It's not about Lance

Sufferfest

I was riding along the pavement the other evening when I heard my name called by a young voice; from a car. The car pulled over and I saw who it was; my favourite ex-student and driving the car was her Dad, a thoroughly nice man and ex-professional cyclist. I’m not going to name either; he doesn’t speak English and won’t read this, but we were having a private conversation that I didn’t ask him if I could repeat – so Mum’s the word. Suffice it to say he has won stages in major races and been placed overall in lesser stage races and been a national champion. A class act. As are his offspring; I’ve taught them.

We’ve never talked much about cycling. He made it very clear to me the first time we chatted (diggin the school garden) that the life isn’t much fun. Bradley Wiggins is making much of the sacrifices he’s made to win a Tour, as well he might. According to my source, everything comes second to the bike; its train, eat, rest, sleep, train, eat rest, sleep, tra…… you get the picture. Things like family, trips, holidays, taking the kids to school, shopping – family life then, are subjugated to the need to maximize your potential on the bike; it’s your job. Nothing else counts. Now he was enjoying the hell out of simple things like fetching the kids from school. Oh, and diggin the school garden to plant spuds. Cool. But after all the stuff about Lance (L.A.) I thought I might just ask his opinion; talk about opening the flood gates. Basically he said everything I’ve always thought but obviously he’s got way more perspective, factual content, and above all experience. So here goes then, more or less in the order the conversation took:

Maitre Jac

 Sudden outrage. Why the sudden outrage. It’s what I can’t get past personally. We’ve (all us real bikeys) always, always known that “You can’t win the tour de France on mineral water” as Maitre Jacques said in the 50s. So my source told me that he always gives the example of M/way driving. Everyone, but everyone, speeds. We all do it, we’re all culpable, all guilty, but where’s the screaming outcry, the hullabaloo, the kangaroo courts in the press and the blogs and online every day?!

Armstrong was a great Champion. This from a man who’s ridden in the peloton with him. He said he didn’t have much to do with him, but knew that he was a great rider and a great champion. He pointed out that no one could beat Armstrong, that everyone had the same “help” but no one could touch him, no one could get near him. I agree and always will – we all know that Lance was the best! I may not like it but I know it. And I might add that I’ve seen him in March in Murcia looking as sick as a dog coming in in the last group up the mountain and over half an hour behind the young Alejandro Valverde. Who won the Tour? Who do you think! A friend in the choir remembers L.A. riding the Tour of Burgos back before the cancer; he didn’t win – anything – but he didn’t get in the team bus either. He rode all the way back to the city after the finish of the race, another 80 kms. He’s always been that stubborn/determined, that ready to go the extra mile …… or 80 kms!

The peloton isn’t cleaner. Nothing has changed – how can we tell – because the Tour de France times remain the same; stages and overall. They should be slower; considerably if the doping that had such an effect is no longer taking place.

Speed Kills!!

One thing that he insisted on is that things have changed enormously since the days of Tommy Simpson. I can remember “old boys” telling me about swigging brandy before the off in local Time Trials; what Tommy took was a mixture of Cognac and pure amphetamine; speed kills! No; my source was adamant that it was always described as “help” in his day and before. He told me about a book he had a home from his country that detailed the help available to racing cyclists – and called it just that – help. The point he was making and I’d like to make is that it wasn’t harmful. It wasn’t portrayed as being bad; if you wanted to win, to succeed, it was what you had to do – the help you needed. Just that. What’s all the fuss about? I’ve never been fast, but I know that you simply can’t ride over the kind of distances and mountains that a major stage race takes you without a lot of rest and recuperation. A lot. Note I say ride. Now think about racing over that same route! You’d need help.

Some time ago, riding in France I met a young Irish bikey who was trying to ride the route of the 3 major tours. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=127504&v=YJ I invited him to stay when it got to the Vuelta, which he did. He was young and strong and fit; my mate David and I struggled to keep up with his rhythm and he had all the bags on. John made it; an unbelievable ride, but he was shattered after all three of the rides; and he was “resting” from his day job all year to do the rides. Apart from massive beer abuse (my fault, all my fault) John was riding clean, but here’s the thing; he was riding, not racing, and I don’t think there are too many people who could match his achievement. Not just physically; it’s draining mentally too.

In conclusion; I’ll say to you all again: why the sudden outrage, the sudden feigning of ignorance? Us bikeys we knew all along. I’ll say again what my mate Mart always says, “Everybody, from the sponsors, the management, the media, the fans – they all demand that level of performance.” You wanted it; you got it; so what’s with all the sudden outrage? See you out on the bike then? Or not.