Sam Brown’s body lies a-molderin’

God this is ugly. The guy who ratted out Sam Brown, the once-celeb freeride mountain biker who hanged himself after being arrested in a drug sting last year — the guy who ratted him out was himself a major drug kingpin. And he ratted Sam Brown out in return for a promise of immunity from prosecution. In other words, so he could keep doing business trafficking illegal drugs, Colin Martin of Malakwa, B.C., sent Sam Brown to his grave.

In carefree days

We were sorry to see Brown get caught up in this tawdry underworld. It was his own choice, as an article in Rolling Stone made clear. But he didn’t deserve this kind of slime, and the whole sorry episode — I mean, is law enforcement in this case any better than the scuzz it seeks to prosecute? — stands as yet another argument for legalizing drugs, taxing them to the hilt, and ending the garbage industry of drug running.

Times Colonist article (see comments queue).

Sam’s “hamster wheel.”

Rolling Stone article.

CBC television show.

Velo Vidyo: Some tasty bits from YouTube

MTBR’s Top Ten YouTube MTB vids:

My faves of the list:

Chris Duncan showing how to jump, good stuff. He’s right about the elbows.

The Klunkerz clip.

No. 1 is the much viewed Danny MacAskill urban trials clip. The others are mostly flash and crash.

Somehow the list missed my No. 1, the Hans Rey/Steve Pete Irish Pub to Pub rideabout, featuring the Cliffs of Death.

But for videos that we everyday mountain bikers with our good but unextreme skillz can relate to, you can’t beat the Pete Fagerlin gallery — especially the soundtracks.

PinkBike has the CBC video of the sad story of Sam Brown.

This Day in Doping: From using to running, a sorry scene

Confessed doper and former King of the Mountains winner Bernhard Kohl continues to name names. The latest: physician Marc Schmidt, team doctor, who “oversaw the doping practices.” Schmidt vehemently denied the charges. And the beat goes on…
Unconvinced that the 2009 Tour de France was as squeaky clean as it seemed, French prosecutors are opening an investigation into doping. And the beat goes on…

According to French daily Le Monde, the investigation involves a number of teams including Astana, home of 2009 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador of Spain and American seven-time winner Lance Armstrong. Sports daily L’Equipe backed up Le Monde’s claims regarding Astana, and added that some of the syringes being analyzed had been used by the Kazakh team. “These syringes, used by the team of race winner Alberto Contador, were sent to the Parisian forensics laboratory Toxlab of Professor Gilbert Pepin and are currently being analysed to determine their contents,” read an article on the L’Equipe website.

Meanwhile, Lance is in France, meeting with the President! His latest tweet: “Just finished lunch w/ President Sarkozy at the Palais de L’Elysee. He loves cycling!”

How one cyclist came back from the abuse scene. The inspirational story of Chad Gerlach, courtesy of Sacramento Bee and Bicycle.net.

And how another cyclist, alas, did not. The story of Sam Brown is chronicled in Rolling Stone. See Northshore forum comments queue as well…

Daily Roundup: More on Sam Brown, 3 Feet Please, Naked Cyclists, e-Scooters, Road Bike Gains Internal Gearing

Revelstoke Times: “We heard that he was in jail one minute and the next, he died,” said a soft-spoken Lou Brown, who indicated he has trouble understanding how his son ended up dead while in a ‘suicide-proof’ jail cell. “[The jailers,] they’re supposed to be responsible for your life.” We talked previously about the wild and wonderful Sam Brown. May his case find closure, and he rest in peace.

Washington’s 3-feet-please legislation continues to slog through Olympia. Here’s another update on how to give it a boost.

Leave it to the Aussies: “Nude bicycle riders take to streets of Melbourne for World’s Naked Bike Ride.” As the whole bicycling world knows, all naked cycling takes a back seat, if that’s the right term, to Seattle’s very own Fremont Solstice Parade.

Bicycle Retailer: “The Taiwanese government wants 160,000 new electric scooters on the road over the next four years. The sheer size of this initiative may speed development of better batteries, standardization of connectors, and lift the level of testing to new levels, according to Bing Ming Lin of Industrial Technology Research Institute.” Here’s another place our taxpayer dollars could do wonders in subsidy funding.

Bike World News: By combining Shimano’s Alfine 8-speed hub with the new Versa integrated shift-brake lever for Shimano’s internal hub, Dynamic has found a way to blend the lightweight performance of a road bike with the inherent simplicity of internal gearing. The result is a bicycle that will appeal to road enthusiasts, commuters, light touring, and event riders alike.” Another boost for internal hub gearing. Watch this tech continue to take off in all cycling categories, including mountain biking.