Lance Armstrong for President~!

[markie]

Originally posted by Bollocks:
  I agree 100%...if you gave Armstrong the same bike Merckz was riding during his reign and set him off on the tour, and on the exact same course, there's no doubt in my mind that Armstrong could not have beaten Merckz time....

I think you are way off here. I dont think bikes have changed that much, what has changed is knowledge of sports physiology and advanced training methods. Also Merckx won a lot of other races, he did not just concentrate to peak for the tour. That was mostly a Greg Lemond invention.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Seems like if he's got three young children at home, he would have made a better effort to save his marriage. But what do I know.
 
 

Originally posted by Bollocks:
 

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
 [QB] Leaving her to raise three kids, all aged five or less, on her own. Nice guy.
 
 

 I'm sure the huge alimony/child support check every month helps a little....and for the record, he's pulled out of the olympics because he wants to spend time with his kids after the tour. Let me tell you something from experience Rhett, sometimes the American injustice system prevents dads from seeing their kids as much as they'd like. Some fucking senile judge decides who, when and how often a dad gets to spend time with his own flesh and blood, so I don't want to hear any bullshit about "leaving her to raise three kids, all aged five or less, on her own", that just shows how ignorant you can be sometimes. [/b]

[markie]

Originally posted by pepper*sans*salt:
  I wanna give Lance a big shoutout for giving France another reason to hate our guts.    :mad:  

Why would they hate your guts?
 
 Its just a dude riding a bike. His souplesse has been a joy to watch.

[markie]

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
 [QB] Seems like if he's got three young children at home, he would have made a better effort to save his marriage. But what do I know.
 
 
 
 

 I dont think it takes a bucketful of empathy to realise that becoming a five or seven time tour champion and all round media whore might completely change your life, and cause you and you partner to grow totally apart.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

So when you start winning Nobel Prizes for all of your fine work in the science world, that will cause you to grow apart from your wife, divorce her, and seek out a lame rockstar to date? Oh well, at least there probably won't be small children involved.
 
 And why pump out three children in give years if you've grown that far apart?

[mankie]

Originally posted by mark e smith:
   

Originally posted by Bollocks:
  I agree 100%...if you gave Armstrong the same bike Merckz was riding during his reign and set him off on the tour, and on the exact same course, there's no doubt in my mind that Armstrong could not have beaten Merckz time....

I think you are way off here. I dont think bikes have changed that much, what has changed is knowledge of sports physiology and advanced training methods. Also Merckx won a lot of other races, he did not just concentrate to peak for the tour. That was mostly a Greg Lemond invention. [/b]

Lets start with carbon fibre shall we, that around in Merckx day was it?...then there's those awkward gear levers that you had to reach down for and 'guess' where the right spot for the gear change is. I'm willing to bet that Eddie's bike weighed waaaaaaaaaaaay more than Lances does. The only part of the bike that really hasn't changed are the brakes, and they make you stop, not go. Not only that, it's not just the weight, there's the comfort of the rider to consider. As we who bike regular all know...cycling is as much sustaining pain and discomfort for extended periods as it is stamina, and Lance (or any modern day rider) wouldn't last 10 miles on the bikes of old.

[mankie]

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  So when you start winning Nobel Prizes for all of your fine work in the science world, that will cause you to grow apart from your wife, divorce her, and seek out a lame rockstar to date? Oh well, at least there probably won't be small children involved.
 
 And why pump out three children in give years if you've grown that far apart?

So we can assume it was his fault, and his fault alone for the break up of the marraige can we?

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Nah, as I said, whatta I know.
 
 Great biker? Definitely. Great human being? I dunno, and quite honestly, I don't really care. Was just blowing off steam on a Friday afternoon.
 
 Gotta say though, he's one of those 32 year oldswho looks 40. Guess it's the cancer and the sun that has aged him.
 
 
 

Originally posted by Bollocks:
   

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  So when you start winning Nobel Prizes for all of your fine work in the science world, that will cause you to grow apart from your wife, divorce her, and seek out a lame rockstar to date? Oh well, at least there probably won't be small children involved.
 
 And why pump out three children in give years if you've grown that far apart?

So we can assume it was his fault, and his fault alone for the break up of the marraige can we? [/b]

[markie]

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  So when you start winning Nobel Prizes......

Scientists generally dont travel as often as pro-cyclists, nor do they acheive the same recognition. How many Lance adverts are there now, and how many featuring famous scientists.?Along with this few scientists make much money.
 
 But I can see that if a scientist did become rich and famous the temptation to run off with a young promising postdoc might be tempting. Actually that is a not too unfamiliar story, if you ignore the rich and famous bit.
 
 
 People grow apart under the best circumstances. Others have unrealistic goals when entering a marriage. I dont think its hard to see how pissing off for three weeks at a time to go for a little cycle could put a strain on things.

[Sailor Ripley]

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  Seems like if he's got three young children at home, he would have made a better effort to save his marriage. But what do I know.
 

I think this quote might give a little insight.
 
 

Kristin Armstrong (February 2003): Marriage problems were "brought on gradually by a number of pressures, rather than one big blow-up. We've been together 4 1/2 years, and we've had six homes, three languages, three countries, one cancer comeback, three children, four Tour de France wins and one rise to celebrity. You're not supposed to cram such a huge amount of events into such a small period of time."  

[markie]

Originally posted by Bollocks:
  Lets start with carbon fibre shall we, that around in Merckx day was it?.Eddie's bike weighed waaaaaaaaaaaay more than Lances does.  

I bet not:
 
 "Carbon-fibre is another innovation, dropping the weight of a racing bike from 9kg to less than 7kg."
 
 from http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/mag3/art20030501/htm/int_liggett.htm
 
 
 Plus steel frames are really compliant. They are often the most comfortable to ride.
 
 
 Those click levers weigh about a pound more than the down tube simple old fashioned levers.

[pepper*sans*salt]

Originally posted by mark e smith:
   

Originally posted by pepper*sans*salt:
  I wanna give Lance a big shoutout for giving France another reason to hate our guts.     :mad:  

Why would they hate your guts?
 
 Its just a dude riding a bike. His souplesse has been a joy to watch. [/b]

Oh I agree with you mark, no doubt about it. I'm definitely cheering for him. I think my initial statement gave you the wrong idea that i'm upset with Lance, but i'm not. Everything's cool no?

[mankie]

Originally posted by mark e smith:
 

"Carbon-fibre is another innovation, dropping the weight of a racing bike from 9kg to less than 7kg."
 
  [/b]

At that level of cycling, that is a lot.

[markie]

Originally posted by Bollocks:
   

Originally posted by mark e smith:
 

"Carbon-fibre is another innovation, dropping the weight of a racing bike from 9kg to less than 7kg."
 
  [/b]

At that level of cycling, that is a lot. [/b]

Not so much compared to the overall bike+rider weight.
 
 Do you think Lance would still have won the tour if his bike weighed 2 or 3 pounds more?
 
 
 I think he would.

[jkeisenh]

Originally posted by mark e smith:
   
 
 Do you think Lance would still have won the tour if his bike weighed 2 or 3 pounds more?
 
 
 I think he would.

questionable.  Have you ever carried 3 pounds an average of about 100 miles a day for 20 days?