"Lance lost this Tour for bad luck. Physically, there’s no reason to believe that he couldn’t have been competitive in this Tour. He came to this Tour in good shape with real ambitions to win. We knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to win this Tour, but we came here with that as a goal. Even today we saw Contador not as strong as he was last year. Today we simply didn’t have the luck.”
-- Johan Bruyneel, team manager for Radio Shack, talking about Lance Armstrong's crashes at the 2010 Tour de France in an interview with Andrew Hood at VeloNews ..... more»
"A lot of people ask me why I went east to west because the winds are predominantly west to east, and part of the reason was I that I like the idea of heading home. It's just kind of a goal that you aspire to get to, so that means a lot to me from a psychological standpoint, especially at times when you're feeling a little low."
--Cross-county bicycle traveler Mike Dillon, quoted at MercuryNews.com, June 14, 2010.
You might remember that I wrote a short piece in March about Dillon, the former general counsel for Sun Microsystems ... more»
“The most expensive bike I have cost me $3 because I had to buy some pieces for it. Everything else is just garbage that was given to me. I am brazen enough that if I am riding around and see some bikes with grass growing through them, I’ll knock on your door and ask if you want me to drag them off.”
-- Freelance bike builder Mack Carter of Iowa Park, Texas. TimesRecordNews, June 6, 2010: "Building a better bicycle; Iowa Park man turns garbage, spare parts into innovative rides."
Carter told the TimesRecordNews that he started building bike about 7 years ago when he was looking for a bike to buy and determined they were all too expensive. Since then, he's built 50 to 75 bicycles. .... more»
"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live."
-- Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle" 1917
This is one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes and most apt for this blog. I mention it now because today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Samuel Clemens.
I've been reading the entertaining biography "Mark Twain: A Life" by Ron Powers. He tells about Clemens learning to ride a high-wheeled bicycle as he waited for his book "Huckleberry Finn" to be published in 1884.
In letters, Powers found that Clemens' riding instructor wrote that his pupil had discovered more ways to fall off a bicycle than the man who invented it. Clemens himself claimed that he had invented all the bicycle profanity that had since come into common use.
"They were more shocked than I was, trying to cover up their bits and pieces with their hands."
-- New Zealand policewoman describing the reactions of two naked men on bicycles she stopped in a coastal resort town one night.
She issued a stern warning for not wearing helmets and sent them home. She chose to ignore their public nudity, which can carry a charge of offensive behavior in New Zealand.
Podium Cafe lists a couple of dozen quotes uttered by current and former pro cyclists during the past year and asks for our favorite.
The list has a few Lance Armstrong tweets about Alberto Contador being a "pistolero" and having "lots to learn." Jens Voigt and Bradley Wiggins also are well represented.
My favorite, though, comes from Bernard Hinault, the 5-time winner of the Tour de France who commented on the earpiece radios now worn by cyclists to communicate with the team manager:
"I am against them. It is just a 'Game Boy' that has a gigolo attached at the end telling the racer when to take a piss." ..... more»
-- A quote from Caitlin Truesdale, a ninth-grader at Pingree High School in Peabody, Massachusetts, who won the Bikeway Naming Essay Contest.
She chose to name the 4.6-mile trail the Peabody Independence Gateway. The bikeway has been in the works for 19 years. It cost $192,000 to design and $3 million to build.
The story in The Salem News doesn't explain why she chose the name ... more»
"I survived six months in Afghanistan and a year in Iraq, many parachute jumps out of airplanes and other adventures and never broken a bone, and it takes a hit-and-run driver to send me to the hospital with a broken bone."
Pat Rimron telling a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, TV station about his Friday bike ride that ended when he was struck by a hit & run driver. An Army Reservist, Rimron returned to his job as a teacher at Forsyth Country Day School seven months ago after two tours in the Middle East ..... more»
As a boy growing up in Houston, one of Walter Cronkite's jobs was as bicycle delivery boy for a drugstore.
In an interview with Playboy magazine in 1973, he talked about that job playing a part in his understanding of the terrible prejudice in the city at the time:
"... This time I was the drugstore delivery boy; I did bicycle deliveries and we had a couple of blacks who used motorcycles for more distant orders. They were both great guys. One of them was a particularly close friend of mine--as close as you could be in the environment of Houston at that time. .... more»
"What I've watched for the past 15 years has been almost robotic racing. I used to gasp for air and had to think about when I could take a sip of water – my sport drink – I'd try and time it for a flat section on the switchback of a climb.
"[Now] I see people talking on the 'phone' [radio] riding a climb at the front of the Tour de France. For me it's surreal – I don't recognise the sport anymore."
-- Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond giving one example of why thinks there's widespread doping in cycling. He was speaking at the anti-doping Play the Game Conference at Coventry University in the UK. He went on to offer solutions to the problem, according to a report in that uses statistics and analytical data.
Expect to hear more about doping as we head into the Tour de France on July 4. ... more»
"She's a bicycle rider, I'm a bicycle rider. We talked a little bit about our favorite routes."
-- Democratic U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York tells reporters about his Capitol Hill meeting with Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayer. ... more»
"There's really nothing now that requires them (cyclists) to yield or move over. ... This bill gives them full access to the road."
That's an interesting reaction to passage of Colorado's bicycle safety bill from the county sheriff who oversees Boulder, a platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community ... more»
"I just don't want to get clobbered too bad. ... I don't have any illusions of grandeur. ... I hope I get in the race and get re-acclimated to the tempo and the speed and what it is like to be around 200 guys in a fast-moving group."
Lance Armstrong touched down in Sydney, Australia, to a gaggle of reporters ... more»
"He [Zorn] used to ride his bicycle to the games. And when he left, I said, 'You know, I don't think you can do that in Washington. I mean, the head coach, you've got to kind of drive the car and do the normal thing.' "
-- Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren talking about Jim Zorn, former Seahawks quarterback .... more»
"I learned from the ride that after doing a certain number of miles, your legs can't walk anymore. I learned that it takes a lot of strength and patience to ride 100 miles, but that anyone - no matter what shape, size or age - can ride 100 miles if they put their mind to it."
-- Teddy Collinson, 10, of Edgewater, Maryland, summing up his first Sea Gull Century on Oct. 4. The annual bike ride on the Eastern Shore of Maryland is forgiving in terms of its flat terrain, but can be brutal in terms of headwinds. ... more»
The day after Tour de Fat visited Seattle to celebrate the bicycle as a sustainable form of transportation, a Washington DC architect is interviewed by the Post:
"Somewhere along the line, we made biking a hobby and a sport instead of a way to get around," says Alexandra Dickson, an architect who commutes from Southwest Washington to her downtown office on a blue Breezer Villager that she calls Babe, after Babe the Blue Ox. "I'd like to see it get back to being a way of getting around. ... more»
"Before the accident, I could ride 50 miles without breaking a sweat. Now, I can't get halfway up the stairs without breaking for a nap. I can't put enough weight on my arms to get out of a chair by myself, and I haven't voluntarily farted in 10 days. I can't cough, and a sneeze could be fatal. Otherwise, I'm peachy!...
"I felt a violent blow to my back, and I went flying through the air. I landed on my left side, on my left shoulder. I took a good crack to my helmet. ... It was still a violent thud of a landing. It was Olympian. I got scores of 6.9 for artistic impression, but I couldn't stick the landing... more»
"A lot of Americans will see a cyclist and just believe you’re the Antichrist for no reason, and they will try to run you over or try to come so close to you that it will scare you away from riding bikes. That’s a huge problem that’s unique to this country. That would never happen anywhere else in the world. Not China, not the most brutal dictatorial regime on Earth. It would never happen to you in Italy or Denmark or Switzerland or England or France or Spain or Russia or Vietnam or India or Afghanistan. … This country has a long way to go in terms of tolerance for cyclists. The vitriol of motorists never ceases to amaze me." ... more»
"People think I ride bikes all day, which I would love to do. I've always been a guy who enjoyed the technology."
Matt Phillips, bicycle reviewer for Bicycling and Mountain Bike magazines, explaining that his job requires that he often has to squeeze in a bike ride at the end of the day, like most working people ..... more»
"I'd love to answer the question but unfortunately I'm out of that business. I'm here to fight cancer. I haven't looked online. I still love the bike and ride all the time but on the competitive side I'm just not engaged."
Lance Armstrong in response to reporter's questions regarding Floyd Landis losing his appeal of doping charges raised after the 2006 ... more»
“I’ve ridden bicycles for years and have been taken off Route 1 once in a helicopter and twice in ambulances as a result of biking accidents with vehicles."
Delaware Environmental Control Secretary John Hughes ... more»
That's George Hood of Chicago explaining how he can ride a stationary bike hour after hour in his attempt to achieve a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by bicycling for 83 consecutive hours -- nearly 3 1/2 days.
Hood must also have a high threshold for boredom. ... more»
“I got a whole lot of good stuff from the White House. I can’t describe how it felt. I know it felt good."
Moses Mathis, aka The Bicycle Man, describing his reaction to receiving the President's Call to Action Award and a letter from President Bush. Mathis earned the honor by performing a minimum 4,000 hours of volunteer service ... more»
"Don't be afraid to ask if you can pitch your tent on someone's private land. Asking for someone's hospitality is something no person should be shy about; besides, it is a good way to meet new people."
Canadians Benoit Cote and Genevieve Fortin giving some tips about bicycle travel. ... more»
"It is a public relations effort by Landis to get public opinion behind him. It is easy to make up a power point presentation and put what you want on it."
That's the reaction of Pat McQuaid, head of the Union Cycliste Internationale, to a PowerPoint slideshow prepared by Floyd Landis doc Arnie Barker. The slides suggest problems with tests performed on Landis' urine samples, specimens were mishandled or mislabelled, and could have been contaminated.
McQuaid has more than a passing interest in ensuring Landis is found guilty ... more»
"I'm glad we didn't have to make that choice. Church is very important to us. We felt in our hearts he was going to win. He is not one to take second place." ... more»
"This morning I was still in pain and I didn't have full movement in my arm but it got better and I decided to give it a go because I was only two seconds behind the yellow jersey. ... I didn't feel the pain in the finish because the adrenaline was flowing. It's more painful now holding the microphone. ... more»
"I started off the Tour in great shape and I’ve never had the opportunity to lead a team. I don’t know what to expect but I know that anything is possible, there’s no reason to set limits. I don’t know how I’ll respond but I’ll just hope for the best. ... more»
"When I think of our guys like George, Popo, Jose, Paolo - Chechu even - I don't see the difference between them and the new favorites is that big anymore. Basso and Ullrich - it was quite big - but those other guys? They are in our reach. ... more»
"You reach the top of a mountain pass … it’s real … it does something to you. Humping up a steep 1,000-foot elevation with 40 pounds of gear, it’s hard. You’ve accomplished something. And there’s still all this country there before you.” more»
"I thought it was great; every race doesn't have to be an epic death march. It was an exceptional course that made for exceptional racing. The top 10 was tightly packed (only 1:58 separated Landis from No. 10 finisher Jason McCartney of Discovery Channel). It made things more exciting; it added to the drama."
"I'd like to think I can keep improving, but at this point, I'm here to help Lance. I'm not saving anything for me. I'll worry about that a few months from now or next year or whenever." ... more»
It's no shock that people feel very strongly about Lance Armstrong -- as an elite cyclist, a cancer survivor, a motivator, a celebrity, a father, a Texan.
News of his breakup with fiance Sheryl Crow brought out a flood of reaction from columnists and bloggers. Here are a few quotes from the weekend that I found particularly mean, weird or funny:
"Lance Armstrong has unsurprisingly split from the jaundiced star girlfriend. It was sad, originally, that he would choose more»
"If you're a traditional cyclist and you ride using your legs, your upper body turns into matchsticks. So when you're suddenly requiring your chest and your arms and your back to move your whole body, you realize just how weak those muscles are." ... more»
"Usually after a few days of cycling in a state, we'd get an overall sense of the place. But in Missouri we said, 'Huh?' right up to the border." ...
more»
"Lance is a friend of Bush. And because of that he's considered guilty by association.
"But he's actually a Democrat. We both feel the same about the war, about the environment, about choice, about education. We pretty much are in agreement about everything." ... more»
"We are selling more bicycles now than before ... Most people who come here do not complain about the prices, they believe it is a worthwhile investment." ... more»
"On a good day it feels like flying. It's like we're the only people in the city and everyone else are obstacles. It's really a dead-end job, but it's beautiful." ... more»
"It was not reckless by any means. It was a simple accident."
San Luis Obispo Police Officer Sean Gillham describing an accident in which a VW made a right turn in front of a cyclist pedaling in the bike lane on Foothill Boulevard. (The cyclist's helmet cracked when the rear wheel of the VW rolled over her head, but she ... more»
"There are people who still think I'm nuts. I mean I have a massive feminist following. And a lot of those people are mad. They're like, 'Why would you quit everything for a man?'" ... more»
"Besides the trees, eastern Kentucky housed a wildly variant population of canines curiously united in one over-arching intent - that was to peel the flesh from my shins like a ripe banana. This included a way-too-near miss by a Rottweiler and a valiant attempt by a three-legged collie."
Rick Gunn, photographer for the Tahoe Daily Tribune, writing about his around-the-world bike tour ... more»
"With a real deep voice you have to say, 'Go Home!', and then have a water bottle ready to squirt in their face."
Michele Kinzer of St. Charles, Illinois, telling how she'll deal with dogs that might chase her during the first Illinois Great Rivers Ride, a week-long 385-mile ride along the Mississippi and Rock rivers.
Kim Mason, telling a reporter about being denied entry to overcapacity emergency shelters as she escaped New Orleans by bicycle after its destruction by Hurriane Katrina. Buying 2 bikes on the street for $160, she and a friend left the convention center, walked through thigh-high water at times, and ended up ... more»
"I also want to let Virginia cyclists who are e-mailing me links to Camelbaks know that I get it! I know I shouldn't have tried to brake with a water bottle in my hand. But I did have the most important piece of equipment: a helmet with a pretty good road rash now."
Open letter from Virginia Gov. Mark Warner ... more»
"The fact that he has dominated such a physically demanding sport for the better half of a decade makes it just that much more amazing. His dedication and desire to stay on top of his sport for so long despite his domination and all that he has proven makes him a great champion." more»
“What does a bicycle have in common with the war in Iraq? President Bush doesn't know how to stop either one of them.”
“Today in Scotland, President Bush, riding his bicycle when he collided with a police officer and fell off. No, I'm serious. Luckily, he was not injured. The ironic thing was Bush could have avoided the collision. ... more»
"The unfortunate thing is I hit my head which cracked my helmet in two. ... It wasn't that serious and nothing was wrong. No breaks. No stitches; just road rash and a little beat up."
Lance Armstrong explaining his "silly crash" that gave him a black eye during a training ride near Nice, France, last Wednesday ... more»
"I broke my nose and jaw in a collision with a motorbike in 2003, got a virus from over-training in 2004 and then had another two accidents after that. I've still got nine screws and a titanium plate in my collar bone. Hopefully I'm being paid back for everything I've been through. Victory in the Giro would mark the end ... more»
"The decision was made to inform the president on the conclusion of his bike ride. ... The president was off-site, getting in a bike ride after returning from a four-day trip overseas."
Scott McClellan, press secretary to President Bush, reacting to reporters' questions regarding Bush's whereabouts during the red alert scare at the White House when a lost airplane inadvertantly ... more»
"Everyone eats their own thing. Some people stop along the way at little diners and eat fried chicken and peach cobbler. That would have me puking the whole way home. Everyone is different."
"It's important for Tom to understand that he's not just another lieutenant in (Armstrong's) army. Tom represents the future for Lance's new plan: pass the wisdom down to the prodigy. There's really no better place for (Danielson) to be. Those guys were expendable, but he's the next generation."
Rick Crawford, coach to Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson, referring to ... more»
"What I've watched for the past 15 years has been almost robotic racing. I used to gasp for air and had to think about when I could take a sip of water – my sport drink – I'd try and time it for a flat section on the switchback of a climb. 
The day after Tour de Fat visited Seattle to celebrate the bicycle as a sustainable form of transportation, a Washington DC architect is interviewed by the Post:
"A lot of Americans will see a cyclist and just believe you’re the Antichrist for no reason, and they will try to run you over or try to come so close to you that it will scare you away from riding bikes. That’s a huge problem that’s unique to this country. That would never happen anywhere else in the world. Not China, not the most brutal dictatorial regime on Earth. It would never happen to you in Italy or Denmark or Switzerland or England or France or Spain or Russia or Vietnam or India or Afghanistan. … This country has a long way to go in terms of tolerance for cyclists. The vitriol of motorists never ceases to amaze me." ... 
"This morning I was still in pain and I didn't have full movement in my arm but it got better and I decided to give it a go because I was only two seconds behind the yellow jersey. ... I didn't feel the pain in the finish because the adrenaline was flowing. It's more painful now holding the microphone. ... 
"When I think of our guys like George, Popo, Jose, Paolo - Chechu even - I don't see the difference between them and the new favorites is that big anymore. Basso and Ullrich - it was quite big - but those other guys? They are in our reach. ... 
"You reach the top of a mountain pass … it’s real … it does something to you. Humping up a steep 1,000-foot elevation with 40 pounds of gear, it’s hard. You’ve accomplished something. And there’s still all this country there before you.” 
"Usually after a few days of cycling in a state, we'd get an overall sense of the place. But in Missouri we said, 'Huh?' right up to the border." ...
"Lance is a friend of Bush. And because of that he's considered guilty by association.
"I broke my nose and jaw in a collision with a motorbike in 2003, got a virus from over-training in 2004 and then had another two accidents after that. I've still got nine screws and a titanium plate in my collar bone. Hopefully I'm being paid back for everything I've been through. Victory in the Giro would mark the end ... 
