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American spectators

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Thomsena

Thomsena

Sep 7, 2010
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Simple. What is wrong with the mentality? Why show up on the side of the roads if they see cycling as joke?

Made me grin a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny bit when I saw a chicken running after the riders on the 1st stage of TOC last year but the 'funny moment' soon faded and got and still is getting ridiculous. They even transfered the behaviours to this years Tour. I know it's only a minority and there are many passioned american fans out there but come on..
 
Jamsque

Jamsque

Mar 11, 2009
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I agree, other fans are stupid and only I truly appreciate the beauty of this sport.
 
Jamsque

Jamsque

Mar 11, 2009
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They are enjoying themselves and enjoying the sport, what's the problem? They are not so different from fans in Europe who camp out by the side of the road and get blind drunk for three days leading up to the race.
 
UpTheRoad

UpTheRoad

Jul 27, 2009
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As long as they are not impacting the race in any way, they can do whatever they want. If they get in the way, then they should be launched off the mountain.

In the TdF, for example, the fans get in the way of the riders far, far too often. I remember Chiapucci passing a motorbike who couldn't get through the fans up to Sestrieres and it still hasn't changed to this day. At least a few times up to L'Alpe d'Huez, the riders in the Evans/Schleck group were boxed in by the fans.

That has to stop. A ton of fans acting like imbeciles and dressing like clowns but still letting the riders race is fine.
 
Jamsque

Jamsque

Mar 11, 2009
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If they don't interfere with the riders who cares whether they are running, skipping or doing cartwheels?
 
Race Radio

Race Radio

Aug 13, 2009
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patrick767 said:
I don't hear many complaints about the TdF's devil. Get over it. People are having fun.
Click to expand...

At the Tour do not see a mountain full of Devils. ToC has been a magnet for idiots the last few years.
 
hrotha

hrotha

Jun 10, 2010
19,780
2,010
25,680
Jamsque said:
If they don't interfere with the riders who cares whether they are running, skipping or doing cartwheels?
Click to expand...
The rest of the public who has been waiting for hours for the race to pass only to have their view blocked by a giant running chicken, for example. Also, what if one of them trips while running? Suddenly it goes from not interferring to potentially causing a crash.
 
boomcie

boomcie

Feb 15, 2011
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I found this interesting pie chart.
Forbes did an interesting piece on cycling and its commercial value in 2010, spectators played a big role in it.

nv45s7.jpg
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
boomcie said:
I found this interesting pie chart.
Forbes did an interesting piece on cycling and its commercial value in 2010, spectators played a big role in it.

nv45s7.jpg
Click to expand...

OMG. That's really good:D:D
 
The Hitch

The Hitch

Jun 14, 2010
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The fans is one of the most important things to me. I cheer as much when i see one of the great determined fans (Didi, Hoffman motorhomes, Antlerdude) as when i see a rider attack.

Most of my favourite moments in the sport involve riders riding into huge crowds.

That moment on Pena Cabarga last year for example when there were so many fans that Purito and Nibali couldnt attack and when the crowds thinned out slightly they started sprinting up the mountain is my favourite cycling image.

The fans running alongside is the best thing about American races.

People hate antler dude because he runs around with an american flag but his dedication is unparalleled. Hoffman is always found amid huge crowds and Did is usuallly among other fans too, but antler dude studies the parcors, picks a spot where there will be no fans, then dresses up, goes and waits there for hours and starts running when the peloton comes.

As such there is usually NO one else there. What dedication.

And the riders appreciate it as they often mess around with him.

boomcie said:
I found this interesting pie chart.
Forbes did an interesting piece on cycling and its commercial value in 2010, spectators played a big role in it.

nv45s7.jpg
Click to expand...

:D

To be fair to Ruben for once, when pictures emerged of Orang clad nuts booing Tommy V, he immediately distance his organization from the dutch drunks on Alpe d huez, saying that they are not real cycling fans.
 
Izzy eviel

Izzy eviel

Jul 25, 2010
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You hear a lot of the riders talk about the antics of some of the fans on the road. The riders love them. They appreciate that people have gone to the effort to dress up. They add a lot of character to events.

Valid concerns about ruining the view for others and maybe causing a crash, but I would say those are small concerns.
 
Havetts

Havetts

Jan 27, 2011
3,399
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I agree I can't stand that there have to be the numbnuts along the course that have to start running in their borat-strings, I dont care that they're having fun. They're ruining other's fun too and potentially risk the riders or obstruct the race.

I have alot more respect for the 'normal' dedicated cycling fan, who usually stand along the course with their racing clothes and their bike alongside the road/mountain and just stand there and cheer the loudest they can for their favorite rider. And those fans always are the dupe because of the running guys.

Also, this rant wasnt just at american cyclingfans but cyclingfans in general.
 
hrotha

hrotha

Jun 10, 2010
19,780
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25,680
For the record, I don't think I've ever seen antler dude running in a potentially dangerous spot. To the untrained eye, what he does might look similar to what the Borats do, but it isn't. It's like running with the bulls - you gotta know how to do it, and there's lots of drunk Americans doing it wrong.
 
daveinzambia

daveinzambia

Jul 20, 2011
619
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Cannot say i really have a problem with them but never really understood the desire to go and sit on a mountain to just get on TV. You can see the fans that are excited and cheering the riders even when running and those that are only looking at the camera to get their face on TV.

Mind you, would need a lot of money to make me run up a steep hill

from what the riders say they seem to enjoy it. May annoy the guys at the front some of the time but think it really helps the guys going slower further down the field.
 
spanky wanderlust

spanky wanderlust

Mar 9, 2010
551
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0
Thomsena said:
Simple. What is wrong with the mentality? Why show up on the side of the roads if they see cycling as joke?

Made me grine a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny bit when I saw a chicken running after the riders on the 1st stage of TOC last year but the 'funny moment' soon faded and got and still is getting ridiculous. They even transfered the behaviours to this years Tour. I know it's only a majority and there are many passioned american fans out there but come on..
Click to expand...

yes. american cycling fans are ***. and their farts stink too.

simple. if you don't like americans violating your sport by...gasp...showing up to cheer on a bicycle race, don't watch american races. don't post about them. just ignore them.

the vuelta is on. in spain. watch that. it's in europe. where everyone knows exactly how to comport themselves properly at a bike race.

simple.
 
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