Monday’s mailbag: Pound, Hamilton and it’s all downhill from there
- By VeloNews.com
- Published Dec. 20, 2004
- Updated Nov. 4, 2009 at 1:30 AM EDT
The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
Put up or shut up
Dear Velo,
Dick Pound needs to be set straight. I don’t give a rat’s rear whatyou think of Tyler Hamilton or his medical practices, but you need to shutyour mouth (see “Greekofficials investigate Hamilton case“).I am not defending a possible doper – what I am doing is stating thatwhether or not you think Tyler doped, if you wanted to prove it, you shouldhave done your part to make sure the lackeys at the testing lab handledthe sample properly. You cannot make statements like this in the press- the IOC and WADA lost their chance at trying to take away Tyler’s medalbecause they shot themselves in the foot.If the riders have to play by the rules, then so do the officials andthe national/world cycling federations. If you blow your chance at provinga rider guilty, any further accusations are libelous.Let’s see some respect here, Pound. Know when you’re beat.Andy Kruse
Minneapolis, MinnesotaTyler tunes (as told by Oliver Stone)
Dear Editor,
After reading Friday’sFoaming Rant (bravo!), I just had to check Tyler’sweb site to learn the basis of O’Grady’s oblique reference to a cloak-and-dagger
conspiracy about Phonak and doping results.So Tyler tells a story that a Black-Mustachioed extortionist was paid-offby Phonak, in front of the authorities, and yet he managed to escape.The
cabalist’s identity is known, and he is a former pro racer.A few questions:
1) Why did Phonak pay a blackmailer?
2) Is law-enforcement that sloppy wherever this event allegedlyhappened?
3) Can’t someone just go to Mustache-Man’s house, since hisidentity is known?
4) Doesn’t all of this sound a bit far-fetched?Meanwhile, the Greek authorities are openingan investigation into how Tyler could have kept his gold medal.It’s obvious, isn’t it? A fat White-Bearded man strode into thelab wearing a red coat and conical cap–each lined with polar bear fur–tookthe vials, insulted the lab techs by laughing a diabolical “Ho Ho Ho” atthem, tossed the vials onto his sleigh, drove his team to the North Pole(where the vials froze), and then returned them to the lab all wrappedin shiny paper with a bow on them. Nobody has seen him since, butword has it he might show up in the next week or so.Case closed.Mickey Borlemer
Austin, TexasPetition to keep DH in VN, please sign here.
VeloNews,
In regards to “would VN readers really miss downhillers” in your mailbagcolumn. I am a pro downhiller, an cross-country rider and a roadie. I don’t just lovethis sport, I live it. I read many different publications because I like to know what is going on in the crazy world of cycling. We are an eccentric bunch but I do believe that we are all just riders of the two-wheel variety after all.Perhaps I’m not that interested what’s happening on the Giro or Tourday to day but I do follow some of the roadie race world. I certainly haverespect for those of us who chose to go “mach schnell” on skinnytires with 50 other riders close enough to smell. I also follow the xccircuit because some of these racers are my friends, I have no interestin spending two hours going uphill at top speed but I do respect them fordoing it.For myself, I prefer to sprint down a mountain on a big bike, tryingto avoid those solid objects like trees and rocks. Every year at this time(winter) I click on some of the online sites, hoping to catch that bitof info on the cycling world, letting me know that just because there issnow on the ground, people are riding somewhere. I would hope that thereaders of VN have genuine respect for all riders who train hard for agoal, other wise VN should possible change it’s name to Roadie Newsor XC Elitist SnobNews.We are all just riders and yes, some of us do race clean. ToleranceMichelle Dumaresq
Canadian Women’s DH ChampionR-E-S-P-E-C-T
Editor,
This topic has been pretty well covered before, but I couldn’t helprespond to Mr. Jones’ letter (see “Friday’sMailbag“).In the grand scheme of things, cyclists are a small group. Whenwe try and segment ourselves, we only hurt the sport as a whole.I ride on the road for the
most part, but also love my single-speed mountain bike as well.I am a cyclist.Would I really be sad if VeloNews stopped covering downhill?Probably not. Then again, I probably wouldn’t really be sad if someonetook VeloNews away
from me all together. What would make me upset is if cyclingwas taken away from me. And that is what has happened to a groupof cyclists that just happen to
like to go downhill more than up. It could just as easily happento other cyclists.The only reason I don’t ride downhill or freeride, aside from livingin the wrong part of the country, is I don’t have the skills. I havetremendous respect for riders that do and am sorry they are losing placesto ride.Mark McCubbin
Madison, Wisconsin
The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.