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Friday's mailbag: Forget the heroes and villains and just ride

Published: Dec. 9, 2005

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

I ride because I ride
Editor,
I just finished riding the rollers for the evening. I had the `95 world’sin Colombia in the VCR, the volume turned down and the Ipod turned up.I had to, because if I hear Phil misidentify Oliverio Rincon as FernandoEscartin one more time I'm going to scream.Watching the final composition of the group in the closing laps gotme to thinking why I ride my bike. Who was there you ask? Pantani(deceased),Jiminez(deceased), Casagrande(doper), Virenque(doper), Konyshev(assaulterof prostitutes) and some other guys named Indurain, Olano, Richard, Sorenson.I started racing when I was 16 years old. I'm 34 now. I did the amateurthing, Belgium in 1996 and `97 and was even at Cascade the year some guynamed Lance was making a bit of comeback.I am sick to death of doping stories and the constant infighting betweenthe UCI and the grand tours. How did I become an expert on doping science?That's the first question I am asked now, when I tell people I ride bikes.Is Lance clean? Is Tyler clean? How the hell should I know?!? More importantly,from my limited perspective, it has little to do with why I ride and race my bike.There are pure moments of beauty in bike racing, as when Olano counterattacks off of Indurain and solos to the world championships on a flat rear tire. How hot is that?Were these guys clean when they did these things? I don't know. At acertain point, I think you just have to be a fan or not. This might gosome way to explaining why I obsessively check the Internet 10 times aday for any pro scene update.Anyway, I'm not looking to start yet another debate on how to supportthe sport properly, just sharing my thoughts.Thanks for reading. I enjoy the website.
Ben Kaplan
Seattle, WashingtonIt’s not just OLN’s fault
Dear Editor,
I know you were kidding, but your response to KermitGilbert's letter stating that "It would be nice to see some cycling-related content on OLN, again" prompted me to ask myself why the coverage is no longer abundant. As a 24-year veteran of the bike industry, I would encourage everybody who owns a bike purchased from a shop in this country to contact the manufacturer of that bike to ask them why they didn't advertise on OLN when they were serving up the content that was helping to fuel the road bike boom.

OLN, at great risk to their bottom line, gave the manufacturing end of our industry a huge opportunity to showcase their products yet only a small handful of companies signed on; making it hardly worth OLN's while. I'm quite happy that OLN scored such a ratings hit with the Tour but disappointed with how my industry failed to reward them for the efforts put forth. The debate that circulated in an industry trade journal some time back was that some companies just simply didn't have it in their budget to advertise at the national level but that others were simply resentful that OLN gave so much coverage to Lance and Lance's bike sponsor. The former argument is one with which I can sympathize. The latter is just plain idiotic.

My two stores recognized the importance of what OLN was offering up and rewarded our local cable company and OLN with over 100 TV spots during Tour coverage the last two years. We were able to advertise to a core group of our customer base and to the neophytes that were tuning in because of Lance. A win-win situation for sure and a logic that larger bike companies could have and should have gone with.

If you can bring yourself to watch the variety of fishing, hunting and rodeo programming that OLN offers up, you'll notice that the programming is heavily supported by the industries that are affiliated with the content provided. Our industry failed OLN and I don't blame them a bit for scaling back. At the very least, we should all contact the brand that we are riding and demand that they have a presence next year and maybe OLN will respond in kind.
Jim Keene
Santa Rosa, CaliforniaA cool ride
Dear Velo,
I have really enjoyed the Tour De Georgia the last few years and washoping you could spread the word about a well-organized ride covering someof the course, where you also get to ride alongside of some of the U.S.pros.Each year, the town of Dahlonega Georgia (normally hosting stage 5 ofthe TDG), offers up The 6 Gap Century Challenge. 10,700 feet of verticalclimbing over six of the Tour De Georgia's toughest climbs, with the exceptionof Brasstown Bald.Go to their web site and you can find a courseprofile and registrationinformation.The ride is timed, so some consider it a race, although it has reststops and feed stations along the way. Last year's fastest time was 4:55:51,put in by Bruno Langlois of Jittery Joes/Kalahari Pro Cycling Team. Itreally puts into perspective how fast the pros are when you start besidethem and finish hours behind them.
Brian D. Kuhl
Murfreesboro, TennesseeSorry man. We can’t spread the word for ya. – EditorPhilanthropic wars?
Dear Velo,
Well, I'm not giving any more money to the LanceArmstrong Foundation, and I don't think anyone else should either.This has nothing to do with various allegations against Lance Armstrongcurrently in the news. Nope, my thoughts on the LAF boycott now have todo with the 800-lb gorilla stomping on the little guy.Gary Boulanger, Bike Evangelist, and owner of Cycles Gaansari, formedSKIDSTRONGback around the same time that the LAF came out with their wristbands.One of their customers saw their yellow-rimmed wheels in the window,and said "Cool wheels! They remind of those new yellow bands! You shouldcall them Skidstrong!" So they did.SKIDSTRONG was formed to benefit the BicycleMessenger Emergency Fund, a non-profit organization that providesemergency compensation to bicycle messengers who have been injured on thejob. The BMEF is not a huge organization; they provide $300 to an injuredmessenger to help cover immediate expenses like food and medicine.In late November, Cycles Gaansari was served with a cease-and-desistletter. Rather than fight the battle, SKIDSTRONG has changed their nameto FISSO, which is Italian for "fixed." Because SKIDSTRONG has "_____strong"as part of its concept (which the LAF didn't actually register until Augustof 2005), the LAF feels that people might confuse the two organizations.Somehow, I don't think so.The SKIDSTRONG concept is not hurting the Lance Armstrong Foundation.It is helping a small group of people who are too often overlooked or sneeredupon in our society, and you'd think that the LAF would have bigger fishto fry. So the LAF is not getting any more of my money. I'll bedonating directly to the BMEF and supporting FISSO. If you want to supportcancer research, I’d suggest one donate to the SusanG. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation or to the AmericanCancer Society.
Steven L. Sheffield
Salt Lake City, UtahAll of those - from the LAF to the BMEF and ACS and SGKBCF - are great organizations that have done much good for many. We hope people won't let battles between lawyers get in the way of helping those who need it. We'd encourage folks to give to all of them and to give generously. - Editor
 
The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.