Southern California - Stupid Floyd

On todays Conejo ride I was riding with Lanceimnot, Cali Girl, and 65 geezer. As we were coming to the top of Encinal Cyn two riders were coming the other way. One had a full AG2R kit on with his helmet tied to his handlebars, the other rider was Floyd Landis. I said to Lanceimnot, " that was Floyd Landis" he didn't notice but when cali girl came up he told her and she said that she had yelled at the rider without the helmet that he was stupid for riding without his on.. sirlanceimnot's reply was " I can't believe my wife called Floyd Landis stupid." It was sooo funny.:D Poor guy, he has enough trouble as it is :o A story in todays Wall Street Journal says that Floyd is in Malibu preparing for his defence on the doping charges and an arbitration hearing to be held at Pepperdine University starting on Monday. Good luck Floyd, the truth will set you free.

Too cool for school. I never once wore a helmet in the 70's/early 80's... and now wouldn't dare ride around the block without one. Some changes are good. :)

While I have almost no doubt Floyd doped (since they ALL did), I do feel sorry for him. His photo is under the dictionary now, when you look up "sacrificial lamb."

You're positive those were them? Cool. I saw them, but didn't hink twice about who they were. Also saw the helmet, dangling from the handlebars.

On todays Conejo ride I was riding with Lanceimnot, Cali Girl, and 65 geezer. As we were coming to the top of Encinal Cyn two riders were coming the other way. One had a full AG2R kit on with his helmet tied to his handlebars, the other rider was Floyd Landis. I said to Lanceimnot, " that was Floyd Landis" he didn't notice but when cali girl came up he told her and she said that she had yelled at the rider without the helmet that he was stupid for riding without his on.. sirlanceimnot's reply was " I can't believe my wife called Floyd Landis stupid." It was sooo funny.:D Poor guy, he has enough trouble as it is :o A story in todays Wall Street Journal says that Floyd is in Malibu preparing for his defence on the doping charges and an arbitration hearing to be held at Pepperdine University starting on Monday. Good luck Floyd, the truth will set you free.


That was just too funny..., well maybe it was only funny if you were there. I was there so it was funny! It was great riding with you Bob and hope to see you on the road again soon.

Hi,

Yeah, it's funny in a funny way how pros wear helmets in very difficult conditions during races but they feel that helmets are optional when they are training. They are probably exposed to more danger (i.e. cars) when they are training than when they are racing.

Like VanceMac, I started riding seriously and racing during the 1970s and never wore a helmet while training. On top of that the helmets we wore (we called them leather hairnets) during races were pretty much worthless. I didn't start wearing a helmet regularly until the late 1980s. Now I won't even go to test out my bicycle without strapping on my helmet.

Also, I sure hope the truth is closer to Floyd's story than WADA's story.

Hi,

Yeah, it's funny in a funny way how pros wear helmets in very difficult conditions during races but they feel that helmets are optional when they are training. They are probably exposed to more danger (i.e. cars) when they are training than when they are racing.

Like VanceMac, I started riding seriously and racing during the 1970s and never wore a helmet while training. On top of that the helmets we wore (we called them leather hairnets) during races were pretty much worthless. I didn't start wearing a helmet regularly until the late 1980s. Now I won't even go to test out my bicycle without strapping on my helmet.

Also, I sure hope the truth is closer to Floyd's story than WADA's story.

The pros only wear helmets in races because the rules now say they have to. And that has only been the last few years. Up to a couple years ago, the pros could still ditch their helmet at the bottom of a climb to an uphill finish.

The pros only wear helmets in races because the rules now say they have to. And that has only been the last few years. Up to a couple years ago, the pros could still ditch their helmet at the bottom of a climb to an uphill finish.
Hi,

Actually, when they allowed "ditching" of their helmets was when they started having to wear helmets outside of Belgium. For as long as I can remember, they only had to wear helmets in Belgium and (I believe) certain criteriums. The ditching rule was part of the concession by the UCI to get them to wear helmets at all. Also the finishing hill had to be at least a certain length and category for them to toss the helmet. ;)

can you imagine surfers wearing helmets?

can you imagine surfers wearing helmets?

Asphault and water have much different properties.. I always wear my helmet when riding and remember the days before hard shells were mandatory in uscf racing.. Hard shells have been a huge improvement with people walking away from bad crashes...

can you imagine surfers wearing helmets?
http://www.surfermag.com/features/onlineexclusives/mindcontrolsurfer/index.html

:)

Thanks for the posting because somewhere yesterday on the 68 route, which never went into the SM's, I could have sworn I saw Floyd...did a little double-take. Maybe I did!

Sheldon

I have an interesting observation about the usefulness of helmets -- when I fell at the velodrome in February, I clanged my bell pretty hard on the RIGHT side of my head, cracking the helmet in at least three places. After I fell, I slid down onto the apron, and kind of spun around somehow so I was facing the line of riders coming up behind me. One of them couldn't avoid me and ran his bicycle right across my face over the LEFT side of my head.

Damage to me: the entire LEFT side of my face, head, and LEFT eye were horribly bruised and swollen, and the MRI showed that there was a possible fracture in the bone just below my LEFT eye. The right side of my head was not even bruised.

Damage to the helmet: several cracks and a completely broken out piece on the RIGHT side of the helmet.

Conclusion: The helmet did its job and absorbed the energy from the initial fall in exactly the way it was supposed to, protecting my head from injury. However, once the integrity of the helmet was compromised, it did almost nothing to protect the left side of my head when I got run over.

Helmet's Save. I was horribly afraid that my left eye was so damaged I was going to go blind in that eye. Thanks to the Grace of God, I may have looked like a deli counter reject for three and a half weeks, but my eye was fine.

The Velodrome Phoenix

Darn it Bob ! I should have ridden with you , you always have the best rides. It's either mountains , snow, wind or Floyd.

Darn it Bob ! I should have ridden with you , you always have the best rides. It's either mountains , snow, wind or Floyd. Yeah I missed you out there yesterday. Dick and I did 8200ft in 85 miles. Just another ho hum day at the office. Ok so come out and do Sea 2 Summit with us on Saturday:)

Yeah I missed you out there yesterday. Dick and I did 8200ft in 85 miles. Just another ho hum day at the office. Ok so come out and do Sea 2 Summit with us on Saturday:)
I've been thinking about that. I know I said no way, but now I kinda want to do it.

when I fell at the velodrome in February, I clanged my bell pretty hard on the RIGHT side of my head, cracking the helmet in at least three places.Wow! glad you're ok. It seems like a broken helmet actually may have caused some additional injury, right?

I've been thinking about that. I know I said no way, but now I kinda want to do it. Wow John that would be great and fun. You should call them tomorrow at 805-648-3295. It's a charity event and they say they don't take same day registrations. That is the # for Teen Challenge who is putting on the ride. They are pretty trusting souls so I'm sure they would make every effort to get you in. Got a ride?

Conclusion: The helmet did its job and absorbed the energy from the initial fall in exactly the way it was supposed to, protecting my head from injury. However, once the integrity of the helmet was compromised, it did almost nothing to protect the left side of my head when I got run over.Helmets are like bags. They are designed to protect you only during the initial impact.