Hey! I'm that hipster!

Is Triathlon no longer in the olympics? I know it was in 2000 and I think 2004, a bastardized version of it anyway. I can totally understand if she just doesn't like that version of Triathlon though, it was really just a 10k road race.

how on earth is it unfortunate? that makes absolutely no sense. can you explain to me why exactly it is a negative thing that people begin cycling?

and for those of you saying "boo to ESPN for helping this woman go to training as opposed to someone who deserves it." a) most of those people who 'deserve it' still aren't anywhere near good enough to be olympic quality b) this woman wasn't taking resources away from anyone else. her being there didn't prevent anyone else from being there and there was never any chance of her taking someone elses spot on a team simply because she was from ESPN c) she was allowed to participate solely because she was writing for ESPN and the people realized her participation would bring publicity for track racing which is a good thing. d) few people in america care about cycling, and even fewer care about track cycling. it's a fact, so don't get all pissy about her saying it is the "red-headed stepchild" of the cycling world cause it's true. it's not some personal insult against you and your bike, it's just a statement of the low general popularity of the sport in the US.

seriously, some people constantly look for **** to complain about.

edit: sorry, tequila makes me argumentative.

bollocks track cycling is the red headed step child why I awtta

=bullsh1t. Also, I thought it was the kilo for men? But nonetheless, shouldn't have happened.

Sweet...I've been hearing talk of putting BMX in the Olympics since 1986, when it first started to get popular. The olympics is way to slow to follow trends. If there is an upswing in track interest due to this fixed gear trend, the trend will be long gone before the olympics does anything about it.

i thought bmx'ing belong on like... teh x-gam3z0rs

Olympic BMX'ing? What the hell?

I kinda feel bad for her, seeing how desperate she is to fit in the mold she believes she deserves. Its like the nerdy kid who can't play at all and becomes the waterboy so he can be in the team picture.

riding a specialized, man orbea is going to be pissed.

yeah I want a new orca they are sick looking sorry has gears but it is sooo sexy

"There is a product called Chamois Butt'r that one puts "down below" before cycling workouts to ease the pain of the saddle. Today, bleary-eyed and tired at 7 a.m., I've accidentally put Bengay in my bike shorts instead of the intended cream. I don't remember the morning workout. "

that was hilarious

For a bunch of folk who purport to be tolerant about things, a lot of kids that ride fixed-gear bikes sure do let that decide a lot of things for them instead of actually using their brains.

I guess I just missed the part where it was some how disadvantageous to cycling/fixed-gear/whatever for someone to ride a bike?
Is it also forbidden to do other sports concurrent with riding your bike? Am I so terrible for riding my fixed gear or singlespeed bike to rowing practice, or to the gym, or to something other than the track?

I guess, for me, it comes down to a question of "what does this affect, and how?"
It really seems like this affects the overall base of "people who know about/have heard of track cycling/fixed gear" by expanding it through a medium that lots of people who like to watch competition (in general) are exposed to.

Opinion is opinion, though, so like the piece, or ESPN, but don't blame someone for merely riding a bike, merely because it's not you.

Except that this waterboy is already a world-class athlete.
Otherwise, yeah, your analogy is perfect!!!

Was a world class athlete... in a different sport. The world is littered with failed child prodigies and over the hill athletes chasing their prime.

If you can't make it to the Olympics in triathlon and want to get there somehow, then
-Buy a ****ing plane ticket
-Change your nationality. As a Bora Boran, you'll get a wild card to any event you fancy.
-Take up curling.

-Why TF would you try track cycling, in which you have about as much chance as I do to become US president? (And please do take into account that I'd refuse the job...)

I'm pretty sure it's BMX racing that's going to the olympics.

Because it makes a good ****ing article people. Are you all so thick-skulled that you can't figure out the purpose of this series? HINT: This woman isn't going to make the Olympic team. Also: ESPN doesn't give a crap if she does or not. Why the hell would she even try handball or the pentathlon if she were serious about it?

The purpose of the article is to get a first-person view of what it takes to make it to the Olympics. And if that person has an athletic background, that only makes it better, since they have something to compare it to.

and it's also full of people who never really accomplish anything of merit but sit around all day talking **** like they have 5 olympic golds...

+ seriously!

This thread is totally blowing my mind. Wow.

depends - for warm-up pacelines I have been in the flats for the first half to get to a comfortable speed, and then proceeded into the drops to utilize form to increase control, comfort, and speed.

I have also been in pacelines with a "no flats" rule.

Well, it doesn't make a good article. Any article that takes the readers to be total ******* only deserves to be read by... total *******.

-She discovers that athletes use drugs. Wow!!!
-She realises that, as an ex-triathlete, she is best suited to do endurance events, not sprint. She needed help from a coach for that, but congrats anyway.
etc.

The whole thing would be a good series if it didn't have all the idiotic lies in it about trying to make it to the Olympics. Just try out a few sports for fun and introduce the pros, that's a viable plan. This is just tabloid **** this way. BTW, she has a decent chance in luge I guess.

What does developmental disability have to do with not being knowledgable about track cycling?
What would have happened if she had actually been "legit" and blew some of the pro's out of the water?

Of course that didn't happen, but it very well could have been any number of people that go out for Olympic camps and don't make it on the team. Granted I agree with you on the tabloid part, but that's the entire business of sports-journalism: finding something/anything that's not quite in the public eye and magnifying it. I see what you're saying in that respect; it would have been more germane than someone out of nowhere, but that's part of obscurity, you take what you get and you run with it. Sure track cycling has been around awhile, but you take what you get and you respond to the writers with your opinions en masse when you see something you don't like.

But let's at least have a little perspective: show of hands, how many of you who read this have tried to go to the Olympics in something obscure, and didn't make it?

do you realize who reads ESPN articles? it's not pro atheletes looking to learn more about their area of expertise.

Shut your mouth