It has been quiet on the Goldblatt homefront. There are a lot of pictures to get posted and a lot of news to spread around. But I wanted to first share something that I was thinking about.

I have been cycling quite a bit over the past couple of months… trying to get in at least 30 minutes a day even if it is on my trainer in the garage. Cycling, and swimming, are the only activities that have been relatively pain free for my knee (one of those whole other stories).

The news that shocked me today was the fact that Floyd Landis’ “A” sample tested positive. I was a huge Landis supporter during the tour. I thought it was incredible that an American was stepping in with a shot to pick up where Lance left off. Then came Stage 16 – day two in the Pyranees, and Landis bonked. It would forever go down in history as the worst failure in the history of sports. Landis who wore Yellow going into that day was left in the dust to end up 8 minutes back at the end of the stage. People were saying it was over, go home they said.

But Landis was back on the bike the next day and his performance was nothing less than spectacular… making up the 8 minutes he lost. That to me was the most incredible thing I had ever seen in sports – to have the guts and determination to come back like that. Landis had my respect and I was truly a fan. He would go on to win the Tour last Sunday – all with a degenerative hip that would need surgery… which then brings us back to today.

Now, people are calling cycling a joke – that it is a sport of “Lycra Drug Fiends on Wheels.” While in some respects that may be true, and I may eat my words at some point, but I actually side with Landis on this one. Here is why…

Why would Landis take a testosterone that night? Some said maybe for his hip, but I say probably not unless there was something in the pain killers that he may have taken, but again, I doubt it. Also, why was there not a positive test from him earlier in the Tour? To my knowledge the drugs would not really help at this point in the Tour… the purpose is to take the drugs in order to recover in training and be able elevate yourself in your training to be better.

More importantly, drug tests test based on ratios in an athletes system that compare testosterone to epitestosterone… Landis’ ratio was high, but that could be for a variety of reasons… his actual testosterone levels were, in fact, well below normal according to sources. It was the ratio that was well off. My guess is that the “B” sample will come back negative – that there was just an irregularity in the “A” sample.

Further, take this into consideration. Of all the athletes that have ever tested positives due to the fact that they had an “unusual” ratio between epitestosterone and testosterone (hundreds) and later brought their case to appeal before the International Courts only one has ever gone against the athlete… further proof that Landis’ test is probably just an irregularity in testing. But, I’d assume the damage is already done to Landis and a sport that was already reeling from scandal.