Maaaavrick?
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Are bike racers Republicans or Democrats? Is the bike racing public cohesive enough to stand for one candidate or another. or are we so disparate that we could never settle on one hopeful? So are you a maaaaavrick, or do you want to make change?
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when is it, i want to party
Back in the day, racers in NYC had jobs that indicated that they tended towards the left: messengers, photographers, artists, waiters, etc.
At least this is how I remember it as a Junior in the early 90’s.
Nowadays, there are more banker douchebags per square inch of the peloton than at Cipriani’s Wall St.
We’ve had many arguments here over the past couple years that reveal just how many uninformed, greedy free-market capitalists are among us.
Suckers, all.
Viva socialismo! Long live punk! Gora Euskadi! Viva el pueblo!
it’s an expensive sport
Doesn’t have to be. Just ask Gulla.
Anybody can get on a bike and that unfies us accross parties. In the 80s I see now that one party tries to peg people against each other, name calling and fear mongering. I hope that is left at the door when racers talk to each other. IT also shouldn’t matter if you’re a doctor, lawyer, banker or bike mechanic, your paycheck means squat when you’re in a race. A guy with worse bike could be much more hungry than you to win. A guy with a good bike at least put his money into the bike industry, which is good.
I don’t care what side you’re on as long as you don’t assume everyone living in this city is a screaming liberal.
Not all professionals who love to ride and race are bad for the sport. Jerks are jerks. I know plenty of good people who make good salaries and have professional jobs. Also know many jerks who are bike mechanics and messengers and vise versa.
BTW – any new teams next year or teams ending? Adler seems to be the big Cat 2/3 team now with Empire being top dog. Sommerville also should be solid. Mengoni even around next year?
Disagree.
The sport locally has become much more divisive. I know this may seem counter intuitive, but when the local scene was comprised mostly of blue collar and laid back folks, it was more of an inclusive, laid back community. Bankers, traders and the like were totally welcome. I think nary a commenter would describe the scene using words like ‘laidback’ nowadays.
I’d have to look at the local Mountain Bike racing scene to get an equivalent vibe of what it was like.
Again, locally speaking, we reached a tipping point sometime during the last decade when the scene became dominated by rich, conservative white men.
Ours is no longer a rebel sport. We’ve been co-opted by $.
I blame these very type A personalities that have flooded the sport for the negative racing we see so much of on Sat. and Sun mornings. Go back to your golf courses, finance a$$holes.
We don’t want you here.
Viva Zapata!
did they have any results this year?
and why exactly is the aggro hipster whiner attitude any better than the type A finance dickhead vibe? smile and say hi. stop bitching.
Off the topic but I raced Chainstretcher and had a guy catch me in my group. “He said rider back”… So I began to find a section to move over to let him by. Just as I began to slow to let him by I bit a nasty rock section and went down. He says as I am bleeding and picking myself up… “that is what you get for not getting out of my way” … “Karma”. I told him to go “f*&K himself”. This was the first time I have ever had a guy say somthing like this to me in a Mtn bike race.
As he road by on his blinged out Mtn bike, I noticed his kit… It was a CRCA club kit. Go figure…
I guess my point is, please stay away from Mtn and Cross. We dont want your kind involved.
adler is definitely not a good 2/3 northeast team. they are a NYC team that occasionally ventures out of the park – no real results anywhere. everyone rides ken’s back, barely.
unfortunately, there are no good teams in the northeast anymore.
no target, no kenda, LIKELY no fiordifrutta, likely no nerac, likely no mengoni.
Indy-Fab Pro Devo has the ticket this year for best team in new england this year.
They may struggle in the 1-2s this coming season but you are off base to say they hardly ever race out of town. I did most of the out of town races this year (Battenkill, Jiminy, Palmer, Stur, Capital Region, Unionvale, Fitch, GMSR, Tokeneke, Catskills) and they had guys in every race. Most races Cat 3 if not all they put someone in the Top 10. Not sure what you are talking about. Maybe you need to go out of the park yourself to see who races out of town.
BTW – NERAC had 2-3 racers this year. Mengoni had 1 real racer out of town. Best NE team this year who knows. IF, CCNS, Conn Coast all have strong riders. Fiordi I heard is racing under a new sponsor and I am sure the Kenda and Target guys will find teams. Especially Lindine – 5th at Glouchester!
Colavita – based out of NJ and are a super strong NRC pro team.
i realize that monied type A professionals are your sterotypical convervatives but consider that there are decent, hard-working blue-collar or creative workers that are conservative as well. And, the liberals have more money than republicans overall which further disputes the sterotye. There are also plenty of investment banks that are largely liberal as well.
my brother, life long republican is voting dem. thinks reagan was god and feels mccain is inept, palin is worse and this is too important for dogma. even admits that obama is impressive. the other good news, he lives in rural PA
adler had a win and top 10’d almost every race in the 3s. they race out of town every weekend, they were at fitchburg and GMSR. you don’t know what you are talking about. and no, i’m not on the team i just know misinformation when i see it.
Bike class war, BOR-ing! If you’re a jerk, you’re a jerk — rich, poor, or somewhere in between. Who cares if you’ve got a $5000 bike or your bike’s made out of organic hemp grown by Venezulean socialists. Just ride it – put that resentment into the pedals. Life is too short for hate. Signed, Freud.
so not all rich people are conservative.
I heard the sponsor pulled out long ago, and there is a spinoff team pröasshit.dk.
as for the politics…amen, there are douchebags in finance and douchebags flipping burgers.
but this being NYC i’d be surprised if there are too many Mccain supporters. Nothing to support. He’s toast.
Will be around next year.
Merrill Lynch – Sponsor is done
Mengoni – Riders are done
Bandit – Rumor the team is done
Empire – Going Pro?
Target – Have not heard anything about them ending
ML will be back next year.
can’t wait for the who is riding for who argument
We ride bikes. Period.
Ok. I’m a Democrat (and a liberal at that) but if a riding buddy was a christian conservative right-winger with a propoensity to collect automatic weapons, I wouldn’t hold it against him, I just wouldn’t talk politics at “the spoon.”
If you think bike racers have it tough, check this out.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aAivN03d0_mk&refer=home
If you’ve ever spent any time around such people, you wouldn’t feel so charitable.
is anyone here Proasshit? who are those guys?
NY/NJ area
Best bike shop(s)
– service
– price
– general atmosphere
Best Mechanic(s)
– Skills
– smiles
Mark Purdy, one of the mechanics @ Cadence, is the best there is, no question.
How come nobody mentions WS United Hommies?
Correct me if I’m wrong but they rule NYC.
i saw ricky lowe get a flat at jamestown and sneak back into the pack. that’s why we don’t mention those hommies.
I guess if they were white they’d be dudes huh? You’re not cool when you use unfamiliar slang and even worse when you mispronounce/misspell it. Using it doesn’t mean you’re “down” it actually shows that you’re not.
Be yourself.
i prefer “homeys”
I urge you all to boycott this lame site which appeals to the lowest denominator to create trafic which will be used to sell advertising to further finance schmuck et al to try to turn bike racing into a profitable mess like the financial market. Out Kirk!!
If you don’t like it, make your own “save the sport” or whatever you thinks needs improvement. Andy, Dan and Alex choose to have what it is, “contributors” say whatever, “interviews, cartoons, and reviews”, sponsors recognize their audience and most of us continue. I am not in any way delusional to expect anything else. Make your own blog, and blahg away…this site is nothing more than WWE/MMA/Comedy Central/Best Damn Cycling Show of NYC bike racing, have a beer or a puff and chill out!
Or better yet, GO RIDE YER BIKE!
Thank you NYVC for being who you are, no apologies!
Lance Armstrong
Site was losing money when the Dow was 14000 and still is now, the site is a reflection of this community sometimes for the better sometimes the worse. You may not like the site but you can’t accuse these guys of being ruthless mercenaries.
Sounds so negative. Let’s call it a “contribution.”
Sad to see so many teams folding.
No one has mentioned Sakonnet…are they still going in 09? Any news on them?
will continue in 2009 under new sponsorship. Mostly the same roster with a few additions.
You’re wrong.
Half a roster, 8 guys tops.
Trust me… I know.
sakkonutts has been gone since june. no 2009.