"We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's vice president of marketing, said in a statement. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us."
Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper's Web site. They'll be honored until Feb. 28.
Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.
By Bobby Julich from www.cyclingnews.com
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Greetings from the other side of the barriers! Writing about cycling instead of racing myself is a new position for me and I would like to get a few things out in the open before I start this first column for Cyclingnews. First of all, I am a recently retired cyclist and not a journalist. My goal is to give readers and fans insight into the world of cycling from a rider's prospective.
We all know what problems face the world of cycling at the moment, but this is a beautiful sport and one that I will love forever. I will try to be as informative as possible and plan on writing about what really goes on inside the heads of the riders that we all have the pleasure of watching. I hope that you enjoy these columns.
For my first writing venture I wanted to let you in on how contacts work within the professional circuit and especially for the new pros. Trust me, contracts can be a real minefield at time. Needing a contract for the next year is a big motivator towards the end of the season. It is a great time to get results because they are fresh in the mind of the directors and team bosses.
Of course as the season winds down spots on teams are being filled up and budgets get smaller every day. This is a business, and the stress that comes with looking for a new team is not easy for any rider. My decision to move from Cofidis to Crédit Agricole was an easier move than most because the language and culture was the same, but the move from Crédit Agricole to Telekom was a totally different situation. They were totally different teams with different ways of doing things and that took some time to get used to after five years on French teams.
But as I said, cycling is a business. We love to ride and race our bikes, but at the end of the day it is a job just like any other and we have to support our families. When young riders are just starting out they may elect to go to any team that offers them a contract. The money is not a priority. Instead, it's all about signing on the dotted line, hitting the big time and being able to call yourself a pro.
Riders start out at a minimum "neo-pro" salary (€24,000) and sign a two-year contract. It goes without saying that this is a risk for both parties, because professional cycling is tough and there are no guarantees that they will progress. For example neo-pros have previously been on amateur teams and in that world there is less stress and pressure. Now they are getting a pay check and the added length of races, organization, pressure, attention, and stress have all been taken up a notch. Of course there are big young talents that can demand more than the minimum UCI salary, but they are a rare exception.Once riders finish their two-year neo-pro contract, they are now more aware of how things work and could test the "free agent" market. If they haven't shown progress, they may elect to stay on the team that they started with by negotiating a salary not much higher than their current contract, but for those who have produced results or are unhappy with the team, it is time to make some big decisions.
Ok, so not literally. Rather, I spent Sunday getting certified to race Biathlon. If you are not familiar with Biathlon it is the winter Olympic sport of Nordic skiing and target shooting. I have always wanted to try it since I have a background in Nordic skiing and, let's face it, what could be better then ripping through the snow covered forests of Colorado with a rifle strapped to your back. However, I was never certified since you have to do the USBU (US Biathlon Union) rifle safety course which only happens once per year and is easy to miss since it is not very well advertised. Without the certification you can't race. But, it finally worked out.
As it turns out I am a pretty good marksman (thank you high school rifle team, and growing up in New Mexico). The instructor was very eager for me to race. The first race is not until January which is good since I need to figure out where to borrow or buy a $1400-5000 Biathlon Rifle.
Just doing my part to help us live up to the title, Without Limits Racing.
So, Kanye West has proclaimed himself the "voice of this generation". Dumb ass. First you can't proclaim yourself anything. If you proclaim yourself "the voice" that is the first clue you are not.
Further what the hell is his voice saying:
"Dude!
Fresh off the plane, konitchiwa bitches
Turn around another plane, my passport on pimpin
As for what I did, that nigga done did it
Talked it and he lived it, spitted then he shitted
I don't need to write hits, I might bounce ideas,
But only I could come up with some shit like this
I done played the underdog my whole career
I've been a very good sport, haven't I, this year
They said he's going crazy and we seen this before
But I'm doing pretty good as far as geniuses go
And I'm doing pretty hood in my pink polo
Please, how you gonna say I ain't no low-head
Cos my Dior got me more my dough-head
I'm insulted
You should go here
And bow so hard till your knees hit your forehead
And the flow just hit code red
Top 5 MC's you ain't gotta remind me
Top 5 MC's you gotta rewind me
I'm high up on the line, you can get behind me
But my head's so big you can't sit behind me
Life of a Don, lights keep glowin'
Comin' in the club wit that fresh shit on, with something crazy on my arm
Ha Ha Hum, here's another hit, Barry Bonds"
You fucking kidding me? That isn't even coherent. And...praising Barry Bonds? Brilliant asshole.
Damn I hate this guy.
I had my surgery on last Wed to remove a bone spur on my Talus and another on my Tibia. I hate going under so I was planning on doing a local anesthetic. However, ultimately I decided I would rather have a general injected into my IV rather than get a big needle in my spine. After that it was wham bam and I was in recovery. I woke up, felt fine, no nausea as they warned about, and then home. I don't like laying around with my foot on ice doing nothing but that was the order of the day and Thursday as well.
I was gimpy those two days but could hobble without crutches by late Thursday. Friday was a limpy walk, Saturday was a less limpy walk. Sunday was better still and today, Monday, is walking normal. I actually feel like I could run but I won't. I have the stitches out Thursday and then it is back to swimming. I got permission to ride today, but did my first trainer ride yesterday... oops.
So, all that first day of the rest of my life crap. I was right. I have never been so motivated and ready to train. Yeah, yeah, it puts everything in perspective. Shows you how much you want it and all that.
I really just want to be able to do 1:30 at Magnolia at 6 min pace feeling easy again. I give it 6-8 weeks before that is the order of the day.
I'm ready to get it going. It is very difficult being patient. But, I have had this thing nagging me and inhibiting training for a few years now so a few more days isn't too much to ask.
Jimmy
I am leaving for the Boulder Surgery Center in 15 minutes to have surgery on my left ankle. I have a bone spur that has caused and impingement and has been bothering me of a couple of years.
This thing has been just one of many issues I have had over the past 5 years. They have caused me to consider quitting racing, switching sports, etc.
I have spent the last year getting everything back on track and nearly everything is and before I found out I needed this surgery I was training very well.
Today will define what the future holds. After this surgery and a few weeks recovery I will know if I am ready or capable to set my sights on 2012. It will be a long road and today is literally the first day of the rest of my life. After today I will know much about what the future holds.
More to come later today...
So XTERRA Nats is moving from Tahoe to Ogden, where the MT champs has been for the past three years. And, in turn the MT champs are moving to Beaver Creek, site of an XTERRA regional race this year.
All three courses were pretty lame, wide, primarily road climbs followed by a short down hill. Ok, Tahoe wasn't that bad but it would have been better earlier in the year. It was just too cold in early October.
But, Ogden and Beaver Creek are both remote starts with a long road climb up a slow non-technical trail/road with a very short downhill which is only 15% of the course at most.
My point is what the hell happened to Whistler, Tennessee, Ruston, Michigan, Hopkington, etc. all those were cool courses with challenging and fun trails. Now we have these lame dirt roads followed by ridiculous runs that are more like nature hikes then runs.
Keystone used to be the toughest course around. Winding single track climb to 12,000 feet followed by a fast technical downhill and then a fast but challenging run all on trail. It was awesome, and we lost that to Ogden. Now Ogden becomes nats and we can't even get Keystone back, we get freakin Beaver Creek, LAME.
This is why I have no pressing desire to do XTERRA any longer. Temecula sucks, Alabama is pretty good, Richmond is awesome, Beaver Creek sucks, Ogden sucks. I'm not saying you shouldn't race, just I'm not planning on it. The sites aren't that bad it is all the course design. If the courses were better maybe I would change my mind. But at this point if I'm gonna ride on a road I'll be doing it on a road bike with a field of 5000 in a major city.
Later.
