Olson’s Observations

As most of you know I am a big cycling fan and cycling is especially top of mind for me during July since cycling’s largest event, the Tour de France, is in full effect.

During July I usually pick up a cycling book I have yet to read and this July is no exception. This time around I read the recently released book “Positively False” by Floyd Landis.

Positively False in a memoir of Floyd’s cycling life with a focus on his 2006 Tour de France win and subsequent doping scandal which still has yet to reach a conclusion.

I was as eager to pick up Positively False as most people are to get the latest Harry Potter novel because I really wanted to hear Floyd’s side of the story in his own words. I also wanted to learn about some of the arguments and facts Floyd and his team have built up to challenge the “positive” doping tests.

While the book is Floyd’s and will tell the story he wants to tell the evidence that he and his team have put together is pretty convincing. Here are a couple of the most important and basic issues with the doping test Floyd supposedly failed:

1. Mislabeled Sample:

Floyd’s sample number is repeatedly incorrect in his documents and it isn’t event the same wrong number each time the number appears. This shows negligence and incompetence among the lab technicians at the very least.

2. The Specimen was Contaminated:

According to U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) regulations Floyd’s specimen was clearly contaminated.

3. Unreliable Testing:

In multiple tests of the same sample the test results can’t vary by more than 20% for testosterone and 30% for epitestosterone. Floyd’s varied by 181% and 238% respectively meaning the tests should have been thrown out.

4. Positive Criteria was not met in Carbon Isotope Ratio Test (the more accurate test done after the prelim tests):

Four things are tested in this test and the Word Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says all four must be positive tests for the overall test to be positive. In Floyd’s case only one of the four were positive meaning his test should be been labeled negative.

There are also many other issues including one that will be particularly interesting to all of you. The software the lab was using to test the samples was obsolete (I believe it hadn’t been updated since the 80s) and they were not operating the testing machine correctly most likely because they didn’t have the user manual. In fact, they never had a user manual as long as they had the machine.

I am still on Floyd’s side on this. The evidence is pretty clear (the lab screwed up continuously while testing his sample) and he seems like a pretty straightforward stand up guy. For more on the evidence Floyd’s defense team has put together please check out Arnie Baker’s site (Arnie is Floyd’s medical analyst and retired M.D.).

I would also recommend checking out the book if you have a chance. It is a quick read and it will give you a chance to get into the pro peleton where you will learn what goes on during a push for a win and after as things fall apart.

I just finished David McCullough’s latest novel “1776″ yesterday and as I put the book down for the last time I found it very appropriate that I was finishing the book just before Independence Day. Being a history junkie (especially American History) this book was a no brainer for me but I would suggest that everyone pick it up if they have the chance. Yes, even those folks out there who don’t like history should read it. Why you ask? Because McClullough just has a way of bringing history alive.

McCullough’s “way” isn’t just sheer writing talent though although he is a good storyteller. A lot of the brilliance of 1776 came through McCullough’s meticulous research. He read journals of all involved in the campaign of 1776 and included many excerpts from those journals in order to put a more personal touch on the history itself.

For example, McCullough will include excerpts from Washington’s journal at certain points so the reader can get a good idea of what was going through Washington’s head.

The inclusion of the personal thoughts of Washington all the way down to the typical infantrymen and all the way back up through the British ranks makes 1776 special. The reader learns through these excerpts that there were many times when our founding fathers thought things weren’t going to work out. There were also times when Washington and his officers made big mistakes that could have cost them the war. On top of all that the reader learns how pivotal luck and mother nature were in the whole process. Some storms giving the British the edge and others, like those that bookended the battle of Trenton at the end of 1776, ultimately giving the American’s the upper hand and the victory.

To tie things into this blog, the whole revolutionary war (minus the guns and such) is very similar to a start-up and I don’t think I need to spell out exactly why I say that. The parallels should be easy to draw based on the paragraph above (here’s another post on America being the ultimate start-up that I put together just in case you want more).

If you get a chance please check out 1776. It will give you a renewed appreciation of the USA and what our founding fathers went through to make this country happen.

This third book by Joe Kurmaskie (see my reviews of his other two books here and here) is by far his best written. If you were to read all three of his books in a row as I have done you will see how the writing gets better each and every time. I can’t wait for his forthcoming book which I believe he will be turning over to the editor soon (maybe I can get an advance copy - Joe?).

Momentum allows the reader to ride with Joe on another bike adventure and meet some very interesting people. As always Joe finds what is best in people and this book has a number of poignant stories that will remind you to take a step back sometimes and just breathe. What is even more interesting about the journey in Momentum is that Joe does it with his two sons literally in tow (their rig measured something like 14 feet in length and it added an extra 250 pounds to Joe’s riding weight).  Having all of this weight shows Joe that Momentum is, in fact, his friend.

The feat of crossing the country on a bike with that large of a load is one thing but having in his young sons in tow definitely gave the stories an interesting element that made them different from the first two books.

I am sure a lot of the fatherly stuff in Momentum was lost on me as I am not yet a dad so I will have to re-read this one come fatherhood time. That said, I think this book will appeal to many more people than cyclists. Dads, in general, will love it and I am sure will find a lot of humor in Joe’s stories and his kids actions. I also think that people who are adventurous and enjoy the good in people will get a kick out of this book. There are some great characters again.

In the end of the day Joe’s writing always does two things to me:

1. Makes me want to just get on my bike and not stop for a few thousand miles.
2. Reminds me that people are generally good and kind hearted.

If you are up for a read that will inspire and provide hope this is it.

As with his other two books I highly recommend you check this one out. If you do decide to get the book please buy it directly from Joe since his publisher will give him a much larger portion of the proceeds to put to work in his new venture, Camp Creative, a camp designed to get kids outside and active along with allowing their creativity to flow free.

I know this review is a little thin but that’s only because I have said so many good things about Joe in my other two reviews and all that stuff is still true. Check out Momentum this summer. You won’t regret it.

Simply put, this book is great or at least the info in it is. As Rick put it the book could have probably been boiled down into ten or twenty pages from the 250 that it is but it did put forth a number of very useful tips on how to better manage workflow.

After reading the book and implementing some of the ideas in it I came away with three key takeaways that can change your life in five minutes:

1. Always ask “What is the Next Action?” when leaving a meeting or thinking about a project.

This is the next physical action you (or someone else) need to take to move something forward (i.e. “get tires for the car” does not work whereas “call the tire shop to make an appointment” does).

2. Write everything down either via a digital mechanism or on paper.

Either way you need to make sure the system you use to capture everything is trusted otherwise your mind will not let go of the item. The idea here is to clear your mind which will leave you with less anxiety and more creativity. (Since you may not have been doing this already the initial time it takes to get everything out of your head and “onto paper” could take more than five minutes - it could even take a whole day or two - but it is necessary to get the most benefit out of the system.)

3. Process items as they come at you (or in a batch at regular intervals).

If they will take less than two minutes do them right away (most of your tasks will fall into this category). If they will take more than two minutes you can then either figure out the next action, place them on a “someday/maybe” list or into a place for ideas that may warrant projects in the future (I call my ideas list the “incubator”), add them to your calendar to do on a certain date or delegate them to someone else (and notate that on a “waiting on” list).

I can attest to the fact that I have felt much more free and creative after implementing some of these workflow management practices. That said, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to hack their life a bit. There is something in it for everyone and I believe that even if you only use one of the things David Allen suggests it will change your life for the better. Just to get you started the next action that you should take after reading this post is: Buy/order Getting Things Done by David Allen.

As you may remember from the last book review I did (i.e. Riding Outside the Lines by Joe Kurmaskie) I decided to read Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage and keep the cycling book binge going (she was nominated for cycling sainthood by Joe after all which is one heck of a recommendation).

Miles from Nowhere is a chronicle of the around the world bicycling adventure Barbara, and her husband Larry, undertook in the late seventies. I have to say it was hard to put this one down. Barbara does an outstanding job of bringing the reader along with her. A few pages in and you’ll feel like you are the third rider in the group grinding up climbs with them in Alps, avoiding flying rocks and sticks in Egypt and spinning for mile after mile on the lonely roads of the Dakotas.

It took Barbara and Larry about two years to circle the globe and there were a lot of highs and a number of lows. One of the most amusing stories, and the one that Barbara starts the book out with, is one in which Barbara is using the bathroom (a bucket on the roof) at their “hotel” in an Indian town (if my memory serves me) and all of a sudden a gorilla is bounding at her across the other rooftops. She has no choice but to stop what she was doing and run inside. Stories like that fill this book and as a reader you’re never at a loss for a laugh and some true drama.

Barbara and Larry also run across some great people throughout their journey many of which helped them with food, housing and transportation. It’s always refreshing to see that there are still good people out there in the world and that, in fact, most people are good and decent folks. One of my favorite people is Geoff, a New Zealander who shares part of the journey with Barbara and Larry. He’s quite a character and a simply a great human being.

Make no mistake, this book is a great read but Barbara is by no means a fantastic writer. She gets a ton of points though since she really brings you there. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in bicycle touring and world travel. I think it will open your eyes to a lot of things even though the trip took place almost 30 years ago.

A while back I reviewed Metal Cowboy by Joe Kurmaskie which I thoroughly enjoyed. Joe is an amazing writer with a flair for getting to the best of a situation or person and he always has a way of making me laugh out loud while reading his tales. After finishing Metal Cowboy I immediately went out and picked up the follow-up called Riding Outside the Lines.

In Riding Outside the Lines Joe tends to focus more on his international adventures which made for a nice change of pace coming off of the mostly U.S. centric Metal Cowboy. One line in and I knew I was hooked again. I wouldn’t be able to put this book down until I finished it off.

The cast of characters this time around was impressive. I always wonder how he meets such interesting people time and time again. My favorite stories in Riding Outside the Lines took place in Ireland because I had spent a decent amount of time there and backpacked across the country with Laura (I hope to someday ride across Ireland but that’s a whole other story).

Joe is a masterful storyteller and this book showcases that talent. His descriptions truly bring the people to life in your mind and you begin to feel like you are there with him every revolution of the pedals. In fact, I call Joe by his first name now as if I we were lifetime friends. It’s pretty crazy!

From his run-in with the local lifeguard trainees in New Zealand to the the brush with death in Ireland that lead him to the best impromptu B&B in the country to the mountain biking trip that ends the journey in Mexico Joe shows us what it means to be alive and that people, while they have their problems, are generally good and kind. The book is a great read for cyclists and non-cyclists alike and I guarantee you’ll become engrossed in Joe’s stories within a page or two.

Needless to say I have since purchased Joe’s most recent and third book called Momentum is Your Friend and am eager to read it. In Momentum Joe takes along his two young sons on the journey which should yield some interesting stories.

Why am I not jumping into that book right away you ask? Well, I picked up Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage which I am going to read first. I actually got the name of the book from the chapter in Riding Outside the Lines where Joe nominates people for cycling sainthood. Barbara is one of the nominees and in the paragraph about her Joe calls Miles from Nowhere the cyclists bible. After that kind of recommendation how could I not read it?

Please go check out Metal Cowboy and Riding Outside the Lines when you have a chance. They are top notch reads and will really get you thinking about what you want out of life. Ride on!

The Rider by Tim Krabbe chronicles a fictional 137 kilometer bike race or more specifically, the Tour de Mont Aigoual, through the eyes of Krabbe himself. We quickly learn that cycling is more than just a sport to Krabbe when he glances up from his gear before the start, sees some spectators and thinks “Non-racers. The emptiness of those lives shocks me.” From that moment on we are swept up into the race with Krabbe and never look back. Nothing else seems to matter.

Kilometer after kilometer Krabbe pushes along, calculating his moves and recounting both races he’s participated in and tidbits from famous races like the Tour de France, Giro de Italia and Milan - San Remo. Not only is the reader able to pick up a lot of cycling history they are also able to see what really happens inside a road race - all of the things that we aren’t privy to as spectators.

What stood out to me most after finishing the book is the pure suffering cyclists endure in a race and determination they have to have to overcome their suffering. I always knew that the suffering was intense but watching cycling races never conveyed to me quite what Krabbe’s words did.

Cyclists and cycling fans will definitely love this book. However, I would recommend it to non-cyclists as well. If you’re a fan of good clean writing and enjoy a captivating fast-paced story this book is for you. Who knows, it may even make you a cycling fan!