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| From Lance Armstrong's "X" account. |
That's why when I saw a social media post by Lance Armstrong recently that I was encouraged and saw the brilliance of his take on how this whole gravel thing should be seen by all of us. Namely as a way to explore more terrain on a reasonably lightweight, fast bike.
Now, you may grouse and dismiss this take because of where it comes from, but you would be unwise to do so. This summarizes exactly what I and others were aiming to do with an idea for a bike we were trying to describe by a different name back in the late 2000's.
As the youth say, "I've got receipts", and they are on this blog if you care to find them. I don't feel the need to push all that up again, but I did think that what Lance Armstrong said, and how he said it here, was more on the mark than not.
In fact, it is very appealing to me because of the way he carves away the racing aspects of "gravel" and focuses on the real, core reasons for this type of riding. Many cyclists and cycling journalists would do well to understand that part. That's my take.
4 comments:
As much as I don’t like the man behind the words, I can’t argue with his sentiment.
For me, Mr. Amstrong words describe perfectly my concept and feelings about cycling. Whatever is the bike you use for it.
In my case with my personal interest in finding the perfect bike utopía, “n-1 bike”, something as my Jones, a Singular Gryphon (although I like more the Peregrine), or even the Rivendell Atlantis… is the way to go. 1 bike to rule them all. To use it as much as I could in every terrain, in every situation.
Just ride & enjoy. Life is too short.
Why do we seem to hold our sports idols up to a higher standard than we hold ourselves? Lot's of hate out there for Lance but most people will take the advantage if it's there whether that be in a cycling race or a job promotion or getting to the grocery store check out before the family with two carts of groceries by cutting through the women's clothing section to steal the podium. The guy won 7 Tours during a time EVERYONE was doping, it WAS a level playing field by all accounts that I've heard. As for the way he got there if that's you reason for distaste, show me a single business mogul that didn't get their by stepping on a few throats.
@Rydn9ers - I come at this a little differently than you but get to a similar place. I look at this as an instance where a person may have made some poor decisions and was a jerk
In light of that, should we condemn that person to an everlasting hell when we can look in the mirror and see a person who hasn't been perfect and has affected a lot of other people with those imperfections?
I believe in forgiveness based upon that, not just for Lance Armstrong, but for you and myself. Second chances and all that.
If anyone still feels angry about Lance Armstrong I think that says more about the person that is angry than it has anything to do with Lance Armstrong in 2024. It is wasted energy that a person could be using for something more positive.
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