Go Floyd Go!!!!

[mimitabby]

what's wrong with looking goofy and elf-like? You haven't met my husband!

[caligurl]

road raven... you need to fix your quote.. "I" never said he looked like kid rock... "I" was quoting what lenusik said...

[RoadRaven]

latelatebloomer, which newspaper was that? I would love to track down the article. i have been fascinated with this guy since i first saw his name on the lineup and every article i read made me want him to win even more.
He's a real human being; proof that people can be great. A hero for every poor kid, you know?

seconding Mimi...
I'd be interested in the article too...


I'm with you LateLate... a hero for all of us

[RoadRaven]

road raven... you need to fix your quote.. "I" never said he looked like kid rock... "I" was quoting what lenusik said...

Fixing now... sorry!

[caligurl]

thank you!

[luv'nAustin]

I'm so proud of Floyd and very happy that he won the tour. He has a beautiful spirit and the kind of determination that I only dream of having for myself. I hope his hip replacement is a success and that I will get to see him race again next year!

[tprevost]

Um... what can i say that doesn't echoe everyone else?

WOW
AWESOME
AMAZING
INSPIRING
GUT-WRENCHING


Go. Goofy-Elf Man... (LOL Knotted)

Go. Goofy-Elf Man... you're my hero!

So... do Knotted and I get told off too for calling him goofy and elf-like?

Road Raven,

I don't see your post as negative. I guess the point is that yes, everyone has thier own opinions and obviously are entitled to them. HOWEVER, I just don't see the point of coming into what is a generally positive thread about someone and making only negative statements. If you had something that you really liked and were proud of and someone came along and said your "thing" was ugly and stupid and they didn't know why you would even want something like that.... how does that sound? a little mean spirited? Maybe what you had wasn't what they'd choose, but one could choose to say "Great", not my thing but I'm so glad you are happy with it... rather than bashing it.

sorry, I guess I just needed to add my .02

Trac'

[snapdragen]

This is the last I will say on the subject.

Some of us took offense from a different thread where Lenusik voiced her opinion. I believe those feelings are being used to attack her in this thread. Yes, there were others calling her on it; there was no need for Cali to attack way after the fact.

Yes, I'm a moderator. I'm also a human being, and a participant on this board. This is the way I talk. I'm sorry if you cannot accept that.

[RoadRaven]

OK... for the record... I think Floyd is kind've cute... thanks to Knotted his own acronym (well for me and Knotted anyway) is GEM...

I was just responding to the criticism of Lenusik, thinking it was a bit long and harsh, and trying to make my response in as light a way as possible...

I did consider a PM but thought that Lenusik needed some public support - I wondered if it was a carry on from the ribbing given in another thread - which is not at all what this forum is about.

So, for the record

I think Floyd is awesome

I do not believe you have to be stunning to look at to be awesome - there is no ONE shape/look to be a cyclist at any level

I value Cali on this forum for wise and supportive comments - as I value the way this forum operates...

I didn't mean to offend or upset anyone

I stand be what I said a page or two back

"Go Goofy Elf Man - you're my hero!"

[Eden]

For the record - sheesh some of you take something in your teeth and shake and just won't let go! - I made the elf comment about the KIT not the man.
I stand by my comment that the Phonak kit is the worst in colors / design and wouldn't look good on anyone. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH FLOYD PERSONALLY so let it go already.

[tprevost]

For the record - sheesh some of you take something in your teeth and shake and just won't let go! - I made the elf comment about the KIT not the man.
I stand by my comment that the Phonak kit is the worst in colors / design and wouldn't look good on anyone. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH FLOYD PERSONALLY so let it go already.

I don't think anyone took any issue with that comment at all... certainly not what I was referring to...

[Lenusik]

Some of us took offense from a different thread where Lenusik voiced her opinion. I believe those feelings are being used to attack her in this thread. Yes, there were others calling her on it; there was no need for Cali to attack way after the fact.
Yes, I'm a moderator. I'm also a human being, and a participant on this board. This is the way I talk. I'm sorry if you cannot accept that.

Snapdragen,
I appreciate this comment. I really quit taking these attacks seriously any more because some people cannot see pass thier own insecurities. I actually said in my comments that I respect Floyd for doing what he did, he is a great rider, ect. But I think that I can express my personal taste. I don't like the way he looks, so what?! But for some people it sounds like I said something bad about their dearest relative. What am I supposed to do, lose my sleep because of that? I don't think so. The fact is the same, Floyd had a great tour but still would not consider him to be attarctive because of that.
Again, thanks for the support.

[mimitabby]

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Floyd Landis may have been standing atop a podium in Paris on Sunday, but many family members and friends were cheering in Farmersville.

The crossroads village in eastern Lancaster County was Landis country over the weekend — beginning with his taking the lead in the Tour de France bicycle race late Saturday and ending with a party Sunday night after Landis was declared the winner of the epic 2,272-mile race.

Family, friends and well-wishers converged on the town to sign posters, decorate the curbs with chalk and eat Arlene Landis’ cake amid the green and yellow balloons of Floyd Landis Phonak team colors and the glare of television cameras.

Visitors — many of them arriving on bicycles — just started showing up, said Tammy Martin, a friend and neighbor of the Landises and a long-time supporter of Floyd’s racing career.

She had invited 15 to 20 people to her home, where east, west, north and south Farmersville roads meet. On Sunday night, there were about 150 people there.

“I have no idea who most of these people are in my yard, but I don’t care. I love a good party,” Martin said.

Landis, the 31-year-old Conestoga Valley High graduate who has claimed headlines on the world’s sports pages for days, roared into Paris Sunday to receive the accolades of bicycling fans as the newest holder of the Tour de France crown.

His win capped a dizzying run. After a stunning come-from-behind show of determination and skill on Thursday, Landis pedaled to victory in the world’s most prestigious bike race.

Floyd Landis’ parents, Paul and Arlene, had come to the Martin home Sunday night to watch a rebroadcast of the final stage of the 23-day tour. The Landises do not own a television.

Instead, Arlene barely made it inside. Paul stood near the edge of the party crowd, greeting people as they arrived.

The couple did not watch their son take the overall victory on Sunday morning. Instead, they rode their bicycles to church.

At least one newspaper reporter and a television truck followed them there.

Arlene said the exposure they have received in recent days has been overwhelming. People who have recognized them have been walking up and talking to them. Strangers have been coming to their door just to congratulate them.

“People know us by name, and we don’t even know who they are ... so, life is getting pretty exciting,” Arlene Landis said.

Capping that may be a meeting with President George W. Bush. A French reporter told them Sunday she had learned that Floyd and his family had been invited to the White House.

“I don’t know why the president would take the time to do that, but I would be thrilled,” said Arlene, a supporter of Bush.

When that trip could occur depends on when Floyd returns to the United States.

The Landises don’t know when they will see their son and they haven’t even spoken to him in the recent rush of events. He called both Saturday and Sunday evenings and left messages. They were at Martin’s house watching the Tour at those times.

Also waiting for Floyd’s return — and word from Ephrata officials — are plans for a parade in Landis’ honor.

Mike Doupe, event director for local bicycling race promoter RedRoseRaces.com, is hoping to organize a parade of bicycle riders from Farmersville to Ephrata. Floyd Landis could then address the crowd, Doupe said this morning.

Doupe said he does not know when or if that could occur, but he’d like it to happen soon. He hopes Landis will return to the United States next week — and he also hopes the new Tour de Paris champion will stop on the East Coast to appear on television programs before returning to his current home in Murietta, Calif.

“Ideally, Lancaster would have the ‘Today’ show hosted from Farmerville,” Doupe said.
Cyclingnews.com, an Australian-based Internet cycling journal, reported that Landis would compete in two short criterium bicycle races in Europe this week. The criteriums, where he will likely not try to win, are done as a promotion for the Tour de France.

He is also scheduled to race near Chicago next month, although there was some speculation that he may skip that race to hasten his hip replacement surgery.

Landis disclosed earlier this month that he has a degenerative bone condition in his right hip stemming from a hip fracture he suffered in a training ride crash in 2003. He plans to have an artificial hip inserted soon, so he can begin training.

Landis told the press in France that he plans to defend the race leader’s yellow jersey at next year’s Tour de France.

In Martin’s backyard, people gathered from the chapters of Floyd Landis’ early life.

Eric Gebhard, a friend of Floyd’s since childhood, recalled how they first started riding bicycles. The mountain bikes were a two-wheeled means of escape at first — down to the Conestoga River where they played with matches, shot at squirrels and occasionally fished — and then as a type of challenge.

Gebhard said there was a steep dirt path on a hill above town that they tried again and again to ride. And there was the road circuit around the town. Each week, they would record their time and try to ride faster than the week before.

Later, after Gebhard and Landis won local mountain bike races, the pair traveled the western states, competing in races by day, sleeping in the back of Gebhard’s truck at night and eating with money from their winnings.

“It’s just nuts when you think about how far we’ve come,” Gebhard said.

Mike Farrington, the owner of Green Mountain Cyclery, the Ephrata bike shop where teenagers Gebhard and Landis used to hang out, spoke of Landis’ stunning comeback on Thursday. The race — in which Landis surged up four Alpine mountains from eight minutes back to again be in contention from the overall victory — is already being called the stuff of cycling legend.

In trying to explain the feat to a customer on Thursday, Farrington put it in terms of NASCAR.

“What Floyd did today was like coming back from four laps down in the last 20 laps to win,” Farrington said he told the man.

“That’s impossible,” Farrington said the man replied.

“Yes, but Floyd did it,” said Farrington.

After overheating in the Alps the day before, Landis took 70 water bottles from his accompanying team car during that climb. Many of those he poured on his head to cool himself.

Even with the mountain climbs — at grades of as much as 26 percent — Landis averaged 25.34 mph over the 89 hours of racing in the Tour.

“He’s just amazing. His will and his determination to follow his goals is an inspiration to everyone,” said Dan Garrett, who is now a magisterial district justice in Warwick. He had been Landis’ economics teacher at Conestoga Valley High School.

Garrett, whom Landis has called his favorite teacher, recalled again the high school senior who projected that he would be earning $100,000-a-year within five years.

It’s not the money that is important, Garrett emphasized, but Landis’ conviction at 17 that he would be a world-class cyclist.

Paul Landis, Floyd’s father, took Sunday as an opportunity to shift attention away from his son to another hero.

He posted an invitation and directions on the door of his home Sunday to his church, Martindale Mennonite.

He hoped some of the people following his son would become interested in his upbringing and be led to follow Jesus Christ.

“If they are brought though Floyd, that is an extra special blessing ... and I think it’s already happened, because we’ve already gotten some very good response,” said Paul Landis.

Paul said one man told him Saturday that he should be in Paris to watch Floyd stand atop the podium. But the father believes he and Arlene were where they belonged — in Farmerville.

“We could have gone, but we would have missed all this.’’

[miffy'sFuji]

Thanks!

[mimitabby]

Docs: He can ride again
By Cindy Stauffer
Lancaster New Era

Published: Jul 24, 2006 1:54 PM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Is it even possible?

Can an elite athlete recover from a painful and debilitating injury?

Can Floyd Landis return to France next year after major surgery to scream up and down the Alps, chase down other cyclists in time trials and once more vie for the podium in the Tour de France cycling race?

Here’s a little hint: Hope he likes the color yellow.

Landis, a Conestoga Valley High School graduate from Farmersville, won this year’s race even though he was competing with a badly deteriorated right hip, which he broke in a 2003 fall from his bike.

During the race, the 30-year-old cyclist revealed the joint was in such poor shape that he would have to undergo hip replacement surgery, likely sometime this fall.

Landis has several factors in his favor as he looks ahead to future races, local orthopedic surgeons said today.

Normally, surgeons counsel hip replacement patients to avoid contact sports and activities such as competitive tennis after surgery.

Golf is OK. Walking is, too.

Turns out, so is biking, because it involves a repetitive motion, but not pounding or twisting moves like ones used in baseball or basketball.

Translation: He won’t suffer the same fate as Bo Jackson, a professional football and baseball player who never fully recovered after hip replacement surgery.

“He’s picked the right sport for joint replacement,” said Dr. Gerald Rothacker of Orthopedic Associates of Lancaster.

Landis has another major advantage as he heads toward surgery: he’s a freak of conditioning, so well-muscled and oxygenated that his power, measured by sensors mounted to his pedal cranks or wheel hubs, actually increased in the past year even with his injury, according to a recent story in the New York Times.

“He’s a world-class athlete,” said Dr. Thomas Westphal of The Westphal Group. “He’ll probably be on the road within four to six weeks (of surgery).”

Also consider this: it’s Floyd Landis we’re talking about here, the man who can barely walk due to his injury, who competed in constant pain, who even developed a strange, hunched position on his bike, nicknamed the “praying Landis,” to get the maximum bang out of his failing hip.

“His job is biking and he’s dedicated to that,” said Dr. Mark Perezous of the Lancaster Orthopedic Group. “I would have trouble ruling him out. Seeing his hip (in published X-rays), it’s amazing what he did.”

After his victory Sunday, Landis said he will do “whatever it takes” to return to the Tour next year.

“I’m a bit more relaxed (about the surgery) now with this victory,” he told Cycling News after the race. “It would have been much worse if I hadn’t won the Tour because of an accident or whatever. I certainly know that I’ll fight as long as it takes to come back next year, or the following year. Whatever it takes, I will do it to be here again, because it’s a dream to me.”

After falling from his bike while training in 2003, Landis developed a condition called osteonecrosis. Basically, that means that the hip joint starts to collapse as a result of the loss of blood supply to the bone, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

It’s a painful condition.

Perezous said patients describe the sensation as “catching, grinding or burning. It can be pretty severe.”

Landis initially had pins put in his hip and then had holes drilled into the bone, to replenish the blood supply. Hip replacement is the treatment of choice for the late stages of the condition, which Landis has developed.

Landis recently has said he’s “shopping” for a new hip. And he has several choices when it comes to hip replacement hardware, including the standard stainless steel ball/plastic cup. Other options include a ceramic ball/plastic cup, as well as all-ceramic or all-steel replacements.

Because of his activity level, whatever he chooses could last anywhere from three to 25 years, the surgeons said.

Both Westphal and Rothacker said they would do the minimally invasive type of hip replacement surgery on Landis.

“The hardest part would be that this man is so well-muscled that you would have to be getting into his hip joint and pulling all his well-developed muscles out of the way,” Rothacker said.

After the surgery, which generally lasts about two hours, Landis likely will stay in the hospital two to three days. He will get on his feet the day after surgery, using crutches at first, and could be walking on his own two to six weeks later.

He could get on an exercise bike as quickly as two weeks and be out on the road on a bike within four to six weeks, they said.

Perezous said Landis will have to work hard to get ready for next year’s Tour, something he’s shown an incredible willingness to do this year.

And working without the pain that has been his constant companion will make life that much easier for him.

“He’s shown phenomenal grit this year,” Westphal said. “He will come back and, barring some unforeseen circumstance, he could come back and win.”

Said Rothacker: “He’s not the average person. He is an elite athlete and they can do things the average person can’t do.”