Pro Cycling RIP

B. Lafferty said:

Consider Fred Adam's (a freelance writer for Velo) comments in the current
issue of ProCycling:

"....Cycling will never be clean. We could stop all racing for weeks or
months; cycling is too anchored in bad, old habits to evolve in the right
direction. And I think that gradually it will die out. I'm talking about
cycling at the top level. Too bad for the journalists whose job it is to
relate the performances of the best riders in the world, but if that's
indeed where we're headed, cycling will have deserved to die.....All of
these liars have taken us for idiots. There are too few honest men in this
sport, and they foot the bill for their con-artist friends. The future of
cycling is in participation, nowhere else. Let's all go riding through the
countryside, in the sunshine,in the mountains, and let's breathe in the
aroma of our sport--the real one, the pure one, not this putrid stench that
the pro peloton has been wafting at us for as long as we can remember." p.42

Probably the most accurate assessment I've read of the past, current,
and future state of pro cycling, and the approriate response to it -
ride your own bike and put pro cycling fandom behind you. He's
absolutely right that we've all been taken for idiots - it's time to
wake up and face it - pro cycling will NEVER be "clean" - or even close
to it.

I'm amazed ProCycling published this commentary.

Brad Anders

Brad said:

Probably the most accurate assessment I've read of the past, current,
and future state of pro cycling

Buncha [censored] is what it is. Puerile handwringing, if you prefer.

Quoted message said:

and the approriate response to it -
ride your own bike and put pro cycling fandom behind you. He's
absolutely right that we've all been taken for idiots - it's time to
wake up and face it - pro cycling will NEVER be "clean" - or even close
to it.

Don't let the door hit you in the fandom if you're going to follow that
accurate assessment.

"Cycling will never be clean". It was such a good start; what a
disappointment.

"Move along, no enlightenment here, move along..." --D-y

Brad said:

B. Lafferty said:

Consider Fred Adam's (a freelance writer for Velo) comments in the current
issue of ProCycling:

"....Cycling will never be clean. We could stop all racing for weeks or
months; cycling is too anchored in bad, old habits to evolve in the right
direction. And I think that gradually it will die out. I'm talking about
cycling at the top level. Too bad for the journalists whose job it is to
relate the performances of the best riders in the world, but if that's
indeed where we're headed, cycling will have deserved to die.....All of
these liars have taken us for idiots. There are too few honest men in this
sport, and they foot the bill for their con-artist friends. The future of
cycling is in participation, nowhere else. Let's all go riding through the
countryside, in the sunshine,in the mountains, and let's breathe in the
aroma of our sport--the real one, the pure one, not this putrid stench that
the pro peloton has been wafting at us for as long as we can remember." p.42

Probably the most accurate assessment I've read of the past, current,
and future state of pro cycling, and the approriate response to it -
ride your own bike and put pro cycling fandom behind you. He's
absolutely right that we've all been taken for idiots - it's time to
wake up and face it - pro cycling will NEVER be "clean" - or even close
to it.

I'm amazed ProCycling published this commentary.

Brad Anders

Does anyone know of an instance where a sport lost money or
popularity due to doping? This has certainly never happened here
in the US. Baseball, football, tennis, hockey, track and field...
all have made great strides and lots of money because of dope.
I don't know why cycling should be any different. We may not be
happy about that, but that's the way it is. If cycling ever dies
out the one thing you can be sure of is that doping will play no
part in the decline.

Brad, I remember you passing rumors of people brewing custom
steroids maybe 10 years before Tammy Thomas got busted for that.
So by now that has to be pretty commonplace. In the intervening
years, through doping scandal after doping scandal, has the
economic profile of the sport shown any signs of impending doom?
No one is taken for an idiot. But lots of people choose blind
idiocy if that's what it takes to groove on superhuman feats
performed by superhuman athletes.

The other day there was a story in the local sports section
about the likelihood of Barry Bonds playing another year for
the Giants. The fans in San Francisco still love him, it seems.

Bob Schwartz

I don't know that bodybuilding has the following now that it may have
after the promotional wave of Pumping Iron, but I may be mistaken.

In the original article, one might substitute "politics" for cycling,
and "influence pedaling" for "dope" and had pretty much the same
argument, except that politics won't go away either.

The folks that like to see cycling will continue to do so, and those
who don't like it or are excessivly bothered by the doping subtext will
not. The nature of the sport and the inablility to "police" the doping
probably sets an upper limit on the potential popularity of the sport.
Once one accepts that it will not have the fan base of football
(either kind) or the finances, then you have what you have.

Ultimately, it's whether the fans who do support it like what they are
seeing that determine the health of the sport.

-dB http://trustbut.blogspot.com for Landis news, research and comment.

Quoted message said:

B. Lafferty said:

Consider Fred Adam's (a freelance writer for Velo) comments in the

current

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

issue of ProCycling:

"....Cycling will never be clean. We could stop all racing for weeks or
months; cycling is too anchored in bad, old habits to evolve in the

right

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

direction. And I think that gradually it will die out. I'm talking about
cycling at the top level. Too bad for the journalists whose job it is to
relate the performances of the best riders in the world, but if that's
indeed where we're headed, cycling will have deserved to die.....All of
these liars have taken us for idiots. There are too few honest men in

this

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

sport, and they foot the bill for their con-artist friends. The future

of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

cycling is in participation, nowhere else. Let's all go riding through

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

countryside, in the sunshine,in the mountains, and let's breathe in the
aroma of our sport--the real one, the pure one, not this putrid stench

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the pro peloton has been wafting at us for as long as we can remember."

p.42

Quoted message said:

Probably the most accurate assessment I've read of the past, current,
and future state of pro cycling, and the approriate response to it -
ride your own bike and put pro cycling fandom behind you. He's
absolutely right that we've all been taken for idiots - it's time to
wake up and face it - pro cycling will NEVER be "clean" - or even close
to it.

I'm amazed ProCycling published this commentary.

Brad Anders

--------------
I reached this conclusion after David Millar confessed and consequently
lost his French Chalet and French girlfriend to French authorities. Once I
stated the above, I was almost driven from rbr, from the resulting
hostility. Now it's almost everyone's opinion, how quickly minds can
change, in the face of overwhelming evidence. I still cycle, but don't give
beans about what's happening in pro-racing.

Crescentius Vespasianus wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

I reached this conclusion after David Millar confessed and
consequently
lost his French Chalet and French girlfriend to French authorities.
Once I stated the above, I was almost driven from rbr, from the
resulting hostility. Now it's almost everyone's opinion, how quickly
minds can change, in the face of overwhelming evidence. I still
cycle, but don't give beans about what's happening in pro-racing.

French girlfriends are overrated. Only cyclists get French girlfriends.
Real athletes like golfers and movie stars get Swedes because you get that
European je ne se quos without a lot of the overhead (no pun intended) that
comes with a Frenchwoman. Ask anyone who's had a real French girlfriend
and they will tell you that Millar probably confessed just so that the
French authorities would take the pretentious, nagging, orally-fixated, and
nasally-talking [censored] off his hands.

--
Bill Asher

William Asher said:

Crescentius Vespasianus wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

I reached this conclusion after David Millar confessed and
consequently
lost his French Chalet and French girlfriend to French authorities.
Once I stated the above, I was almost driven from rbr, from the
resulting hostility. Now it's almost everyone's opinion, how quickly
minds can change, in the face of overwhelming evidence. I still
cycle, but don't give beans about what's happening in pro-racing.

French girlfriends are overrated. Only cyclists get French girlfriends.
Real athletes like golfers and movie stars get Swedes because you get that
European je ne se quos without a lot of the overhead (no pun intended) that

I love it when you type ze bad French. You are ze essence of je ne se qua,
dahlink.

:-)

Quoted message said:

comes with a Frenchwoman. Ask anyone who's had a real French girlfriend
and they will tell you that Millar probably confessed just so that the
French authorities would take the pretentious, nagging, orally-fixated, and
nasally-talking [censored] off his hands.

William Asher said:

Crescentius Vespasianus wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

I reached this conclusion after David Millar confessed and
consequently
lost his French Chalet and French girlfriend to French authorities.
Once I stated the above, I was almost driven from rbr, from the
resulting hostility. Now it's almost everyone's opinion, how quickly
minds can change, in the face of overwhelming evidence. I still
cycle, but don't give beans about what's happening in pro-racing.

French girlfriends are overrated. Only cyclists get French girlfriends.
Real athletes like golfers and movie stars get Swedes because you get that
European je ne se quos without a lot of the overhead (no pun intended) that
comes with a Frenchwoman. Ask anyone who's had a real French girlfriend
and they will tell you that Millar probably confessed just so that the
French authorities would take the pretentious, nagging, orally-fixated, and
nasally-talking [censored] off his hands.

--
Bill Asher

I guess you've never had a French girl. Too bad.

Andre

nobody wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

I love it when you type ze bad French. You are ze essence of je ne se
qua, dahlink.

Being American, if I get the French right, or grok irony, the universe
ends. I am going to assume that everybody, including nobody, wants to
avoid that.

--
Bill Asher

Andre wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

I guess you've never had a French girl. Too bad.

It's on my "to do" list.

--
Bill Asher

William Asher said:

nobody wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

I love it when you type ze bad French. You are ze essence of je ne se
qua, dahlink.

Being American, if I get the French right, or grok irony, the universe
ends. I am going to assume that everybody, including nobody, wants to
avoid that.

Yes, nobody wants to avoid that.

So you're r.b.r's own version of Bob Roll, then?

nobody said:

On 26 Sep 2006 23:07:16 GMT, William Asher <[email hidden]> wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

So you're r.b.r's own version of Bob Roll, then?

No. I wouldn't deliberately mispronounce the French, it would come
naturally to me.

--
Bill Asher

Brad said:

He's
absolutely right that we've all been taken for idiots - it's time to
wake up and face it - pro cycling will NEVER be "clean" - or even close
to it.

Is that why you've been scarce on rbr?

You've only been taken for an idiot if you thought it was clean.

William Asher said:

Andre wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

I guess you've never had a French girl. Too bad.

It's on my "to do" list.

"She," not "it," is on your to do list. In French, nouns and articles
are gendered, as in "la" and "le." Therefore, French girls are
referred to as "she," not "it," unlike whatever entity you may
previously have been doing. Not that there's anything wrong
with that.

Ben
RBR Nontraditional Gender Support Group

B. Lafferty said:

"....The report into cycling comes as the UCI struggles in the sport's
constant fight against doping. A recent assessment of the 2005/2006 seasons
released by the UCI reports the increased structure, stability and
globalization the governing body has brought to the sport but neglects to
mention any progress in anti-doping - a promotional problem that has plagued
the sport's history......"

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/sep06/sep26news

Study the problem for another year, Pat and perhaps it will go away. And
keep attacking [censored] Pound and WADA to distract attention away from the
abject failure of the UCI to address the problem in a significant manner
during Hein's tenure. Same old, same old.

Consider Fred Adam's (a freelance writer for Velo) comments in the current
issue of ProCycling:

"....Cycling will never be clean. We could stop all racing for weeks or
months; cycling is too anchored in bad, old habits to evolve in the right
direction. And I think that gradually it will die out. I'm talking about
cycling at the top level. Too bad for the journalists whose job it is to
relate the performances of the best riders in the world, but if that's
indeed where we're headed, cycling will have deserved to die.....All of
these liars have taken us for idiots. There are too few honest men in this
sport, and they foot the bill for their con-artist friends. The future of
cycling is in participation, nowhere else. Let's all go riding through the
countryside, in the sunshine,in the mountains, and let's breathe in the
aroma of our sport--the real one, the pure one, not this putrid stench that
the pro peloton has been wafting at us for as long as we can remember." p.42

I cannot understand what goes wrong in a man's life that he would find the
doings of strangers practicing a sport to be so important to him.

Why does this matter to anyone? The question is, to steal a phrase, who got
sprinkles on his cornflakes? I don't care. I care who rode smart, who rode like
a hero, who suffered and prevailed, who struggled but failed. I don't care a
rat's ass who had what ratio of C13 in his nadular output.

Ron

On Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:51:41 -0400, RonSonic <[email hidden]>
wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

I cannot understand what goes wrong in a man's life that he would find the
doings of strangers practicing a sport to be so important to him.

Why does this matter to anyone? The question is, to steal a phrase, who got
sprinkles on his cornflakes? I don't care. I care who rode smart, who rode like
a hero, who suffered and prevailed, who struggled but failed. I don't care a
rat's ass who had what ratio of C13 in his nadular output.

Ron

All the riders got together and work out a 'rumor mill' to come up with an
assortment of faux things that could be 'leaked' to the Organization.

"Astana is secretly putting Helium in their tires"

"Discovery Channel Pro Team is giving bricks made of depleted Uranium to
Savoldelli at the last KoM point so he can descend faster"

"Bettini is pissing gold-colored pee - he's on some new Russian drug"

"Vino set off some radiation detectors in the airport. Something about a
bio-engineered spider bite"

The idea would be to keep the doping and other agencies so busy chasing
down false leads that they would completely discredit themselves, and not
be able to keep up with normal business.

The leaked team would be ready and all be standing around looking innocent
and stuff. Tres funny.

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Brad said:

B. Lafferty said:

Consider Fred Adam's (a freelance writer for Velo) comments in the current
issue of ProCycling:

"....Cycling will never be clean. We could stop all racing for weeks or
months; cycling is too anchored in bad, old habits to evolve in the right
direction. And I think that gradually it will die out. I'm talking about
cycling at the top level. Too bad for the journalists whose job it is to
relate the performances of the best riders in the world, but if that's
indeed where we're headed, cycling will have deserved to die.....All of
these liars have taken us for idiots. There are too few honest men in this
sport, and they foot the bill for their con-artist friends. The future of
cycling is in participation, nowhere else. Let's all go riding through the
countryside, in the sunshine,in the mountains, and let's breathe in the
aroma of our sport--the real one, the pure one, not this putrid stench that
the pro peloton has been wafting at us for as long as we can remember." p.42

Probably the most accurate assessment I've read of the past, current,
and future state of pro cycling, and the approriate response to it -
ride your own bike and put pro cycling fandom behind you. He's
absolutely right that we've all been taken for idiots - it's time to
wake up and face it - pro cycling will NEVER be "clean" - or even close
to it.

I'm amazed ProCycling published this commentary.

You are disappointed, annoyed, bitter, and ashamed that
you were duped; but shut up about it. Nobody wants to
listen to a whiner. Suck it up and be a man.

Some of us are not surprised to find participants and
teams in professional sports seeking advantage everywhere
they can.

--
Michael Press

nobody said:

On Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:51:41 -0400, RonSonic <[email hidden]>
wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

I cannot understand what goes wrong in a man's life that he would find the
doings of strangers practicing a sport to be so important to him.

Why does this matter to anyone? The question is, to steal a phrase, who got
sprinkles on his cornflakes? I don't care. I care who rode smart, who rode like
a hero, who suffered and prevailed, who struggled but failed. I don't care a
rat's ass who had what ratio of C13 in his nadular output.

Ron

All the riders got together and work out a 'rumor mill' to come up with an
assortment of faux things that could be 'leaked' to the Organization.

"Astana is secretly putting Helium in their tires"

"Discovery Channel Pro Team is giving bricks made of depleted Uranium to
Savoldelli at the last KoM point so he can descend faster"

"Bettini is pissing gold-colored pee - he's on some new Russian drug"

"Vino set off some radiation detectors in the airport. Something about a
bio-engineered spider bite"

The idea would be to keep the doping and other agencies so busy chasing
down false leads that they would completely discredit themselves, and not
be able to keep up with normal business.

The leaked team would be ready and all be standing around looking innocent
and stuff. Tres funny.

Keep 'em busy for awhile.

How long would every urine sample have to be horse pee before they knew
something was up?

Ron

in message <[email hidden]>, RonSonic

(') said:

The question is, to steal a phrase, who got
sprinkles on his cornflakes?

Yoh!

Score one.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

'graveyards are full of indispensable people'