Professional Cycling For the Fans - Leadville 100 2009

He can't show he's bitter or it will stain the foundation he is cycling for.
That's the primary reason he's out there, right?

well it seems that you are a skeptic, and i cannot prove his true emotion. i can tell you when i lost in any sport i played, it was very hard to be positive and say good things about the other team or shake hands, but i did.
Maybe he was pissed, maybe he wasnt. cup half full vs. cup half empty. we can do this with every post, but i prefer not to.

i will say though that your post shows he has tact. if he realized being bitter was bad for the sport and his foundation, and chose to say good things to his opponent, then he showed tact.

well it seems that you are a skeptic, and i cannot prove his true emotion. i can tell you when i lost in any sport i played, it was very hard to be positive and say good things about the other team or shake hands, but i did.
Maybe he was pissed, maybe he wasnt. cup half full vs. cup half empty. we can do this with every post, but i prefer not to.

i will say though that your post shows he has tact. if he realized being bitter was bad for the sport and his foundation, and chose to say good things to his opponent, then he showed tact.

That he does. +1

Here's a video from iReport (CNN), showing the finish of the race and the news conference talks. Everything seems fine by me. Nobody seems angry on any side. Pretty normal. People reading too much into things, I think.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-315732

Here's a video from iReport (CNN), showing the finish of the race and the news conference talks. Everything seems fine by me. Nobody seems angry on any side. Pretty normal. People reading too much into things, I think.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-315732

LA's forum critics see him everywhere ... he's probably hiding in their bike shed!

Here's a video from iReport (CNN), showing the finish of the race and the news conference talks. Everything seems fine by me. Nobody seems angry on any side. Pretty normal. People reading too much into things, I think.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-315732

That's heavily edited. I saw the live original which that does not match.

Well for starters, there were a ton of people that had probably never seen a bike race in person and werent sure what to do, before he came through the race officials were going up and down the street making sure everyone knew to stay back since two cop cars side by side were escorting him through. I dont know about the video, but I have seen some youtube clips of people that shot video showing people going nuts for Lance. I have to think the feed was misleading, because in person he got a heroes welcome, but like me, I think alot of people were trying to get pictures/shoot video as he first went by, while trying to make sure we werent about to be run over. Once the barricade started, the fans filled it in behind him and there was hardly any security. His handlers did get him out of there and rounded up candy/sodas. It was a bit of a mess at the finish, there were grandstands, people there to help the racers, announcers and everyone else in a small space. Also, the race reports they were giving out were misleading, no one was expecting anyone to finish it that quick and they also said Dave Wiens was alot closer than he was. I can tell you that there was alot of cheering, and if you google some of the videos youll see it, but that feed must not have been very good. Also, there were probably 2 thousand people or more that stretched out for more than a mile from the finish, so that one spot isnt really indiciative of the reaction either.

I am glad I made the decision to drive up rather than pay for that feed, doesnt sound like it gave a real clear picture of the race.

Part of the problem is that they only had one camera right at the finish line, and because Lance was down over the crest of the hill. People close to the finish line including the camera, could not see what was happening when the fans started to mob Lance about a 1/2 mile out from the finish line. Even the announcers could not see completely what was going on. So this probably fueled a lot of speculation. It looked to them as though the crowd had completely stopped Lance's forward progress. So that he could not ride. Considering how tired he was this seemed to be very inconsiderate.

Part of the problem is that they only had one camera right at the finish line, and because Lance was down over the crest of the hill. People close to the finish line including the camera, could not see what was happening when the fans started to mob Lance about a 1/2 mile out from the finish line. Even the announcers could not see completely what was going on. So this probably fueled a lot of speculation. It looked to them as though the crowd had completely stopped Lance's forward progress. So that he could not ride. Considering how tired he was this seemed to be very inconsiderate.

OK, this is getting to be really old news, so I am going to leave it at this, but I think I finally understand what you thought you saw. From the time that LA crested the hill, he was being led in by a police escort, however, the escort turns off prob a half a mile from the finish. They should have started the barricade there, but I dont think the race organizers expected the thousands of folks that showed up. The camera angle is at the top of the hill looking down, no one stopped his progress but since there was no barricade, fans would step out in front to get a photo as he approached. In reality no one came close to stopping his progress and once the barricade started you see he has a clear run to the finish line before the next crowd forms after he finished. I was literally at an opposite vantage point from the camera watching him ride up. Like the CNN video shows, he got a great welcome. Old news, but wanted to clarify where I think it was misleading. So, now what do we do? Talk about the tour of Utah or something!

OK, this is getting to be really old news, so I am going to leave it at this, but I think I finally understand what you thought you saw. From the time that LA crested the hill, he was being led in by a police escort, however, the escort turns off prob a half a mile from the finish. They should have started the barricade there, but I dont think the race organizers expected the thousands of folks that showed up. The camera angle is at the top of the hill looking down, no one stopped his progress but since there was no barricade, fans would step out in front to get a photo as he approached. In reality no one came close to stopping his progress and once the barricade started you see he has a clear run to the finish line before the next crowd forms after he finished. I was literally at an opposite vantage point from the camera watching him ride up. Like the CNN video shows, he got a great welcome. Old news, but wanted to clarify where I think it was misleading. So, now what do we do? Talk about the tour of Utah or something!

Ya, I went to the Prologue. It was awesome and I was at the perfect spot to get some great pictures. But I forgot my camera. DZ, Floyd and all the fast guys come flying around this sharp corner at around 40-45 mph. One inexperienced racer miscalculated the corner and had to brake hard but he went into the barrier. At least he didn't get hurt. Then I took my camera to stage 1 and got some pictures but they turned out poor because I was trying to cheer and take pictures at the same time. So all the pictures are blurry.

I was going to start a new thread about the Tour of Utah with some pictures but it wasn't worth it. Today I went to a meeting for work and then hiking but tomorrow I'm going to the ITT at Miller Motorway. Maybe I can get some pictures saturday of the Snowbird finish.

Lance would of embarrassed Contador if he was in this race. ;)

Lance would of embarrassed Contador if he was in this race. ;)

:rolleyes:

We need to start collecting your words of idiocy. Were you the same guy who call Manolo Saiz a perpetual loser?

:rolleyes:

We need to start collecting your words of wisdom.

Fixed.