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Read Trish's latest column at The Bargain Hunter
Friday, May 30, 2014
Posted by Trish Berg 2:24 PM 0 comments
Over the River
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
had a dream the other night that I was back in my grandma Knoedler's house,
just as I am today, with my husband and four children. We were walking around
the house, and found a secret door to a hidden basement, one that never really
existed in real life. We went down there to discover oak furniture, household
goods, pots and pans that we never knew she had.
Posted by Trish Berg 4:49 AM 0 comments
The 2nd Time Around
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Posted by Trish Berg 8:31 AM 0 comments
November Breezes
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Posted by Trish Berg 4:48 AM 0 comments
The Many Hats I Wear
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Posted by Trish Berg 5:00 AM 1 comments
A Few of Autumn's Blessings
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Posted by Trish Berg 5:36 PM 0 comments
My People
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
I am a people person. I like to hang around folks, talk to them, and relate to them. When I am around people, I feel energized, motivated and encouraged. One downside to this writing career is that a lot of the time, it is me, my rear in the chair, and my fingers on the computer keyboard. No people whatsoever. I do talk to myself, but it doesn't help much.
I tend to feel isolated at times, and for a relational person like myself, that can make me feel sluggish and depressed. And though I like all people, I really love being around women, especially moms. And age doesn't matter, from young moms to grandmas. They are "my" people. They get it, whatever it is. They get me.
They understand that sometimes the doorbell rings and catches you, well, "unsupported." You suddenly have a split second decision to make. Answer the door with your arms folded, or make a mad dash for the laundry hamper to dig out a bra, sprits it with Fabreze and make do.
They understand that sometimes you only have time to shave on leg during your shower until someone, most likely one of your children, comes looking for you.
My people understand that once a month you just don't feel that good. You feel fat, look fat, are tired, cranky and grumpy. And they don't hold that against you.
My people understand why the pair of pants that you wore last week that you thought looked so fantastic are now in the Goodwill donation bag after you saw a picture of yourself wearing them at a family gathering and couldn't believe how unbelievably bad you looked in them. They get that once a pair of pants betray you in print, they must be destroyed- or at least given away.
My people get that when you are on the phone with a girlfriend, you will inevitably have to use the "powder room," and will sit and talk simultaneously. Hey, it may be the only sit down time you have today!
My people understand why there is a secret, hidden bag of chocolate covered pretzels on a shelf behind several serving bowls where only you can get to them, and that you sometimes sneak eat those treats so you don't have to share.
My people understand the need for Spanx to hold everything in without jiggling. In fact, ankle to eyebrow spanx may be the next thing I need, if they could cut in slits so I could see out.
My people get that a guilt-free nap on Sunday afternoon is the best gift you could give on Mother's Day, that is, next to a day at the spa.
My people understand the value of clean underwear, soft slippers and a very strong cup of
coffee to make any day better.
My people get the need for makeup to cover those facial imperfections, the value of deodorant (on me and my kids) and that the cool side of the flipped pillow in the morning are all necessities in a life full of chaos, kids and clutter.
I am a people person. I like to hang around folks, all kinds of folks, talk to them, relate to them, and share my life with them. But women, now we are a different kind of breed. And there is just something reassuring and comforting about hanging out with my kind of people.
Posted by Trish Berg 1:48 PM 0 comments
My Dream for You
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Hannah was born on a rainy October night and from the moment she was born, I knew she would be a snuggler. As a newborn, Hannah loved it best when we held her close. That is when she relaxed most, sleeping on top of us, heartbeat to heartbeat. When we tried to put her in the crib, she kept us up more nights than I care to remember. Hannah was also a fast learner, walking at nine months, repeating our words at one year, and memorizing Goodnight Moon at just under two.
With Hannah's birth, I became a mom, and suddenly it was as if my heart had grown legs and was out there in the great big world, vulnerable and unprotected. This month, Hannah turns eighteen years old, and I am awestruck looking back over the years we have shared.
It is the kind of adventure novels are written about. Life as Hannah's mom is filled with joy and like a roller coaster, I sometimes am caught off guard with the ups, downs, twists and turns.
I have spent a lot of time lately pondering the eighteen years we have had with Hannah and the many more years ahead of her. I have so many dreams for Hannah, so many things I want her to experience.
I want Hannah to enjoy going to college next year, wherever she attends. I want her to find lifelong friends there, people she can share her journey with. I want her to find her passion, a career she can truly love.
I want Hannah to experience failure, and know that she can not only survive, she can thrive through those times. Failure is a part of life, and we grow deeper in our faith and dependence on God through every failure we endure.
I want Hannah to experience success, of acing the exam, getting the job, winning the game. There is nothing like that heart-racing happiness on top of the mountain.
I want Hannah to fall in love. Not that fleeting physical attraction, love-at-first-sight kind of love that fills Hollywood movies, but real love. Agape love. Love that is about sacrifice and commitment. Love that lasts a lifetime in a marriage that lasts a lifetime. I have been praying for her future husband since the moment she was born, and someday, I know we will get to meet him.
Hannah and I are a lot alike in some ways. We are both strong-willed, goal-focused, independent individuals who like to get where we are going on our own. But I want Hannah to know that it is Ok to depend on God, to know that He will always be there and that His grace is always sufficient.
Hannah came into my life on a rainy October night and she made me a mom. I know that I am far from perfect, and I just hope I have been the mom she needed me to be. I am so proud of the young woman she has become, the faithful follower of Christ. And though she may not remember all of the words to Goodnight Moon, I hope she remembers how very much her dad and I love and cherish her.
My dreams for Hannah are too many to recount because life is an adventure you can only experience yourself. No matter what life brings, one thing is for sure. She has made all of my dreams come true.
Happy eighteenth birthday Hannah.
Posted by Trish Berg 6:00 AM 0 comments
Autumn Breezes
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
I love fall. It is, hands down, my favorite time of the year. As the temperatures cool off, the leaves change colors and the autumn breezes fill the air with an aroma of pumpkin and spice and everything nice. Well, that may be my candle scenting the air, but nonetheless, the scents of autumn are the best in the world.
There is something about autumn that warms my soul. I love wearing fuzzy socks and snuggling under warm quilts. I love making hot cocoa with mini-marshmallows and popping popcorn. I love wearing sweaters and turtlenecks, jackets, scarves and hats.
So many things have happened in my life in the fall. It is a real time of change for me, and though not every change is a good change, change is a part of life. Change might be the only constant we have to hold on to. Every autumn, I am reminded of those life changes as if they blow in on the cool breezes and whisper in my ear.
I left for college in the fall, and remember feeling scared and excited all at the same time. As excited as I was to be starting a new journey in my life, I was scared to death about being on my own. I could tell you it was a wonderful experience, but to be honest, my freshman year of college was sort of a nightmare. I had a roommate who was toxic and was more than two hours from home, lonely and isolated. I transferred to a different school before Christmas, and moved back home. Every fall those memories feel like old friends, reminding me that we do get second chances.
I met my husband, Michael, in the fall. He as playing football at Baldwin-Wallace University and we were in stats class together. From our first date to sitting at every football game cheering him on, I have so many wonderful memories from that first fall we were together. We spent time walking on campus, studying for classes and realizing that life together was much better than life apart. Meeting Michael changed my life forever and he is my constant in this crazy world of change no matter what season it is.
I lost my dad in the fall. After spending months running back and forth to several hospitals to be with my dad, he finally succumbed to his illness and passed away in November sixteen years ago. In many ways, it feels like yesterday, and yet it was a lifetime ago. Every fall, I am surrounded by memories of my dad, the times he played skip-to-my-lou on his guitar, the Jimmy Buffet concert we went to and adventures we shared in San Francisco, New York and Florida. My dad moved around a lot, and though I didn't get to see him much, the time we did have together was precious. When he died, I had to let go of so much, and yet I hold on to the memories. They visit me every autumn.
The autumn breezes are rustling through the trees and the colors are changing by the day. I have stocked up on hot coca and marshmallows, and pulled out all of my sweaters and fuzzy socks. I bought a pumpkin and spice candle, and am anxious to get out all of my fall decorations to beautify the house. I just love autumn. And though some of my autumn memories are sad, they are mine. Like old friends they stop by for a warm cup of tea to share time with me.
And once again, I open my soul and welcome them in.
Posted by Trish Berg 7:04 AM 0 comments
10 Things Google Can't Answer
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Today's the age of information. You can pretty much Google anything online and the answer to your most pressing question is at your fingertips. Watching Little House on the Prairie re-suns and wonder how many other shows Michael Landon starred in? Google it. Hungry for a hearty meal, just google to find out where the best burger place. Wonder what time Los Tios closes? Goggle away. Even if you wondered how many "I's" are actually in the word Mississippi, it's all there for you to find in a nano-second.
So I decided to see what the top Google searchers were and here goes. As of September 18th, the top searches include iTunes, Trent Richardson (thanks to the Browns), harvest moon, Survivor, national cheeseburger day and national talk like a pirate day. All the answers we need are there, if we simply Google it.
But there are some questions that cannot be answered trough Google. I have given this a great deal of thought and have come up with ten questions Google will not answer for you.
One. Why do we all want to be forgiven and yet we find it so difficult to forgive others?
Two. Why is it so difficult to get children to want to go to bed at night and yet so impossible to get them out of bed in the morning?
Three. Why do my appliances seem to collude with each other and all break down at the same time?
Four. Why does summer always fly by so quickly?
Five. How do I let my children grow up and become independent and still protect them from life's hurts?
Six. Why does it feel like we have a lump in our throat when our hearts get broken?
Seven. Why do I feel like I am twenty-four on the inside but my body feels like I am sixty-four on the outside?
Eight. Why did I walk uphill both ways when I went to school, and why was it always raining?
Nine. Why do I always lose my temper when I am hurt and hurt when others lose their temper with me?
Ten. Why doesn't God shine a spotlight onto our path and shout directions in our ears when He wants us to move in a certain direction?
I guess even Google doesn't have all of the answers, even in the age of information. I might be able to find the best burger place on national cheeseburger day and how to spell Mississippi correctly, but I will never discover the real why's of life on Google, no matter how hard I try or how great my key words may be. So where does that leave us?
I guess life is full of more questions than answers, and it is a struggle each day to discover the answers we are seeking. Life is messy. Get over it. Life is hard. Learn to deal with it. Life is a contradiction most of the time and we are left to find our way down a bumpy path lined with what if's and where to's.
Maybe instead of trusting Google, we can put our trust in God, who created us and loves us. Even in our questioning, if we can trust the One who does hold the answers, we can find a sense of peace. And maybe that's all we can hope for.
Avast and shiver me timbers. You might even discover your swashbuckling swagger and avoid walking the plank. Arrrrr.
You gotta love Google.
Posted by Trish Berg 7:03 AM 0 comments
When Life Goes Wrong
Friday, September 27, 2013
When life goes wrong, what is a mom to do? We face so many challenges each day, and we have to find a way to put it all together again. Like piecing together Humpty Dumpty after his fall, moms are responsible for piecing together the puzzles of life whether things go well or not. It's a big job, but somebody's got to do it – and I guess that falls to mom.
Sometimes the bump in the road is a fairly small one, like being told at nine-thirty at night that your child is responsible for bringing hot dogs and hamburger for the entire marching band for their tail-gating the very next night. Guess mom will make a grocery store run after work tomorrow.
Then there's the missing homework assignment that forces mom to become Sherlock Holmes as she investigates all of the who, where, when and how, and ends up calling another student to obtain a photocopy of the assignment.
Oh, there's the slip-and-fall on the rocks at Edgewater Park that bring mom to meet you and dad at the ER to hold your hand while you get stitches in your leg. There's the broken oven that causes mom to get creative like Emeril and figure out how to cook everything on the stove-top burners or in the crockpot until there is enough money in the budget for a repair.
Oh, and yes, the bills and budget that seem to always be looming, calling my name, due dates that sneak up on us, unexpected car repairs, plumbing issues and appliances that seem to be colluding to all break at the same time.
Yes, when life goes wrong, mom is there for you because that is her job.
But mom is also there when life goes right.
When you win the trophy for showmanship at the county fair, mom is there to take your picture, hug you and embrace your joy. When you lead the marching band through the halftime show by twirling your baton, mom is there to cheer you on as you shine. When you visit colleges trying to figure out where to attend, mom is there to listen to your heart. And when you run the race mom is there along the path to clap and encourage your every step.
Moms have great big jobs, and sometimes it is utterly overwhelming. I know I feel completely under-prepared for the tasks at hand and if I spend too much time pondering the job requirements, I want to crawl under a blanket and not come out until spring.
But I can't – because I' the mom.
It has often been said, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, and I can see why. Moms are the barometer of the family, and if we allow life's demands to get us down, it will also drag our families down.
So, mom, chin up. Take a deep breath, let your shoulders relax, and take a step forward today. It may be an uphill climb, but you will get there, one step at a time. And when you hit those bumps in your road, when life goes wrong, remember that we were never promised a rose garden. Life is hard. Life is long and life is exhausting.
But when you get to the end of your day, you can rest easy, mom, when all of life's wrong moments have been made right with a simple "I love you, mom" hug from one of your kiddos.
And that makes life so right.
Posted by Trish Berg 7:03 AM 0 comments
Meet Me At The Fair
Why does it sometimes feel like I am running up a down escalator? I keep waiting to catch up on life's demands, and the more I hope to catch up, the more I feel behind. I would love to reach the point in my life when I wake up in the morning and not have a to-do list haunting me even before I finish my shower or first cup of coffee. In fact, usually when the alarm clock goes off, I wake up to the thoughts of a mad-woman listing in her mind what must be done th9at day. Bills need to be paid. There is a cross country meet at four. Those papers I never graded were due last week. The oven stopped working and we need to order that heating element. The kitchen sink started leaking and oh yes, my newspaper column is late again.
I like to think of myself as a well-put-together woman, but the reality is I am a mess. I would like to have a constantly clean house, but the reality is it boasts that lived-in look with clutter here and there and laundry at various stages on every level. I would like to be able to get ahead of my to-do list, but the reality is that most days, my to-do list does me in.
Isn't that the funny thing about women? We put so much pressure on ourselves to be so good at everything we do and to get it right that we never seem to measure up to our own expectations. I look at other women in my life and they seem to have it all together. They seem to have cleaner houses, washed laundry and less stress.
But let me tell you a little secret. Shhhh…don't tell anyone.
None of us have it all together. Period.
We have just mastered the art of faking it.
To the outside world, I probably look organized, confident and calm. On the inside I am a cluttered, insecure mess. I just hide it really well.
So what does that mean for you? Well, first of all, I am hoping you won't blow my cover. Secondly, I am hoping we can all give each other a break and not be too judgmental towards one another.
When you see me at Buehler's in paint-splattered sweat pants with no make up on, just smile and know that I am doing my best.
When you hear that I forgot about some committee meeting at church, trust that I truly meant to go and feel horrible that I forgot about it.
So I will keep running even though it feels like the escalator keeps getting steeper. I will keep waking up to the to-do list in my head and try to at least get one cup of coffee in before I panic. I will try to face each day with a smile and the faith that can only come from God above.
Though I may not a well-put-together woman, my mess is my own, and without the clutter and chaos of this life's journey, life would seem rather dull. I am reminded of the country song by Phil Vassar that says:
"Well, it's ok. It's so nice
It's just another day in paradise
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise."
So I will embrace my paradise.
How about you?
Posted by Trish Berg 7:02 AM 0 comments
Running Behind
It's just another day in paradise
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise."
Posted by Trish Berg 7:02 AM 0 comments
Sweet SIxteen
Posted by Trish Berg 7:01 AM 0 comments


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Police say the vet was tied up in his home Thursday morning and robbed by a...
Young Professionals
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Jamie Benn leads Dallas Stars in 2-1 win over Calgary Flames
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Chris Williams won't call them fat guys — he refers to them as "pleasantly plump" — but there's little question the Hamilton Ticats dynamic kick returner is aware of the physics of special teams: that large, slow bodies often have trouble catching a smaller but substantially faster one.
Williams has used this basic premise to his advantage this season, running back three kicks for touchdowns, including two last week in Hamilton's 36-27 win over the Argos. His 119-yard missed-field-goal return — one of three such returns across the league in 2012 — was a key turning point in the victory and helped earn him CFL special teams player-of-the-week honours Tuesday.
"There are guys out there that aren't used to covering a lot of space so, when you get them in those positions, you take can advantage of them," said Williams, generously listed at 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds.
"It'd be like me going to the defensive line and trying to pass rush."
Hamilton head coach George Cortez has experienced both ends of the pointy special-teams stick: While Williams has carved up opposing coverage units, B.C.'s Tim Brown ran roughshod over the Ticats in Week 2, piling up almost 300 return yards and a score in the Lions' 39-36 victory. And, across the league, there have been seven kick returns for touchdowns so far this season — through just three weeks — after there were just eight in all of 2011.
"There's outstanding returners on almost every team, it's a gigantically wide field and it only takes one guy to be in the wrong spot sometimes and the guy is going to the house," Cortez said. "When your offensive linemen are on the field — and it's no offence to them — they just aren't built to run down the field and tackle a Chris Williams or a Larry Taylor (a returner for the Calgary Stampeders)."
Like most teams, the Ticats use a different personnel package for long field goals but must balance the need to cover a miss with the more pressing requirement of protecting the kicker and holder. In other words, you need some beef.
"Even when we put the defensive guys out there, it's defensive linemen and linebackers — it's not like you have 11 defensive backs to cover," Cortez said.
Ticats kicker Luca Congi is a perfect three-for-three on his trey attempts so far this season and he says he doesn't worry about the possible consequences of missing the space between the uprights.
"I just focus on what I have to do to make it, I can't be thinking about anything else," Congi said. "The best strategy for covering a miss is not to have to do it at all."
But kickers aren't perfect, a fact that Williams seems more than happy to take advantage of. Now in his second year with the Ticats — he was the league's most outstanding rookie in 2011 — the 24-year-old is able to capitalize on his experience.
"I wouldn't say it's getting easier but, as you learn more, you can do your job a little bit better," Williams said. "The guys in front of me are blocking well. I'm finding little lanes and hitting them hard. Once I get to that second level, I know that it's just a kicker and maybe one other guy to beat."
The role of the other players on the return team is another, largely unheralded, element to Williams' success this season.
Special-teams co-ordinator Jim Daley said there were three outstanding blocks on Williams' 109-yard TD scamper: one each from linebackers Jamall Johnson and Rey Williams and one final door-opener by 270-pound defensive lineman Ronnell Brown, who ran 40 yards down the field at full sprint to help spring Williams.
"Chris gives you tremendous opportunity and the players around him give you the tremendous execution that gives him a chance at success," Daley said.
There's one other factor that sets Williams apart: He actually enjoys returning kicks. Many players in his position — established as a starter on offence and playing 65 snaps a game — don't like the extra work and risk involved.
"I love doing special teams. It's different and really exciting," Williams said. "Any time I can help our offence, give us better field position, it's a huge plus for us."
NOTES: The Ticats appear to be remarkably healthy: Centre Marwan Hage practised Tuesday after missing last week with a hamstring pull, linebacker Rey Williams seemed to be experiencing no ill-effects after playing on a bum ankle Saturday and defensive end Greg Peach was full-go for the first time since training camp. ... For Montreal, defensive end John Bowman (knee) and offensive tackle Josh Bourke (ankle) are both questionable, while reports indicate corner Dwight Anderson may be ready to return from a finger injury.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Ending Violence Against Women Campaign
I have more than thirty-years experience developing organizations, project management, training, campaigning, and representation to government. Angela's expertise includes policy development and inter-agency work within the women's movement and the wider NGO (voluntary) sector on Domestic and Sexual Violence.
During a decade of growing Alpha Studio, I have created an innovative business development model known as PORT: Personal and Organizational Resilience and Transformation. This addresses the well-being of people within organizations as well as development of managerial skills and accountability that recognizes the centrality of people to the change process in a changing environment.
PORT facilitates and encourages development. Find out more on my web site/ blogs:
The 1970′s shift in awareness was and is global; it functions through local community based activism that provides most of the services to provide refuge an end abuse . Women and children are supported to get housing and support and access to better legal intervention through cooperative social and political action. The movement was soon connecting women across the planet; the involvement of young women resulted in women dedicated to this form of service for a lifetime, ensuring its stability, intrinsic wisdom and continuation.
Current creative action includes the film festival scene : Gulabi Gang has won the top prize at the Norwegian Short Film Festival in Grimstad, where it was screened publicly for the very first time. Director Nishtha Jain and Gulabi Gang leader Sampat Pal were in Norway for the Premiere of Gulabi Gang, and accepted the Golden Chair award for Best Norwegian Documentary in June 2012. The jury of the film festival said:
Violence against women is violence against the entire society. When authorities are indifferent hope is placed in the hands of brave individuals, in this case; the director and her main character. Armed with words, the fearless protagonist finds herself face to face with unendurable situations in her struggle against oppression of women. Rather than witnessing the struggle from the outside, the film pulls us into the blazing conflicts and gets our hearts pumping.
Members of the jury were: Leonard Retel Helmrich, Jesper Bergom-Larsson og Karin Pennanen.
Short Film Festival website: www.kortfilmfestivalen.no
Dear Anjela,
Thanks for sharing that on your post.
Merlin Sharontina


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Concept laptop missing kitchen sink, has rest of kitchen
You know what your life is missing? A laptop that can grate cheese. And then cook up a burger to put that cheese on. No, it's not ridiculous, it's... Well, fine. It's ridiculous. But I want it.
Who else but Electrolux would promote the sort of ludicrous conceptual thinking that would lead a designer to think, "hey, yeah, I should combine a laptop with a stove! And a cutting board! And a cheese grater!" No matter how impractical it may be, we can all be glad that such a design has come into existence (conceptual existence, anyway), and you can admire it in the gallery below.
Dragan Trenchevski, via Yanko


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Student Professional Development Program "Gets Professional!"
The UW-Eau Claire College of Business Student Professional Development Program (SPDP) has revised the Professional Etiquette workshop. Starting this semester, the workshop will include a networking and dining experience with industry professionals. Students will now learn what it means to host a client during a business dinner.
Completion of the first three SPDP workshops is required before attending the Professional Etiquette banquet. Training previously delivered in the old format will now be incorporated into the initial three workshops.
To prepare students for the Professional Etiquette banquet, dining etiquette training will be offered to students who completed the first three SPDP workshops prior to this semester. This training is highly recommended.
"Students should remember that they will be hosting business professionals as their guests," said Sheryl Poirier, SPDP coordinator. "We want you to be prepared!"
The first dining etiquette training is scheduled for Wednesday, February 13 in the Davies Center Centennial Room at the following times: 12 noon, 3 pm, and 8 pm. Space is limited. Please RSVP to firstname.lastname@example.com. Dress is casual and training will not exceed 1 hour.
For more information, contact Sheryl Poirier, SPDP coordinator, at email@example.com.


text:
premium services
directory services
customer care
China acquires stake in Uralkali
11:31 AM MDT | September 24, 2013
Uralkali (Berezniki, Russia), one of the world's largest producers of potash, says it has been informed by Chengdong Investment Corp. (CIC) that CIC has acquired a 12.5% stake in Uralkali. CIC is a unit of sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. (Beijing). CIC acquired the stake by converting bonds into ordinary shares of Uralkali. CIC purchased the bonds in November 2012 from Russian billionaires Suleiman Kerimov, Filaret Galtchev, and Anatoly Skurov. Kerimov, Galtchev, and Skurov are each major shareholders in Uralkali. The acquired stake is worth about $2...
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text:
Daniel Benson is the managing editor of cyclingnews.com, and he graciously allowed me to pester him with emails over an extended period of time, here is what transpired.
schmalz As the editor of a site that has a forum attached to it, have you ever posted something that hasn't been described as "the worst piece of biased junk ever written"?
Benson You mean have I ever posted a story that didn't generate opinion? Lots and lots, I'm sure.
I'm a bit of a 'lurker' when it comes to the CN forums and especially the Clinic. Any time I do have for the forums is spent talking to the great moderators we have in there.
Back to the question though, I've certainly seen comments relating to my own copy that have called me biased, and the like. As the editor I'm the first port of call for complaints. I remember one reader emailed in their reaction to the fact we were running an Ivan Basso blog back in 2009. 'You don't deserve to have kids' was one line from the email. That's probably true, but at the same time you get a pretty thick skin when it comes to reporting cycling. It's a sport that people love and with passion comes divided and sometimes fierce opinions. You just have to shrug your shoulders at that sometimes. It's always nice to have praise for your work, whether it's from cycling fans or your colleagues but at the end of the day it's all fleeting. On CN we write so many stories that the last one is quickly forgotten.
So to pick up on a story I wrote about Armstrong some time back, I had emails saying I was 'a joke for going after him' and then I'd receive another email saying 'nice job'.
schmalz Well done, you redirected my question to a format more amenable to your bias—you sir are a master manipulator! I think you deserve many children.
It seems that the future of journalism will be online, but do you think that having direct and immediate input from readers is helpful? Does that reader feedback ever affect your take on a story?
Benson Ha, thanks. Now I feel bad for my future children Ivan and Elisa.
I still think that's a really bold statement to make with regards to the future of the media. The landscape is certainly shifting but the generation or age of readers who prefer picking up a magazine is still immense. Example, if I ask my staff if they'd rather receive a copy of Procycling in the post or view it online, they'll all pick the glossy format that drops through their letterbox (at a great rate too) once a month. And, some of the best writers, within sport at least, have a writing style that's still designed and tailor-made to magazine, broadsheet style journalism. And long may that continue.
But of course, realism comes into play and as I said the landscape of journalism is changing, and print is dying—and you can look at twitter, facebook, blogs, niche of niche websites. That side of growth and development is fantastic and you've got to embrace part of that but at the same time journalism and readers aren't one and the same. So lets say there's a really controversial story doing the rounds in private circles: a guy or girl with a blog can pick that up, run the most superfluous story without out any fact checking or real insight but because it's controversial it can be seen as hard hitting journalism (by some). They won't get sued but that's not journalism. So as much as you want to put faith in the people that bring you the news, you want that relationship to be mutual.
And I like reader feedback. I have a folder in outlook that has all the responses to our redesign from 2009. I kept them all and some (in fact most) of the feedback wasn't pretty. You have to keep that with you though so you don't make the same mistakes twice and secondly because they've taken the time to write to you, appreciate that! Sometimes when we're about to change elements on the site I go in and look at the feedback.
Before I go off on even more of a tangent—user/reader feedback can honestly be very helpful. Sometimes forum users are the ones in the know, they know more than us sometimes. There's maybe a perception that because we're in the press and we see the riders all the time that we know more than we're letting on. Okay, sometimes that is actually true, I know of one team boss who turned up drunk for a team presentation a year or two ago and it wasn't reported, but at the same time we (the press) are sometimes one step behind the fans, the bloggers, the readers. And that's why embracing the changing landscape of journalism is uber important.
schmalz Ivan and Elisa will be fine, but they will be a little jealous it when little Lance comes along.
Personally, I predict that certain publications will disappear or be radically changed. Printed newspapers, for example, cannot keep up with the internet as far as news goes, but I think longer form writing and reporting will stay strong (or get even stronger) in the world of "paper". I also predict that we will have some really great flying cars in about 3 years also, so take any of my predictions with a grain of salt.
Cycling News gets a lot of heat for translating and using other foreign publications as sources for stories, is there an official company stance on using other publications as sources?
Benson In a few years time we'll all be holograms. That's my prediction for the day.
Seriously though, it's really tough out there for print publications and publishers. They're forced to simply give away their content now online. For free. If you stand back and think about that it's a pretty incredible situation.
Back to CN, do we really get that much 'heat?' I've seen a few comments but just a few. Our policy is that if there's news out there to be had we either want to be first to it or post it as soon as we can. Often news is first in other countries and I don't see any problems with us translating quotes from that and sourcing where it came from. We always source where we've got news from. At the end of the day we're a service and between us two right here we can barely claim to know one single language, let alone 2, 3 or four, so our service lies in providing English-speaking cycling fans with the best news possible. If that comes from a story in Gazetta that's fine, we'll make sure that's clear in the text. No news website out there provides solely original news, look at the BBC, The Post, etc, etc. We want to provide a complete service. I think our readers want that too.
There's this myth that we're this huge team too. I remember Tan Man talking to me at the Tour last year and he was really surprised by how small our team is, considering the amount of work we push through. That's really flattering, actually. We're a really small team but we all bust a gut for each other and work really hard. Too hard sometimes.
schmalz You do get heat for the translating, but mostly from internet people, who may or may not be holograms. I think you get the attention because you are the biggest cycling website in the world (you are, don't be modest), and with that size comes a lot of attention. And you guys are disappointingly small, I was expecting legions of writers, but that's not the case. Your office parties must be really lame.
How big is the pressure to be first to post on big stories? Is there any pressure at all?
Benson Our office parties can be hit and miss. Not like the good old days at Rodale, when it felt like any deed could be backed up with saying 'I've got diplomatic immunity'. But they're still good. Last year Future had one of guys from Massive Attack DJ for our xmas do. My, how the mighty have fallen.
Back to work: There's pressure, yes, but I don't know how you quantify that. We don't set ourselves targets per month or have an office bell for when we break stories but there's an ingrained philosophy within the team that being the first publication to break a story is important. We have steps we take for covering major races but it only comes together and works well when we communicate. We're dotted all over the world so it's imperative that the teams talks. Very rarely that slips—mainly because of me—but 95% of the time we're spot on.
At the end of the day, there's always big stories and the next one is just around the corner. So, for example, Velonews beat us to the Armstrong comeback news in 2008 and that had huge global exposure but we've given them a few back since then. The really big stories that involve the FDA, Hamilton and Landis, we'll always struggle with simply because we don't have the expertise, time or recourse that the WSJ or NT has.
You're always going to miss the occasional story. There's no point in getting shitty about that. You just have to think, okay where's the reaction piece, what's the next angle to take?
schmalz I'm sure you're a hit with all the bartenders at your office parties (that's an inside joke readers...).
I think the "first to post" thing really only lasts about 20 minutes. For example, we beat Velonews to the punch about the Armstrong comeback, but that was only because we had a mysterious source tip us off (who we still don't know the identity of).
How much cloak and dagger goes on in your world? How much of what you hear can you write about? And, please tell me who the drunk DS is that you mentioned before...
Benson These off topic bits are part of the interview?? I just thought you were just buttering me up.
So here's an example… the 2008 Tour has finished and there's a buzz that a number of Saxo Bank and HTC riders were going to get popped for CERA. It never happened and was barely touched on but there were a lot of names being thrown around at the time. You hear a lot of info about riders in transfer talks as well. So for example, Riis trying to negotiate with a Sky rider during the Worlds in Copenhagen at the back of a nightclub. That may or may not be true but I choose to believe it is.
But you do hear a lot of information that you can't use. Whether it's extra information a source has given you or simply things you choose not to print because the information supplied hasn't got anything to do with the sport cycling.
Joking aside, there are doping cases still in the pipeline that you get wind of but you can't immediately run. An example being a former Fly-V rider that was busted last year. That was an ongoing piece that I couldn't print right away but in the end it all came out. Our Australian Editor Jane, who you've met, spent a lot of time uncovering stories about Fly-V and Pegasus too. That took a lot of time and effort.
schmalz It must be a bit maddening for you to have sift through all the innuendo stuff (how would you prove Bjarne tried to negotiate in a night club? Maybe he was just asking the rider in question to teach him how to Dougie...), you covered other sports (I think)—are they as full of rumors as cycling is?
Benson I worked at Runner's World but we barely touched international sport there. Bjarne invented the dougie.
schmalz OK, since you are the most powerful man in internet bike race reporting (shut up, you know you are), you had contact with many racers. Personally, I think it's rare to find a racer that is interesting, and that's fine, they are paid to race bikes, not to be good copy. Was there any particular racer you had a really hard time talking to?
Benson Mainly because I've messed something up. For two year's running I went up to Monfort and asked him how pleased he was to be the top French rider at the Tour de France during the race. The first year there was a long pause before he looked at me and said 'I'm Belgian'. I think the second year he just looked at me and asked 'what's wrong with you?' Saying that, he's really polite, friendly and helpful. And most pros are, I should add. It's rare that they can be difficult or hard to talk to and they're like all of us—they have bad moods, they have ideas about certain journalists and they don't like to be messed around. I mean, just imagine how many times Cavendish is asked the same question, how many times he has to repeat himself. Yes, he's paid a substantial salary but that's because he's the best in the world at what he does, but he's still just one of us essentially and everyone has their levels of tolerance.
It's sometimes about timing too. I remember a stage of the 2009 Tour when Wiggins lost a few seconds to Armstrong, Frank Schleck won the stage. I was the only journo to wait for Wiggins at the finish and I was sprinting in order to get a quote from him. He was just freewheeling to the bus I asked him about the stage and he just ignored me. I asked him again and all he would say was 'I don't know, you watched it on TV'. That was it. Fast forward a few months later and I had 25 minutes with him at the team camp and he was friendly, interesting and insightful. You just have to accept that sometimes riders aren't going to make your job easier. But that's what makes athletes so fascinating to talk to, isn't it? The fact that you can ask them a question and you don't know what you'll get back. I don't bear any grudges when I'm talking to a rider and even if a rider hasn't been great or has remained silent in one instance, I'll always try again another day.
There are riders that just won't talk though and there's no point in naming them. There's a rider who refused to shake my hand once—fair enough I guess, I do look like a hobo.
schmalz I would like to have Ted King at every race, just so I could read what he had to say about the race afterwards, but I think he's the rare racer who writes well. How do you go about finding riders to write journals for cyclingnews? And how do you deal with them after they've lost interest in writing their journals in about April or so?
Benson Ah, you asked me about riders who had been difficult, not riders who I enjoy interviewing. Same Tour in 2009 and Vande Velde has lost major time on a mountain stage. Some riders would be so pissed they go to the team bus, shut the door and you don't hear from them again—and again fair enough to them. But this guy goes into the bus, has questions fired at him from the door and says, 'can I just get a coke first and then I'll come out?' he then just sits down and gives us 10 mins. The press are just there to do a job, get quotes and stories and file them asap. Times like that make it so much easier.
With our journals, or blogs as we like to call them, we pick based on a number of elements. We have strong audiences in the US, Australia and the UK, so chances are some of the writers will come from there. Secondly, we ask riders who we think will entertain our readers. I know what you're saying about the motivational elements. So we try and select riders based on races. For example, Rogers during the 2010 Tour, Haussler during the Classics, Pinotti during the Giro. There are some longstanding bloggers like Rory and some very good ones from our MTB coverage and we're really grateful to all of them for the effort they put in. Sitting down after a race which you've probably not won, and have probably had your arse kicked in, and then having to write about it for a global audience isn't exactly easy.
schmalz I just assumed that everyone already knew that VDV was dreamy. It must be hard to continually find interesting things to say throughout a three week tour, it gets monotonous just watching them sometimes, not to mention trying to write a journal after a 6 hours day on the bike. I would like to see a Vino blog though, just to read what goes on in his mind. I wonder if he has delusions of grandeur or if there's just a constant white noise like a TV tuned to the wrong channel.
Benson A Vino blog? I'm not sure how that would play out. I'd like Hondo or Kloden to write. Hondo simply because he seems like a true character. Within the press, well between me and one other journalist, Hondo is the training camp specialist. There was a time in 2009/10 and he seemed to be at every camp we turned up at, always smiling, always tanned, always covered in bling. It was almost as if he was peaking for training camps. Maybe he likes the food.
Then in 2011 at the training camp haven that is Mallorca it became somewhat of a Fight Club pastiche. We moved from camp to camp on the look out for Hondo, from Sky, Lotto, Leopard, it was as if he was one step ahead. Then we bumped into Holm outside the HTC hotel one morning. 'Oh you missed him, he went home this morning.' I looked up into the sky and saw this plane go by. I'd like to think he was sitting up there looking down at us and smiling.
Next year Danilo, next year.
schmalz I think it's smart that Hondo peaks for training camps, it's too bad he wasn't on Leopard for the scarf show. I think team presentations are some of the strangest events I have ever seen.
Kloden doesn't strike me as that compelling, but you get Kroon a blog and now you're talking!
Benson I've only been in the sport for a few years so I wasn't around for team presentations like Le Groupment in 1995 but they're certainly special.
For me, Kloden, if you just take his racing brain and knowledge about racing and how to read a bike race, is up there with some of the best. I can't imagine him working in the German media when he finishes the sport though…
schmalz Yeah, that's not going to happen. So when cyclingnews finally ventures in live TV coverage (or just has people talking over the live TV feed like everyone else), who would you have on the coverage team?
Benson If I could pick any team? That's a great question.
In the studio: Kelly, Harmon and Daniel Lloyd.
Interviewing riders: Frankie and Betsy. And Gary Imlach simply because I grew up enjoying his coverage. He's still the best.
schmalz How long would the roadside segments last before someone took a swing at Betsy? I think Creed has a future in broadcasting, but he is really weird looking.
Benson You mean how long before BETSY took a swing at someone, right?
schmalz True, those skinny guys don't stand a chance. What's the subject or individual that generally causes the most reaction on the site? If you were to try and write the perfect story to blow up the internet, what would it be about?
Benson That's a difficult one to answer. If you want a story that's going to traffic well then you essentially want images of Contador and Riis skydiving—like we had last month. It's that simply. Stories like that are the 'shit small races' of journalism as Cav would say because they're wins and they don't constitute that much work. But in terms of a story that you know will get picked up by other sources, then it has to revolve around a key personality, like Landis, Armstrong, Contador and it has to be exclusive. Then in order for it to generate further publicity with the mainstream media it invariably needs to be around the subject of doping. Depressing in some ways. The perfect story that combines all of that is perhaps a rider going to jail on drug charges and then having a gallery of images of Riis and Contador parachuting in and organising a prison break. This is cycling, stranger things have happened.
schmalz Speaking of strange things happening, what's your take on the internet's citizen-journalists? And be kind, I kind of consider myself one of those...
Benson We touched on that before. There are great writers out there doing great things. Inner Ring is a good example of that, you and Andy, the Overlord and his crew and CFA. I guess some editors feel as though it's a threat and I know some freelancers can certainly think that way but at the end of the day people are out there doing their thing and the cream is always going to rise to the top. I don't think there's a threat or competition in that, just different perspectives. Are fans going to go to your site for comprehensive news? Are they going to come to CN for Toto or the New York bike scene? I'd like to think they'd check both sites out.
And on CN we've worked with Inner Ring. Last year at the Tour he provided us with a blog, which was very popular on our site. Like I said before, being first to news is important but you can't guarantee that 100 per cent of the time so you have to think about a bigger picture—embrace what else is out there and work with it.
schmalz I know we talked about that before, I was just fishing for a compliment. No one comes to our site for news, they come to call us terrible terrible names. It's very odd, we get killed on the comments section of our site—yet people on twitter seems to like us.
And Cyclingnews should totally buy us—how do we get that deal done?
Benson Are you sure you want that? We'd make everything on the site purple.
schmalz You can turn us any color you want, but no argyle.
Benson Sell-outs
schmalz We're not sell outs if no one is buying...
Benson That's the perfect strap line to go under your logo.
schmalz Are we done? I haven't even asked who's on drugs or whether Pat McQuaid is going to be the head of nothing next year...
Benson Question?
schmalz That was the question: who's on drugs and what are the chances of a breakaway league happening?
Benson The breakaway league… As far as I'm aware there are two options on the table—literally—a Belgian consortium called Cycling 2012 and then the Gifted Group/Rothschild posse. Gifted appear to be the stronger of the two but from what I understand they need a number of signatures from top level teams in order to trigger movement and investment. I think the number is 14 and that's 14 World Tour teams, so Skil, Team Type 1, even if they were interested, aren't eligible. Again, from what I've been told they're not at 14 yet.
Will all of it happen? One of the men leading this is a former head of G14, a consortium of rich soccer clubs that moved against FIFA. That movement ultimately disbanded but they did force a number of concessions from their sport's governing body over a number of years. I can certainly envisage something similar in cycling but I don't know enough about the league to say yes or no.
There's certainly activity that's going on in the background and based on what's been reported, the press probably only know a fraction of what's going on. What interesting is that Vaughters who is normally quite vocal on the government of the sport, has remained tight-lipped on all this for a number of months. We've seen Bruyneel and few others talk publicly about a breakaway but Vaughters has said nothing. My guess is that he's waiting for something to happen.
schmalz Is the notion of a breakaway league just simply a rejection of the way the UCI is currently running things?
Benson The breakaway league from what I understand is a reaction from a number of teams, supported by financial backers who have had enough of the current system. They seem tired and frustrated by the restraints, government and rules slapped on them by the UCI.
They're calling, at least publicly, for more structure so that they can safeguard their investment. What this all revolves around though is money and power. Both sides will claim to be safeguarding the sport but that simply isn't possible as they're both poles apart in terms of plan and scope. For all the faults people have levelled at the UCI there's a lot of work they do behind the scenes that doesn't generate headlines, that isn't even that bloody interesting, but it keep wheels turning.
You're going to ask me about Pat and the UCI aren't you?
schmalz Yes, I am. What kind of job do you think they are doing?
Benson That depends on what element you're focussing on. If you want to talk about anti-doping then you have to look at recent WADA comments about the passport being a useful tool and part of the fabric of the fight against anti doping. Go look at other sports like football, soccer rugby and you'll find athletes testing positive and competing within a number of weeks, or weak lame excuses accepted by governing bodies and national federations and then not acted upon by the governing body. I can't think of a sport where anti doping is put under more of a microscope. Now, of course that's not all driven by the UCI but I believe they have taken steps in the right direction. Some of them they had to take, some of them they didn't but fuck me if this sport isn't a minefield where you're not just dodging the next explosion but the hundreds of skeletons along the way.
And globalising the sport, well there's nothing wrong with that in principle. The more people we have on bikes whether it's through sport, commuting, or just public health, that's a win. No one that loves the bike can turn their nose up that. How you get to that point that's the hard part and you're never going to get there by pleasing everyone you meet or come into contact with. But this year we had a major bike race, with some of the best athletes in the world competing in China. Would we have had that 8 years ago? no chance, and sure, there weren't many spectators, and sure the race was over by the end of stage 1 but hell, it's a start and it's a promising one. Don't you and everyone else want cycling to be a global sport, where sponsors come in, invest in talent, invest in the future and grow our sport? Races like Beijing can potentially help with that but the hard work starts here, it's not just about setting up a race. The UCI, for all their stumbles, their miss-judged comments, and their murky past are trying to do good things.
I met Rumpft earlier this year and I spent a couple of hours with him. He's seen it all, he's been with the UCI for many years, but talking to him, seeing how convinced he was over a number of subjects, that gave me some faith that the governing body are progressing.
They can always do more. The lack of testing at the TOC this year, when they had a chance of letting USADA do the leg work, the handling of the Contador case, the structure of the transfer and licensing commission—they're all good examples where more needs to be done.
schmalz I think that globalization is a good idea, we could even someday have cycling in the American South! But I'm not sure whether the UCI is pushing for globalization for the betterment of cycling or for the betterment of the UCI, which may not be the same thing necessarily...
Benson I see what you're saying. GCP is a revenue stream for the UCI. They've never hidden that fact and Rumft and co share offices with the governing body so there's that too. But they incur costs for testing and case law with the likes of Pelizotti, Contador etc. Maybe they get the legal fees paid when they win cases, that's worth finding out actually.
Five years ago you didn't have passport programme though, and that takes cash, and that needs to come from somewhere. The teams, they pay for a certain amount of their testing but after that it all falls on the UCI.
The betterment of cycling… you can debate on that until the steaks come home. I mean, is reporting on doping good for the sport? There are those out there that would argue it isn't. There really are!
schmalz I think we can all agree on one thing—reporters are bad people.
There's a lot of people in cycling, like Lance Armstrong and Jonathan Vaughters, that are taking their message directly to the people via Twitter, how does this affect your reporting? And what do you think of JV actively engaging with people on Twitter?
Benson They really are.
Twitter has been great for reporting. It's another tool we can use to get information, a base around which stories can be built. Sometimes a personality or athlete (not sure you can be the both) can and will say a lot more on Twitter than they would to a journalist. That's quite interesting when you consider tweets are only 140 characters long. Then again, maybe I'm just asking the wrong questions.
And yes, you can run a pretty strong campaign on Twitter, hell you can be anyone you want on the internet.
I check Armstrong's feed a bit but as I'm blocked his tweets don't come up in my feed. He rarely tweets about cycling now so there's not much point to following him anyhow. As for JV, I think it's great that someone in his position takes the time to get onto social media and talk to the fans. Sometimes he's right, sometimes he's wrong, but the fact he's out there, communicating is a good thing. The problem is, the one time he doesn't converse he's called an asshole or if he doesn't give you the answer you're looking for it's easy to say he's hiding something. That's for us, the followers, to make their own minds up on but at the end of the day he should be commended for taking time to talk to fans. I can imagine that it's hard to move away from though, once you start engaging like that it really pulls you in.
schmalz Well, you don't want to lose an argument to @cat_snuggler1042, that would be embarrassing. I agree that JV's tweets are interesting, but others are just PR astroturfing (a term which means "fake grassroots", get it?), and yes I am talking about #reddetails. Have you ever got in Twitter trouble?
Benson Yeah, you have to look out for @cat_snuggler1042. I don't think I've been in trouble on twitter. But… a while back when I talking to friend he said that if you associate yourself with certain people or crowds on Twitter then that might lead to problems in the future, that riders might perceive you differently. That's possibly true but I don't give it too much thought. I doubt the fact I follow Lauren Conrad and a few bloggers really makes any real difference. I try and hold things in when I'm tweeting too because if you're not going to say something to someone's face then don't bother saying it. There were a couple of times when I've taken offence to people slamming CN. In those cases I've either sent them an email or given them a call. There was one time when a rider tweeted something about standards of writing and it was a dig at us. I sent out "Apparently our spelling isn't up to scratch. So I organised a spelling bee at work. The word we all aced was corticosteroid."
schmalz Is this your way of saying you're unfollowing us?
Benson You've got far too much dirt on me. I wouldn't dare.
schmalz That's very true, never forget that. I feel that we should finally talk some racing, who's going to surprise us this year?
Benson I'm terrible with predictions. But I really like watching the riders who have something to prove, guys who've maybe not fulfilled their potential, had a bad year for whatever reason or our coming back from injury. When it comes to sport, not just cycling, I'll always root for an underdog.
So, I'm going to go with Roman Kreuziger. He wasn't bad last year he just didn't have the Giro some were expecting of him. A lot of people forget how young he still is and compare him to Nibali. Watch out for Siutsou at Sky too. He was 10th in the Giro this year.
As for the one day side of things: Lars Bak for Paris Roubaix. He was 21st in 2010 and then 5th this year. There's a massive difference between 5th and 1st but if you're looking for an outsider, then he's a good bet. He's 31 too, so he's at his peak. He's on a new team but if he can adjust to the new surroundings and ride his luck a bit then he can pull something special off. Watch out for Sep Vanmarcke too. He's come from no where and was one of Garmin's best riders in the classics last year.
And I'm really interested to see what Renshaw can do at Rabobank. He's made a bold move and has gone out of his comfort zone. A lot of people know him as just a leadout man but he's one of the smartest racers in the bunch as well.
If you're looking for an American then Horner's year will be fascinating to follow.
schmalz What do you think of Marcel Kittel's chances this year?
Benson Well, while Skil aren't WorldTour it's possible that they'll get invites to at least two grand tours. With that in mind Kittel may find himself racing fewer smaller races and therefore have more head-to-heads with the likes of Cav and Petacchi. Essentially he could be about to swap the quantity of wins for higher quality. Skill know that if they'd started 2011 with the roster they have now they'd have enough points to be WorldTour and it's only an error in the rules as to why they couldn't appear in front of the UCI Licensing Commission, for them it's going to be about cementing their place in the rankings so they'll need Kittel and Degenklob to still snaffle up enough points while also taking on Cav and co.
schmalz Well, I do find it more realistic that Kittle wins the green jersey than Petacchi does (even if Skil doesn't make the Tour, his chances are better). How's this whole Contador thing going to turn out? Is Andy going to have a 2010 Tour victory party soon?
Benson Hard to say. I spoke to one of the individuals called for evidence and they basically said that if the letter of the law is applied then Contador should and will be banned for two years. It's not like they can now test that beef sample, it's gone.
I think the general cycling community have been badly affected by the whole story. It's one thing having a Tour champion test positive but to see the episode drag on for over a year, from postponement to postponement and race to race is disappointing. Everyone wants justice and a proper resolution but what we have now and what's taken place since Contador's positive was announced has harmed the sport.
cyclingnews.com is the worse place for cycling news. Benson and his staff regularly plagiarize articles from other sites, tweets, and dribble from the CN Forum. There are no references given for articles and no comment allowed. It is not journalism, but purely gathering hits to sell advertisements.
As Benson himself shows in the he knows nothing about cycling. He is working with Wouter Vandenhaute, the Belgian media and advertising mongrel, to destroy the UCI.
No serious cyclist has ever said anything serious to Dan Benson.
dBenson is not only a great editor, he's a decent bike rider, too. You know, there are a few bike journalists who still turn the pedals in anger. You should have asked him about his daring descent into Cedar City during this year's Ride To Vegas. He had a few stage wins (adjusted for age, of course).
When is that horrible redesign going to be made mobile friendly? I think 2+ years is long enough to put a mobile version out there.
Makes me hungry for some churrascaria plataforma!
Why does it take so damn long to do these tests? Test results should not take more than a week for the first test and maybe two weeks for the second test. This is ridiculous and just makes the governing body look stupid.
7 South American riders suspended for doping
Jan 3, 12:07 pm EST
tweet1EmailPrintAIGLE, Switzerland (AP)—Seven South American cyclists have been provisionally suspended by the sport's world governing body after failing doping tests.
The UCI says Brazilian riders Tiago Damasceno, Flavio Reblin and Wagner Alves, and Chilean rider Manuel Villalobos tested positive for the steroid stanozolol. Damasceno and Reblin were tested at the Tour of Rio in July, and Wagner and Villalobos were checked at the Tour of Sao Paulo in October.
The UCI says another Brazilian, Elton Silva, tested positive for mephentermine and phentermine at the Sao Paolo race. Peruvian rider Ronald Luz and Bolivian rider Fernando Espindola tested positive for cocaine and norandrosterone at the Vuelta a Bolivia in November.
The suspensions are in force pending a hearing by the national federations. The riders have the right to request the testing of their backup "B" samples.
looks like you just proved his point
Isn't - STATE YOUR NAME - the guy who's wife -LEFT/CONSIDERS LEAVING/HATES/RIDICULES - him because she got to where she couldn't stand the self-centered, self-important, douche bag nature of competitive cyclists?
Wow! There's an exclusive!
Men 40-and-over Non-Championship
1. Christopher Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Hup United) 47:17
2. Gregory Ferguson (Middleton, Wisc./Trek Midwest Team) 47:56
3. Brian Koeneman (Minneapolis, Minn./Team Wheel & Sprocket) 48:20
4. Jeffrey Appeltans (Philadelphia, Pa./Mid Atl Masters Bicycle Org-Mambo Kings Racing) 48:53
5. Walid Abu Ghazaleh (Chicago, Ill./The Pony Shop) 49:12
(CP is 6.1m according to website)
isn't danny pate the guy who's wife left him because she got to where she couldn't stand the self-centered, self-important, douche bag nature of competitive cyclists?
Ok, who's feeding the bears? Somebody has to be buying a lot of uggs to justify the volume of spam lately.
Hey Reid,
Tell Dirk I don't know about Buckwheat? In fact, I'm not sure what I just typed...
Hey Schmalz,
Dirk wants to know why Benson and and Laura Weasel banned Buckwheat from CN forums?
Was it part of a JV vendetta?
Best regards,
"...Inner Ring is a good example of that, you and Andy, the Overlord and his crew and CFA."
What's CFA?
Wow this is an endurance article, the slow twitch fibers in my eye balls are getting a workout.
How about a shorter article next time?
That's the defacto Benson look, and he's holding back a fart.
Why does Benson look like he wants to beat the shit out of the person interviewing him? Or is trying to hold back a fart?
Good interview, still think the CN redesign is crap.
Benson, how did he inherit the CN mantel? Just a job/position?
They plagiarize the living daylights of other sites, mainly foreign, they'd be kicked out of school if they were still in school. They do leave out the credit as well, only add it when they're scolded that they did (we won't go into when you guys had to have them do it, then no link, bastards).
Finally, where's Bill?
In Episode #2 of the Insider podcast from the 2011 Tour de France press room, Anthony Tan ropes in C
Anthony Tan with special guests Daniels Benson and Friebe.