Why watch pro-cycling?

[flicker]

I think that it is a beautiful tactical dance involving skill, genetics and motivation.
The downside is that it is a doping sport and it is hard to tell if your hero has won it through skill,genetics and motivation.
I look through rainbow colored glasses and accept the varying shades of gray.

 

[Runitout]

I think that it is a beautiful tactical dance involving skill, genetics and motivation.
The downside is that it is a doping sport and it is hard to tell if your hero has won it through skill,genetics and motivation.
I look through rainbow colored glasses and accept the varying shades of gray.

Bingo.

Didn't expect that from you, flicky.

 

[The Hitch]

cos i like it.

 

[online-rider]

Cycling without drugs would be too great to imagine. The other sports would pale in insignificance. Doping is like the anchor which keeps cycling down on a level where mortals like us can appreciate it.

 

[forty four]

im not naive to human nature or the nature of sport. so the doping i dont really care about particularly it would be great if no one did or testing was perfect but this will never occur. that said the guys we watch doped of not are still superb athletes in there particular sport dope does not turn crap into gold contrary to what some think or want to think.

 

[MarkvW]

Because it is a circus.

I like the spectacle of the races, the tactics (when I can discern them), and the never-ending attempts of the racers to cheat each other. It is a real circus.

 

[Benotti69]

Bingo.

Didn't expect that from you, flicky.

he forgot to mention he sits in the dark naked watching it...

 

[Cobblestoned]

We're the outcaaaaaaast - we're the underclaaaaass
But we don't caaaaaaaare - because we're living faaaaaaaaaaaast

We're the un-invited guest who stays 'till the end
I know we've got a problem that the devil send

 

[sublimit]

I find other sports so deadly dull, but I can happily sit through a 7 hour race anyday of the week.

Some of the Commentators can **** you off at times though.

 

[Ferminal]

My acceptance of doping doesn't seem to lessen my entertainment.

I do get entertained by some of those dope-infested races, and can do so without feeling guilty. Too hard to though really and probably filled with internal contradictions.

The saviour for why I will never lose interest in the sport because of doping is that I will never lose the plot because of rider x test positive as you never 100% trust anyone. I may have followed them their whole career and only ever thought them to be clean, but in the back of your mind you know that the incentive is too strong, people think these decisions through rather than a split second decision to "cheat" everyone.

Most dopers are a symptom of the state of the sport rather than anything else.

 

[NashbarShorts]

Cycling without drugs would be too great to imagine. The other sports would pale in insignificance. Doping is like the anchor which keeps cycling down on a level where mortals like us can appreciate it.

Totally disagree. Cycling w/ the drugs makes the riders appear superhuman. You look at the speeds, the climbing times, or go watch an event in person, and you wonder how you could ever measure up.

Cycling w/o drugs would ALLOW US MORTALS to appreciate it. So I'd say you are 100% incorrect.

Anyone ever see Cadel Evans first Giro -- the one where he wore pink for a few days but then totally cracked on a mountain stage? If you saw it live, the guy cracked SPECTACULARLY.... Could not even pedal uphill. The crowd pushed him up the final mountain. He just zigzagged from one side of the rode to the other, accepting the next push. It was incredible to watch. THAT WAS REAL.

In the re-broadcast, OLN (Liggett and Sherwen) edited it out. Perhaps they thought it was too disgraceful, too "unagreeable" that fans would see "real" sport. Maybe they thought we can only appreciate super-hero bullsh*t. Like Erik Dekker off the front alone for over 1/3 of the Tour

I for one would rather watch real sport. Am totally losing interest in this sport. The latest comments of Wiggins and the outing of Caitlin as a phony is close to the last straw. Why watch anymore. Contador out this year? Great, so instead Schleck wins. A doper if ever there was.

 

[runninboy]

Because i love the sport itself and know what is involved. I don't enjoy the doping aspect, the same as i didn't enjoy it in track & field. When someone there would make an amazing effort ala Lasse Viren, when coming from relative exile(no out of competition testing then, if u weren't racing it could be you were getting ahem "stronger")It usually raised a red flag, depending on what was accomplished, you could seperate "amazing" from "unethical". A four minute mile during a 5K would be an example of unethical. Edwin Moses digging down and coming from behind to add to his string of victories would be amazing. Greg Lemond coming from behind to win the TDF in the final TT would be amazing. A formerly heavily muscled classics rider dropping climbers on climbs to win the TDF was amazing at first, when his domestiques were all there on the final climb after riding the front all day it became"unethical". I watch the sport even if i don't enjoy everything that goes on. I watch news as well .

 

[carl spackler]

I think part of the allure of most sports is that in the end there is a clear winner and loser, unlike in much of life. Which team to cheer for, where your loyalty lies is a simple decision in large part - at least it can be if you choose it. "Wouldnt it be great if cycling were clean?" we tell ourselves, "then we would know who the best is."

But life is dirty. People cheat. They have unfair advantages for many reasons. Doping in cycling and other sports - are any clean? - is a reflection of reality. The simple fantasy of sport is gone. I'm ok with that. In fact I find interesting.

I'd like it if cycling were clean, the same way I'd like it if there were no racism, or if the best person for the job always got it. But lets face it, thats not gonna always happen. So I enjoy the drama for all its worth, and I spent far too much time reading this forum, which I wish wasn't marginalized by the way.

And I sure hope that cheaters get what they deserve.

 

[blutto]

Bingo.

Didn't expect that from you, flicky.

...this may be an unbelievable coincidence but I was thinking exactly the same thing about you...funny eh...

Cheers

blutto

 

[Granville57]

Personally, the things that excite me and intrigue me about cycling are completely untouched by the issue of doping.

Watching 30 or more riders descending a mountain at over 80kph; taking in the amazing European vistas; being exposed to people and cultures from around the world (something glaringly lacking in most "American" sports, even with international participants); knowing the history of Paris-Roubaix and loving the carnage of it each and every year; seeing sprinters have their day, TT specialists have their day, and climbers have their day; knowing that sometimes the breakaways really do stay away!; watching the Tour of the Basque Country where riders are tackling some roads better suited to horse-drawn carts; knowing that pro riders face weather conditions that would cause other athletes, that are often paid 10 times was cyclists are, to run crying to their mommas.

I could go on and on...but my point is that none of these aspects are diminished, in any way, by doping. Other issues are, for sure. But not these. The results? Perhaps. But the viewing experience, and the imagination that it stirs, is what I'm referring to.

That is why I watch!

In the re-broadcast, OLN (Liggett and Sherwen) edited it out. Perhaps they thought it was too disgraceful, too "unagreeable" that fans would see "real" sport.

All the more reason to watch Universal Sports (if your cable provider carries it). The 2010 Giro was the best tour of the season, after all.

 

[Benotti69]

Snip

...... The Giro was the best tour of the season last year, after all.

not too bad from the side of the road either, even though it was a thunderstorm of biblical proportions

 

[ak-zaaf]

Totally disagree. Cycling w/ the drugs makes the riders appear superhuman. You look at the speeds, the climbing times, or go watch an event in person, and you wonder how you could ever measure up.

Cycling w/o drugs would ALLOW US MORTALS to appreciate it. So I'd say you are 100% incorrect.

Anyone ever see Cadel Evans first Giro -- the one where he wore pink for a few days but then totally cracked on a mountain stage? If you saw it live, the guy cracked SPECTACULARLY.... Could not even pedal uphill. The crowd pushed him up the final mountain. He just zigzagged from one side of the rode to the other, accepting the next push. It was incredible to watch. THAT WAS REAL.

In the re-broadcast, OLN (Liggett and Sherwen) edited it out. Perhaps they thought it was too disgraceful, too "unagreeable" that fans would see "real" sport. Maybe they thought we can only appreciate super-hero bullsh*t. Like Erik Dekker off the front alone for over 1/3 of the Tour

I for one would rather watch real sport. Am totally losing interest in this sport. The latest comments of Wiggins and the outing of Caitlin as a phony is close to the last straw. Why watch anymore. Contador out this year? Great, so instead Schleck wins. A doper if ever there was.

This sport is not for you. It hasn't changed that much, yoiu just figured some obvious things out way too late.
The chance that Cadel doped that Giro is about the same as Dekker being clean that TDF you mentioned. If you really can´t figure that out it´s kinda sad.

Personally, the things that excite me and intrigue me about cycling are completely untouched by the issue of doping

Spot on.
For me, the whole business behind the curtain is actually making it more interesting. They're not racing 24/7, I need news when they're not racing ;p

 

[MR_Sarcastic]

"Why watch pro-cycling?"

I feel that watching other people race their bikes is a little like watching other people have sex. I'd much rather be doing it myself. I'd gladly miss the final day of the Tour, for a 45 minute Crit.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Because i love the sport itself and know what is involved. I don't enjoy the doping aspect, the same as i didn't enjoy it in track & field. When someone there would make an amazing effort ala Lasse Viren, when coming from relative exile(no out of competition testing then, if u weren't racing it could be you were getting ahem "stronger")It usually raised a red flag, depending on what was accomplished, you could seperate "amazing" from "unethical". A four minute mile during a 5K would be an example of unethical. Edwin Moses digging down and coming from behind to add to his string of victories would be amazing. Greg Lemond coming from behind to win the TDF in the final TT would be amazing. A formerly heavily muscled classics rider dropping climbers on climbs to win the TDF was amazing at first, when his domestiques were all there on the final climb after riding the front all day it became"unethical". I watch the sport even if i don't enjoy everything that goes on. I watch news as well .

well said runninboy...my thoughts too

 

[Granville57]

"Why watch pro-cycling?"

I feel that watching other people race their bikes is a little like watching other people have sex. I'd much rather be doing it myself. I'd gladly miss the final day of the Tour, for a 45 minute Crit.

I hope you weren't doing circles in an industrial park on Sunday, July 23, 1989!

 

[MR_Sarcastic]

I hope you weren't doing circles in an industrial park on Sunday, July 23, 1989!

If fact, I missed Greg's TT for a race that Sunday, but I did "tape" it for later viewing. I was sure that he was going to lose.

 

[MD FACG FACP]

Cancer awareness.

 

[Sanitiser]

"Why watch pro-cycling?"

I feel that watching other people race their bikes is a little like watching other people have sex. I'd much rather be doing it myself. I'd gladly miss the final day of the Tour, for a 45 minute Crit.

Sometimes I feel the same way ****Edited by Mod****

 

[NashbarShorts]

This sport is not for you. It hasn't changed that much, yoiu just figured some obvious things out way too late.
The chance that Cadel doped that Giro is about the same as Dekker being clean that TDF you mentioned. If you really can´t figure that out it´s kinda sad.

Well, obviously Dekker was doped to the gills -- so by your response you are saying there is 0% "chance" that Cadel doped in that year's Giro.

I would suggest your command of English syntax is pretty weak. Either that or even after 2,667 posts, you "really can't figure" things out. Won't even comment on the sadness of that

 

[Maxiton]

Why watch? Because I like pretty much everything about it: the speed, the teams, the team tactics, the team time trials, the individual time trials,the jerseys, the bikes, the climbs, the descents, the history, the one day races, and the stage races. I like the individual effort and the team effort. I like the suffering, the failures, and the successes - sometimes from the same rider, sometimes on the same day. I like the breakaways and the bit at the end where the peloton catches them or doesn't. I like the run in to the finish and the mad-fast sprints.

I like pro cycling for its roots in the working class, and because it's the only sport I know where the fans can get right up in the game and physically close to the participants. Also, I like it because it's a sport I can participate in, and one where my participation greatly enhances my enjoyment in watching.

I'd enjoy it more if the efforts and outcomes were more realistic; if the riders suffered more, and were seen to try harder. Pro cycling would be enhanced, in other words, if the riders weren't doped to the gills. I think the sport would be ennobled by this and so would its riders. Heroism would stand in stark relief on a backdrop of suffering. And this would result in a huge increase in the fan base.

Doping gives professional cycling a somewhat ersatz quality, necessarily lessening its authenticity and thereby our enjoyment of the sport. But as it stands, and for all the reasons stated, I like it well enough that I'll take what I can get. At least for now.