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Long Live The American

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I have always liked Greg best.  I had posters of him on my wall.  I have a painfully easy to see Team Z jersey for crying out loud, and I still wear it.  Now listen to Greg.  Support his efforts if you feel so inclined.  That his mouth is now 10 times stronger than his legs are is something I feel inclined to support the crap out of, too.  He’s a class act, and I’ll forever consider it some limp sauce that he lost a job because of this whole Golden Seal Oliver North debacle.    He’s still hitting the bricks with the same grit that he used to curb the Badger, but in different ways.  He’s the damned American who bagged the Tour de France.  In a multiple of 3, no less.

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Can anyone help me out? I know this sounds kind of lame but I am not well versed in social marketing. I would like to send a message to everyone that really loves cycling. I do not use twitter and do not have an organized way of getting some of my own “rage” out. I want to tell the world of cycling to please join me in telling Pat McQuaid to resign. I have never seen such an abuse of power in cycling’s history- resign Pat if you love cycling. Resign even if you hate the sport.

Pat McQuaid, you know dam well what has been going on in cycling, and if you want to deny it, then even more reasons why those who love cycling need to demand that you resign.
I have a file with what I believe is well documented proof that will exonerate Paul.
Pat in my opinion you and Hein are the corrupt part of the sport. I do not want to include everyone at the UCI because I believe that there are many, maybe most that work at the UCI that are dedicated to cycling, they do it out of the love of the sport, but you and your buddy Hein have destroyed the sport.
Pat, I thought you loved cycling? At one time you did and if you did love cycling please dig deep inside and remember that part of your life- allow cycling to grow and flourish- please! It is time to walk away. Walk away if you love cycling.
As a reminder I just want to point out that you recently you accused me of being the cause of USADA’s investigation against Lance Armstrong. Why would you be inclined to go straight to me as the “cause”? Why shoot the messenger every time?
Every time you do this I get more and more entrenched. I was in your country over the last two weeks and I asked someone that knows you if you were someone that could be rehabilitated. His answer was very quick and it was not good for you. No was the answer, no, no , no!
The problem for sport is not drugs but corruption. You are the epitome of the word corruption.
You can read all about Webster’s definition of corruption. If you want I can re-post my attorney’s response to your letter where you threaten to sue me for calling the UCI corrupt. FYI I want to officially reiterate to you and Hien that in my opinion the two of your represent the essence of corruption.
I would encourage anyone that loves cycling to donate and support Paul in his fight against the Pat and Hein and the UCI. Skip lunch and donate the amount that you would have spent towards that Sunday buffet towards changing the sport of cycling.
I donated money for Paul’s defense, and I am willing to donate a lot more, but I would like to use it to lobby for dramatic change in cycling. The sport does not need Pat McQuaid or Hein Verbruggen- if this sport is going to change it is now. Not next year, not down the road, now! Now or never!
People that really care about cycling have the power to change cycling- change it now by voicing your thought and donating money towards Paul Kimmage’s defense, ( Paul, I want to encourage you to not spend the money that has been donated to your defense fund on defending yourself in Switzerland. In my case, a USA citizen, I could care less if I lost the UCI’s bogus lawsuit. Use the money to lobby for real change).
If people really want to clean the sport of cycling up all you have to do is put your money where your mouth is.
Don’t buy a USA Cycling license. Give up racing for a year, just long enough to put the UCI and USA cycling out of business. We can then start from scratch and let the real lovers in cycling direct where and how the sport of cycling will go.
Please make a difference.
Greg

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About Snake Hawk

good, bad, funny, sad, stupid, rad, has, had. non-joining funhaver from coast to coast(er brake). buster of the chops, drawer of the logos. North Carolina, USA

73 Replies to “Long Live The American”

  1. Greg was awesome when he was racing. But afterwards he wasn’t. He whines a lot. He complains a lot. I’m not convinced that he didn’t dope as well, but he sure as heck is holier than thou.

    Rad? Yes. Undoubtably.

    Best American? I think I’ll choose Lance, but I’d really like another choice. Maybe someday…

  4. Reed: Best American? I think I’ll choose Lance

    That is just, at best, short sighted.
    How bout changing your choice to:
    The Marine I saw today missing more than few bits of his body toss an opening pitch?
    Or the volunteer a your local shelter handing out some meals.
    There has got to be a few others I am missing, it though alludes me at the moment.

  6. …ummm, you mean the ‘only’ american to win that ‘tour de france’ race, right, snegg hogg ???…

  7. Will LA get to keep his rainbow stripes? Hey Reed if you really need to idolize a US cyclist there’s always Andy Hampsten.

  8. I’ve been boycotting USAC for years. Nothing they’re doing is good for the sport.

    I think Reed was talking about the best American *cyclist*. Greg has won more Tour stages than Lance did, though, so I can’t see picking Lance.

    Guys like Tinker and Ned are much better Americans than Lance. Nicer people too.

  9. Reed-
    I can produce 1,000 pages showing you why your boy wasn’t the best. And I bet you can’t produce even 1 paragraph with factual material showing me that Greg dopped. You and I both know that the paragraph doesn’t exisist or someone would be $300,000 richer, and your boy would be $300,000 poorer. I love how all of the fanboys have started doubling down on the whole Greg was a dopper too shtick.

  10. That man was the reason I got on a bike in the first place! He’s not angry (eyeroll) but not half as much as other recently disgraced riders wanted to make us believe.

  11. …news stories i’d love to see…

    …“…john burke, head of trek bicycles, stated that in light of the fact that his company has now severed ties to lance armstrong, came to the realization that greg lemond, who had previously had his ties severed with the company likely suffered emotinal distress beyond the financial compensation he was awarded & that therefore trek bicycles would once again make an undisclosed but serious donation to mr lemond’s favorite charity…”…

    …not gonna hold my breath ‘cuz i’m dreaming but it would be both sweet & righteous…

  12. @BGW:adding to that thought, i’m hoping Trek brings back Lemond bikes too… One can hope, and damn that would be funny. In fact lets make that an official rumor!

  13. reed, wow. that is all. Trek backing up Lemond? hah. They bought Lemond bikes and left them on the side of the road right? oh that is classic. Now side with the guy that is right. Awesome

  14. Greg Lemond is the fucking best. Period. Pure American. Real American. Goofy, brilliant, talented, truthful.

    The best.

  15. SnakeHawk, Love the mouth is 10X stronger comment and his head is getting bigger to support the mouth. (Wonder what he says about me?)

    LeMond & Hampsten are genuine and always have been the true international hero’s of the sport for the US without question.

    Awesome the shit-hammer coming back around for Lance…He’s been a tool and a fraud for a long time.

  16. …personally, i feel like i compromised my integrity because of armstrong years ago…

    …i had always been a fan of greg lemond…back in the early ’70’s, i knew & rode with guys in his original club, the reno / cynar wheelmen…met greg then & several times throughout the years at various stages in his career, even as recently as the weekend before the landis hearing debacle in los angeles…

    …whilst empathetic to his situation, i had been sipping the ‘livewrong’ koolaid for years due to both that ‘miracle’ comeback story & because armstrong inspired me when i had my own serious medical situation…

    …i pointed up at a tv screen with ol’ tex respledent in his racing kit during the 2002 tour when my doctor walked into my hospital room two days before i had a major surgery & literally said – “doc…i’m comining back from this & there’s my inspiration…he did it & i guarantee you, i will too…”…exact words – you don’t forget this stuff…

    …& i did…rode to the top of mt tam on my cross bike within the year with my amigo dave, who encouraged me all the way…

    …that’s powerful stuff…so i stuck w/ cancer jesus until things were kinda obvious & at one point, when i felt greg was pissing in that livestrong koolaid, i resented him…

    …but no more & i’m glad to see he didn’t buckle in his resolve…greg lemond can “whine” if he needs to but i’m glad to lend my support…

  18. Shit yeah, I second that Greg. Usa Cycling can suck a dick. Usa ceo steve johnson is dirty as fuck. He’s the guy who told all of the budding pros in the late 90’s and early 2000’s (ala dave z and others) that euro cycling was now clean. What a fucktard. Withholding a years worth of dues would be finanicially force usa cycling to fess up and begin to serve those that actually pay for membership. Oh yeah, if no one raced ‘sanctioned’ events for a year, then maybe all those douchbag masters racers and their hormone replacement therapy, $3000 carbon wheelsets and team kits could chill the fuck out instead of talking about being all peeked out, hitting peak wattage numbers and ‘totally set on winning the elk snot grove crit’ or what ever the fuck.

  19. Lemond is a douche, a whiner, everyone in cycling doped except him… The poor guy.

    And since you’re all going to be all sexist and assume the best US cyclist is a male all throw KFC as my pick.

    But, I hope you guys enjoy really shitty cycling for the next few years, you’re witch hunt is killing the sport.

  20. …welll, kg, you DO make one good point & ya, katie would definitely be in the running…

    …beyond that, maybe you could start the kg ‘all doping, all the time’ cycling league…shoot, geez, snort whatever you want…only two rules – no needles in front of the kids & get hypo-ed up like a motherfucker to keep the racing exciting…

    …while “straight” cycling is having a hard time finding sponsors, you could perhaps engage the mexican & columbian drug cartels to provide sponsorship…it’s in their & obviously your best interests…

    …just sayin’…

  21. If PEDs were that wide spread, then Lemond did it too. These guys have been so fierce in their persistence not because they are standing up for cycling but they lost money. They lost records, sponsorships and integrity. All you fucking guys supporting either one are so stupid with your idol worship. Support your buddies that’s what really counts,
    Because no one chiming in will ever be a pro or ride the tour of anything.

    Fuck y’all
    Pimpy D

  23. The site is fine with the name drunkcyclist. The comment section is mislabeled, should be called bitchfest or whaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh zone.

    and now for my whaaaaah.

    dumb fucking racing is killing cycling. grab a beer, yer bike, and maybe a friend and go shred. leave the number doohickey at home.

  24. angry buddhist, i could not agree more.

    i think it’s time Fisher and Lemond had a cup of coffee to talk about teaming up with an american manufacturer to put the soul back into those brands that was lost so long ago. i see an opportunity to make something kick ass out of something super stupid.

  25. Lemond is fatter and more outta shape than me….he blew up at the second wash crossing just prior to Snyder hill a couple of years back in Tour de Tucson. Golden locks in 80s and legs to match but blowhard egomaniac now…..so who is making his frame?

  26. What I love is you guys never consider women as the greatest, or anyone of any other discipline. What about Lopes? That guy kills it, Downhill, BMX, Enduro, Cyclocross, and now kicking ass in road here in Cali? What about Beatriz Rodriguez, Dotsy, Meagan, Sarah? What about Pistol Pete. That guy is a champ.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_S2pnAayng

  27. What about Kristen Armstrong? Two Olympic gold medals, two world championships…. she is certainly the best US cyclist named ‘Armstrong’.

  31. So let’s review… In the last week, Michele Scarponi, Dennis Menchov, and OOPS Bobby Julich have all been branded as dopers.

    Six months or lifetime ban?

    Pro cycling sucks these days.

  34. You don’t have to love LeMond to know that everything in that letter is spot on. But yeah fuck this high level racing shit. Grass roots is where it’s at. Keep the stakes low and there is limited temptation to cheat in any organized way.

    On a separate note, I’m looking forward to some awesome doping cyclist costumes this year. Just sayin’.

  35. …“Six months or lifetime ban?

    Pro cycling sucks these days.”…

    …well, no, mikey…no more 6 month or lifetime bans…

    …they should be led out into a field & made to kneel down wherein you’ll be responsible for shooting each & every one of them in the head that you personally find to be responsible for making pro-cycling suck these days…

    …i’d suggest you use a luger (kinda appropriate) & if i get a vote, i’d suggest contador be one of the first to go…

  37. …“…curb the badger…”…that’s not a euphemism like ‘spank the monkey’ is it, snegg hogg ???…

    …just askin’…

  40. …great lemond photo, steve…never seen that one & hard to believe that the reigning world champion was without a team car nearby but as they say “…merde happens…”…

    …i can only imagine the colorful language that accompanied that tire change…good as he was, ol’ greg let fly whilst under duress…

  41. yeah, i liked the pics of cavendish fetching bottles in the rainbow jersey then i remembered i’d cut this out of cycling weekly years back for my garage wall. I looked for it online and couldn’t find it.

  42. …even @ 14, greg the quiet kid wanted to win both the worlds & the tour de france…i heard that first hand whilst on a training ride on the sierraville loop north of lake tahoe with he & his mostly older teammates back in the early ’70’s…

    …i think lance just wanted to be famous & cycling certainly made him that…

  43. Man…why are the comments in italics? Makes me feel like I’m reading an afterthought and it is making my dog puke. OK. Now, I usually agree with Steve Wilde and I agree with him right now. But Booger, you have bashed the Lance Monster so wholeheartedly and yet you just said he raised you from the dead! Fuck it, man, I don’t care if Christ his ownself turned out to be a pedophile if that fucker pulled me forth from perdition I would have his back from that day on. Lance is the reason that 20 million more Americans are on bicycles than last whenever. This stoopid website…mumble mumble drinks from jug and whatever…and yer mothers!

  44. Fucking Awesome. Thank you Snake. Here is perhaps the most classic LeMond photo. Nice juxtaposition vs. the one of him smoking Kelly in the spring in ’89 WC.
    http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://is.gd/bpTaa&imgrefurl=http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t%3D2807%26page%3D36&h=632&w=418&sz=141&tbnid=9RxSuHtw21QGgM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=63&prev=/search%3Fq%3DGreg%2BLeMond%2Bafter%2BParis%2BRoubaix%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=Greg+LeMond+after+Paris+Roubaix&usg=__lYaKN4D3bXr0u4CvDYcOABH71Sg=&docid=i2Gsosm9wzosRM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YCOLUMCNL4y10AHBp4DgBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CC8Q9QEwAg&dur=2418

  45. …ol’ lance might a’ kept a lotta cycling people in his corner but for the fact that he actively intimidated good people throughout much of his career under the pretense of being nothing but a clean & altruistic cyclist…

    …most of the cancer people weren’t really privy to his despicable side during his cycling career so he’s retained more of those supporters…

    …to generalize, people don’t like bullies & lance, as patron, was both an active bully & a big smiling, two faced one at that…

    …personally, that’s the real issue for me…

    …i’m not gonna spit on lance armstrong because he was inspirational to me but ultimately it was by false pretense & i’m honestly glad his bubble got burst & he’s been brought down to earth…for his own good & those who looked up to him…

    …no false prophets…no golden calves, ya ??…

    …i’d have to look him in the eye & say – “what were you thinking, dude ???”…

  49. …i used to ride my bike along the sociopath but all those crazy people kept getting in my way…

  50. Funny comments. And typical. And sad.

    I’m no Lance fanboy, I just think he might have been the best US cyclist, regardless of his doping. If you asked me if I thought he was a dick I would unequivocably answer “Yes”.

    With some more thought about it another good choice for best American would be Ned Overend. Partly because he has continued to do stuff at a high level. Heck I think he was top 20 in the National Road Race not too long ago.

    I lived in Reno for a bit so I heard some of the Lemond stories. He’s oviously very gifted. But all the bitterness over the years has turned me off. And since doping has been going on for seemingly forever I think it’s a bit hard to believe that Greg wasn’t doing some of his own.

  51. I had the pleasure of seeing him at interbike probably like 5-6 years ago. I had the chance to chat with his wife for 10-15 min at one of the meet and greet after parties. A true class act and really nice lady. I let her know that her husband was the reason I got on a bike .At the time Lemond was not all that popular, because of his vocal stance on the whole Lance thing.As I eneded the conversation with his wife I let her know that I thought Greg was right, She smiled and said thanks. Its funny how he had so few believers then…From years of being in the industry I have alot of autographs , only he and Tinkers get a spot on the wall.

  52. Reed you are a fuggin douche bag.

    LEMOND has the highest recorded VO2 of any of the Tour Champs.

    Scorched earth is the only way it will truly change, AND YES THANK YOU UNCLE MUSCLES aka FLOYD LANDIS.

  53. …absolutely true…greg lemond does have the highest recorded vo2 of any of the tour champs & that information is the reason greg has been so vociferous in his response to the ‘armstrong era’…

    …when epo became the drug of choice near the end of greg’s career, he couldn’t fathom how his ass was being handed back to him on a regular basis by guys he knew he should be either keeping pace with or even kicking their ass..

  55. I know no one is going to agree with me, but maybe, just maybe, it’s time we faced facts and realise that Doping should not be illegalized…. Who cares if a competitor fills their body with EPO, or cocaine, or 12 espressos before a race? Racing only exists to sell shit anyway. The TDF was created to sell newspapers,and teams wouldn’t exist without sponsers, just like pro football mostly exists to sell shitty beer and pickup trucks…
    Are we going to strip some journalist of their Pulitzer Prize because they drank while writing their prize winning article?
    …just wanted to put that out there…
    Love the site, and think biking is one of, if not the, best things humans have come up with. Nothing has giving me more joy in my life, and yes, it’s true, I’m not a racer (thank god, or whoever…)

  56. Alan, an all dopers league? Sure, as long as it is above board and in the rules fine.

    Start one, invest some of your own money in it if you actually believe in it. Good luck with you investment.

    Cheaters suck, hence dopers suck.

  58. Greg,
    Tinker’s awesome, truly deserving of the admiration and respect he’s earned. He’s one of my all time favorite racers. Way better than John Tomac however? If you say so.

  59. Graphing it all out,

    Tomac? way before Tinker & several shades of awesome!!

    Tinker? man’s a fucking rock at least!

    Together?

    We’re blessed that these Gods walk amongst us…

  61. …headline – “lance armstrong to be burned in effigy…”…

    …effigy is a small town in the midlands…(old ‘mad magazine’ joke)…

  63. …so, uhhh, mikey…what exactly would YOUR personal point be ???…

    …ohhh, right, “pro cycling sure does suck tese days”…

    …other than that, what do we really have here ???…

    …a couple a’ swiss lawyers, who perhaps as a professional courtesy, present a disingenuous statement of defense regarding the statute of limitations in the armstrong case in order to achieve what end ???…less solidarity amongst the majority ???…however, said statement is immediately rebutted with circumstantial reasoning by the usada…

    …okay, granted, nice touch, finding swiss lawyers in particular to make a statement because as we all know, there is such a reputation of neutrality amongst the swiss…well at least as long as one doesn’t scratch a micron beneath the surface…

    …what i see is akin to swiss cheese…full of holes…

  64. What I see is an utterly failed and ineffective, ego-driven “anti-doping” administration which seeks to blame athletes for its own complete failure, almost fifteen years after the fact. Fucking lame.

  65. …perhaps you’d like to break that down a little more specifically as to which administrative groups did or didn’t do what & how much cooperation was shared by said groups to achieve anything as regards results…

    …too much generalization…again you’re painting w/ a wide brush…

  67. @BGW— it’s a pretty wide failure, my friend.

    @guest— hey man, like, duuuude, let go of the negativity… you’ll be a happier person. nother beer?

  70. …ahhh, cap’n tony…as they say “…to the victor go the spoils…” but therin lies my personal dichotomy…

    …the swiss would be aghast at the very thought of their “hole-ier than thou” cheese being made with anything but milk from pure “summered in the alps” cows but whilst having a low tolerance to bovine products, i’ve been a man of only the cloven hoof since the late ’70’s & it’s le chevre’ that caters to my gastronomical dairy needs…

    …so, to those who would indulge, all the swiss cheese in the world is yours as i ponder if the cloven hooves provide me with my devilish attitude…

  71. That’s a pretty roundabout way to say that cheese gives you the shits, BGW.

    And since we haven’t heard from that chronic masturbator and all around fat fuck Triple D, I’ll say it for him.

    “This thread has turned to shit.”

    Triple D’s theme song:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnS-7IM8Knk