Conflicted
I am not sure what to think regarding Lance and his return to bike racing. Most of me wants to see him and his publicity machine just go away, but last night I realized something.
I was at a scout meeting with my kids and I am talking to this guy who rides on occasion when he mentions AToC and did I watch much of it. I reply with a, "yeah, I saw some of that, blah blah". Then with a very excited voice he asks, "did you see Lance?...he looked GOOD". Moments later another guy who is not even an occasional cyclist enters the discussion of Lance...and I excused myself.
Could it be that Lance is good for cycling? Bringing the sport to the mainstream in a positive note? Yeah, well, duh. Why do I roll my eyes when they bring up Lance all the time then?
I suggest that if you ask around your non-cyclist acquaintances, you will find most know who Lance is (and some publicity fact about him...perhaps bike theft), and the next most popular cycling topic will be drug related (some guy that got kicked out for some sort of doping).
I guess Lance-hype is good until they find a skeleton. I just wish that more non-cyclists could appreciate the sport and some of its amazing and honorable athletes who are not positioning themselves as some sort of role model...sports figures as role models...that is a whole other rant.
Is Lance Armstrong is to cycling, as Neil Armstrong is to space exploration? Both are great names to be remembered by historians of their disciplines, but there are a lot of others that deserve recognition in the public eye. But no, the public (for the most part) seems to only recall these two guys by name...and perhaps the stories of a few other people that exited the scene in far-less-than-ideal conditions.
we're all role models
I'm not holding out my stature as a cyclist on the same level as Lance, but we all need to keep in mind how much we inspire or motivate others. I know several people who've taken up cycling because I've talked with them about it and what it's done for me. No, they don't see me as Lance, but it does give them the idea that cycling is accessible to them.
Besides, Taylor Phinney is the next big thing!