Website Update!

Once again using the old blog to update you on the new website - which disappeared from the Internet this week. Apparently the registrar decided unilaterally to delete or deactivate the domain. Hopefully it's sorted by the time you read this, and we can update you on France via the new site!

Meanwhile, we're still trying to convince the Poles to transfer www.joepapp.com back to our control, or at least stop holding the URL - and all joepapp.com email - hostage. Unbelievable that this has been going on for a year!

As for Joe, he's hanging in there and is trying to make the best of a tough situation.

New Website ONLINE NOW

While we have enjoyed our time with Blogger, this version of Pappillon seems to be going the way of our WordPress site, and will be integrated into a completely new www.joepapp.com. The bugs are still being worked out of the new site's content, which is incomplete at present, but check there for new blog posts before you click back here. Time will tell to what degree the integrated-blog serves the needs of you, the readers. Stay tuned - but not here.

Pro Wanker Interview

The title alone makes it an interesting read.

"In the mind of the public, doping is a dirty thing. We assign blame, claim righteous indignation and experience a visceral rejection to the cheating of our idols. So when our stars start to fall, we find pleasure in accelerating their descent.

Meanwhile, to the developing world―where conditions promote doping and ethical muddles―we show indifference. Viewing cycling, the sporting public sees doping as a test of morals rather than economic necessity.

And every year, another rider from a disadvantaged background emerges and shocks the world with his performance. For weeks, we are stunned by the talent. In the underdog, we have found a new idol..."

Click here for the complete, exclusive interview. 

Blazin' Saddles - Eurosport interview - Zen Machine Films Documentary

Thanks to Blazin' Saddles for the chance to speak to his legions of loyal and passionate cycling fans via Yahoo!/Eurosport today. Being interviewed by B.S. ranks right next to being referenced in As the Toto Turns on the personal cool factor, and I genuinely do feel honored to have been featured in the Yahoo!-Eurosport world.

If you're a Twittering-type, you can follow Saddles on www.twitter.com/saddleblaze  as well as me at www.twitter.com/joepabike.

And now is probably as good a time as any for me to let you know that Phil Anderson and I collaborated on a short documentary that can be viewed online through Vimeo. It's been described as "brutal, honest and thought provoking particularly in the wake of landis' admissions and allegations" - but I haven't been able to bring myself to watch it yet! I feel uncomfortable seeing myself on camera for more than a few minutes, but I'll crack some day and will screen it. No need for you to wait, though! Here it is:


Joe Papp Interview from Phil Anderson on Vimeo.

"Exclusive interview with former professional bike racer, Joe Papp who raced on the international circuit winning many races before testing positive for doping in 2006 and ultimately admitting his guilt. In this interview he talks about his upbringing, getting into racing, and doping, testifying at Floyd Landis hearing, and a stunning revelation about his personal life."

Thanks for the Follow, Lance Armstrong

A picture is worth a thousand words, I believe they say...

Have you always wanted to have something in common with Lance Armstrong other than a love of cycling and money, or a predilection for shameless doping? If so, check me out on Twitter - but if you decide to follow, don't be like Lance and wuss-out a few hours later.

Armstrong, Papp, McQuaid, Levi, others in As the Toto Turns (includes special beat-down to Michael Ball)

Notoriety is not the same as fame, but neither is it infamy. With that in mind, Pappillon has no qualms reporting that our own Joe Papp finally appears in the world-renown satirical cycling editorial cartoon, "As the Toto Turns," for his cryptic and, at times, confusing, role in the fight for clean sport.

Papp is referenced this week in the strip "UCI Tip Line," where, in the final frame, UCI President Pat McQuaid (an Irish compatriot of Papp's) takes a phone call from an obviously-conflicted Levi Leipheimer:

"UCI tip line. If you see something, say something. Press 1 to pledge a donation. Press 2 if you're Joe Papp. Hang up if you're Michael Ball."

Pappillon has enjoyed Toto since the beginning (see here and here for previous posts, including the famous "Yellow Jersey Gap"), and despite the unfortunate news release that that brought Papp into the strip, we appreciate the chance to laugh and smile and look forward to future Toto appearances.

To see "UCI Tip Line" frame-by-frame, and peruse the entire Toto archive, visit VelocityNation.com.

Meanwhile, we couldn't resist reprinting our favorite Toto:

Statement on Today's Events

What happened today has its origins in a very distant time and place, during a part of my life that long ago closed. It’s unfortunate in a way, the timing of this announcement, since it is somewhat out-of-context and not representative of the person who I’ve become. Having escaped a corrupt system in which doping was a practice as accepted and normal as brushing one’s teeth, I strongly believe in clean sport and for several years have been fighting against doping both publicly and in ways that I simply can’t comment on.

At times I wish I could, though. I’d like to help everyone to understand the enormity of the efforts being made to rid sport of drugs, but prudence and good legal sense dictate that I don’t. Nevertheless, this is certainly not an excuse for behavior I previously engaged-in, and so I acknowledged my guilt for past actions and continue to do my part to ensure that young cyclists aren’t led into those situations where they find themselves choosing between a needle or their conscience.

UPDATE 2 (Landis Comments): Regarding Today's News

Unfortunately timed, today's news, but my commitment to clean-sport is & has been genuine. Would like to reveal all to you, but there is ... still much sensitive work to be done. It's imprudent for me to comment in detail now, but I will release a brief statement this evening.

UPDATE: VeloNews provides fair, balanced coverage of today's events, in a story here. Also note, please - my testimony in the Landis Affair was not "against" Floyd Landis. I repeat: I did not testify against Floyd Landis. I testified as to the effects of testosterone on me personally, its perceived value as a recuperative and regenerative agent and the perception within the peloton of low-dose/micro-dosing testosterone.

I didn't claim that Floyd Landis had doped (though ultimately CAS would confirm in appeal that he had, in fact, doped).

UPDATE 2: Apparently Floyd Landis still thinks I had something to do with his being caught for doping at the 2006 Tour de France. The Tweet below has now been taken off Twitter; it's like it never existed. I wonder how many of his 11,000 followers checked in during the 20 minutes it was online.

TheRealFloydL 

  

Shit! Fuck LNDD Fuck USADA Fuck J.Papp Fuck P.McQuaid Fuck T.Tygart and Fuck You!18 minutes ago from mobile web

Doping (is) for Dummies with Joe Papp - Asian Edition

From Asia comes this reinterpretation of my anti-doping BikePure message, penned by Lin Ruobai. I'm privileged to be able to share my story as a warning to other athletes and policy makers who might not realize the danger posed by doping in sports, and hope that others can avoid the terrible path I mistakenly followed.

I appreciate the support I've received from those who realize that I love cycling - even though I took decisions that harmed the sport and made it impossible for me to continue there as a rider.Heck, I even loved being in Asia to race my bike, regardless of having to eat pickled chicken's head (true story)!

Cycling Inquisition - Latin America

Recently published is this interview I gave to Cycling Inquisition, which primarily focuses on my experiences racing in Latin America. Thanks to Lucho for the opportunity to share some great memories with his readers. Excerpt below.

"Joe Papp is known by many for having been a key witness in the Floyd Landis USADA arbitration hearing. Papp was called on during that hearing because of his experience with taking testosterone as a cyclist. While that portion of Papp's career is of great interest to some, I think it's been well documented already (see here and here). As such, I felt that there were other things that I'd rather ask him about. Plus, as I've stated before, the subject of doping is not of great interest to me, particularly when more important topics like De Vlaeminck's hair plugs can be discussed. As a matter of fact, I can tell you that my mental list of things I'd rather not do reads like this:

1. I don't want to discuss doping, it's more boring than listening to Sean Kelly do race commentary

2. I don't want to split my scrotum in half while trying to hop over a parking meter, I suspect it would be more painful than listening to Sean Kelly do race commentary

3. I don't want to sniff Sean Kelly's freshly used chamois, because I fear that it will actually be more pleasant and exciting than listening to him do race commentary.

Even if we put my list aside for a second, I feel that the mere mention of doping seems to bring out the uninformed, as well as the (seemingly over-informed) conspiracy theorists. You see, my interest in Papp's career is based on his ample experience racing in Latin America, which I find to be highly unusual for an American cyclist. After all, how many American cyclists can say they've been to Cuba, let alone raced the Vuelta A Cuba five times? Although I'm Colombian, I know little about the inner workings of races in South America, and I imagine that few people in the English speaking world do. Joe is certainly unusual in that respect, and I thought others would enjoy his insights and observations. Some of you may think that interviewing Joe and not asking him lots of questions about doping would be like:

Interviewing Michael Jordan and not asking him about basketball, or

Interviewing the singer from the Crash Test Dummies and not asking him about their groundbreaking and inspirational hit "Mmm, Mmm, Mmm" , or

Interviewing Miguel Indurain and not asking him about his Muppet-like unibrow.

If that's your opinion, you're entitled to it...but you're also wrong. Because I said so.

Also of interest to me, I must admit, are Joe's efforts to be reunited with his Cuban wife (who is also a cyclist). It's a complicated subject, since politics, travel restrictions and general international craziness are a huge factor in any dealing with Cuba and Cuban citizens. Having lived in southern Florida around plenty of Cubans, I can tell you that prior to September 11, Cubans were perhaps the only people in the world who had a harder time traveling than us Colombians. For us, getting a visa in order to take a vacation in the US (or pretty much any other country) could take up to a year, and that's if you got approved. Few ever did. Cubans had it worse, and they never even stood a chance, and still don't.

So, in my attempt to continuously shed some light on the subject of Latin American cycling, I contacted Joe to ask him a few questions. I'd like to thank him for agreeing to do the interview."

Read the complete interview here.

PEZ Talk: In Depth With Joe Papp

"A few weeks ago, PEZ ran an interview with Joe Papp; one of the very few riders to admit, face up to and openly discuss the fact he failed a drugs test. Like most folks, we're sick of the drugs scandals, but then the Tom Zirbel situation pops up and we to have accept that it's still a problem and we need to understand it better. Here's what Joe had to say - and it's scary!"

Full article.

Flemish for Poser

We're all chuffed over here at Pappillon for the resurgent media interest, and the attention of our fellow bloggers - especially when it takes the form seen below, in a screen shot from "Flemish for Poser", the Blog-Formerly-Known-As Doucheblog Cycling.

Burt writes: "As much as I hate to admit it, NY Velocity and DrunkCyclist are the cycling related websites I check out most frequently. Also, you can say what you want about [Joe] Papp, but his blog has become one of the more decent spots for thoughtful cycling related commentary on the old intranets these days. Of course, there are always comments like "Joe, you're such a dickface...bla bla bla." Haters never end, I guess. Just to be fair, I let him scoop me on the header."

Thanks, Burt! Or should we say "Jesus Cristo"? Either way, "Flemish for Poser" was cool enough to let us scoop the headline banner before it went live, which we did in a post here.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

Does this man look like a doctor to you?

Someone sure thought so!

VeloResults UK Interview

I spoke with Ed Hood last week, giving an interview to the VeloResults UK Senior Correspondent that was published today on their site. While you're there, be sure to read Ed's lament for Tom Zirbel, "What a Waste of a Great Career."

And Haters, They Gonna Hate

Totally over-the-top level of Papp-Hate, in my opinion. So hateful, in fact, that it is almost loving. After all, who goes through this much work to create such iconography if they don't care intensely about their subject...

Thank you to the unknown artist, and to Doucheblog Cycling for leaking the hate so we could expose it to the light. Oh, and Mr. Artist, Jesus just called to notify me that the Devil takes possession of your soul in 6 mos. 

"Playas, they gonna play.
And haters, they gonna hate.
Ballers, they gonna ball.
Shot callers, they gonna call.
That ain't got nothin' to do
With me and you..."

I Will (Metaphorically) Immolate Myself for Clean Sport

"Regardless of what you think of [Joe] Papp as a person, or how you rate him as a cyclist, whatever scorn he still faces should be countered by respect - or at least begrudging appreciation - for the man's willingness to immolate himself at the alter of clean-sport." - Me [Editor's Note: J. Danek = cousin to Joe Papp]

[In a recent email blast from Jim Ferstle, there was a reprint of post in which] Twisted Spoke presents an interesting take on the interview given by Pappillon's own Joe Papp to Bike Pure's Myles McCorry. Perhaps I say interesting because for once it's commentary devoid of hate or vitriol, though it is chock-full of disappointment. And rightly so, for Papp let down his legions of fans when it was revealed that he'd been doping for five years at the UCI level.

The entire post is reprinted below, but our favorite paragraph is the following (emphasis mine):

"One of the ironies about Papp is that reading his diary entries, he seemed like such a straightforward, honest guy. The opposite of Alejandro Valverde or Alexandre Vinokourov, the Spaniard loaded down with doping allegations, the Kazak defiant and unrepentant after his two year suspension. But when you hear Papp describe the rocket boost in performance, you understand the intensity of the temptation."

It just goes to show you that doping isn't confined to former Soviet republics or the clinics of modern Spain - or even to that most elite level of Grand Tour cycling - rarefied air once inhabited by the likes of Hamilton, Ullrich, Basso and Diluca.

Joe Papp was - and IS - a nice guy who loved racing his bike and writing about his adventures more than anything else in the world. I exchanged text messages with him before I went ahead with this post and he told me that one of the things he regrets most from doping (besides cheating his competitors, dishonoring his sport, humiliating his family, etc) was depriving you all, his readers (both of Pappillon and his cyclingnews.com diaries) the pleasure and momentary escape that came from reading about bike racing at the UCI level in far-off exotic locales... Vino' and others might dope for money; riders like Andreu might have doped just to be able to do their jobs; and then there are riders like Papp who - while earning an income from cycling, certainly - doped primarily to be able to continue in the sport they loved, when it was being overrun by athletes who were "on" full medical "programs." It doesn't excuse Joe's doping, but hopefully the Bike Pure interview, and Twisted Spoke's follow-up analysis, helps to contextualize it.

As Joe himself told me, "I miss competing in cycling more than anything - the training, the camaraderie, the travel, the chance to experience new cultures and exotic lands; representing my country (especially in the Pan Ams) and competing in the most beautiful sport in the world, still wide-eyed and with a shit-eating-grin plastered across my face. I'd give my left (ice)ball to be able to have a chance to set things right, but I fear that the only thing left for my with respect to cycling is to forever represent the 'This Could Happen to You' horror story that will be what coaches and uncorrupted directors and genuine, honest riders cite when encouraging young athletes to strongly reject doping as a means to success." 

Let's hope that there is more to Papp's future than that...

Twisted Spoke's: Joe Papp fell off his bike, a casualty of the doping culture in cycling.

"His interview with Myles McCorry for Pezcycling is probably the best story I’ve read about how and why a rider crosses the line. You get all the angles, the rationales, naiveté, remorse and the painful aftermath wisdom that comes from first hand suffering.

We first discovered Joe Papp a few years ago when he wrote an engaging racing diary for cyclingnews. He wasn’t a famous rider competing in the big monuments of the sport but he was passionate about bike racing. He wrote well and had a skill for taking us inside the races, the personalities, the life of a pro racing gypsy, turning up in Cuba or Turkey or a smaller stage race in Italy or Spain.

So it was a mild shock to read he’s been doping for five years before he was caught and came clean. By the time of his failed drug test, he was doing his best to support the entire pharmacological industry — EPO, human growth hormone, testosterone, insulin, steroid and amphetamines. No doubt he popped a few aspirin, too.

The drug deal reached over 100 products, a program carefully managed by his Italian team — which would later deny any role or knowledge of Papp’s athletic enhancement. It feels like a very old story that never changes — from the Festina Affair to Operacion Puerto.

One of the ironies about Papp is that reading his diary entries, he seemed like such a straightforward, honest guy. The opposite of Alejandro Valverde or Alexandre Vinokourov, the Spaniard loaded down with doping allegations, the Kazak defiant and unrepentant after his two year suspension. But when you hear Papp describe the rocket boost in performance, you understand the intensity of the temptation.

“At first it brought me back up to my previous level of competitiveness, but the more I took that’s when I moved up a level- it felt amazing. 12 or 13% — enough of a difference to block out any ethical or health issues. Enough to win.” When a rider as thoughtful and articulate as Papp decides to dope, you realize how easily a younger athlete is lead to the needle.

It also nearly killed him. While awaiting his B sample test results, Papp crashed hard in the Tour of Turkey. At the hospital they removed “a mass of EPO-damaged sludge” from his left buttock. Doctors back in the states told Papp the blender mix of blood thinners and EPO could have easily killed him. That was certainly the terminal effect on his cycling career.

Once caught, Papp hoped lawyers would somehow locate the Hail Mary loophole but the endgame was not different than Floyd Landis or Tyler Hamilton: destroyed reputation, broken marriage, financial hardship and depression. A UCI ban was the least of his problems. It’s like the old Neil Young song — “I’ve seen the needle and the damage done. A little part of it in everyone. But every junkie’s like a setting sun.”

UCI anti-doping queen Annie Gripper says they’re winning the war on doping. Articulate and visionary team directors like Garmin’s Jonathan Vaughters think the biological passport is a huge step toward clean cycling. It’s a long hard climb, maybe tougher than Alpe d’Huez. “You can change behavior quickly but the deep culture will take a few more years yet,” said Gripper.

In an article about Lance Armstrong in this week’s New York Times, there was a reminder of that pervasive culture. “Five of the eight riders who shared the Tour podium with Armstrong in his winning years served doping bans at some point in their careers. Another two were allegedly tied to doping rings.” Those are not percentages you build a cleaner sport on.

We wish Joe Papp well. Like the NFL players who sell their ligaments, bones and risk life long damage from multiple concussions to make a living, Papp found himself caught in the grinder. He seems like a good guy that loved cycling too much. He wanted to be at the front of the climb and decided there was only one way to do that."  - Twisted Spoke

For Bike Pure, Myles McCorry wrote of his interview with Joe:

"I witnessed a rider recovering from years stuck in a system where cheating and lying are not only the norm but pampered and encouraged. To recover one self-belief and ones honour is an individual battle. We can only judge on the harm Joe has done to the sport and his efforts for reparation."

Likewise, [as his cousin] I've heard Joe's lectures to university students at such schools as Chatham and Slippery Rock, and know that the presentation he gave at the headquarters of USADA this summer was considered by several staff members there to be the most-engaging, authentic, and motivating interaction they'd ever had with a reformed-doper who was accepting responsibility for the terrible things he did, and was actively working to prevent other young athletes from following the same dark road on which he lost himself. Regardless of what you think of Papp as a person, or how you rate him as a cyclist, whatever scorn he still faces should be countered by respect - or at least begrudging appreciation - for the man's willingness to immolate himself at the alter of clean-sport.

Doping Consequences: A case study with Joe Papp

It is said that a cat burglar designs the best security system and for this reason Bike Pure sought the reformed doper Joe Papp to help us define solutions for the problem our wonderful sport has with drugs. by Myles McCorrym

On May 7, 2006, at the UCI Tour of Turkey, Papp was found positive for metabolites of testosterone at the post stage test for which he won – his fourth of the event. While he awaited definitive proof from his B sample, Papp's continued racing into July. Competing in Tuscany's 100-mile Granfondo Michele Bartoli, where he crashed with less than a half-mile to go. Papp initially thought he'd only endured a few scrapes. But by the time he lay down in his hotel room, his left buttock had swelled grotesquely. Papp cajoled his team soigneur into driving him to the closest hospital, in nearby Pescia. For he knew the injury was not innocuous. Surgeons operated on Papp several days later, removing a mass of EPO-damaged sludge that amounted to roughly a fourth of his blood volume.

Back in the U.S., doctors would later tell him that after the lethal cocktail of EPO and blood thinners that his team had provided , Papp was lucky to be alive. Joe Papp is now an outspoken, no holds barred opponent of the use of illegal performance enhancing methods and substances in sport. He has lived, he has witnesses, first-hand – the damage that can be done to a rider’s reputation, their marriage and their career in the wake of a conviction or admission of doping. While Papp is not unique in that he is one of dozens of professional cyclists sanctioned for doping during the past several years (over 60 in 2009 alone), his is a story worth telling, if only to deter one young athlete from taking the tempting first step down the dark path that ends for too many only in expulsion, arrest, or death - a career of cheating..." Read the Full Interview at Bike Pure.

Bike Pure aims to promote clean riders, moving the spotlight away from the dopers by working towards life bans for the cheats. Have your say by joining BikePure and wearing a wristband or headset spacer, visit their website www.bikepure.org for more information. Bike Pure is an independent, non profit organization, committed to redirecting trust to professional cycle sport. Bike Pure is an umbrella group for all concerned parties in cyclesport. A medium to let the fans, riders, teams and cycle trade join together in a united stance for an new era of clean cycling.

The piece was also covered on at least tow other sites:
1) Bicycle.net - California, USA
2) New Zealand Road Cycling – New Zealand