Lance gets 6

[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...

[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...

[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

- 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_o...cfm/race_id/13

[jobob]

Sunday, Sept. 12 :

http://www.procyclingtour.com/race_f...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

[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. 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.

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

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

- Jo