DX-MAN

Because there's been a visible increase in riders on the roads since LA showed up as TDF winner in '99, and all the ignorant driving masses out there think we're riding cuz we wanna BE him -- they're not capable of thinking any deeper.

So would I, but as long as drivers use him as the archetype of the modern cyclist, we're stuck with it. (I wonder what they'd think if guys like Freddie Hoffman got more publicity? For those that don't know, Freddie was born 'special', slightly oxygen-deprived, so he has a learning disability; he discovered that riding was something he could do as well as anyone, and has never looked back. The story I read about him several years ago reported that he'd logged somewhere around half a million miles in his lifetime! Rides an old steel frame tourer, wears sweats, uses toe clips, etc. Freddie started his solo odyssey before LA was even BORN!)