Lance gets 6

[MightyMitre]

Hey Girls - just got back from Europe and kinda suprised there's no posts on here celebrating Lance's 6 Tour wins! Or are you all still celebrating, along with everyone else on the Champs Elysee. ;)

Lance has finally proved he's best at winning the Tour de France.

[caligurl]

do mean just got back.. as in you were at the TdF?????

[MightyMitre]

I've been in Europe for the last 3 weeks and saw the Tour a few times.

Standing in the rain for 3 hours watching the TTT was crazy! I don't know who was more crazy the riders or the specators who happily got soaked to the skin! It was a laugh.

Also saw the Tour on the cobbles near Roubaix during the first week. It was amazing - they were totally flying.:)

Didn't go to Paris this time - but maybe next year...:)

[caligurl]

WOW! i'm so jealous! every year we watch.. hubby always says he wants to go over there..

this year... as a new rider... i now have aspirations to ride the.. uhm... don't know how to spell it... the alpe dhuez... ! :D

[MightyMitre]

Go for it! There were loads of Americans over there this year, especially as Lance has been so successful.

I have a friend in Italy who works for a company who runs cycling holidays for Americans. She does guided rides in the Dolomites and it's getting pretty popular.

Another friend from my cycling club rode up Alp D'Huez earlier in the year and although it took her a while she did it.

PS- I heard Sheryl Crow's done the climb in 90mins. I guess she's finding new ways to Have some Fun...:p

[ACG]

I watched it all. I taped it all. Some stages were boring, but I always found something I didn't know. I tried to listen when they were talking about mechanical issues or better ways to ride.

I completed manipulated the only TV in the house with Cable. I'm usually watching my familys shows: Football, baseball, golf, or MTV, some teen drama or SNL. My family knows July is my TV month.

After a while all my friends knew too. So now I'm loaning out the tapes with the different stages.

I also wore my TDF hat, t-shirt and livestrong band during the event.

I'm saving up for a new bike, so I'll have to postphone the trip to France for a while....

[jobob]

MightyMitre, welcome back! I hope you can share your impressions once you've had a chance to unpack and settle back in.

I was afraid to talk too much about the Tour while it was still going on since if I rooted for one more person who subsequently crashed and burned I would be in a million (more) depressions.

I was up every single morning watching the OLN live feed on the West Coast. We also TiVo'd the 'expanded' coverage and zipped through that in the evening to catch any interviews or special segments that didn't show up in the early live broadcast. ( I got very adept at fast-forwarding whenever Al Trautwig opened his mouth, and stopping in time to hear Bobke's reply ;) )

Favorite Lance moment: When he sprinted past Klöden to take the win on Stage 17. That was other-worldy.

Favorite non-Lance moments: Ah, there are many ...

But my absolute fave moment had to be (of course!) Bobby Julich's splendid performance in the stage 19 ITT, after it looked as though he was going to be limping his way through the rest of the tour after his crash on Stage 13. I had noticed during stage 17 that he was starting to look mighty sprightly again and that maybe he might do something special for the TT but I dared not hope. On Saturday morning had to leave the house right after we saw his run (to meet up with snapdragen - to whom I gave a little Happy Dance of Joy) but when I returned home I picked up right where I left off on the broadcast. Then - horrors - it looked like Floyd was beating him. Oh, the angst !! How could I not root for Floyd? Well, as it turned out, Floyd finished 4th on the stage, Bobby finished 5th (yes!), and a happy camper was I.

Honorable mention #1: Ivan Basso (heretofore referred to as "bleep bleep" for fear that my wretched karma would bring him down too) sticking like gum on the soles of LA's shoes through most of the mountain stages. Bravissimo! I'm thrilled he hung on to a podium spot.

Honorable mention #2: Jan Ullrich on l'Alpe d'Huez. How gutsy. We got to see probably the first glimmer all tour of the competitor he is.

Sweetest moment: Thomas Voeckler laughing in delight with the 'club cyclists' keeping pace with the very relaxed peleton on stage 8, just before the rest day. He looked like he was having fun.


This morning was the first morning sans Tour in three weeks. Whatever will I do with myself? :D

- Jo (Olympics are in August .. whee)

[Veronica]

Well if you're looking for something to do - I still have 4 weeks of vacation. We could get together and ride.

V.

[aka_kim]

Welcome back, MM, I'm green with envy.

I'm still celebrating -- Lance's win and the whole amazing event. Say what you will about the guy, but winning 6 tours in a row is an amazing achievement. Every rider on the tour is an incredible athlete (and many have very cute legs and rears too :)). Basso, Kloden and Voeckler were all thrilling -- it's great to see new young stars. Ullrich, despite his initial problems, really showed what a great competitor and sportsman he is. Floyd, and Bobby and George -- wow. I even started liking McEwen by the end (he usually seems overly aggressive to me).

So, will Lance go for seven? Personally I think he should retire at the top, and let the next generation of riders break through.

[snapdragen]

I hoping he'll skip Le Tour next year and do the Giro and the Vuelta. Maybe throw in some other lesser known (at least to me) races.

Has anyone heard if the Posties will be at the San Francisco Grand Prix? (I know, it's called something different now, but I'm stubbon......) Georgie is lookin' so slim and fast, I'd love to see him ride it again.



Originally posted by aka_kim
So, will Lance go for seven? Personally I think he should retire at the top, and let the next generation of riders break through.

[jobob]

I do hope so .... can anyone say ROAD TRIP? :D

I think the SF race (I'm pulling a blank on the new name) conflicts with the Vuelta , which is probably why George wasn't at SF last year. But this year, with the Olympics, perhaps he won't be put on the Vuelta team....?

[jobob]

I even started liking McEwen by the end (he usually seems overly aggressive to me).

LOL, I felt the same way. Any so-called "non-climber" who suffers his way up Alpe d'Huez but can still manage to pop a wheelie at the top gets brownie points with me. And reading some of his interviews gives me the impression that he's just a regular guy... with, um, aggressive elbows.

But naming his son Ewen? Oy :rolleyes:

[MightyMitre]

It's great to visit the Tour - you can get some of the flavour from the TV, but in the flesh it really is a fantastic day out and the party atmosphere is great - even in the smallest of villages who proudly spruse up their main streets as the Tour thunders by in a split second.

I have to say I'm disappointed Armstrong won. Firstly I was really rooting for Jan or even A.N. Other to appear and make a big impression and secondly because the legend of no one ever being able to beat 5 tour wins was kinda cool.

Still, I suppose records are made to be broken and I can't begruge Armstrong for the way in which he's totally dedicated his life for the last 6 years for 3 weeks in July each year.

Hope he does decide to step aside now - it'll be great to see what people like Kloden and Basso can do.

[Adventure Girl]

Originally posted by MightyMitre
It's great to visit the Tour - you can get some of the flavour from the TV, but in the flesh it really is a fantastic day out and the party atmosphereHey, Mighty, what was your impression on how the crowd treats Lance. I know you didn't see or talk to every person watching, but what kinds of things did you observe? Were there more people cheering or booing him? Through the media, I heard both sides. What was it like first hand?

[jobob]

Originally posted by MightyMitre
I have to say I'm disappointed Armstrong won. Firstly I was really rooting for Jan or even A.N. Other to appear and make a big impression and secondly because the legend of no one ever being able to beat 5 tour wins was kinda cool.
I have mixed feelings. I'm very disappointed that Armstrong had such little competition - last year was absolutely thrilling and I was looking forward to more of the same. Of course, one could hardly blame Armstrong for showing up completely prepared, while many of his main rivals were either woefully underprepared (or, perhaps in some cases overtrained, burned out or psyched out?) or prone to bad luck (Tyler, I have two words: bubble wrap).

On the other hand, I figured Armstrong winning six titles would raise the visibility of cycling in the US, which would be a Very Good Thing.

But now I'm wondering if all it's done is to raise the visibility of Lance Armstrong in the US. The evening 'expanded' coverage of the tour in the US on OLN was absolutely hysterical (or nauseating) in it's "All Lance All The Time" approach. I did get a chuckle whenever the Official Homeboy, Al Trautwig, would say something particularly moronic and you could see Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin blink, pause, take a breath, and patiently explain how no, this isn't quite all about Lance, and this is why ... and then Trauwig would interrupt them in mid-stream (as if to say, oh don't bother us with the facts :p)

Glancing at other message boards it seems to me that all this tunnel-vision emphasis on Armstrong has produced a fresh crop of rabid LanceFans, not cycling fans, who would just as soon tune out if Their Man Lance wasn't in a particular race. And when Armstrong inevitably retires, if there isn't another rah-rah Americ'un "hero" (tranlation: winner) to occupy the hearts and minds and souls of the fairweather fan base, cycling will return to the ranks of obscurity.

[edited to add] ... or, to end on a more hopeful note, maybe many people attracted by Lance's Quest for Six will see what a cool sport this is. Were it not for Armstong, we'd have only a fraction of the coverage in the US that we enjoy now (assuming you can get OLN), here's hoping that interest gains momentum here in the states.

Just MHO, of course.

[Adventure Girl]

Originally posted by jobob
"All Lance All The Time" approach.What made me mad was when they had the little graphic showing times for the break, chase 1, chase 2 and the peleton. They showed a little blue jersey to show which group Lance was in. I thought it was fine to show his position once he was in yellow, but before he took the lead, they still showed him INSTEAD of the yellow.

[MightyMitre]

I like your reply Jobob.

As this is an American site I've been reluctant to state my true feelings about Lance for fear of offending people. I've read letters and posts on other websites and some Lance Fans seem to be totally hysterical. Someone might put a post saying they're not mad on Lance, or they don't think he's the best and the Lance fans will come back with totally crazy over-the-top replies, like it's blasphamy or something!

Personally I've never been a Lance fan. Like a lot of people over here the impression Lance seems to give is humourless and seriour. I don't like the way he calls it his 'job' - too clinical.

On saying that, I think he gained a lot more respect last year when he was struggling, when he was finding it tough and when we could finally see he was human through the cracks. One of his nicknames was The Tourminator - a cold, mechanical robot who seems unstoppable, but the public want to see passion and guts, like Tyler riding with his broken colar bone or guys that go out on mad, loan break for the whole day, only to be caught by the peleton with 20kms to go.

Despite all this though I totally agree Lance has done wonders for cycling in the US and that's fantastic. Anyone who can inspire others to join our great sport and get some exercise is doing a great job. :)

Phew - bit of a minor venting there... :cool:

[jobob]

Originally posted by Adventure Girl
What made me mad was when they had the little graphic showing times for the break, chase 1, chase 2 and the peleton. They showed a little blue jersey to show which group Lance was in. I thought it was fine to show his position once he was in yellow, but before he took the lead, they still showed him INSTEAD of the yellow. LOL! First couple of stages I did a double-take, I thought maybe they were making a mistake. But, uh, no... :rolleyes:

[jobob]

Originally posted by MightyMitre
As this is an American site I've been reluctant to state my true feelings about Lance for fear of offending people. I've read letters and posts on other websites and some Lance Fans seem to be totally hysterical. Someone might put a post saying they're not mad on Lance, or they don't think he's the best and the Lance fans will come back with totally crazy over-the-top replies, like it's blasphamy or something! Heh, I used to be a figure skating fan (still am, to some extent, but the baloney of the last Olympics and the ensuing mucking about of the scoring system pretty much turned me off).
You have not fully experienced the wonder of irrational psycho uber-fandom until you have uttered a critical word about Michelle Kwan on some skating board, or attended the World Figure Skating Championships in Washington DC and sat next to some nit who would screech at you for cheering for - gasp - a Russian skater :rolleyes:

- Jo("don't be tellin' ME who I should be rootin' for")bob

[Trek420]

jobob wrote "I think the SF race (I'm pulling a blank on the new name) ...."

It's T-mobile sumthin' or other. When is it? Maybe some of us'll meet up there?

[Adventure Girl]

Originally posted by Trek420
It's T-mobile sumthin' or other. When is it?T-MOBILE INTERNATIONAL, presented BMC Software (September 12, 2004) Here's a linky-poo.
http://www.procyclingtour.com/race_overview.cfm/race_id/13

[jobob]

Sunday, Sept. 12 :

http://www.procyclingtour.com/race_fact_sheet.cfm/race_id/13

Veronica & Thom went last year and posted a nice write-up:

http://www.tandemhearts.com/sf-grand-prix-03/index.html

Heh, AG beat me to it :cool:

[Dogmama]

I just got back from San Fran. Some of those hills are graded at 30%. It's a nice place to cycle in spite of all of the traffic because everybody is moving so slowly (in cars) that you can zip in & out. The most dangerous part is all of the tourists on rented bikes. Honestly - tight jeans and flip flops cannot be comfortable.

I'd love to go back for the race. If anybody is interested, let's talk. Don't we have people on these boards from northern CA?

[Veronica]

Bummer, if we'd known you were coming to SF we could have planned a get together. :(

V.

[snapdragen]

Hey MM - Lance fan here, but I don't go all rabid when someone doesn't like him. :D Actually, I like LA the bike rider, and LA the spokesman for cancer surviorship/research/etc. LA the person.......ah, maybe not. So, don't hold back your feelings - I promise not to bite.

I can understand the thinking that LA and the Posties are rather machine like - it's gotta be the training they do. That focus is so intense. I'm thinking others will have to begin to emulate that training/focus in order to compete. Is this a good thing, I don't know.

LA did get me interested in racing (watching, not doing). But, slowly my horizons are expanding. Suddenly I'm noticing other riders - Basso is high on my list, as is the darling of the Tour, "little Tommy Volkler". And I've always had a soft spot for Tyler H.

I do think all the hub-bub has increased the interest in cycling - the Bike Academy my club runs is proof. This session we have 25 students this time (hi jobob!). I don't think I've seen a class this size before.

[caligurl]

another lance fan here.. but also a tyler fan, iban fan and even a new voekler and iban fan!

i was getting SOOOOO mad when reading the other forums cuz it was black... white.. either YAY lance or NAY lance.. no sensible discussions...

either the man could do no wrong or could do no right... he didn't have an in between...

it's nice to see a discussion when he's a human (is he? lol!) with faults and good points just like all of us!

[KkAllez]

I'm new to this forum, that and nursing school means I lurk a little and haven't been brave enought to comment on anything.

Here is my Tour de France top ten:

10. The countryside ooh la la

9. Jan Ullrich (I feel badly for him as the media just goes on and on about 'the rivalry' and to me he comes across as having class and being a nice guy who just happens to be a worldclass athlete)

8. Basso on the podium with his child

7. McEwen's son with him on the podium

6. Floyd Landis

5. George Hincappie

4. Jose Azevado

3. Everytime Bob Roll said, "Tour DAY France" (I can't say it either Bob!)

2. I'm glad it is over because now I can get back to studying, whew, my grades slipped a bit

1. Lance, Lance, Lance gotta love him

The Worst Tour de France list:

The whole Armstrong/Simeoni conflict (Although it did add a bit of drama to the last day)

The hateful people who booed and yelled insults at riders at times

OLN missing the footage of Lance and The Blue Train coming across the finish line

Lance not having his son, Luke, with him on the podium. That would have been nice to see

That the Tour de France is OVER! I feel a bit lost.

But for me, worst of all, was when Tyler Hamilton had to pull out.

[pedalfaster]

Originally posted by Kim


The Worst Tour de France list:


That the Tour de France is OVER! I feel a bit lost.

But for me, worst of all, was when Tyler Hamilton had to pull out.

Tyler pulling out was rough, Mayo too. And of course I was disappointed that Vinokurov and Beloki didn't even get to start!

Ok I would only admit this to you guys (gals) but yeah I am suffering from post-tour depression. :o

For those few weeks my after-work life revolves around riding, showering, boiling the pasta and sitting down for another evening with Paul and Phil. Am I just pathetic or what???

[maryellen]

Am I just pathetic or what???

perhaps . . . but you're not alone!

[jobob]

oh you are so not alone.

Bummer of bummers, I read on another list that OLN will not be providing live coverage of the Vuelta. Something about just a single 1-hour show :eek:

( snarky aside: yeah but if Lance was in it we'd get more than that :p )

- Jo

[snapdragen]

But jobob, OLN stands for Only Lance Network! What did you expect.

Perhaps we should all email OLN, and plead our case....

Oh, look what I found - a Vuelta petition!

http://www.petitiononline.com/vuelta3/

[pedalfaster]

Originally posted by snapdragen
But jobob, OLN stands for Only Lance Network! What did you expect.

Perhaps we should all email OLN, and plead our case....

Oh, look what I found - a Vuelta petition!

http://www.petitiononline.com/vuelta3/

Cool!

In the meantime I plan to watch old Tour tapes (1990=LeMond and 1995=Miguel) to get my fix.

[Roadrunner]

Were you on the Champ-Elysees? I was there with hubbie. We were amazed at how fast those guys go. It was great to see Lance win again. Does anyone think he'll do it next year?
Margaret:D

[jobob]

Originally posted by Margaret
It was great to see Lance win again. Does anyone think he'll do it next year? Well, from the interview on OLN last night & various other interviews he's done in the past few days, it sounds like he intends to do the tour again, but possibly not next year.
And if he really wants to win it again, I for one will not put my money against him ;)

[jobob]

Originally posted by Margaret
Were you on the Champ-Elysees? Hee, a few weeks ago I was looking at our department's vacation callendar, and my boss happened to be standing nearby. As the realization dawned on me, I turned to him and asked "....what day did you say you would be arriving in Paris????" and he said "oh, Saturday the 24th"

Before my self-editing mechanism could kick in I blurted out "You lucky ba***ard!! The tour finishes there the very next day!!!". Boss just smiled benignly (he's used to my mouth occasionally overriding my self-editing mechanism :D ) and asked, "Oh really? You know, someone mentioned to me the tour was going around then..." He was not pulling my leg, he really did not know. Auuuggh.

So I dug up as much information as I could find about the route around the Champ-Elysees, explained to him how that last stage was for the most part ceremonial for the GC leaders (and then explained to him what I meant by that) but that odds were there would be a mad sprint over the last few laps for the points classification/green jersey winner, etc. etc.

If he returns to work tomorrow from his vacation and tells me he didn't get around to seeing any of it, I just don't know what I'll do - can I borrow a straightjacket just in case, I might need it ... :rolleyes:

[snapdragen]

Well, I happen to be right across the street from Santa Clara County's psych unit - I can see if they've got that jacket in your size......:D


Originally posted by jobob
If he returns to work tomorrow from his vacation and tells me he didn't get around to seeing any of it, I just don't know what I'll do - can I borrow a straightjacket just in case, I might need it ... :rolleyes:

[Adventure Girl]

Originally posted by jobob
So I dug up as much information as I could find about the route around the Champ-Elysees, explained to him how that last stage was for the most part ceremonial for the GC leaders (and then explained to him what I meant by that) but that odds were there would be a mad sprint over the last few laps for the points classification/green jersey winner, etc. etc.
So what's your boss's name? Let's say it's "Bill". Here's what Bill hears from this as he looks at jobob with a blank stare:

"Blah blah blah, Bill, blah blan blah. Blah blah blah blah blah, Lance Armstrong blah. Blah blah France, blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, Bill, blah blah blah. Blah Blah Blah Paris Blah Blah Blah. Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

[jobob]

If anyone's wondering, nope, the boss never saw any of it. Yeeeesh. :rolleyes:

( Must now suck it up and be on my best behavior, it's performance review time - no career-jeopardizing comments from moi. :p :p :p )

[caligurl]

Originally posted by Adventure Girl
So what's your boss's name? Let's say it's "Bill". Here's what Bill hears from this as he looks at jobob with a blank stare:

"Blah blah blah, Bill, blah blan blah. Blah blah blah blah blah, Lance Armstrong blah. Blah blah France, blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, Bill, blah blah blah. Blah Blah Blah Paris Blah Blah Blah. Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

OMG! jobob works for a dog!!!!???? :p lol.... cuz that's what hubby tells me my dogs hear when i converse with them! blah blah blah COOKIE blah blah blah WALKIES blah blah blah BREAKFAST!

too funny! (and i still adamently disagree with him cuz i KNOW my poochies and kitties understand every word i say!)