Lance Armstrong Appreciation Thread

[patricknd]

we all know about the doping, being mean, yadayadayada, but what about the good stuff? in 1999 my local bike shop was a tiny corner store with a few mountain bikes and bmx bikes. when la started winning the tour, people who hadn't looked at a bike in years started coming in looking for road bikes, and within the first 2 years he took over the strip center and had a buttload of road bikes in stock. by 2009 he retired, so i'd say he's pretty happy. say what you will but in a lot of this country he got people interested and on bikes. now that's some awareness raising.

 

[superleicht]

Nah - it was mass production/marketing of mountain bikes and tri's that caused the big boom. Started way before '99.

superleicht

 

[Race Radio]

Number of bikes sold in 1998 (Pre-Lance) 11,100,000
Number of bikes sold in 2009 (The comeback) 10,200,000

Thanks Lance for driving the sales of bikes down.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

we all know about the doping, being mean, yadayadayada, but what about the good stuff? in 1999 my local bike shop was a tiny corner store with a few mountain bikes and bmx bikes. when la started winning the tour, people who hadn't looked at a bike in years started coming in looking for road bikes, and within the first 2 years he took over the strip center and had a buttload of road bikes in stock. by 2009 he retired, so i'd say he's pretty happy. say what you will but in a lot of this country he got people interested and on bikes. now that's some awareness raising.

I get a warm fuzzy feeling reading that. This forum has come a long way in my 3 years here.

Yes, Lance did some wonderful things (which I cant really think of at the moment) - hopefully USADA will consider this when they sanction him.

 

[Race Radio]

Thanks Lance for growing Lance fans, not fans of the sport.

As soon as you retired Versus ratings dropped 49% as Lance fans moved on to rollerblading or golf

Thanks Lance

 

[mewmewmew13]

we all know about the doping, being mean, yadayadayada, but what about the good stuff? in 1999 my local bike shop was a tiny corner store with a few mountain bikes and bmx bikes. when la started winning the tour, people who hadn't looked at a bike in years started coming in looking for road bikes, and within the first 2 years he took over the strip center and had a buttload of road bikes in stock. by 2009 he retired, so i'd say he's pretty happy. say what you will but in a lot of this country he got people interested and on bikes. now that's some awareness raising.

Patrick... Patrick...
you know we have been over this before..if you google bike industry statistics there are graphs that show this is not true..
give me a bit and I will find them and edit in a link.

Actual correlations showing drops in sales ,etc during Lance peak win years...tsk tsk

No 'lance effect'...e.i. more related to the economy..sales got stronger right after the 2005 retirement though..
edit: http://nbda.com/articles/industry-overview-2010-pg34.htm

 

[Dr.Sahl]

Thanks for making the avg American watch European stage races or even cycling in general.

Thanks for showing that doping can cause cancer... I guess thats about as good as I can do.

 

[thehog]

Thanks for keeping blonde women off the streets.

Thanks for making other riders keep an eye on their wives.

 

[Race Radio]

Patrick... Patrick...
you know we have been over this before..if you google bike industry statistics there are graphs that show this is not true..
give me a bit and I will find them and edit in a link.

Actual correlations showing drops in sales ,etc during Lance peak win years...tsk tsk

No 'lance effect'

You mean this one?

http://nbda.com/articles/industry-overview-2010-pg34.htm

 

[Race Radio]

Thank you Lance for being a cautionary tail for young riders. No matter how big you are they will get you

 

[mewmewmew13]

oops just saw your post RR..
oh well it's out there two times now for folks ...

 

[patricknd]

Patrick... Patrick...
you know we have been over this before..if you google bike industry statistics there are graphs that show this is not true..
give me a bit and I will find them and edit in a link.

Actual correlations showing drops in sales ,etc during Lance peak win years...tsk tsk

No 'lance effect'...e.i. more related to the economy..sales got stronger right after the 2005 retirement though..
edit: http://nbda.com/articles/industry-overview-2010-pg34.htm

Looks like they declined after 2005.

You come from an area where cycling is and has been popular, I don't. In 1995 I was the only person in my neighborhood riding, ten years later you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a trek. Wonder what caused that? Before la I got beer bottles thrown at me on Sunday morning (the church crowd can be pretty rough) now I rarely even get run off the road. Riders in my area are plentiful now, pre Armstrong they weren't . Painful as it may be for some, he helped cycling here tremendously. He still has a lot of support. Some don't believe the charges, some don't care, and some (mostly Republicans) admire him for his ways. Pre-armstrong coverage was non-existent, when la started winning you could actually read small articles in the local papers on occasion.

 

[Lajeretta4Ever]

I actually cut up 5000 Livestrong bracelets and embedded them in an epoxy to make a really cool counter top.

 

[Fatclimber]

Thank you Lance, for reinforcing the fact that successful athletes do not necessarily posses any character, integrity or any other trait worthy of admiration. You can ride hard, but have proven a champion can be made without any honor. This is an important lesson to society, professional athletes should be regarded as nothing more than entertainers. You were more fun to watch than the monkeys at the zoo throwing their dung at each other, I'll give you that.

Charles Barkley said it best:
I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids.

 

[180mmCrank]

Looks like they declined after 2005.

You come from an area where cycling is and has been popular, I don't. In 1995 I was the only person in my neighborhood riding, ten years later you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a trek. Wonder what caused that? Before la I got beer bottles thrown at me on Sunday morning (the church crowd can be pretty rough) now I rarely even get run off the road. Riders in my area are plentiful now, pre Armstrong they weren't . Painful as it may be for some, he helped cycling here tremendously. He still has a lot of support. Some don't believe the charges, some don't care, and some (mostly Republicans) admire him for his ways. Pre-armstrong coverage was non-existent, when la started winning you could actually read small articles in the local papers on occasion.

I am not sure this is because of Lance Armstrong.

There is more evidence out there about changing attitudes to health and exercise ... and trends like 'people who used to run got older and prefer lo-impact riding than pounding pavement' ... there is no question that more people are riding bikes for exercise (from 15 - 20 years ago) ... but not really much evidence that this is because of Lance Armstrong.

There are lots of yellow bracelets! Although there might be a rapid decline in the visibility of these if he gets sanctioned!

T

 

[TheEnoculator]

Thank you Lance for showing me how not to be pro cyclist. Thank you for showing me that you can be an arrogant and bullying SOB and can still have millions who think there should be a bronze statue made in your honour. Thank you for showing me how to profit from a deadly disease. Thank you for making a mockery out of cycling. Thank you for showing me how to lie through your teeth and victimize yourself at the same time.

Thank you.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Thanks Lance for growing Lance fans, not fans of the sport.

Exactly. +1

 

[Kennf1]

Thanks Lance for encouraging people to give money to Livestrong, instead of organizations that fund cancer research.

 

[Boeing]

thanks for your War Lance

 

[D-Queued]

I actually cut up 5000 Livestrong bracelets and embedded them in an epoxy to make a really cool counter top.

I have a ten bracelet pack in its original cellophane that I keep beside my signed OJ Simpson Hertz football in my personal shrine of shame.

Honest. I was too late to collect Milken backed junk bond certificates, and had to make due with these instead.

Time will tell which is more valuable based upon the negative memorialization. I hope to make money of the scandal yet.

For that, I appreciate Lance!

Dave.

 

[Jeremiah]

Thanks for the performance rings! The one's in the shops were too tight. With the right gear I'm pushing the 4 hour limit..

And thanks for 5 hour energy and high cadence!

I mean FRS....

 

[blackcat]

Is Milken not a billionaire tho Dave.

Lance is proof, that crime can pay rich dividends.

 

[Dallas_]

.
Thanks Lance for providing the Ed Coyle entertainment package.
.

"His oversized heart can beat over 200 times a minute and thus pump an extraordinarily large volume of blood and oxygen to his legs.

Coyle says, smarter training may have contributed to giving Armstrong an edge over his competitors.

From 1992 to 1999, the year of his first Tour de France win, Armstrong was able to increase his muscle efficiency by 8 percent
through hard and dedicated training. Coyle says Armstrong is the only human who has been shown to change his muscle efficiency.

In addition to a high VO2 max, Coyle's components include low lactic acid levels, and Armstrong has the lowest levels Coyle has ever seen. "

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0722_050722_armstrong.html

Maybe WonderBoy could use Ed Coyle as a defence witness .....
.

 

[Houndbike]

Thank you Lance for throwing a big party in my second city Dublin with Livestrong money. I was a craic.

Thank you Lance for showing us a new level of how to spin a charity brand name into a commercial one for personal gain.

Thank you Lance for standing by the doping pariah doctors of our sport by showing real christian love and keeping them as close family friends.

 

[Stingray34]

Thank you Lancey-poo, thank you providence, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!