Random Thoughts On Lance Armstrong

What can I say about Lance Armstrong. He is the reason I started riding road bikes so long ago and for that I will always have good thoughts about him. I am not one to put people on a pedestal and consider them more than just a person. We are all people. He never had a squeaky clean image any way. There were always rumors that he doped or was an ass at this or that restaurant. He was a mean demanding team leader. He didn't believe in God but only believed in himself. I didn't care about all of that. I wasn't looking for a hero to idealize and emulate. I wanted to watch a guy go up a mountain on a bicycle really really fast and Lance did that.

It was watching Lance and the US Postal team totally dominate the Tour de France that I fell in love with that century old bike race. The Tour is a spectacle and I love ever aspect of it. From the tactics of bike racing to the fact that the last place rider is called the “Red Lantern.” I will always watch the Tour and again I have Lance to thank for that.

By the time Lance finished winning the seven tours and came back for two more I was enthralled with the sport. I still liked and respected him, but he wasn't even in my top ten favorite riders. People like Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton, Jens Voigt, Fabian Cancellara and George Hincapie filled those spots.

Now that he has admitted he doped during all seven wins I feel pretty much the same about him.

The last several years of my sport has been one doping scandal after another. The one that hurt most was Floyd Landis. After that I was pretty much numb to it all. When it came to Lance my opinion was that it just didn't make sense that he was clean. I mean a clean guy beating the spandex off all the dopers? So I was sad but not surprised when I heard he would confess to Oprah.

Lance didn't create the culture of doping. The right thing for him to do would have been to stand up and fight it, but how many of us would do that? How many of us would sacrifice our career to do the right thing. If the only thing between you and victory in the biggest cycling race ever and millions of dollars was a few banned substances that practically ever other pro was taking wouldn't you? I know I would. If I had raced since I was sixteen years old and my dream was to be a pro bike racer and someone said you have to do this I have no doubt I would. So I can't be mad at Lance.