the Science of Lance - Things I learned
 

1. lance is a weight-weenie

2. the dimpled surface of my cellulite-laden thighs and other areas of my body will help me go faster

3. insects will aim for, then try to eat my eyes

4. it's not the bike, but the number of six-packs consumed over time that matters

5. it's OK to ride on the backs of your mates on the way to success

6. lance is turned on by his multi-lingual team director

7. it's all about genetics - meaning i'm screwed unless i want to aspire to be the best house-mover in history

8. you don't need testiculos to be a winner

9. i'm rooting for lance even though he might be an a-hole

10. 10 percent matters more than 1 percent

11. 85 ml per kg @ 500W kick a**

12. my enemy is lactic acid

13. good shoes make a difference (my wife has been trying to teach me this for years)

14. tubes need to be aged, like fine wines

15. tubulars rule! lance's are 6- to 7-years old!

great show on the Discovery Channel... not sure if i want to watch/listen to his momma's story though...

Personally, I would have loved a little more science then Lance is the greatest bit, but I was expecting that. I would have liked more comparisons to the peleton and maybe Eddy Merckx and stuff. That would be good both TV and good to have Americans exposed to a little more of the world of cycling.

One more thing that will be fun to speculate on.
Did anyone notice that Lance was in the wind tunnel on a track bike? At first I thought it was just the handle bars but then I noticed single speed and all of that jazz. Are we going to see Lance on a track, or maybe Lance is riding it old school with only one gear the whole way? Ah tradition!

Yeah what was the deal with the crazy Romainian guy in the creepy basement with all the tubes???
All the other facts were cool and I could understand but tubes aged 7 years for the Tour. I mean come on. I would think that track debris would be more of a factor for tubes blowing.

Hope there won't be any Michelin tubes or tires on Team Discovery bikes this year.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA those USGP ruining french b*st*rds!

[One more thing that will be fun to speculate on.
Did anyone notice that Lance was in the wind tunnel on a track bike? At first I thought it was just the handle bars but then I noticed single speed and all of that jazz. Are we going to see Lance on a track, or maybe Lance is riding it old school with only one gear the whole way? Ah tradition![/QUOTE]

I also noticed that. I wondered why the bike wouldn't be in full race trim for wind testing if that was in fact his tour bike. I will go back and look again on my wonderfull DVR

Should'nt Chris Carmichael fit in there somewhere? After all he's Lance's coach of 15 years.

sounds interesting, looks like it comes on again in about 25 minutes, i might have to take a break from the forums and go check it out.

you know i thought Lance was really cool 'til i saw that "Lance Chronicles" series... and then all i could think was...WOW, this guy is such an egotistical, a** hole... i wish i didn't watch this show... great bike rider, great story, but what a jerk...

I'm rooting for Jan...

the single speed track bike was when he was doing wind tunnel testing for the hour record, which, as far as i know, he has since abandoned.

oh, and i don't know about the whole "jerk" thing. He is obviously arrogant and cocky, and he obviously holds a grudge, but no one here knows him personally. He's not all grab-ass with his competitiors, many who have accused him of doping and tried to discredit his wins - and so what, it's not a tea-party out there, they're competing for contracts, prize money, sponors, etc. Don't get me wrong, i think he is really cocky and a huge ego, and no matter what kind of races i won and what kind of fame i got, i could never see myself with the kind of attitude he has, but his attitude does seem selective, and it's never directed towards his fans, teammates, friends, or family members. I persoanlly believe a friendly rivalry is much more effective and fun, but that doesn't work for everyone. I'd be hard pressed to call anyone a jerk who treats their fans so well and gives so much time and resources to help cancer patients around the world.

yea i read everywhere that he's a jerk but how many ppl actually kno him personally. maybe he's just sick of all u media a$$holes

I think greatness comes inside a paradox. Americans hold out that anyone can do great things with enough courage. We have a moral code, a right and wrong in how things should be done. We covet those that do great things seemingly on guts alone. But that is very seldom the case. For someone to be 'great', regardless of the field, most of the time requires that person to be VERY self focused, driven, sure of themselves, etc. Not the posterboy underdog with the egoless personality we see portrayed in movies (because thats the sterotype we buy into), but a real live jerk to some folks, cocky, abrasive etc.

Think about it, can or do any of us get up at dark-thiry in the morning and torture ourselves for 5-7 hours 7 days a week for years to acheive a goal? The willpower to do this will manifest itself in interpersonal relationships, just can't see how it wouldnt.

So, in a nut shell, we covet those that do great things, but the disposition required to become great usually comes with a price tag.

I've got to ask, as I watched the same shows, but came away with a differing opinion. What did Armstrong do/say/act to give you that impression? Please be specific, as I may have missed some shows. ThanX!

I guess you can't say one critical thing of Sir Lance. What a way to start a fire.

I think the aged tubular thing is a joke for the media, It has to be, Tires are the most supple and responsive when they are new. 7 years will dry rot those things.

sure you can be critical of him; i think he's very arrogant and cocky. While i am a big lance fan, he (just like anyone else) is not without his flaws. Lots of people here think he's a total jerk, but there's never any justification. People condemn him based on only a few actions. My point is that people in general critize his personality as a whole without knowing him. They do so based on a few of his racing actions and a few specific events. An excellent example is the whole simoni thing where he chased down the break simply because of simoni. People said things like "wow, what a jerk" and "how unsportsmanlike". Well, simoni did say (or at least implied, I don't remember his exact words) that LA was a doper and belittled most if not all of his recent professional accomplishments. How would you have reacted if, say you're a businessman, and a competitior accused you of illegally laundering money because you knew someone who did and because you were more successful than that competitior? How would you respond? Please don't interpret what i have said as "Lance is perfect and everything he does is right", He, just like any human has flaws and imperfections. there are many other pro riders that come across both better and worse than armstrong, but none of us know these riders and none of us live the lives they do. I have a feeling they all live an extremely fun, rewarding, but difficult life. We don't know these people and we cannot get a full grasp of their personality based on some internet articles and half-hour TV specials.

Well first off I don't think I would have done anything that could be interperted by the police as intimidation of a witness, which is exactly how this worked out. And this is exactly how the police would view it in any other context. If a small fast food stand owner accused McDondalds of using tainted meat and then McDondalds puts up 3 restraunts within a half mile of his one stand just what would the police think? Perhaps that McDondalds was trying to put the guy out of business for daring to say something bad about them. And if you were a suspicious cop you just might wonder why they reacted so strongly. Might it just possibly be that the guy hit at least near the truth.

Now in Lance's defense on this one it was most likely a spur of the moment decision, not a cool calm boardroom (with laywers) one. And chasing the break down himself was probably much better than having Postal do it. But it was stupid, and he should have known better. For that mater considering how well his team management handles other things one wonders why they did not call him back. (If it was just a macho thing then he could have chased the break down, told Simeoni he was not worth using his team to chase and then dropped back. Macho done and rather elegent, but this is thinking after the fact).

Also I would not confuse Simoni with Simeoni. If he (and Postal) had failed to chase down a break (or at least try) with Simoni in it that would have been news.

He's the "grand patron". The boss of the peloton. This status helps him win, and the Simioni thing was just one more way of enforcing his authority.

That's the best post I've seen on the a-hole subject. It is very rare that someone that is NOT egotistical will dominate in anything. Look at Bill Gates, Ray Lewis, Terrell Owens, Barry Bonds, etc... All extremely driven individuals that lead to their success, but not the typical "good-guy" personalities.

Yes, I am making a generalization, and I realize there are exceptions.

He is extremely confident, but he has done something to support this. To me the annoying thing is someone who cannot back up his confidence with action.

If someone wins the Tour 6 times he can act like one of the all time greats, he is.
I think it's hard to know what he is like without really knowing him.

Well said.

Funny thing is Lance seldom (as in never that I can recall) seems to overstate his position in cycling history. Some of his supporters, many of them professional journalists are a different story. It is easy to forget that most of the exagerations regarding Lance really do not come from Lance.

He is NOT an a--hole to fans. I have had several run in's with him where I work. His sports agent, Bill Stapleton, works in my building and runs Captial Sports and Entertainment. Lance will talk with you like anyone else and is a very nice guy. I don't feel I need to go into an deep explaination of this. I have posted his defense several times, but the couple of times I have talked to him he is VERY nice and VERY willing to chit chat.

I had the good fortune to ride with, (a slow recreational ride) and talk to, one of his postal teammates Ken Labbe, when they were together. I was very, very, impressed at how unassuming and friendly this guy was. He had a great "regular guy" attitude and we talked about all kinds of things. He could have been my next door neighbor. I came away thinking WOW! this guy is a member of one of the best cycling teams in the world and is modest and easy to talk to. This guy is also VERY nice.
I think there are times when a professional competitor needs to be aggressive, but that does not mean that carries over into other parts of his life. They do need to get along with a lot of team and non team people to accomplish their goals.

"It aint braggin' if you can do it". =)

This from a Velonews interview with Dan Coyle, the author of "Lance Armstrong's War."


VN: What is your personal take on Lance Armstrong?

DC: As his teammate Jonathan Vaughters once told me, there's a pattern with Lance: he gets close to people, and inevitably something goes haywire. I must admit, the closer I got to him, the less I found myself admiring him. Now that I have distance again, I find myself admiring him more. Let me put it this way - he is a good hero for my 10-year old son, but I wouldn't necessarily want him to date my daughter.



VN: One former teammate once described him as "one of the unhappiest men I've met." Do you think Lance Armstrong is happy?

DC: He is more driven than happy. As Floyd Landis puts it in the book, "Lance doesn't want to be hugged, he wants to kick everybody's ass."

In my book, there is an episode from the 2004 Tour, when Ullrich and Armstrong ran into each other in the medical tent. Ullrich hugged Armstrong and that completely freaked Armstrong out. On some level, Ullrich understood that the only way to beat Armstrong is not to fight him but to love him. Maybe love is his Kryptonite. Maybe it's the one thing he can't handle.



Mark

I got a dimpled shirt to be just like Lance (and a golf ball). I sliced into the woods and hit a tree.