I’ve had some comments on my new pictures. The funny thing is that my four year old daughter took them. She’s becoming quite a photographer. She has a lot of really good shots with even more total misses. I personally love the artistic eye with the one of the yellow crayon on the cement.

I got an in on a fun new blog that my super pal, Alyson (who is cuter than Christmas) got me on. It’s called www.slavetotarget.blogspot.com. Hi. Holy hilarious. Since I too am having a “red cart romance” as she calls it, I was taken aback by her similar love for the $1 section and the outrage that the crap there right now sucks and that not everything is $1. Damn.

I’m also going to plug www.thisnext.com/by/jessipacetti because I’m constantly adding new things and you can’t stop me.

I’m starting a new book . . . The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I’m very surprised this phenomenal book has passed me by for so many years. I hear there are a few by him. I am looking forward to reading them all. Maybe I can sway the book club to read some of them, as the Jane Green Summer Reading has peaked with me. Though, I will say that it has gotten me reading this summer and that was the goal. Comment on this post and let me know what y’all are reading. I’m always up for some new titles.

Ok. Signing off. . .
bk

Ok. Not really. I was asked to be featured on this site called www.thisnext.com. I’m a bit honored. I guess anyone can do it, but my new friend Alyson asked me to do it because she’s a Bob fan and . . . ok . . . he’s on there too. . . . Maybe it isn’t that exclusive, but it’s still a really fun site. Here’s how you get there.

http://www.thisnext.com/by/jessipacetti/

GO THERE NOW AND HAVE A LITTLE FUN.

bk

L-R: Bill, Biking Bob, Dave the Nacho King, Mr. BK, Holle, Mike, and Muffin in front

A Motley Crue, don’t you think? Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. These guys (except for Mike and Holle who are Trek Corporate suits) work for the Shereville Trek Concept Store. We discussed Bob’s upcoming visit there (date to be named later), Batman: the Figurine, how DTNK and I need to have BFF necklaces, Biking Bob’s kitchen skills and the joy of the PERFECT movie nachos. It’s no wonder that the crew is thinking about having Nacho Nights at the store. Maybe next will be Biking Bob’s Salsa Saturdays. Sweet. These guys are the best. I’m going on Nacho Night for sure.

BK and Muffin on Vodka

Muffin got us on some vodka kick. I’m sorry, VODKA. She is a rockstar because her store is #1 in the Trek family for WSD sales. How cool is that? I’m getting all the cool hookups on sweet tees from her since my store doesn’t seem to harvest an adequate WSD department. Unfortunate for them because I’m all about that stuff and I like to buy it. Anyways, Muffin is a gem. I wonder if you call the store and ask for “Muffin” they would know it was her. That would be funny if a litany of calls. . . man. Don’t do it this week, sad time at the store. . .keep reading.

I want to send my condolences and thoughts to all the friends and family of Gary Martin. Bob and I were lucky enough to meet this great guy on our last visit to the shop. He was funny, quick witted and the first to get a picture with Bob. You will be missed.

Until next time. . .

bk

In yesterday’s blog I beconed for the help of Bill Harris, my favorite DA to help decipher what is going on with Floyd and the doping. He took time out of his tragically busy day (go for a ride, Bill) to write this for me. He is DEFINATELY in the BK Fan Club. Actually, I think his family founded the whole thing when they adopted me in March. By the way, gotta get a shout out to my little brother who is apparently 6 inches taller than me now.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY CAMERON!

Hope it’s super duper. Wish I could be snarfing cake with you today.

Love, Your Cheesy Sister in Wisconsin

Ok . . .here goes. . . .

Well, BK honey, you know where the hell I am: Deep in the heart of Texas trying to be the best father/husband, prosecutor, cyclist I can be (and not necessarily in that order!)First some ground rules: 1. My comments are my own and do not represent the opinions or views of my employer or the home office in Washington, D.C. (as Letterman might say), this website, or anyone else. 2. I am not rendering legal advise to anyone, and no one has any right or recourse based on my comments. 3. Finally, my comments are purely an interpretation of Bob Mionske’s two columns on this subject – put another way: Yours truly did not do any independent research.

OK, here goes: The first thing one has to understand is that none of this is a body of law that is imposed on people, as is the case with the laws of the land. Rather, the whole regulatory scheme (WADA, the UCI’s anti-doping rules, the procedures to be followed, the agreement to have the Court of Arbitration for Sport to be the last word, etc.) is part of a contractual agreement which in its bare essence is pretty simple: In exchange for my being allowed to race professionally, I the pro cyclist agree to follow the rules & regulations the UCI & U.S. Cycling have adopted. This is no different than the employment contracts many of us have. For example in exchange for my salary, benefits etc., I will perform my job in accordance with the specifications in the job description and will follow the rules & regulations (for example set hours, dress codes, office security and the like) that my employer sets forth.

One of the contractual terms for the pro cyclist is the acceptance of the “strict liability rule”, which as noted does not require fault by the rider. It can, but doesn’t necessarily have to, lead to the “game over” outcome which is causing BK such distress and resulted in her call out for me. In this sense, the word “fault” appears to be used to mean “intent”.

The easiest way I can explain how on the one hand strict liability (or lack of intent to violate) can be the standard, but not yet proof that a violation has taken place is to use the easiest parallel I can find. That would be the traffic code. Unlike the laws against tax evasion where the prosecution has to prove a defendant specifically intended to cheat on his/her taxes before the defendant can be found guilty, labeled a felon and exposed to being sent to prison (stated another way, a mistake on one’s taxes is not a crime), convicting someone of speeding does not require proof that a driver intended to go over the speed limit. So buckle up, here we go with our parallel:

A driver, call him Floyd, is zipping along in his Porsche Carrera. Maybe he’s paying attention to his speedometer, and maybe he ain’t. (That is, maybe he intended to violate, and maybe he didn’t.) The only one who will ever know is Floyd. The posted speed limit is 70 miles per hour (maximum accepted T/E ratio is 4:1; must be endogenous). Around a curve in the road up ahead is a cop, call him Dick, with a RADAR gun (urinalysis). Dick clocks Floyd as going 90mph (had a T/E ratio of 11:1 & exogenous). Dick pulls Floyd over and gives him a ticket for speeding, doing 90 in a 70 zone. The law says Floyd didn’t have to intend to speed – speeding is a strict liability violation. At this point has a violation been proven? Is it “game over”? No. We go onto the next step of the proceedings.

Floyd has a choice. He can mail in the fine, which is an admission of guilt (I did it), or he can contest it by going to court. In court, the prosecution calls Dick as its witness. Dick testifies he pointed his RADAR gun at Floyd’s car, and it read 90 (11:1 T/E, and exogenous). Dick testifies the posted speed limit is 70 (4:1, and endogenous). Floyd then gets to cross examine Dick. He can ask Dick whether the RADAR gun was operating properly. He can ask Dick when it was last calibrated. He can ask Dick who calibrated it and how. He can ask Dick how the RADAR gun was stored and handled and whether that could have put the calibration off. He can ask Dick about his training to operate the gun. He can ask Dick whether the curve in the road could throw the reading off, and so forth. (Challenge all the procedures, methods, handling, etc.) To try to further convince the judge that the test is unreliable, Floyd may testify that he is a safe driver who always obeys the traffic laws, etc., but he has no obligation to do so. He may also try to get the court to throw out the case if he can show that Dick violated police procedures in where he positioned himself, etc. (Releasing Floyd’s name publicly based only on the A sample; the French lab’s tendency to leak info to l’Equipe, etc.) You see where I’m going with this. If Floyd can convince the judge that there is some doubt as to whether the RADAR gun was correct when it said 90, then the prosecution has failed in proving Floyd went 90, and he’ll be found not guilty of speeding (gets to keep the Yellow Jersey). On the other hand, if Dick answers Floyd’s questions in a way which satisfies the judge, the judge will find that the violation has been proven, the judge will find Floyd guilty of speeding, and Floyd will have to pay the price.

Bottom line: a speeding citation is defendable, but it’s a hard road to hoe. I think the same applies to a positive doping test.

Sorry to be so wordy, but after all, I do belong to a profession which has the audacity to write a 300 page document and call it a “brief”.

Bill Harris

Well Bill, you’ve outdone yourself on this one. Thanks again!

bk

Ok Folks, I am BEGGING all of you who write into www.bobroll.com to ask about the doping procedure to read this VeloNews article by Bob Mionski. You will find the layman’s guide to the rules. The most interesting part I found was this:

“…when a B Sample has tested positive, the rider has not yet been proven to have violated the anti-doping rules; rather, the Anti-Doping Commission is alleging that the anti-doping rules have been violated. A violation of the Anti-Doping Rules is governed by the Strict Liability Rule, which does not require fault on the part of the rider to be proven; the presence of a prohibited substance is enough to establish a violation of the Anti-Doping Rules.”

EXCUSE ME? Do I have this right? Floyd has not yet been proven to have violated the rules but the ADC say that in theory the anti-doping policies have been broken? Did I read that correctly? Here’s my favorite part. Just because they found the substance the rules are broken? Game over? What? I think I need some DAs to help me decipher this one .. . Bill Harris, where the hell are you?

I am not a stupid girl. I’m actually very smart. Why don’t I understand this? I’ve read the article about 4 times and now I want some replies on this. You can comment to me because I am getting angry now and nobody needs an angry BK on their hands.

I DO understand that all the allegations that I have read about don’t add up. There’s something missing.. . plus I love that all the theories from people in the medical community to your average cyclist are rolling in. It’s killer. I may just have to start blogging the Floyd stuff so y’all can have an open forum on it. Would that be fun? I think it would.

In this entire TdayF I’m the one that was preaching for an All American podium and I want to see US Cycling succeed, but in all fairness, none of the info makes sense .. . kind of reminds me of another American TdayF winner . . .

Are the French just angry we keep winning their race? Is that the real question?

Here’s looking to some great comments. . .

bk

http://www.petitiononline.com/floyd/petition.html

Ran into this in the guestbook commnts at www.bobroll.com. Glad to see the people out there preaching the word. . . . let me know if there are any other petitions. I’m signing them. I want the guy to get a fair chance.
According to the poll on this Scratching Post 66.5% of you say that Floyd is all good, no goofing around with the druggies, 22% of you don’t know and 11.5% say he’s a dirty rotten scoundrel trying to pull one over on the sport.
We’ve gotten a lot of mail about this issue as you can imagine. Mostly, people are taking the info and really trying to find an honest answer. There are some who are genuinely wanting the knowledge and then there is a few that don’t believe Floyd and aren’t verry happy that Bob does yet haven’t found a constructive way to portray that. I was told quite recently by my very wise Uncle Tim to never get in a pissing war with a skunk, so www.bobroll.com has taken a pretty passive stand with those fellas. They have all been men, too. Hmm.

Georgie H. is doing well these days. . . Benelux is treating him well. Good to see him have some success this season. His Tour of Cali days were good ones, but July was tough. Except when he got to meet me. I’ll bet that was a big highlight for him. He will probably wait to call until he gets home from his race. . . yeah. . . that’s it. He’s waiting to get home.

Signing off . . .

bk

Nothing I can say about this would do it justice. That’s a first.

I wouldn’t try this at home.

bk

Trek World 2007

So Trek World has come and gone. It was some good stuff. Here’s my highlights.

1. I got to sleep in my own bed.
TW is in Madison, so I didn’t have to travel on an airplane and stay in a hotel. I did have to drive from Waterloo to downtown Madison about 100 times. Looks like I got at least 33 miles to the gallon, so allllll good.

2. The Mod Trikester.
Yes Folks, it’s like the big wheel of our time, new and improved. It has a hand brake, which I will have to try out to be sure you can still skid like a mad man AND the Trek pro called it “Drunk Uncle Ready”. Sweet. It will also be offered in pink. Natch. I think we’ll have to have one of these in our garage next summer. They have wagons too. . . I’m thinking you could rig it on the back and have a killer time on the downhills.
There are definately a lot of cool adult bikes coming out too. The kids aren’t having all the fun this year.

3. Petting Gary Fisher. Ok. This deserves a bit of a background. Gary was wearing a black suit that had little “tassles” on it. Kind of like a shower curtain that some people I used to babysit had. It was very cool. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of it. I wish I did. Then you all could see how he was so very pet worthy. If any of you out there have a shot, email it to me (bkouttathebag@gmail.com) so I can post it. Gary and I got to talk about alternative fuels and I was doing some talking about my current biodiesel project.

4. A great off road ride with my gal Pretty Teppy on the Trek Trails. Need I say more? Fisher, Bob and a bunch of other guys went on this hard core ride off road, which is one of those where the shop guys are trying to prove that they could hang with Fisher and Bob. I didn’t need that so Pretty Teppy and I went on the estrogen ride. It was lovely. Perfect. PT and I don’t get to see wach other often enough, so that was a treat all in itself. I don’t like the big tires that Fisher has out there these days. What are they – 29 inchers? Yeah, not for me. At least I tried ‘em. I did get to hang on a HiFi and loved it. I seriously haven’t been off road in about five years, so that was way cool.

There’s this week’s top four. Woo hoo. Here’s looking forward to Interbike.

So in my last entry I talked about the masses of people who caught a glimpse of Lance Armstrong here in the Madison area. This picture is obviously taken from a camera phone and is grainy, but here is my cousin Patio and LA himself. Little did Lance know, he was being photographed with a freaking rock star.

Later dudes.
bk

So apparently Lance is in town and dining/cocktailing at the prestigious Opus Lounge here in Madison, Wisconsin. He seems to have had an early arrival for Trek World that starts tomorrow. In addition to this fun little tidbit of juicy gossip it appears as if some primary members of my social circle have gotten a bit big for their britches and started hanging out at this establishment. How do I know this? Eight of them called me – they are not all together mind you – about coming down to have a cocktail with them because MAYBE Lance would know who I was and then they could have a rip roaring evening discussing what went wrong with Sheryl and other worldly things that are sincerely none of their business (you know what I’m talking about here, folks). I personally do not want to know these details. The fact is, that even though I had the privledge of meeting Bob’s friend, Lance, at a LAF Gala in Austin and was escorted to the after party at his new home in Austin by his stepfather, lovely mother and step sister, I, by no means, would be any more familiar to him than any other chicky poo schmoozing at that bar tonight. Although, I do know the gent he is dining with this evening. I don’t think that I would be at the table with them sipping margaritas as soon as I walked in the door. Or ever – at least not without Bob there. My friends, being the supportive wonderful people they are, seem to think that I rule the cycling industry so people like Lance Armstrong, and his step sister for that matter, should be bowing to my every word kind of like The Devil Rides a Trek Madone 5.2 kind of fashion. I am COMPLETELY honored that they think that highly of me, Truly the question here, folks is why didn’t any of them invite me out for drinks EARLIER this evening?

I’m thinking I will run into Lance and Greg LeMond at Trek World in the next few days. I just hope they aren’t at the same time, if you know what I mean. I am looking forward to chatting with Gary Fisher. He is a cool guy. My anxiety really bows out around him. It was funny because I met him in Minneapolis and my ex-boyfriend (now good friend) was having a few (ok – a lot) beers with us and Ex-B had NOT A CLUE IN THE WORLD that he was gabbing about Reef Bottle Opener flip flops with cycling royalty. That’s what we ended up talking about the last time I saw him. I still don’t have a pair. . . damn. Maybe next year. I am finding these cyclists/bike gurus like to talk about a lot more than bikes. Well, maybe not LeMond.

To tell you the truth, I spent more time and money on the evening of that LAF Gala than my junior and senior proms combined. I don’t think that’s really saying much if you know me, but it is the truth. Someday we will discuss What to Wear When You Are To Meet Lance Armstrong. It was an ongoing email for about two weeks between some trusted ladies in my life. One cousin prompted me to finally get the Diane von Furstenburg wrap dress I’ve always wanted. And I did. That’s the only little secret I’ll be giving away on that one for right now. What a teaser!

So a few big newsers out there today. First of all, Floyd published an open letter on VeloNews this evening. I’m sure you all know that, because for some reason I’m thinking I may not be the first place you go for your up to the minute cycling news. For that, I am thankful. I keep up pretty well with it for myself, just relaying it to all of you seems like such a big responsibility. Plus, I would have a very hard time keeping both sides out there because I honestly don’t believe Floydy Poo did anything wrong. I really don’t. I believe Floyd. According to my poll last time I checked, at least 60% of you believed it too. Right on.

The other news was actually yesterday. Sesame Street got a new character! Her name is Abby Cadabby and she is FREAKING ADORABLE. You should check her out. It’s good to see an up and coming female character on the show. I hear she is the next Elmo – so watch out all you parents out there – Christmas is coming! I noticed a lot of the parents and naysayers are out there already with their “She has an annoying voice”, “She’s been on for two days and I can’t stand her already” . Lay off people. As an extreme Muppet Fan and a mother of two small girls who INSIST on wearing those silly Disney Princess/Dora the Explorer Princess jammies with pink cowgirl boots everywhere, a good learning model (with the same jammie dress on) wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Plus Abby’s mother is THE Fairy Godmother and that’s a big deal around here, man. I’m going to give her a chance. I wonder if the girls and I will sit and remember the first day we saw Miss Abby Cadabby on Sesame Street. Maybe they won’t, but I will never forget . It will go right up there when Mr. Hooper died and when Jim Henson left us. I love her forever.

In fact, I met Bob from Sesame Street a few months ago. I was so nervous and I think my girlfriend Dirty Mary and I had more fun than the kids. We were so star struck and he is SUCH a nice guy. It was a good experience for sure. Here’s a good shot of me and a great man.

Don’t forget to click on the links. . . there’s fun pictures for all ages today. Ok. I’m signing off now. Its getting late and my beer is getting warm . . but my hands are freezing. . . explain that one to me.

Have a good one folks, I’m signing off. Don’t forget you can find me at bkouttathebag@gmail.com

bk

This section of the site is going to change a little bit, so I wanted to get these pictures on the blog. Go ahead and check them out.

Here are a bunch of the ride shots. ..
http://picasaweb.google.com/jessi.pacetti/NerdyCyclingShotsFromTheTdF2006

These are my travel pics .. . .
http://picasaweb.google.com/jessi.pacetti/TourDayFrance2006