Road Bike Racing - LA's contribution to cycling

I am writing a paper on LA for one of my classes and would like to include what his contribution has been to how cycling is viewed in America today. I need articles, or books. If you know of any or have read any that may be of interest to me please let me know....I need info..

Merci.....

you may want to scour www.velonews.com or www.cyclingnews.com for articles on LA. there might also be some hype on the usps website.

look in the archived articles on sports illustrated website as well.

if you go through Lance's website, you might be able to find things there...but the way you have phrased your need "contribution has been to how cycling is viewed in America, today"....do you mean bike racing? Or could you also mean how thousands turn out on bikes for the Ride for the Roses to raise money for cancer research. Or how, when he stopped in Indianapolis, about 4,000 people turned out for the Tour of Hope stop in the middle of a business day to hear him speak.
Look beyond the, "are more people riding bikes today" or "has bike racing become more mainstream" type of things.

I know several people who are inspired by him enough that they got their large rumps off the couch and are now riding, eating better and losing weight. And they know that a bike is not a toy. One guy lost 60 pounds and is now on a +$2,000 road bike....

Check out the guestbook on Lance's website. You'll see a lot of comments about how he has made contributions....

Lance Armstrong (http://www.lancearmstrong.com)

BTW, a colleague is doing his masters thesis (sports marketing major) on how the Postal Serivce has benefitted from its association with a Tour winning team.

he keeps a lot of people employed...and several American riders are riding for a division 1 trade team because of Postal and Lance. His exploits have created opportunities for American riders to get to Europe that did not exist before. I hope that keeps going...

or when he rode in San Francisco year before last...and a half million people turned out in downtown SF to watch a bike race..and in a sports bar just off the course the patrons made the bartender turn OFF the 49ers game to turn ON the bike race...

Read LA's books, It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life and Every Second Counts

http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/6970000/6977301.gif http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/6970000/6979987.gif

See if you can dig up any information regarding the Christophe Bassons affair (1998-99).

thanks to you all.....Roadwarrior, you bring up good points that i might want to look more into thanks a lot....keep em comming

You may want to look at the chapter in LA's book when he describes his visit to NY after 9/11. He visited several fire stations and tried to do whatever he could to make a difference.

I seem to remember a very good article about L.A. in "Outside" magazine.

Grampy....did you see that article recently or should i scour the archives??

I am writing a paper on LA for one of my classes and would like to include what his contribution has been to how cycling is viewed in America today. I need articles, or books. If you know of any or have read any that may be of interest to me please let me know....I need info..

Merci.....

Well for one he founded the Lance Armstrong cancer foundation, it helps raise money for cancer patients.

Pasadena is part of LA county and certainly part of its history in cycling. You might want to look at the page in the LA Times today. See:
http://www.latimes.com/features/outdoors/la-os-wheels16mar16,1,1746771.story?coll=la-headlines-outdoors

I think I've decided to shift the focus of my paper to LA...the man. Tell about his life, his cancer, his relationship with his mother, and the LAF organization. I think it will be interesting, since most people only know about LA and le Tour........thanks to all for your responses

Tell about his life, his cancer, his relationship with his mother, and the LAF organization. I think it will be interesting, since most people only know about LA and le Tour

Hmm, I wouldn't give up so quickly on your original premise, auricpoe. A lot of this stuff is already well known from his best-seller books, etc. But I haven't seen much critical analysis of Lance's impact on cycling in America, and the legacy he'll leave when he retires. It might take a little more work to get to, but there's plenty of opportunity to glean anecdotal evidence from the forums on Lance's website, even these forums (heck, maybe even throw the question out there, for us to discuss), as well as the usual sources, magazine and newspaper articles, sales figures from bike companies, contributions to the Cancer Society via LAF, particpation numbers in cycling clubs, charity rides, etc, marketing studies for USPS, Nike and Trek. Geez, even Lance's relationship with Sheryl Crow getting a mention on Entertainment Tonight is evidence of the kind of impact he's had.

Good luck with your paper.

Don't forget his advertising work...

Subaru
ESPN Sportscenter with Dan Patrick where he's riding a stationary bike keeping the power on...very funny spot
Numerous Nike ads...the "busting my ass" Nike poster is worth a lot of money now that it's out of print
"But I can ride a bike"
The Coke ad with Bobby Labonte where they get Tony Stewart to shave his legs

Thanks to all for your suggestions....and Cipo, i think i will through out a question to the forum....how about something like this....How do you feel Lance Amrstrong has contributed to the American cycling community and how have his contributions to the cycling in America spred more knowlege about the sport to the public?

what do you all think about this question working in the forum...??