Section head text.
I admit it, I’ve been very negligent in postings to the site. As I’ve been busy spending the last week um, digesting. It looks like T-Mobile is exiting the sport, leaving the team’s management to scramble for a new sponsor. It seems that Deutsche Telekom had all it could take, scandal-wise. Does this mean that the sport of cycling as we know it is in jeopardy? Will this serve as a wake-up call to the sport? Will the sport shrink to the size that even a fast-twitch challenged 40 year old hack cat 3 can get a ride in the Tour? Just askin…
I was referring to REAL balls not the synthetic variety.
I will actually begin doping. Bunde was awesome last year. His problem is that he got caught. I’ll never actually compete at an event where I’ll be tested, so who cares.
I’ve entered a new era in my cycling. See you guys at the finish line when you get there.
You’re a loser and I’ll still beat you despite your man-made gonads. See you on the podium.
Ooops. I see I should have turned on the (sarcasm alert).
“Cycling is NOT a fringe sport,…”
What country do you live in?
Really, how many spectators usually attend a road race in the US? (Even in “Lance’s day”)
But I thought trying to grow one’s balls was the reason the sport is in trouble…….
It’s going to rain tomorrow night– is that because of the doping problem?
If last fall’s Bear Mountain race had been an NFL, MLB, or NASCAR event the police would have certainly tried much harder to secure enough officers for the event. Our sport isn’t that popular in America, relatively speaking. So, if our sport is racked with doping scandals that hurt the image of cycling, it certainly will affect things. If sponsors pull out and there are fewer teams, less money, less press it will all trickle down. Cycling is NOT a fringe sport, and is not in danger of becoming one. It just will not be as popular as it was in Lance’s day.
No one will love our sport.
Will everyone please grow some balls and start believing in ourselves.
If 5% of us dope there are still 95% of us who won’t. Focus on the greater number and stop sounding like spoiled brats…………..
This is the dumbest thread.
Track and Field has had doping scandals for decades and there is no shortage of tracks or trackers. If people enjoy the sport, they participate in it whether or not the pros are cheating. If they lose faith in the pros, they’ll simply stop watching them. They won’t go throw their bikes away. And whoever said it before was correct, nobody but us and a few others are even paying attention to this.
I’m pretty sure there were two real comments from Jared in that other thread.
“nobody but us and a few others are even paying attention to this.”
Exactly.
All growth has pains, lets not lose focus.
comments yes, statement no
L. Diaz is obviously in love with Bunde, and is now broken hearted.
man is this yet another drug fixated thread? theres gotta be something else to talk about…..
for instance, like how Mengoni is gonna get cock smacked in China in a month…..
If self-righteous towns and venues insist on drug testing at our little amateur races then it’s practically over.
add it up:
less than zero is still zero
Polls in Dass is a bumbass
Ever make an official statement or is the Mengoni statment on his behalf?
still waiting…
on the Bunde positive thread that addressed nothing, but don’t know how official that was. Anyone can comment listing their name as Jared, as I just did.
but it is really hard to prove. You don’t have to want cycling to become the NFL to be concerned about trickle down effects of doping. If self-righteous towns and venues insist on drug testing at our little amateur races then it’s practically over. This is not so far fetched considering that many high school athletes in other parts of the country already face mandatory performance drug testing.
The staff at FBF and Bear didn’t care before. Now they care even less.
And thus no race.
Get it?
Now leaning to the latter…
…the PRO doping / sponsorship problem is twofold…
…there is the obvious aspect, wherein deutsche telekom pulled out because they don’t wish their ‘business reputation’ to be further directly tainted by the ongoing doping scandals…
…indirectly, as the general public comes more to perceive PRO cycling to be nothing but an untrustworthy fringe sport, what company would even consider the kind of budgets involved, to appeal to a fickle public which has no faith in the sport ?…
…the activity of cycling will continue to grow, but team & race sponsorship may be understandably lean for a while…
Stop being such a douche bag.
Stay off my clean roads, you druggies. It’s bad enough with all the pot-smoking hippies in the drum circle.
Do you think the staff at Floyd who are dealing with the problem of drag racing there (which is why they are or were considering blocking off the venue) even know about any cycling news?
Do you think the cops at Harriman who got earlier requests to work two other events in Rockland County even care about bike racing?
We’d be lucky if they cared enough about cycling to follow the sport and be alarmed by doping!
I’m not suggesting these things completely disappear.
But doping makes it harder for them to happen.
Like 3:34:00 says: Supply and demand.
less positive coverage = less interest = less support = less cycling
(Less= Less)
(Less does not equal zero)
It is an indirect relationship. But it is absolutely related. If the news from cycling were awesome, we would get more support: no one would close FBF, because, the organizers would REALLY want us there. Same can be said for finding police support for Bear.
Someone like Janet Sadik-Khan isn’t going to suddenly become “anti-biker” because of doping in the European peleton. It would more likely have something to do with supply and demand. In other words, there’s a low supply of roads/space and a high demand for use of said roads/space by people who greatly outnumber bicyclists.
There is absolutely no connection between doping scandals and legislation re alternative transportation. Only a wildly self-centered bike racer (i.e., the type of person who is so wrapped up in his amateur bike racing experience that he has lost all sense of reality) would think so. The rest of the world doesn’t really give a crap about bike racing or doping (other than, in the case of doping, the human interest element to it). Sponsors may bow out of the sport, which will eventually kill the professional ranks, but ordinary people will still ride bikes and city/state governments will still need to provide safe places for them to do so (or not). Don’t go blaming dopers if you lose your rights to ride in certain places. Blame yourself for not getting more involved in the legislative process or for not sending your annual donation to TA.
Huh?! Can we NAGOtiate?
“on caural ”
No causal No causal No causal
How you say….Barrier Reef
“Take a look at the Bear Mountain cancellation or the state of FBF races.
yes, the relationship is indirect… but… ”
There is zero relationship between those two things and drug use in the sport. Zero.
The relationship is like the relationship between a bee sting hurting and getting hit by a baseball hurting. They both hurt, but there is on caural relation between the two.
Put a cork in it. If the world had less blowhards like you we’d be in a better place. Put some restraint on your judgement, who are you to criticize. Can YOU walk on water?
I once saw Jared ride on water….
please write a post using the word “‘nago.”
is the Frank Deford who commented below the same Frank Defors who is the S.I writer, novelist and sports commentator?
If so, this website is getting classy.
We are cycling.
Not those idiot dopers racing the pro-tour.
We still need to remove fools like Bunde, tho.
Maybe not all is bad…. If I was a big company interested in cycling, I would maybe look at grass roots efforts — Champion Sys, Kissena, CRCA Juniors, Atwood/Walters/Campo at the track…
I’ll probably get a better return there.
We still need to remove cheaters like Bunde.
Schmaltz did you steal those first two sentences from a trek ad
I think, with a few exceptions, you’re predicting what Iike to call “right now”
The sport of cycling is as strong as we are. We are the sport of cycling.
Sorry, there won’t be a spot on the tour for you though.
Cycling will begin to look like every other fringe sport (nordic skiing, running, rowing). People that love it will do it and follow it but there won’t be much sponsorship money available so it won’t really be a viable full-time career (should it really be anyway?).
Why does cycling need to become the NFL? World class athletes will still compete on unimaginably difficult courses, and we will all watch them, albeit on ESPN8, Telemundo and web feeds rather than Versus and NBC. Is the mainstream coverage really any better anyway?
Bob Roll looks hot on the web:
http://www.thebearcave.com/bobroll.htm
As both a racer and a dog owner, I’d like to add that I wear my helmet only when riding but not in my home. Also, my Clomid was tainted with fuck you.
Global Locate runs a clothing drive and sends clothing down to the dominican republic or south america or something like that.
Carefull, boys and girls. Make sure your suplements don’t contain any clomiphene. You might end up being busted. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Your Beating a Dead Horse.Let it go people
make mistakes in there Life.And hopefully they don’t make the same mistake as before.By you putting up stupid posts tells alot about.Grow up
Well not specifically cycling, but it appears that new pro cycling Dept. of Transportation commish Janet Sadik-Khan has quietly changed the “holiday traffic mitigation” rules which previously took away the week day car free hours in the park. There is no mention of a change in park hours in the 2007 holiday traffic mitigatin statement, no change in hours listed on the park conservancy or trans. alt. website, and yesterday the car free hours were as normal (usually the car free weekday hours end right after Thanksgiving and don’t return until after New Years day).
my bad. just got a little ahead of my self.
No, on the contrary, I’m suggesting that the sport (passion, industry, whatever) will be okay — despite the scandals. Which is not to condone the scandalous behavior, but to just say, it’s not going to wreck us.
No, on the contrary, I’m suggesting that the sport (passion, industry, whatever) will be okay — despite the scandals. Which is not to condone the scandalous behavior, but to just say, it’s not going to wreck us.
underground? above ground? what the hell are you guys talking about? We never got girls for cycling so as far as i am concerned, cycling never was big time, at least in the USA.
Don’t confuse the sport with The Industry of the sport. Cycling is not going anywhere. There will always be riders and races but perhaps just a bit less “Pro” or whatever.
pics where are the bear mnt.from the 08 race. we want pics
and the are the results post it aney where?
I’m not sure what you’re suggesting. That there won’t be any bikes to buy? I guess I’ll clarify that I think it’s not important to the vast majority of racers if bike marketing/sales is harmed by drug scandals. Pros are only a tiny portion of racers. There will still be bikes and racing for the rest of us.
A carbon bento box!!!! Where can I get one?
I am a Cat 3 who started out riding and racing Mtn Bike. Then I got a $1800 Orbea and got hooked on racing. Now I drop lots of money traveling to road and cross races ( I raced over 25 races this year) in the NE as well as money on gear, parts and nutrition. This all started from me buying a bike for fitness. So I agree that rec riders are tied to racing. No one just wakes up and says – I am going to start racing a bike.
Frank, you’re confusing the industry with the sport. It’s not that important if Giant suffers. Someone will still make bikes for racers. And racers will race even if unsanctioned. Rec cyclists may be the future of the industry, but that’s not sport. That’s recreation.
The future of the sport is the recreational rider. Period. It’s easy to make fun of the guy tooling up 9W on the Colnago, but he or she is the one that creates the revenue stream — not some Pro Tour squad. Road bike sales have been flat for a few years post-Lance but the business still makes sense is manufacturers can sell the expensive stuff. So the next time you pass a guy eating white truffles from his carbon Bento Box, you should thank him. He’s what’s keeping the sport alive — not the asshats on T-Mobile and so on. As much as the doping scandals are terrible — a terrible message to fans, sponsors and young riders that absolutely should not be tolerated — the fundamental truth is that cycling is a beautifully addictive sport that offers something to everyone who experiences it. You can hang your bike on the wall out of disgust, but someone else will happily take it down and join up. Cycling is too accessible, too enjoyable to ever become horse racing or boxing. It will persevere.
Signed, Frank DeFord
Barry Wicks is down.
He’s so totally right.
Take a look at the Bear Mountain cancellation or the state of FBF races.
yes, the relationship is indirect… but…
Why would the police and decision makers care, if all they read about cycling is negative?
To the non-cyclist we are all doping. Worst, Jared made it true. Some of us actually are.
Thanks to cheaters like Jan Ulrich and Jared Bunde, cycling is quickly losing value.
Typo – Guys are not Rolling up to the line on $9k colnagos.
Its more about the racing and atmosphere and much less about the cool kits and bikes.
Cross is now attracting more of the hardcore cyclists because of its underground status. You show up at a cross race and feel like you are discovering cycling all over again. Guys are now rolling up to the line on $9k Colnagos just to get blown out the back on lap one. Cross represents why I love cycling and it does not have any of the egos that come with the road scene. Plus its fun to ride away from guys that totally shit on me during the road season.
I haven’t been that into pro cycling – i’ll follow the tdF, but that’s about it – thinking that it has zero to do with our local racing scene.
apparently, as recent events have shown, it does.
look how lame surfing and skateboarding have become
>>I like cycling best when it’s more underground. As soon as it or anything becomes “big” it gets marketed to death.
The reaction to the drug problem has clearly hit maniacal levels. And the trickle down effect is obvious (national champ Kirk O’Bee needs a job). But there’s a bigger problem going on there than drugs – cyclists do a terrible job selling their sponsors. Every Nascar driver says what’s great about the product on their car AND how they use it. Did Lance ever say he had floors by Berry in his homes? It’s important for USCFers too.
If we all work to get sponsorship out of charity and into advertising, we’d all win
Donate? Yeah I am sure alot of homeless or down and out men and women are looking for a usedt of spandex shorts and jersey.
Regarding Telekom, I just think it’s a funny legacy that many of my acquaintances are now strutting about with bright magenta bikes and accessories.
Plus, my T-Mobile phone has the worst coverage.
Anyway, I like cycling best when it’s more underground. As soon as it or anything becomes “big” it gets marketed to death. Perhaps it’s good that cycling is going through a “crisis” because it will shake loose all the hangers-on and generally annoying fluff, leaving the roads clear for those who really feel the passion inside. When I started racing in the mid-80s that’s what it was like, there was a real brotherhood of those with shaved legs who participated deeply and largely unnoticed by the general public.
Otherwise if every two-bit member of the financial industry is out there on a C50 at 12 mph the passion that the core cyclists share will end up having to be channeled into some other arcane activity — and I shudder at the thought of having to stock up another set of gear/tools/clothing etc.
Diaz,
do you know when will armagedon come?
I haven’t been following the political campaigns, but is there something in the works I’ve missed? Or is Mr. Diaz living in a parallel universe where people care about bikes and those who ride them?
The local sport won’t die. It will probably get more competitive as the domestic pros lose sponsorships and rejoin us in the amateur ranks.
keep them if you ride for foundation. we would have to pay someone to ride them they are so ugly
Because cheaters like Jan Ulrich and Jared Bunde, cycling is quickly losing value.
Make no mistake: This will eventually affect all of us. Teams close, races will be canceled, cycling friendly legislation will not pass, venues will not give permits, etc, etc…
does anyone know where I can donate old team kits? Thanks.