Spring Has Sprung

The birds are chirping, the frogs are singing and the world is coming back to life. Elvis' ride today was a pure pleasure. What, with blue skies and temperatures soaring into the 50's - life is good. Note: it's amazing what months of absolutely crappy weather and a spring filled with wind, rain and cold can do to your expectations; suddenly 53 degrees seems like manna from heaven. Still, it was fabulous. No neoprene booties. No heavy gloves. No thick, constricting jacket. Not even a skull cap. And I should have put some sunscreen on my nose as the ladies of the Elvis household noted some actual color in my skin. Sun screen - are there two more beautiful words?

Three sure sings of spring, in photographs, the first two of which Elvis took on today's ride;

Baby animals are everywhere if you look


A baby raccoon by the side of the road


The racing season is underway. Save the Colnago!

Speaking of the racing season, your Elvis Kennedy correspondent is compelled to report that Elvis' good cycling buddy Darin is leading the Masters Cat. 4 standings after two races. He won his category in the first race and placed well in the second. Good job, Darin! Just hold it together for another three months and you'll be the champion. That'll give Elvis lots of fun stuff to report as he brags about all of Darin's exploits. No pressure Darin, just do your best. Don't worry about Elvis and his silly blog. Don't worry that the Elvis Kennedy empire could come crumbling down if Elvis runs out of things to report. Don't worry that Elvis could go into a year long slump if one of his best cycling buddies cracks. Really Darin, no pressure.

_______________________________________________________________________

How about that Floyd Landis. He's taken his Girl Scout Cookie begging tour to new depths. He's now charging his fans $25.00 for an autograph and a picture. Read HERE. Elvis has had his picture taken with a President of the United States, the first man to walk on the moon and even Ted Nugent. And didn't pay a penny for the privilege. But for some reason we're supposed to pony up $25.00 to get a fake smile from Floyd Landis? Don't his "fans" get it? Setting aside the issue that he's likely to be proven a doper and cheat, the guy has made millions of dollars in the past few years. He is either a very poor money manager or is lying about his need for handouts. Either way, the naive folks handing over their hard earned cash to this guy are, well, misguided might be the nicest way to put it.

Here is what Landis says as cover, "We can't undue the damage that's been done. We can't fix it. But we don't want the next person to have to go through this". Stop it Floyd, you're going to make Elvis cry. What a beautiful human being you are. Traveling around the country, collecting nickels and dimes on behalf of the 'next person' to fail a drug test. Elvis is astounded that over $600,000.00 in nickels and dimes has been collected so far, and further astounded that even a single one of the donors has fallen for this idea that Floyd cares the least about the 'next person'. Is Floyd sending some of the funds to Jan Ullrich to help Der Kaiser with his doping defense? Of course he isn't. All of the money goes into Floyd's pocket and you are a fool if you believe otherwise. Stealing money this way is worse than doping. Whether or not Landis doped, he is, in Elvis' estimation, a liar and a cheat.

Consider this; if Landis is innocent he'll make oodles of cash on book deals, speaking engagements, riding his bike and maybe even a movie deal. Really, what a story this would make. Clean cut mennonite kid rebels against his ancestral way of life and goes to Europe to race with the big boys of pro cycling. He plays loyal lieutenant to Lance Armstrong. Then, in what was to be his Tour de France he has a horrendous day in the mountains, loses the yellow jersey and is many minutes down. No way he'll come back from such a big deficit. Especially with a bum hip. But he does it! He throws down an amazing solo ride not seen in the Tour in twenty years. He wins the Yellow Jersey and all is well. Then, the French conspiracy born during the Armstrong years rears it's ugly head and tricks the world into thinking that Landis cheated. Landis' world collapses under the pressure. But he picks himself up, dusts himself off and fights the power. The boy with the humble mennonite upbringing stands toe to toe with The Man and wins. Glory!

Yes, there's no question, if Landis wins the legal battle and the world learns that he did not cheat he will be the new American hero. The comeback kid. He'll have the world by the tail and will make loads of money. Which brings Elvis to the point; either he cheated and doesn't deserve your nickels, or he didn't and will make more money in the next twelve months than you will in your lifetime. Do you get it now? If you want to feel sorry for someone at least make it someone worth your concern. How about kids in Afghanistan for instance?

Hey Boss! It's $25 to have your picture taken with the Masters Cat 4 leader. Pay up!