• Mailbag

Friday’s Mailbag: How ’bout those Americans? Major fan mail

by VeloNews.com

• June 09, 2006
• Comments Off

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.

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Just look at the numbers?
Dear Editor,
The general public won’t appreciate it yet. In the eyes of the averageAmerican there are no pro cyclists other than Lance. Maybe thatwill change now.
 
Just look at the impressive results with American riders taking thetop four spots in the TT at Dauphine, and sitting in 2-5 overall (see “Zabriskieleads American sweep at Dauphiné TT“). Not to mentionthat this is the second stage win for Zabriskie and those U.S. standingsinclude first and third on points. Even better the four Americans wereall on different teams and their respective teams now sit 1,2,3 and 5 inthe team classification.
 
And another American just won the Tour of Luxembourg. It is hard toimagine a stronger U.S. presence in the pro peloton.
Pat Jesson
North Tustin, CaliforniaVarying perimeters
Dear Velo,
Reading MajorBryan’s bicycle journal is a refreshing change. As big a cycleracing fan as I am, it’s nice to hear from a regular guy like me and seehim getting some press time. I’m a bit envious though of his perimeterrides.My perimeter usually consists of my trusty Schwinn Fastback mountedto a CycleOps fluid trainer on the foc’sle of a haze grey warship. Thescenery gets a bit dull when staring at the back of a 5”/54cal gun turret,or a welldeck full of amphibious vehicles. Conversely, I have had the opportunityto get out and ride in places like Palma de Mallorca, the Blue Mountainsof Australia, and the coastline of Southern Japan when not patrolling thePersian Gulf or Western Pacific looking for pirates, smugglers, or insurgents.
 
I’m a bike snob and more akin to Style Guy than the Major when it comesto bikes and equipment. I can’t imagine hitting the road without Dura Aceor the trails without SRAM XO. (Though it seems a bit of a waste to eatup my nice Conti tires on the trainer.) But like my esteemed cycling comrade,I enjoy the freedom the bike affords me. There is no better way to alleviatethe stresses of a tough day at the “office” than to pound out a few clickson the trainer or in some exotic foreign port. How many people have hadthe chance to ride a mountain bike up Mt Suribachi on Iwo Jima? I thinkany cyclist understands the physical fitness aspects of cycling, but Ican truly understand the role of the bike on Major Bryan’s emotional wellbeing. He hit the nail on the head… it really is about the bike.
 
For those of us deployed for months or even years away from our families,the bike is a connection to home. It’s a slice of normalcy that can travelwith us. For just a little while, I can close my eyes and imagine the undulationsbeneath me are the ripples in the road and almost hear my 2-year-old sonlaughing in the Burley trailer behind me. With so much print devoted thesedays to the bicycle as a tool, I have come to see it as more of an escape.
 
Luckily for me, my family understands my passion. My wife puts up withthe unexpected credit card charge for a mail-ordered part or my growingcollection of jerseys from bike shops around the world. In fact, she hardlycomplained when I purchased my latest titanium and carbon fiber dream machine.I guess the argument about its reduced magnetic signature was persuasiveenough. (I’m heading to a minesweeper next.)
 
Thanks for the great website and keeping us in the loop. Best of luckto Major Bryan and all the other deployed cyclists out there. Keep yourheads down and the rubber on the deck…
LT Theodore E. Essenfeld, USN
Engineering Officer
USS Tortuga (LSD 46)
FPO AP 96679-1734
 
A reason to connect
Dear VeloNews,
Thanks for posting Major Bryan’s letter. I profoundly hope the correspondencewill continue as it was refreshing to read about someone who simply lovesto ride a bike. Stories of epic stages up distant mountain passes are entertaining,but it’s inspiring to hear directly from a guy who is wrestling with bentwheels while waiting for the UPS guy and working toward a goal. While Ihave no idea what it’s like to face either a cobra or a roadside bomb,I feel more connected to Major Bryan after a three-minute perusal of hisletter than I do after the years I’ve spent reading about multi-millionaireentertainers in your pages.
 
Thanks for making room for the rest of us.
S. Rule
Asheville, North CarolinaThis what riding is all about
Dear Velo,
When I saw the first article by Jason Bryan online a couple of daysago I thought it was great that finally here was something that everyonecould get behind and understand. No speculation about who or who not isdoping, paying off or badmouthing another person in cycling.As a veteran of the 1991 Gulf war I wish I would have had the same opportunitiesor forethought as Jason to get my bike there. I didn’t have to spend aslong there as Jason will, but I understand the concept of boredom thathe faces.Jason’s stories are the ones I love hear more than any others. Its notabout winning the Tour, Giro or Roubaix it’s about someone riding theirbike because they love to. Please keep the stories coming Jason, I knowI am proud of everything you and soldiers like you are doing
Kevin Kiddle
Lindenhurst, IllinoisNot to worry, Major
To the Editor:
Major Jason Bryan need not be intimidated, as he suggests, by the criticalreview of his Letters from Iraq – they are readable, entertaining, andeven rather inspiring. Keep it up!His latest dealings with packs of dogs put my own bike rides dealingwith free-range dogs among the rolling hills of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valleyin perspective.(Note to the Major: I’m not sure how plentiful they are in Iraq, orindeed if they’d do the trick for Iraqi dogs, but I’ve taken to carryingdog biscuits with me on my rides — they sometimes do the trick.)
Christopher Gould
Washington, DCSpare wheels
Dear VeloNews,
I’m reading the Major’s latest update and sympathizing with him abouthis wheel problem, and I realize I’ve had a set of mountain bike wheelssitting in my garage for a year. I might use them, but I know he will,so if you tell me how I can get them to him they’re his.
Rich Whitman
Plymouth, MinnesotaTools of the trade
Dear Editor,
Could we get some specs from Major Bryan’s bike and also his postalinfo so we can get him some parts? Sounds like he’s having rear wheel issuesin addition to his headset and BB woes. He may also need some tools towork on it with! I doubt the standard issue Army tool set has Park biketools or anything of the sort. If he’s got a standard headset he’s goingto need all the tools to remove and reinstall it. Bottom bracket toolsalso since he’s having trouble with that. If someone sends him a rear wheelhe’s going to need a cassette tool and chain whip. He’s probably got Allenwrenches as they are pretty common so he can handle pretty much everythingelse.
Sincerely,
Brian Jones
Fort Worth, TexasWe have forwarded these and several other generous offers for parts,bikes and an assortment of other items directly to Major Bryan. We hopethat we haven’t overwhelmed his in-box with so much mail that it wouldbe impossible for him to find the time to ride… or to send his next diaryentry, which is slated to appear on Monday – Editor.But what about the original question?
To the Editor:
I admire and find fascinating the degree to which the Armstrong cabalhas managed to deflect the public and media attention away from the positive’99 samples. The publicity has been so effective that a pathologist writesto enlighten VeloNews not about the science behind it all, but insteadto throw off a few caustic remarks about due process, with grave concernsthat Armstrong’s “rights” have been violated, and equal dismay that WADAis run by an attorney who does not understand “due process.” (See RichardLong’s letter, “Good night, Dick ” in Wednesday’sMailbag)Let’s get this clear – no one has inalienable rights of due process.”Due process” is created and given by an entity through it’s constitutionsand laws – or it isn’t. That’s why “due process” means something entirelydifferent in the varying legal jurisdictions of France, Italy, Spain andthe United States, as well as such organizations as WADA, UCI and ASO -all of which could exercise various types of jurisdiction over Armstrong,his races and commercial activities. With respect to allegations of dopingin the ‘99 Tour de France, the laws and processes of United States wouldhave almost no applicability.Concerns about the French concept of “due process” may have promptedArmstrong and Hamilton to abandon their training grounds of the Cote d’Azurfor Spain, where (until recently) “due process” makes it a lot safer tocarry illegal drugs than in France. I would have advised him to do so regardlessof whether he was training on drugs. The French Gendarme may look charming,quaint and even old fashioned when we see them fanning out along the Julyroads of the Galibier Pass, but they are most fearsome in their applicationof the law and they are quite eager to tell you that “your ‘rights’ don’twork here, American boy.”One must understand “due process” to realize that with respect to theVrijmanReport, “due process” is utterly irrelevant. Armstrong was notunder any legal jeopardy at the hands of Vrijman, so no “due process” couldapply. Insofar as Vrijman comments upon the “due process” of a third-party’sactions over which he has no jurisdiction – he editorializes. It is a classicsmoke-screen of a smoke-screen. Vrijman might as well been reviewing motionpictures or analyzing mutual fund performance. The real question beforeVrijman was “Regardless of whether any cyclists ‘rights’ were violated,what does the evidence say?”He didn’t answer the question, and he took over a hundred pages to doso. That’s why it’s a farce.
Yours, etc.
Miguel Crow
Scarsdale, New York

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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.