusiasm for the “lycraperv” videos. I wouldn’t want a stranger fixating on my ass to that degree, AND acting like it’s reasonable to share that with the world. It suggests a certain lack of healthy personal boundaries.

As for being allergic to all the “nudge nudge wink wink” about meeting the guys, well, that’s probably the pre-HIV-era experience raising its head again. I knew more than enough kids who thought it was kinda cool to get an STD, or bum birth control pills off of classmates to use as DIY morning after pills after a night with the band (not to mention the roadies they had to do first to get to the band). They were incredibly impressed with themselves, and they expected everyone else to be impressed. They generally were in rehab—or in need of it—by the age of 25. So maybe I’m extra turned off by having seen the very real end product of unhealthy flavors of fandom.

In any case, I’m not asking people to hold to MY line. I am strongly in favor of people looking away if they don’t like what you see—me included. I’m only asking people to notice their own boundaries and post mindfully, so we don’t somehow feel obliged to use this site—even including the hottitude threads—to play truth-or-dare.

Again, for the record, I favor nekkidness. However, for me, reducing all nakedness to “must get close to him” is rather…one-note. I also, separately, favor licentiousness in a range of happy varieties, including those kinks and physical features that do nothing for me personally. But it’s still about those healthy boundaries, and mutual respect (and not posting stuff that’s going to be damned embarrassing when your kids google it in 15 years).

by JFS_PGH on Oct 9, 2008 2:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

sure, anytime you're in in my neck of the woods

or if you feel the need to fly me somewhere ;)

by lyne on Oct 7, 2008 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Can we also get the obligatory

"cyclist post-ride relaxing in the café with his apple juice latte "-photo?

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Oct 7, 2008 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

in his fleece onesie pajamas?

I have that one already.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Oct 7, 2008 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

onesie pajamas? Around here we call them TT-skinsuits

although you don’t see too many made from fleece in the pro peloton( yet?). Wouldn’t be surprised if Little Bear is beta-testing some state of the art aero-gear.

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Oct 7, 2008 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs