If I met a pro

[Eric8-A]

Problem is... both those guys live abroad. But of course, Hammel isn't that far from Århus.



Why do I have a feeling talking to DZ can be quite... amusing?

Gotta say; it's pretty impressive that you can have seen anyone doing anything at the end of 2012, given the fact that it's hardly October yet!

Oh! If I met Jens Voigt I'd try to make him say "Hold kæft det er åndsvagt!"



My thoughts as well. Let the poor guys have some time for themselves!

I went into the future

An oopsy on my part. 2010. My bad.

 

[Fus087]

Oh! If I met Jens Voigt I'd try to make him say "Hold kæft det er åndsvagt!"

I bet he'd be totally up for it.

After the 2010 Tour of Denmark, he was surrounded by some 5-10 autograph hunters (including yours truly), and although it had been a tough stage in the rain, he stopped and started signing. And he used the first guy's pen throughout, to the point that this guy became a bit squeamy. Jens' reply: "Don't worry, you'll get your pen back!"

 

[williamp78]

A lot of these guys have twitter. Send them a tweet!

Also i agree with a few others; if they're out and about then I wouldn't intrude.

Maybe if they were out cycling I'd holler a hello though I live in belfast; number of professional cyclists here? Zero

 

[HiCadence]

Saw Bradley Wiggins in town today on my way to work, i could not stop him and his wife and talk to them though i was too much starstruck

 

[orangerider]

I'm not sure I would recognize any of them outside of an event. Too many people look alike, and those in uniform can be posers just pretending to be someone else.

 

[Lones1]

I too would not bother them in private life. But have asked for autographs of the below

2009 Tour down under
Stuey
Jens
Anders Lund
Frank Hoj

Tour de France 2012
Stuey - again, this time my daughter wanted the autograph
Baden Cook
Chris Horner
Mark renshaw

They were all great, we had quite a chat to Stuey and then Chris Horner this year. They were very generous with their time.

 

[greenedge]

I have only talked to 2 cyclists Heinrich Haussler and Matteo Montaguti- Neil Stephens as well.

Most of the time i was starstruck/ just getting signatures. To Haussler i wished him luck at M-SR and Montaguti i asked whether he will go for the Vuelta KOM again. I did get autographs with others too but i only cornered those 2.

If i saw Cadel i think all I would do is get the signature then faint.
If i met Goss i would say keep trying for stages at the TDF but maybe follow his formula from 2011 if he wants to win M-SR. Also i shall say skip the Giro so you can win at the TDF. OGE have Howard and Davis for other GT's and next year Matthews.
If i could meet Andy i would tell him i hope he can win the TDF and might have a crack at him for the 2011 TDF.
To Contador i would just say he is great. Cancellara, Sagan, Boonen and Gilbert would also fit into that category.

 

[RedheadDane]

If I had a chance to talk to any of the pros just before a race, I'd wish them good luck!

 

[Jalina]

Ran into Andy Schleck at the movies once. Didn't say a word - it was his private time and he was with friends, so why bother him. If I meet a rider at a race I will ask them for an autograph since I consider that part of their job, but in their free time I leave them alone

My first answer in this thread was quite tongue in cheek (I wouldn't really pull Boonen's ears!) as I do agree with the above 100%. It's not only about respecting the athlete's right to normal time, but also the people they are with. Their families, friends, partners and kids don't ask to be well known and are entitled to privacy.

 

[Carols]

If I met Alberto I probably wouldn't say a single comprehensible thing

I understand completely; if I ever met Alberto I'd probably faint

Bjarne is the biggest name I've met and I was Tongue Tied; shook hands and managed to mumble something stupid.....

 

[CatsNK]

If I met Vino I'd ask to take a picture with him and then grab his a$$ when we got in close for the camera. Hey - you only get one chance like that - may as well capitalize on it, right?

I'd do the same with my other hero - non-cyclist - Bode Miller. He runs a public event every year that I keep trying to convince my DH to go to with me. I can't imagine why DH isn't as enthusiastic as I am about the prospect...

 

[hiero2]

If I met Alberto I probably wouldn't say a single comprehensible thing

Hehe! I believe it! You know, I HAVE met famous stars in my life, and had the time and place to talk to them. The one thing that was always true for me was that I never knew what to say next!
"Uh, hi! Wonderful to meet you! Loved that ----- (fill in blank)! " And I was shot. Mind was blank past that.

 

[Eric8-A]

I would also like to talk to any cyclist about groupies

 

[manafana]

saddly ireland no longer has nay pro racing which is a pity we have the roads and scenery for it.

Iv only meet some lads below pro ranks about to break thru, deignan flew past me this summer hes backed based in dublin.

Id love meet big Mig, and ask him did he ever give in to temptation to keep up with the new boys.

Id also ask cadel how it feels to go from utter pain to tdf champ in that tt last year.

 

[The Hitch]

Id also ask cadel how it feels to go from utter pain to tdf champ in that tt last year.

Waste of breath. Cadel like a lot of others would just give you a - yeah it was good.

Before you go bat **** ACF btw, i think Contador and Samu are just as vague and boring when they open their mouths

As much as i try to succeed at this exercise im more of a talk and listen kind of guy and i see little point in terse chit chat, so i dont know what id ask him, but the guy id probably most like to meet and talk to would be Purito because even in defeat he always seems upbeat and friendly.

Unfortunately the first name that springs to mind when i think of similar characters is Xavier Tondo.

 

[The Hitch]

No Red Rick he was actually spot on. Allthough I would probably say the same thing as you did in your first post he is still right.

No.

Im tried of people lecturing me on what principles i have to have and codes i have to abide by.

My moral code is far more complex than whether someone has taken drugs or not and certainly more complex than whether they have been caught by a lab or not.

I don't often resort to profanity nor a tough guy act, but seriously, anyone who tells me i have to adjust my words based on their own view on life can seriously go **** themselves. And i never meant that more sincerely.

This subforum is clearly marked doping free, so the anti doping taliban needs to really find some other place to attack anyone who bestows any praise on riders who have been caught. Even assuming for a second that this fantasy of Contador cheat among men of honor is true, how dare they deny me the right to praise him for the qualities i see in him, why must they bring up "doper" every time his name comes up and do they do it with a straight face?


As the brain behind he winkmeister blog wrote,

Some of my best friends used drugs in cycling back in the day and you know what? They’re still my best friends

And if any of you who think that in the grand scheme of things taking a substance to gain an advantage in a sports event, is even worth half a hail mary at confession, i strongly advise you never to take a step past your front door.

 

[Altitude]

Grown men asking for autographs (unless it's for their kid) is pretty strange, don't ya think?

 

[palmerq]

Grown men asking for autographs (unless it's for their kid) is pretty strange, don't ya think?

:S lighten up... it's all in fun... it's good to be juvenile every so often !

 

[S2Sturges]

Walked into a rep's lunch at a bike trade show in Toronto some years back and Greg LeMond was sitting there, just him, me and three other guys. He made me feel at ease straight away and he was happy to talk about his 1990 tour win and almost disaster on Col de Marie Blanc, which I was standing on the top of at the time.... met Sean Yates at the same 1990 Tour, he was riding up the footpath looking for a letter box in Poitiers before the start, he rode over and shot the poo with me for five minutes before rolling back down the hill to the start, and Laurent Jalabert was sitting on the footpath, with his team, at Glenelg, before the start of one of the earlier Tour Down Unders... I asked him, in French, why didn't someone have a chair for him and his equip ... he laughed and said the organisers were too cheap, in his very heavy Mazamet accent.. then he said it was fine, he'd be doing lots of sitting later..
Oh, and trained a few times with Thomas Frischkecht in the early 90's, my best mate was his team mate at Ritchey and Frischy came out to B.C. to visit and train... evil sense of humour.. Met and talked to stacks more, but those ones were my faves..

 

[Alpehue]

What are the chances really? Denmark isn't exactly the numero uno places these guys live.
Guess I could run into some of the local guys, but honestly; I'm not really the person to random start speaking to strangers. Not even crazy bike riding guys.

Im sure there is a fair chance to meet CAS in the local hammel pub during the off season. He still claims his biggest achivement so far was to get his own bar stool there.

 

[k_gibbo]

I was lucky enough to spend a week riding every day with Matt Goss, Richie Porte, Richie's g-friend Tiffiny Cromwell, and a few other really good riders. It was a real thrill for me as we did +/- 100 km per day in a group of around 25 riders so there was lots of time to chat about anything plus we all did coffee after the ride. We mostly chatted about everyday things, music, tv, whatever.... Porte was a bit shy at first but once the conversation was going he was very open and frank about lots of stuff. The one thing that surprised me was the way he described competing in a GT and how the massive effort day after day effects your ability to sleep at night. He told me its not uncommon for riders to be wondering around the hotels at all hours of the night as insomnia is quite common with the pros. Anyway, it was a great week of riding, I got some great pics but never bothered with autographs....

 

[simo1733]

I have only talked to 2 cyclists Heinrich Haussler and Matteo Montaguti- Neil Stephens as well.

Most of the time i was starstruck/ just getting signatures. To Haussler i wished him luck at M-SR and Montaguti i asked whether he will go for the Vuelta KOM again. I did get autographs with others too but i only cornered those 2.

If i saw Cadel i think all I would do is get the signature then faint.
If i met Goss i would say keep trying for stages at the TDF but maybe follow his formula from 2011 if he wants to win M-SR. Also i shall say skip the Giro so you can win at the TDF. OGE have Howard and Davis for other GT's and next year Matthews.
If i could meet Andy i would tell him i hope he can win the TDF and might have a crack at him for the 2011 TDF.
To Contador i would just say he is great. Cancellara, Sagan, Boonen and Gilbert would also fit into that category.

I bet Goss loves getting advice from the fans.Probably best not to do it straight after a bunch sprint.Better to wait for the adrenaline to ease off a bit, then you can wade in.

 

[RedheadDane]

Im sure there is a fair chance to meet CAS in the local hammel pub during the off season. He still claims his biggest achivement so far was to get his own bar stool there.

I don't usually go to the pub in Hammel. I don't even go to pubs in Århus.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Waste of breath. Cadel like a lot of others would just give you a - yeah it was good.

Before you go bat **** ACF btw, i think Contador and Samu are just as vague and boring when they open their mouths

As much as i try to succeed at this exercise im more of a talk and listen kind of guy and i see little point in terse chit chat, so i dont know what id ask him, but the guy id probably most like to meet and talk to would be Purito because even in defeat he always seems upbeat and friendly.

Unfortunately the first name that springs to mind when i think of similar characters is Xavier Tondo.

I am not going bat ****. If anything it would be you that goes bat **** if I said anything against Samu or AC!

 

[Der Effe]

Lol, this thread is so dumb. They're just people...I've met various pro's but I surely don't treat them any different to any other human being.