The Mike Anderson story

[webster]

I read comments such as yours, then guess the author's postcount, and scroll back up to check. I guessed too high for yours. Hope Lance pays you well, and yo momma is proud of you.

That's funny, just adding a different perspective, and apparently here that means you are working for Lance. Reading what he paid Mike though, I think I'll pass. I believe everything Mike wrote, I just don't think the article serves any broader purpose or offers the reader anything new. If anything it just makes the blind followers that much more convinced that this is all hearsay.

Mike was naive, and as others have mentioned, non-disclosure agreements with celebrities are common. He was naive, and I'm sorry that he got as hurt as he appears to have.

 

[LauraLyn]

Seriously, Anne does not know Lance from Adam, much less know him "well". She followed the Tour last year in attempt to shack up with Andy Schleck, and now has a blog. Her last name is not even Zimmerman. I don't even think she has been riding bikes for more than a couple of years.

I know Anna well. She is a great writer and she knows a lot about the law. She does have some intimate knowledge of Lance and she pulls things together in a good way on her blogs.

 

[webster]

I know Anna well. She is a great writer and she knows a lot about the law. She does have some intimate knowledge of Lance and she pulls things together in a good way on her blogs.

Having "some intimate knowledge of Lance" is a lot different than knowing him well. You may know Anne O., but I can assure you that she does not know more than the average punter who hangs out on bike forums.

 

[Dead Star]

....are you Anna?

 

[LauraLyn]

That's funny, just adding a different perspective, and apparently here that means you are working for Lance. Reading what he paid Mike though, I think I'll pass. I believe everything Mike wrote, I just don't think the article serves any broader purpose or offers the reader anything new. If anything it just makes the blind followers that much more convinced that this is all hearsay.

Mike was naive, and as others have mentioned, non-disclosure agreements with celebrities are common. He was naive, and I'm sorry that he got as hurt as he appears to have.

Webster, it happens a lot here. If you post a view differing from "the inner circle" you are personally attacked in a very uncivil manner. And very few have the courage to speak up against this deplorable behavior.

I think your points on Mike's article are spot on. I would only add that he does appear to have been a victim of Lance - it is clearer in the court papers that I posted a link to here. I do think the victims have a right to speak out, even if it does not contribute to "evidence" or "public opinion".

 

[webster]

I think your points on Mike's article are spot on. I would only add that he does appear to have been a victim of Lance - it is clearer in the court papers that I posted a link to here. I do think the victims have a right to speak out, even if it does not contribute to "evidence" or "public opinion".

He can of course write whatever he wants, but I don't know that anything that comes out at this point, even Tyler's book, is going to change anyone's view. He was either an a-hole doper or a cancer fighting hero. And if you ask most people who don't log on to bike forums (the other 99.9999% of the public), they will most likely tell you that they are baffled that all this is still going on. You can explain until you are blue in the face, and they just don't care.

As far as Mike being a victim, only he can make that call. In hindsight, he probably should have stayed at the bike shop.

 

[aphronesis]

Webster, it happens a lot here. If you post a view differing from "the inner circle" you are personally attacked in a very uncivil manner. And very few have the courage to speak up against this deplorable behavior.

I think your points on Mike's article are spot on. I would only add that he does appear to have been a victim of Lance - it is clearer in the court papers that I posted a link to here. I do think the victims have a right to speak out, even if it does not contribute to "evidence" or "public opinion".

If victims speak out strictly for the purpose of and from the perspective of alleviating their subjective misfortune then nothing changes. Even if this act is confused with some sort of objective exposure of "how things really are," it does nothing to challenge the structural conditions that enabled the situation. "Victims" in all walks of life stop at the first stage of this, content to hold to "their own story," rather contesting the world in which their story occurred. Mike's article is full of these limits in almost every paragraph.

 

[LauraLyn]

He can of course write whatever he wants, but I don't know that anything that comes out at this point, even Tyler's book, is going to change anyone's view. He was either an a-hole doper or a cancer fighting hero. And if you ask most people who don't log on to bike forums (the other 99.9999% of the public), they will most likely tell you that they are baffled that all this is still going on. You can explain until you are blue in the face, and they just don't care.

As far as Mike being a victim, only he can make that call. In hindsight, he probably should have stayed at the bike shop.

Precisely. And "evidence coming out" wouldn't change much in the public's mind (and it ain't coming out).

What will change things in the public's mind are a) the decision of USADA (already happened), the ASO stripping the Tour titles (still to be seen), and any other legal actions against Armstrong and LiveStrong.

Still Tyler and Mike and Floyd and the others should be able to tell their stories. Armstrong operated as a bully creating fear in others (just as people here tried to bully you into being quiet). Without fear a bully is helpless and pathetic.

 

[LauraLyn]

If victims speak out strictly for the purpose of and from the perspective of alleviating their subjective misfortune then nothing changes. Even if this act is confused with some sort of objective exposure of "how things really are," it does nothing to challenge the structural conditions that enabled the situation. "Victims" in all walks of life stop at the first stage of this, content to hold to "their own story," rather contesting the world in which their story occurred. Mike's article is full of these limits in almost every paragraph.

True.

"Contesting the world" ain't easy. Even Travis Tygart couldn't do it without USADA. There's no going it alone.

 

[Race Radio]

I really hope this is the final catharsis Mike needs to get on with his life. I think Lance is guilty as charged of being a doper and a jerk, but this article just makes Mike seem like a whiner.

I get that the job was not all it was cracked up to be, but I am sure it beat working on hybrids and huffys at Bicycle Sport Shop. And really? You thought Lance was just going to fork over money for you to start an instantly successful bike shop in Austin? A guy who can't save an important email or manage his own finances? I mean you were a good mechanic, but those are easy enough to come by, and that skill alone would not have translated into bike shop owner. Look at Mellow Johnny's today - they have the financial backing and management from CSE, and they would be out of business if it weren't for t-shirt sales. And other than that "grievance", you bascially had a disappointing last year working for Lance, and it sound like the writing was on the wall for it to be over. I have never heard of anyone hanging on to so much anger after losing a two-year job over eight years ago.

It is time to take responsibility for your life and your decisions and stop blaming Lance for crushing your dream of opening up a bike shop.

Mellow Johnny's entire concept (Urban shop, serving commuters to racers, coffee shop, showers, etc) was all Mike's idea. They had drawn up plans and talked in detail about the shop. Despite getting screwed Mike does not come across as hanging on to anger.....But everyone who questions the myth is painted as a bitter hater

In the end Mike wins. He has a nice shop in a beautiful area of the world, and lance has to spend his time with the people he hates most. Lawyers and groupies. He despises the clueless fans....and that is all he has left, he has to cater to them

It is hell for him

 

[aphronesis]

Meh, doubt if you wish. Makes no difference to me.

Has nothing to do with doubting. That wasn't the question.

 

[Benotti69]

Mellow Johnny's entire concept (Urban shop, serving commuters to racers, coffee shop, showers, etc) was all Mike's idea. They had drawn up plans and talked in detail about the shop. Despite getting screwed Mike does not come across as hanging on to anger.....But everyone who questions the myth is painted as a bitter hater

In the end Mike wins. He has a nice shop in a beautiful area of the world, and lance has to spend his time with the people he hates most. Lawyers and groupies. He despises the clueless fans....and that is all he has left, he has to cater to them

It is hell for him

So many people don't realise this. Bet he hated his run with the groupies in Montreal but had no choice if he wants to keep spinning the lies.

 

[LauraLyn]

Mellow Johnny's entire concept (Urban shop, serving commuters to racers, coffee shop, showers, etc) was all Mike's idea. They had drawn up plans and talked in detail about the shop. Despite getting screwed Mike does not come across as hanging on to anger.....But everyone who questions the myth is painted as a bitter hater

In the end Mike wins. He has a nice shop in a beautiful area of the world, and lance has to spend his time with the people he hates most. Lawyers and groupies. He despises the clueless fans....and that is all he has left, he has to cater to them

It is hell for him

There are two immediately crushing things about the USADA decision for Lance:

1. It ends his run at the Ironman. (Though we need to be careful about potential WTC shenanigans here.)

2. It ends his (future) political ambitions. This is really crushing for Lance.

 

[webster]

In the end Mike wins. He has a nice shop in a beautiful area of the world, and lance has to spend his time with the people he hates most. Lawyers and groupies. He despises the clueless fans....and that is all he has left, he has to cater to them

Agree with all of this. As far as Mike dreaming up the plan for MJ's - I would need a little more proof. There are lots of shops in Austin, and MJ's was not the first to have showers or a coffee shop.

Besides, Lance doesn't even own his own bike shop. Austin Ventures, CSE, et al do.

 

[Race Radio]

Agree with all of this. As far as Mike dreaming up the plan for MJ's - I would need a little more proof. There are lots of shops in Austin, and MJ's was not the first to have showers or a coffee shop.

Besides, Lance doesn't even own his own bike shop. Austin Ventures, CSE, et al do.

I don't think the files are public any more but IIRC the plans were included in the original lawsuit

 

[LauraLyn]

I don't think the files are public any more but IIRC the plans were included in the original lawsuit

No plans or any documentation of any sort regarding the bike shop were included in the lawsuit. And Mike never made such a claim.

 

[QuickStepper]

No plans or any documentation of any sort regarding the bike shop were included in the lawsuit. And Mike never made such a claim.

Agree completely. No real need for RR engage in such hyperbole. If plans for a bike shop like MJ's were ever part of the lawsuit, we would have read about them in the various pleadings, including the one to which LauraLyn provided the link upthread. And they don't appear in the lawsuit or in any of the correspondence that was made public in that lawsuit.

 

[Elagabalus]

If victims speak out strictly for the purpose of and from the perspective of alleviating their subjective misfortune then nothing changes. Even if this act is confused with some sort of objective exposure of "how things really are," it does nothing to challenge the structural conditions that enabled the situation. "Victims" in all walks of life stop at the first stage of this, content to hold to "their own story," rather contesting the world in which their story occurred. Mike's article is full of these limits in almost every paragraph.

Please, by all means, identify for us what you think are the precise "structural conditions that enabled the situation" in Mike's case, and how Mike might go about challenging them.

And lastly, how would Mike go about contesting the world in which his story occurred? Provide examples.

This will be on the Bluebook.

 

[aphronesis]

Please, by all means, identify for us what you think are the precise "structural conditions that enabled the situation" in Mike's case, and how Mike might go about challenging them.

And lastly, how would Mike go about contesting the world in which his story occurred? Provide examples.

This will be on the Bluebook.

If I thought you were seriously interested in the reply or the position I might indulge You. Who is this us that you're speaking for?

Let's start general and see how far you want to play along. Maybe we'll start with a spectacular western economy that values individual rights only as a necessary fiction and/or in specific cases where individuals are productive within that economy.

Want to go on from there?

Are you telling me there were no other jobs at that pay scale in the greater Austin area? What, rights, benefits and treatment is one entitled to when they go to work servicing another individual?

 

[Race Radio]

Agree completely. No real need for RR engage in such hyperbole. If plans for a bike shop like MJ's were ever part of the lawsuit, we would have read about them in the various pleadings, including the one to which LauraLyn provided the link upthread. And they don't appear in the lawsuit or in any of the correspondence that was made public in that lawsuit.

Do you have a link to Mike's deposition? Anything else but that one file that is linked?

The files were sealed so if you have some to share please do.

 

[LauraLyn]

Do you have a link to Mike's deposition? Anything else but that one file that is linked?

The files were sealed so if you have some to share please do.

It is difficult to link to what never existed.

You might be the exception.

 

[Race Radio]

It is difficult to link to what never existed.

You might be the exception.

Mike's deposition never existed? Really?

Yes, Mike and Lance discussed the design of the shop. Wonderboy liked Mike's idea so much he used them when he opened Mellow Johnny's

Maybe along with giving up his jerseys he could give Mellow Johnnies to Mike? I think we can all agree it would be the right thing to do. Only fair.

 

[ChrisE]

Mike's deposition never existed? Really?

Yes, Mike and Lance discussed the design of the shop. Wonderboy liked Mike's idea so much he used them when he opened Mellow Johnny's

Maybe along with giving up his jerseys he could give Mellow Johnnies to Mike? I think we can all agree it would be the right thing to do. Only fair.

So how do you know what the deposition contained?

 

[Race Radio]

So how do you know what the deposition contained?

Sheryl told me. She is kinda chatty

 

[thirteen]

Sheryl told me. She is kinda chatty

lol
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