Conference noted::bicycle

    Re .0,	try reading the notesfile on etiquette.  Somebody's
    		paying for time and disk space.
    John

re: .1
>                   -< And don't forget Andy Hampsted (sp?) >-

That's Andrew Hampsten. As for forgetting him, I pretty much had, when 
the note on the Tour mentioned he was from North Dakota. I used to see 
him around our shop occasionally (he was about 11 at the time) and I may 
have sold him his first ten-speed. I don't remember him too well, and I 
DON'T remember ever thinking "This guy will be a great racer someday".
Andrew quite probably thought the same of me. One of us was right...

                                                 Cheers,
                                                 ken

    
    RE: .2
    
    I know, but this is important..
    
    Chuck
    

Everyone should write letters to the local tv stations about the
news coverage.  Ch 4 had 1 sentence on it on the 6pm news, the last
sentence of the sports segment.

Then I heard that one of the stations had a jerk who said something like,
"Wait till you see this guy in the polka dot jersey, Bernard Hi-nalt is his
name."  Then someone behind him whispered the pronounciation "E-NO"
(Of course that was the King of the Mountains Jersey that many would
give their eye-teeth and first born for.)

ed

    
    Hampsten finishing fourth was a big surprise for me. He has the
    qualities of a Alexi Grewal without the problems. Not to say that
    he hasn't done well in the past, his record proves it. However,
    fourth in the Tour is an incredible accomplishment.
    
    Great job, Mr. Hampsten. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him on the
    center podium.
    
    CdH
    
    
    
    

    The local television coverage was ATROCIOUS! It was an abomination
    outdone only by the derailleur on a Caldor ten-speed! Four and Five
    didn't have films for their 6 O'clocks on Sunday (CBS showed golf,
    having done same-day coverage earlier), and Bob Neumeier/Mike Jerkface
    only presented a single sentence each. (Mike Jerkface on Five appended
    his with a stupid sentence which induced the other anchors to offer
    stupid replies).
    
    At 11 O'clock the coverage improved. Everyone showed CBS's stock
    footage, while commenting how the French were on their way to 
    reclaim the Statue of Liberty. 
    
    We all want "real" biking in the USA to grow, and Greg Lemond has
    mentioned how his success can be the best fertilizer for American
    Biking. But his hard-earned success will have no effect on our
    biking scene if american audiences would rather see baseball players
    smashing into outfield walls or wailing because they weren't chosen
    as All-Stars. 
    
    But, if it's any consolation, we're not the only sports fans getting
    screwed by Celtics/Patriots/Red Sox overcoverage. High School sports
    of all kinds, Track-n-Field/Road Racing, Triathlon, and others---all
    are in the same boat. TV Sports producers cater to the Scum and
    Villany of our society.
    
    Have a GREAT (albeit bike-coverage-less) day,
    
    John Erickson

    Yes, the local TV coverage was awful, but at least it wasn't
    nonexistent, which is what it has been until Sunday.  Even a single
    sentence is better than a black hole.  Have to start somewhere,
    I guess.  Now (I hope), they won't dare ignore next year's Tour.
    
    I though Susan Bickelhaupt's coverage in the Globe was pretty good
    for an American newspaper, and Greg *did* make the front page on Monday
    7/28.
    
    Mac.

    Did anyone in Europe or some other enlightened part of the world
    happen to videotape any of the Tour de France?  Any chance of a
    copy being made available?
    
    I know the formats are not always compatible, but I also know ways
    to have them converted, and then we could do further distribution
    for local bike clubs, etc.
    
    paul

    A note about Susan Bicklehaupt in the Boston Globe:
    
    Susan is a news editor for the Globe who developed an interest in
    bicycling several years ago.  She went to local races and wrote
    about them on her own time, then convinced the Sports Department to 
    print them.  (She does not work for Sports.)
    
    Last year and this year, she took vacation time and unpaid leave
    to attend the Tour (she paid all expenses). The deal she had
    with the Globe was that they would buy her stories on a free-lance
    basis.
    
    I think she has done a great service to bicycle racing in the Boston
    area.  
    
    Chuck
    

    $ SET MODE="HUH"
    
    You mean she works for them and the best they could do was a 3x5
    memo stuck in a full page of "LEMOND". You'd think they'd take better
    care of their own.
    
    $ set mode=workbreak
    
    sw

    
    	Personal names notwithstanding, someone asked me today if I
    saw the end of the tour on TV.  
    
    	"Y'know me ?,  I'm not a spectator, I'd rather ride than watch 
    images of someone else's ride on a flourescent screen, however good 
    they may be", 
    
    I said somewhat snobbishly.  Seems I didn't miss much by getting out in
    the heat afterall, though I thought about staying home for it.
    
    	Reg
     
    
    

    Having gotten this far, I have figured out that there is a person
    named Greg LaMonde, who finished [first] in [a race] called the
    Tour de France (knew that that existed) and that [it's the first
    time an American has won the race].  
    
    It's interesting from viewpoint of being reasonably seriously
    interested in bicycles, but not a watcher of TV or a reader of the
    sports page, that familiarity with the context of the note is assumed
    by the writers.  
    
    The info in brackets is not in the note, I think, but is filled
    in from past knowledge and brushing contact with sports headlines
    while searching for "Tank Macnamara," which I do follow...
    
    I guess I'm glad to see American cyclists "making it" in the
    international racing scene, at the same time that I regret the
    transformation of another group of enthusiastic amateurs into today's
    slave, the professional athlete.  
    					John

    re .13	Aw, C'mon John.  Transformation into the professional
    athlete indeed.  American bikers have been doing it for money for
    a lonnnggggg time now.
    
    Only thing I fear is that cycling becomes the Yupp sport of the late
    80's.  Then bike prices would go way out of sight until the manufacturers
    respond by swamping the market with "real value" bikes (for under $150)
    and drive the quality manufacturers out of business.  Then every
    Junior high has its own track team (and track) and the moms and
    pops berate the little devils for not training in Greggie's image.
    
    	Reg
    

    
    RE: .14
    
    These things don't sound so bad.  A track at every junior high school?
    I like the idea.  When?
    
    Chuck

    
    Sounds great. Have a hard day at work? Take the track bike out under
    the lights for some sprints. Maybe even make a little cash on the
    side to pay for your Clement #1's.
    
    New England desperately needs a track somewhere, anywhere.
    
    CdH
    
    
    

    Riding on a track after work is essentually what you CAN do in 
    Shakopee, a 'Burb of Minneapolis. Close to ten years ago they built
    a fine track which many bikers, young and old, have enjoyed "after
    work" and in between.
    
    I'm quite surprized that there are no tracks in the area, but then
    again I was surprized that all-weather track-n-field facilities
    in the Bahston area are few and far between. What gives? 
    
    Have a GREAT one,
    
    John E.

    FYI - NBC's TODAY Show interviewed Lamond this morning at about
    7:35. Interview went well, but Sport's Illustrated may not have liked
    his negative remark about them.

    
    RE: .18
    
    What did LeMond say??
    
    Of course he is a great bike racer, but he does seem to have gotten
    a stuck-up attitude about a lot of things lately.
    
    Still, I'd like to know what he said...
    
    Chuck
    

    
    Greg doesn't get along well with the press, especially when it comes
    to his relationship with Bernard Hinault. His troubles with Bernard
    have been overemphasized. You'd get a bit cocky too if the same
    reporters kept asking the same question every day.
    
    CdH
    
    

    
    Did everyone see the Sports Illustrated article about LeMond this
    week??
    
    I think Greg is one of America's finest athletes, and one of the
    best bike racers ever (with the potential to be the greatest). 
    I do agree with SI though when they call him a "world-class whiner".
    
    Chuck
    

    He, LeMond, was asked pretty basic questions, "What is your training
    routine?", "What are your next goals?", and answered them without
    any air of cockiness. The only answer I shuttered at was the one
    about getting along with the press. He said that basically he did,
    but under his breath said something to the effect that he didn't
    like SI anyway. I honestly can't remember any more. It's a hustle
    time for me, like everyone, at 7:30 in the morning.