Will Americans Forget Cycling?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by stone61cm
I'm curious as to what everyone here thinks about this.

When Lance Armstrong retires, possibly at the end of this year, Will Americans forget about cycling because we're not a top contender anymore?

Personally, as an American, I think the vast majority of us will. Most Americans only care about American sports, which pretty much suck.

Cycling currently has very little "TOMA" (top of mind awareness) in the U.S. VERY little..will it be even less? Yes.

Cycle Sport April 04 : US Riders Special :
Both Jonathan Vaughters and Tyler Hamilton state that they followed LeMonds achievements closely and without LeMond's
example, they would never have tured professional.

I hope that the interest in cycling increases from the USA.
The more guys over here competing the better it is for our sport.

Who knows perhaps LA's example had brushed of on some
young boy or girl already.

This brings up an interesting philisophical question: Can people forget about something that they know nothing about?

I answered "Yes" to the poll. But as jstraw mentioned, Americans really don't know any more about cycling than they did pre-Lance. Almost all cycling coverage in the U.S. is Lance-related and is typically isolated to the TDF (probably because Lance hardly bothers to compete in anything else).

Having said that, any interest in the TDF will fall off after Lance retires, unless there is another american contender. Amercians have no interest in sports unless they are dominant in that sport. Whether this is due to the American obsession with winning or with the fact that the US market is saturated with sports competing for attention, I don't know. Probably both.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Saucy
This brings up an interesting philisophical question: Can people forget about something that they know nothing about?

I answered "Yes" to the poll. But as jstraw mentioned, Americans really don't know any more about cycling than they did pre-Lance. Almost all cycling coverage in the U.S. is Lance-related and is typically isolated to the TDF (probably because Lance hardly bothers to compete in anything else).

Having said that, any interest in the TDF will fall off after Lance retires, unless there is another american contender. Amercians have no interest in sports unless they are dominant in that sport. Whether this is due to the American obsession with winning or with the fact that the US market is saturated with sports competing for attention, I don't know. Probably both.

As an outsider looking in - those of us outside the USA tend to forget that while the USA is a country - it is a continent as well.
And it is a self contained continent to boot.

Therefore to penetrate the American sporting conciousness,
the only way to do so is to achieve notoriety in an American sport
which has an international dimension like Tennis or Golf.
(basically pro golf and pro tennis is funded in large part through
American corporate interest).
Having said that neither of these sports are dominated by Americans (look at Ernie Els or Leighton Hewitt or Boris Becker).

I take your point about Americans being only interested in those who are winners.
But even a great winner like Schumacher has probably got a lower profile in the USA than say, alot of American footballers.
The names of Pele, Bradman, Merckx, Joe Davis, Fangio : mean little or nothing to the average American.

Is it a good thing that Americans are only interested in their own sports ?
(I could answer this but I won't !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by stone61cm
I'm curious as to what everyone here thinks about this.

When Lance Armstrong retires, possibly at the end of this year, Will Americans forget about cycling because we're not a top contender anymore?

Personally, as an American, I think the vast majority of us will. Most Americans only care about American sports, which pretty much suck.

Ok, I am the oddball that voted no. Granted some might, but I think that most of the people will keep on cycling & following the other rides & races out their. I watch as much as I can, cheering on my favorites, some American, some not. Lance's winning has done great things for cycling here in the States, and I think others will keep building on it. Cycling didn't die away after LeMond, or Hampsten, etc... retired & in fact I would dare say it has continued to grow to a point that nothing will stop it.

The biggest question would be how much media coverage we will still get. If OLN drops out of following as many races as they do - that will hurt the sport some here in the US. As for caring only about American sports, the problem is getting networks to carry other sports / games. For soccer or as they say across the pond - football, it wasn't until the American females won & the one took off her jersey that I actually started to see more coverage for that sport. (Besides the Spanish stations) Got to love those network execs & how they make decisions. It is really hard to follow a sport / get interested in one until you can actually see it.

Besides if gas prices keep increasing we might see more people take up riding just for commuting reasons. Every person helps. Just my .02. Thanks

Quoted post said:

those of us outside the USA tend to forget that while the USA is a country - it is a continent as well. And it is a self contained continent to boot.

Not to nitpick, but the last time I checked, "our continent" had a few other countries called "Canada" "Mexico" and a bunch of other countries I can't pronounce or locate on a map. Of course, these countries are simply pawns in our sphere of influence so to say that that the US is an entire continent is not entirely incorrect.

Your knowledge of geography, or lack thereof, makes me suspect you are actually american! You just outed yourself! (insert smiley face here)

Quoted post said:

Therefore to penetrate the American sporting conciousness, the only way to do so is to achieve notoriety in an American sport which has an international dimension like Tennis or Golf.

Yes. Also sex scandals work well to achieve notoriety.

Quoted post said:

Having said that neither of these sports are dominated by Americans (look at Ernie Els or Leighton Hewitt or Boris Becker).

Tiger Woods is currently dominating golf (which contributes to the huge rise in popularity of golf) , albeit not so much in the last year. Pete Sampras and the Williams sisters have dominated tennis in the last few years which helped its popularity. My point is that Americans are more interested in tennis and golf when an American is the leader in the sport.

Quoted post said:

I take your point about Americans being only interested in those who are winners. But even a great winner like Schumacher has probably got a lower profile in the USA than say, alot of American footballers.

Actually Schumacher is well known in the US. Auto racing actually receives a lot of coverage. He was the topic of a 60 Minutes interview a while back and NASCAR is one of the largest growth sports (much to my chagrin). Without a doubt more americans would know his name than any male footballer. My point? I don't think I have one.

I don't think the Americans will forget cycling, I just have a sneaking suspicion that it might be pushed to the fore sometime in the future. There are little snippets going around that Lance is interested in politics, so you never know what might happen. They've got/had thespians as governors and higher so what about a cyclist running for office?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Saucy
Not to nitpick, but the last time I checked, "our continent" had a few other countries called "Canada" "Mexico" and a bunch of other countries I can't pronounce or locate on a map. Of course, these countries are simply pawns in our sphere of influence so to say that that the US is an entire continent is not entirely incorrect.

Your knowledge of geography, or lack thereof, makes me suspect you are actually american! You just outed yourself! (insert smiley face here)



Yes. Also sex scandals work well to achieve notoriety.



Tiger Woods is currently dominating golf (which contributes to the huge rise in popularity of golf) , albeit not so much in the last year. Pete Sampras and the Williams sisters have dominated tennis in the last few years which helped its popularity. My point is that Americans are more interested in tennis and golf when an American is the leader in the sport.



Actually Schumacher is well known in the US. Auto racing actually receives a lot of coverage. He was the topic of a 60 Minutes interview a while back and NASCAR is one of the largest growth sports (much to my chagrin). Without a doubt more americans would know his name than any male footballer. My point? I don't think I have one.

Smiley or no smiley - I wish to re-iterate I am not American !

But on a serious note - I am aware that the continent of America
contains South America - Canada etc.
My point was that the largest concentration of population is the
USA : and that from the outside we tend to view you as a country
rather than the USA being a continent (or being of continental
demographics ie huge population).

And Tiger Woods hasn't been the Worlds No 1 golfer for the past two years.
There's a man called Ernie Els from South Africa who has wiped the floor with Woods for the past two years.
Throw in MIke Wyer, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) and several others and you will see that the Tiger train has been slowed
down a little in the past few seasons. (he's still a great golfer !)

My point is that there is a whole world of sport outside of baseball, basketball, A.Football : which your average American has no interest in (and this is fair enough).
So when LA wins the TDF - to even 20 seconds coverage on CBS or NBC is an achievement.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by hemplands
I don't think the Americans will forget cycling, I just have a sneaking suspicion that it might be pushed to the fore sometime in the future. There are little snippets going around that Lance is interested in politics, so you never know what might happen. They've got/had thespians as governors and higher so what about a cyclist running for office?

Big ~pfft# re that Hemp.

Lance will fly Airforce 1 no matter who is residing!

😉 Alice

Not to nitpick, but the last time I checked, "our continent" had a few other countries called "Canada" "Mexico" and a bunch of other countries I can't pronounce or locate on a map. Of course, these countries are simply pawns in our sphere of influence so to say that that the US is an entire continent is not entirely incorrect.

Your knowledge of geography, or lack thereof, makes me suspect you are actually american! You just outed yourself! (insert smiley face here)

............................

WOAH...out yourself why don't you.... A first point to say is that maybe some of us are proud to NOT be American?

All you can mention as 'extras' to your Continent are Canada and Mexico? Incredible. No doubt you only know of Mexico thanks to Spring Break at Tijuana?! I'm amazed. I think that actually says it all, your continent is so self contained that you as a whole don't even get what it is you are saying!

I do think that the U.S will forget about cycling after Lance has gone into retirement. My goodness, I have so many American friends who even a few yrs back took the [censored] about my MSN pic of him asking who the heck he was...then they sort of woke up and sent me addies for the last Nike or Coke advert but are still totally blase about what he has achieved sports wise and for 'your continent' in general. How many knew or remember what Hamilton went through with a broken collar bone to still do what he did in the TDF or even G.Hincapie's constant performances in the Spring Classics?

I do end up thinking sportswise about the 'big names' such as the Williams' sisters in tennis and Tiger Woods in golf despite him being surpassed already to the fact that they may be such prominent figures due to being Afro Caribbean< many apologies if I have offended anyone in any mis spelling or un p.c terminology (or speaking the blatant truth?), but that is part of the deal isn't it? They made it to amazing hights dispite unpriveleged backgrounds. Many a cyclist including L.A did as well but are 'white' so they don't count?!

As for an interview with Shumacker....well, I would be bored to hear him for 1 hour but would flick channels instead of getting angry that he had that air time. Yes, btw some of us Euro's do know about Nascar too and E.t's untimley death hitting that brick wall. I wonder how many Americans remember Kivilev, Oxtoa, or Pantanis deaths in the same light?

Either I am getting something incredibly wrong or my points are very valid.

Either way, take care

Alice

Canada is like America Jr.

First off, the US never forgot cycling. Ever hear of the mountain bike? The concept of a suspensioned/very off road cycle was pretty much invented over here, the US definitely propelled this sport to its current position.

When Armstrong retires, that will not end American involvment in road cycling. I suspect Tyler Hamilton will have a thing or two to say about that.

However, road cycling as a spectator sport will probably never rise to a major sport in the US. Most people don't cycle much over here. The country is a bit too big, and gas is still cheap enough to where the bicycle really is not a practical alternative for a car in anything more than the most urban conditions.

America does not care about or know anything about "cycling" (MTB Excluded), never have, never will. America knows about marketability. A guy gets sick, comes back wins something and eats applepie, thats sellable. A guy falls off and hurts himself, keeps going and gets a minor place in a race, thats sellable, 10 Americans ride really really well, mabey one even wins, but without a major tear jerker no one will watch it (except for the vast minority who participate)

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by limerickman
Cycle Sport April 04 : US Riders Special :
Both Jonathan Vaughters and Tyler Hamilton state that they followed LeMonds achievements closely and without LeMond's
example, they would never have tured professional.

I hope that the interest in cycling increases from the USA.
The more guys over here competing the better it is for our sport.

Who knows perhaps LA's example had brushed of on some
young boy or girl already.

I'm 16 now and I've been trying to cycle atleast 4 hours a day. I pretty much don't have anywhere else to go in life.

John0.....I think it's pretty widely thought that the term cycling does not include mountain biking.

Seems like you just wanted to make yourself appear intelligent

Quoted post said:

WOAH...out yourself why don't you.... A first point to say is that maybe some of us are proud to NOT be American?
All you can mention as 'extras' to your Continent are Canada and Mexico? Incredible. No doubt you only know of Mexico thanks to Spring Break at Tijuana?! I'm amazed. I think that actually says it all, your continent is so self contained that you as a whole don't even get what it is you are saying!

I thought it was pretty clear from my post that I was poking fun at the idea that Americans know nothing about geography. Its called "self-deprecating humor". Do you have that in the UK? Of course I know the other countries in the North American continent. Of course, I know that these countries are independent states. Of course I 'm not going to list all the countries in "my" continent in my post - that would be silly. I'm not sure if your incapability of seeing the humor in my post is due to a language barrier or because you are humor impaired. If it is the latter, I feel very sorry for you.

And Tiger Woods is not "surpassed". He is "taking a breather" in order to spend time having sex with his Swedish fiancee. Can we blame him? She's hot! Give the guy a break. He'll be back dominating soon enough.

BTW, Phil Mickelson (an american) is on top of the PGA leaderboard.

As far as mountain biking. Yes, its a huge sport in the "North American continent" (Canada and the US at least, although I can't speak for Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and the Dominican Republic. And legally, I can't comment on Cuba). But this is largely a participation sport. I would suspect 95% of people with a mountain bike couldn't name a single professional mountain biker. Nobody watches it or follows it.

Ohhhhhh, you mean IRONY? Darn, us Euro's don't understand that.....Either way pls. keep going with the list!

🙂 Alice

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by stone61cm
John0.....I think it's pretty widely thought that the term cycling does not include mountain biking.

Seems like you just wanted to make yourself appear intelligent

If you guys want to pump yourself by getting snotty about definitions, then 'cycling' as you define it will probably wither. Not because this country isn't 'good' enough, but because nobody likes riding with a self righteous prima donna. Both Tyler and Lance spend time on the MTB trails, and more than one MTB rider has gotten back out on the road as a result. If it has two wheels, and a human is powering it, it's cycling.

Nor does that exclude Tyler, Floyd, Bobby or a host of other world class American riders from keeping cycling alive in the US after Lance retires. If they keep winning, interest will keep coming, especially if they don't go and get all anal about what 'cycling' is.

This must be the 'guess my narrow definition of cycling' thread. I fail - poor me.

I really hope cycling gets bigger and bigger... but I fear that once Lance is gone, there will be even less coverage. Alot of people don't understand competitive cycling at all... they just think its 'riding a bike'. I usually wear a USPS cycling hat, and maybe 1 out of 50 people recognizes it... the 49 others ask if I'm a mailman.