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<Forwards removed>
From: craft!david@uunet.uu.net (David B. Lewis)
Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 18:29:45 -0400
Subject: Greg Lemond at IBC 5/17, transcript [long]
Greg Lemond appeared at the 25th birthday party for International Bicycle
Center's Allston (Boston) store last night (5/17/96). He gave a demonstration
of riding position, using as a model the very lucky service manager at the
store, and then stayed for an extended question/answer session.
The event took place in a small tent set up in the parking lot. Greg was on a
stage. He got cold, so for most of the evening he was wearing my friend's
motorcycle jacket, which will never be dry-cleaned again.
A transcript follows, derived from my hurried notes as we went along. The
questions and answers are both paraphrased. I've combined some related
questions or answers, but the general flavor -- a very nice guy, enthusiastic
about bicycling and talking with riders, and so full of information that he
loses track of the original question -- has been preserved. All mistakes are
mine.
By the way, he appears to be about 5'9" or 5'9.5", not 5'7", and has gained a
few pounds but not very many. He certainly had the energy to stay late, sign
a zillion posters, and pose for a bunch of pictures.
Q) [from the discussion of riding position]
A) You can measure your inseam by standing up against a wall with a book in
your crotch; then step away and measure the distance up the wall. Then use
this rule of thumb: knock 10 centimeters off that distance, and that's the
distance from the top of your saddle directly to the center of the bottom
bracket. There are all sorts of formula's -- buy my book! -- but this is what
the Europeans use. When the pedals are horizontal, your knee should be
directly above the pedal center, and maybe right behind the elbow. Most
riders are too high, low, forward, or backward. Be balanced on the bike. This
guy [the model] needs to bend his arms on the drops; the arms act as shock
absorbers. The geometry [using a Lemond road bike, I think the model made by
Trek with the Trek geometry, 73 or 74 degrees, which he described as
"relaxed"] is much different for time trials, where aerodynamics are more
important than biomechanics. A set of aero-bars would help this guy, but he
needs to get flat anyway... Position is important, but remember to be putting
out the effort and not concentrating just on position. Some guys do very well
with lousy positions -- Sean Kelly. Now, I'm very particular about seat
height. If it's off by 2mm, I ask who touched my saddle. I get the seat
position right, then I figure out how far the stem should be.
Q) What are your plans for the future? Directing a team?
A) I'm not interested in being a Jim Ochowicz or a director of a team. My
wife wouldn't stand for the amount of travel that involves. I'm very
interested in the training aspects of teams, though, so I could see myself
involved in doing training camps. Or I'd like to direct a mountain bike
team. The travel is much less demanding -- just park on Mt. Snow, grab a
beer, and watch the racers go 'round and 'round... Mountain bike racing is
really a form of time trial. You can go at your own pace.
Q) Why are the Junior ranks falling while the Masters ranks are growing?
A) Kids are doing mountain bike races. I think that they'll cross over to
road racing. That will lead to more road racers. In the mean-time, it's the
USCF's problem.
Q) Who is the hardest rider that you've faced?
A) Bernard Hinault in 1986, and he was on my team.... I could have won in
both '85 and '86. [In response to a later question, Greg did slip and name
'86 as one of the years he had won.]
Q) [question about some of the "miracle descents" (Greg's description) in
which he gained back significant amounts of time]
A) [A long story about 1986 battle with Hinault and Zimmerman on the L'Alpe
de Huez stage, about how Hinault took off, then Greg discovered that Tappei
(sp? the team owner) basically was screwing him over and having the team
leave him to break free of Zimmerman alone, and how he did so on an uphill,
then gained a bunch of time coming down the far side, hearing Zimmerman
skidding behind him, and eventually cutting down Hinault's 2"30 lead by
1"50. The answer displayed an amazing memory for exactly who was in the
break and by how much time, and exactly when he caught them.] I descend well
by taking a good line through the turn, and then sprinting out of the corner,
like cars do in auto races. Get the speed going on the stretch. Accelerate
when you can... And learn to pace yourself when attacking on hills. I do it
so I can get over the hill and accelerate, then recover on the descent. Too
many people burn out three-quarters of the way up the hill and have nothing
left to reach the top or to get over.
Q) [related question on descent in the rain in the World Championships
(1989?)]
A) The rain gave me problems. Some people have exercise-induced asthma. I seem
to have bronchial problems when it's wet out. I do well when it's hot and dry
- -- in June, July, August. I was feeling terrible that day, but focused. [I
believe that it was about this stage that he said the following:] I flatted
at the top of the hill, and there were no teammates around and no team car. I
thought, "I'm going to lose this race because of a flat." I took off the
wheel and threw it off the mountain. Then I got a new wheel and started
descending. There was one Columbian in the ditch here, another there.
Q) [from discussion of training methods and lactic-acid buildup]
A) I started using a power-output monitor. I was noticing that in a
time-trial, I was putting out a constant 450-475 watts, and then I would hit
a hill. The watts would go up to 800-900 for two minutes, then my heart rate
would spike from 182 to 186 -- but heart rates drift anyway because of heat
buildup, so heart monitors are less useful than power-output meters -- but
the heart-rate would lag behind the effort, and I would build up that lactic
acid.
Q) [question about aerodynamic equipment]
A) We did tests after the '89 Tour de France, using the equipment that I used
in the final time trial -- the Giro helmet and the Scott bars. I was
preparing for the hour ride. It turns out that I did gain time with the bars,
but I lost more time with the helmet. It works out very well if you keep your
head still -- though not as fast as a bare head -- but if you dip your head
down or move it around, you lose time. I felt good before that time trial
anyway, and I was confident that I could take time out of Fignon, given that
I'd done very well in the time trial in the Giro a few weeks before with
similar equipment. I was warming up in a 55x14 or 55x13 before-hand and felt
very good at pace.
Q) Why didn't you attempt the hour?
A) We did the wind tests in '90, but I never raced well again after '90 and
never did the attempt.
Q) Who is your pick in this year's Tour de France?
A) Indurain. He's the only one I know.
Q) Are you doing any recreational riding now?
A) I took 18 months off, then started doing some roller-skiing. I was riding
for 19 years, and I'm tired. I was doing riding only to test bikes, maybe a
dozen days total. Now I've started again, riding 4 or 5 days a week. It's
hard for me to be on the bike. I've gained a few pounds and am out of shape.
I was riding in Atlanta, and my goal now is to get in good enough shape not
to get dropped on a club ride... I did some mountain bike rides; maybe I'll
get into racing. I have two wins in two starts at [name of a mountain bike
race].
Q) [question about the Atlanta velodrome and the USA team's Superbikes]
A) Well, the Olympics are about money and corporate sponsorship. It's hard to
get tickets when GE has bought 90,000 tickets. I'm a color commentator for
the Olympics, and I had to buy tickets for my family. The Superbike is an
expensive technology fix. Regular road bikes are very good; for a few
thousand dollars you get a good bike. Legs are more important!
Q) [question on his time with PDM, after the hunting accident]
A) Everything bad in my career has been for a good reason, except getting
shot. I joined PDM because I thought they'd understand that I was going to
get back into racing slowly; I had better offers from an Italian team but I
went with PDM because they were the best, and I needed the organization of a
top team. I quit over the drug use, then everybody else left soon after. The
European philosophy is that taking drugs is like taking multi-vitamin pills
to keep the body healthy. In the 60's and 70's they were taking drugs as part
of keeping fit. Even with more knowledge the attitudes still come out of the
that time.
Q) Do riders use stimulants?
A) No, absolutely not. Amphetamines get picked up in blood tests. Steroids?
That's a different story. There are rumors of use of growth hormone, EPO, and
testosterone use. I never saw it on our team [all teams he has been on?].
Dr. Ferrari has 40 or 50 riders -- something is going on there... Drugs are
a major problem because riders are driven people to begin with, and some are
intersted in the money. Then others feel a pressure to take drugs to get
comparable results. It's a vicious circle. Also some riders take whatever
their team doctors tell them to. I'd like to see really good blood testing,
including tagging the drugs [EPO] with markers for detection... I'd like to
think that most riders are clean, but I know some are dirty. One guy from my
team joked about finding out what other teams were doing; he left, then
joined [sorry, I didn't get which team it was, but the rider was Philip
Cassavot (sp?)] and later told me they were doing growth hormones,
testosterone, everything. He died six months later of a heart attack. I don't
know that it was the drugs. Lots of riders weaken themselves, get a virus,
then are told by the doctors to ride right through it. They weaken their
hearts. That's what happened to that guy on PDM... And with drugs you can
get a few good years but you cost in the long run.
Q) Does that account for Fignon's excellent early results and his later
problems?
A) No. He had those good early years and then came back in '89. Fignon needed
to be at 100% in order to beat Hinault and me. We could be at 98% and still
be above the field. Then there were a few guys just below us -- Roche,
Delgado. Fignon was somewhere in there, but not heads above the rest of the
crowd. When Hinault and I left, the number two and three guys -- Roche and
Delgado -- won the Tour. Fignon needed to be "on" to win. He's a very tough
competitor, hard to ride against. When he was on he was really on -- he won
something like 8 stages in in the 1984 race.
Q) How do you find American racing now?
A) There's Lance and a couple of guys in the Tour DuPont, but no depth. When
I won DuPont in '92, I knew that if I'd been at the Tour of Romandie that
same weekend, I'd have been lucky to be in the top 20. There's a problem
finding athletes. There's a problem finding trainers who understand cycling
as a sport. When I ride, I'm doing a 10K foot race, followed by another 5K
foot race, followed by other sprints. Trainers don't understand that. Italy
has great riders. They're not only an active people, with soccer, but they
have a club system that detects talent and gives young riders coaching. The
United States is not tapping into the right athletes. And current US mountain
bikers train like amateurs did when I was a Junior. There's enough
information out there for a talented American to get training information --
but you need good racing to test yourself.
Q) [discussion of muscle composition]
A) I'm between, with 50/50 fast-twitch and slow-twitch fiber. I'm not a
sprinter, but I can keep up. It's possible to change the two sub-types of
fast-twitch fiber and switch between sprinting and climbing. Jalabert has
changed over.
Q) Is cyclocross good for training?
A) It's good for conditioning and for bike handling. Europeans are into it
right through the winter. The mountain bike might have been invented here,
but the spirit comes from Europe. Thomas Frischneicht (sp?) comes from that
background.
Q) What was your post-race recovery?
A) [suggestion from the audience: Giving interviews!] I eat (pasta, maybe)
within an hour, then get a massage and take in plenty of liquids. Then we go
to bed early. People are surprised that it's not like basketball or baseball;
we don't go out clubbing after a day's ride. We wait until the night after
the final stage and then have a good party.
Q) Is massage all that important?
A) There aren't proven physiological benefits of "having blood pushed
around", but the psychological effects and the relaxation are great. I was
tight in my back after being shot, so most of the massage was to get out the
tension I had from being on the bike and pulling myself forward. The best
massage is 30 minutes warming down on the bike, getting the metabolism
working to clean out the legs.
Q) What training comments do you have for an aspiring Cat 3?
A) You've got to go above the lactic acid line. Do 4 or 5 minutes at your
maximum heart rate -- no more, or you can do damage! And rest. Be sure that
you recuperate. At the start, rest every other day, then later maybe every
third or fourth day. Do sprints/intervals. Do quality, not distance. All
these racers say, "I'm beat. I should do more distance." Well, if you want to
race fast, train fast. Learn exercise physiology and use it, yourself; too
many coaches are off base. It's like weight lifting; you get strong by
stressing a muscle to a certain point but not past it, then recuperating. And
training should be event-specific; don't follow the pros, because we do much
more mileage than you do. Do what you do, event-specific. Indurain will
shatter the hour record -- he's a better rider than Rominger -- when he
trains event-specific for the hour and stops thinking that regular road
training will take care of the problems. Boardman and Obree do only 8-12
hours a week, but very specific training. Here's a basic pattern for doing
that stress: on the first day, do intervals and sprints. Be sure you can
recover fully by the next day; pay attention in this feedback. Then on the
second day, do something different, some sort of endurance. Then if you're OK
on the third day, do another endurance. Don't train only through racing.
Lots of European riders just race. They're doing the miles but not getting
the extreme efforts that training requires. Races are won going slightly
anaerobic.
Q) What frame materials do you prefer?
A) Carbon-fiber is best. It's the lightest, stiffest, and most
shock-absorbing material. Then titanium, but steel is cheaper and almost as
good. Anything stiff, light, and dependable -- you want dependability in
racing -- is good... The bike matters less than two legs, a heart and a lung.
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