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.

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Saul Raisin’s dedication is inspirational
Editor:
I was distressed to read about Saul Raisin's crash and his drug-induced coma. I remember racing in Union City, Georgia, several years ago. It was a split day: a morning time trial and an evening criterium. After the criterium (which was held in a shopping mall parking lot) there was this kid riding around and around the 1 mile shopping mall access road. He was there after all the races were over, and he was still doing laps around the mall after the race-sponsored pasta dinner (we are talking four or so hours of riding in circles, folks). I remember walking out of the mall after dinner as the sun was dipping in the sky, and I saw the same kid still cranking around. I thought, "Who is this kid? That is some dedication."

It turns out that was a young Saul Raisin who needed to get in some extra training miles, and the mall road was the only place to do it in an urban, traffic-clogged setting. He did not use the unfriendly cycling terrain as an excuse to dodge training. There was work to be done, so he did it.

I saw him the next morning in the race hotel and overheard some other guys asking him why he rode so long around the mall. A simple "I needed to get in the miles" was his reply. What a professional.

Steve Prefontaine said that "to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." Saul's dedication that day demonstrates that he too must live by that motto. I often think of him that day when I struggle in my own training, and his example still gives me an extra boost of motivation.

Hang in there, Saul.

John Hart
Knoxville, Tennessee

Bisceglia was a bright spot at USA Cycling
Editor:
I've known Gerard Bisceglia since he began with USA Cycling. In all that time, I can say that Gerard has been a pleasure to deal with and has done everything he said he was going to do. As the director of the only junior trade team in the U.S. that races internationally, I have more contact with the federation and its politics then most. Gerard answers his own phone and if you get his message machine, he calls you back. I don't know why he left or was asked to leave but to me, Gerard was one of the few bright spots in our sports governing body. Thank you, Gerard.

Tobias Stanton
Director, Hot Tubes Cycling
Worcester, Massachusetts

Bisceglia wasn’t one of the good-ol’-boys
Editor:
You know why Gerard got "dismissed?" He was not accepted into the good-ol'-boy network at USA Cycling. He came to the organization with the intent to better the climate for its members. He was looking out for us, the ones who are the base to this whole organization.

If it were not for Gerard’s initiative to go and speak with local assocations and to encourage them to remain a part of USA Cycling there might not be a USA Cycling. I hope the local associations that had planned on leaving USA Cycling do so again. And I hope they do it in such large numbers that it results in the collapse of the organization, which has had little to no interest in its membership since its inception.

The only time we have experienced positive change from the organization was during Gerard’s tenure. He reached out, he made unpopular changes as viewed by his peers at the top, he questioned things that appeared unethical (and which still appear that way), but most important he was the voice of 55,000 members that have no voting power.

And the notion that some things are private and not for public disclosure is ridiculous. As a member I should have the right to know why someone was removed, whether they resigned, were fired or dismissed. This should be part of my privileges as a member. So my parting words to Mr. Bisceglia are: Thank you for your willingness to challenge those in the network. Thank you for bringing such positive change to this membership while you were at USA Cycling. Thanks again for your hard work and dedication to us, the membership.

Robert Trombley
Seattle, Washington

Dismissal sparks little outrage
Editor:
It’s interesting that on bike forums here in the Midwest as well as in the daily mailbag at VeloNews, there’s relatively little interest in Gerard Bisceglia getting sacked at USA Cycling. There are seemingly few who feel strongly one way or another about his tenure as CEO of USA Cycling. The whole business, which might otherwise prompt talk of infighting, intrigue, and power struggles, seems to have elicited a collective yawn in the cycling community.

Perhaps through the years we’ve seen enough changes at USA Cycling amount to almost … nothing? Or perhaps it’s spring, and we’d rather be racing, and USA Cycling seems to have so little to do with that at the local level.

Rich Pierce
St. Louis, Missouri

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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.