• Mailbag

Mailbag: Steve Larsen remembered

by VeloNews.com

• May 26, 2009
• Comments Off

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• Keep it short. And remember that we reserve the right to edit for grammar, length and clarity.
• Include your full name, hometown and state or nation.
• Send it to webletters@insideinc.com.

Steve Larsen remembered

Editor,

As a junior racer in Northern California I used to race against Steve Larsen, but while I was at the back just barely holding on to the pack, Steve Larsen, the unstoppable machine, would just motor away with barely an effort.

It was an awe-inspiring sight to see and made me realize just how gifted an athlete could be. With the news of his untimely death I was shocked to hear how his life was cut short at such a young age — my age actually.

I am sorry for the loss and I am deeply saddened for his wife and family. And though I only knew him in passing, I’m quite sure he will be missed by all.

Martin McCreary
Atlanta, Georgia

More on Larsen

Editor,

Upon coming home from a great ride tonight I, as I usually do, checked velonews.com and was shocked at the news of Steve Larsen’s death.

At age 23 I got into mountain biking right when he was in his prime in the late 90’s.  

Yeah I liked Lance, but I loved Larsen especially his dominant NORBA wins at the end of 2000 after getting snubbed for an Olympic spot.

I was also a big fan of the Mongoose commercials he did on OLN during that time frame (”Take the line less traveled”).

He wasn’t just a one trick pony.  He was also a great road racer and was able to make the transition to tri and be one of the best in the world.  I really hope you guys do an article (online and print) on his career.  He was one of the best bike riders that the United States ever produced and will be sorely missed.

Ryan Smolko,
Allentown, Pennsylvania

Editor’s Note: Ryan, look in the next issue of VeloNews for an article about Larsen’s career by Fred Dreier.

Boonen should get the boot

Editor,

I’m sorry, but all these posts that argue the cycling authorities are being unfair towards Tom Boonen are ridiculous. Is cycling really coming to this?

Sure, I’m sad too that Tom Boonen is not going to race. But rather than setting the guy up for failure by giving him more money to blow and more stress with additional races, I think it best for him to get out of the lime light for a while so that he can get the help that he needs.

A little soul searching away from the press of racing is probably just what the doctor ordered. If witnessing his own career hanging in the balance because of his addiction doesn’t spur Boonen to take action to end his destructive behavior, then frankly nothing will.

And if he can’t lick it, I say give him the boot. Cycling has enough of an image problem that it doesn’t need to start embroiling itself in some odd double standard that touts the cleanliness of its cyclists when they are on the bike, but then turns a blind eye to the “recreational” drug activities of these same cyclists when they’re off it.

Richard Greene,
Portland, Oregon

Cavendish’s departure

Editor,

Just read that Mark Cavendish had dropped out of the Giro. Seems like this has become the norm in cycling. As soon as the last “sprinter’s stage” is done they bolt. If a sprinter does not plan to stick it our until the end of a grand tour then they should stay at home.

Dennis Osborne
Richmond, Virginia

Agrees with Barry

Editor,

Re: Michael Barry’s Giro diary on stage 9.

Amen to Michael. I’ve climbed off my bike in a couple of crits due to concerns about safety. Cycling is a hobby for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but not enough to risk an injury. After seeing the professional peloton at close hand, I can’t imagine taking the risks they do for their
livelihood, when their season — or worse — could be over in a heartbeat.

Driver safety in Formula One has improved due to the efforts of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association; maybe it’s time for similar in the Pro peloton.

As he says, when people watch cycling for the crashes, it ceases to be a sport.

Matt Overton
Warwick, United Kingdom

More kudos for Barry

Editor,

Congratulations to your diarist Michael Barry on this thoughtful examination and explanation of the dangers that face pro-cyclists.
 
I certainly appreciated how he laid out the facts without resorting to hysteria, a lesson many other commentators would do well to learn.
 
I can’t get the hardcopy version of VeloNews in Ireland, but I find your Web site invaluable — so keep up the good work!
 
Kindest regards,
 
Conor McHugh, 
Kildare, Ireland

Editor’s Note:I’m sure Michael will appreciate your comments, Conor. As for the magazine’s availability in Ireland, you will soon be able to subscribe to an electronic version. And since you perhaps have never seen our magazine, I should mention that it shares no articles with this Web site — so it’s all good.

More on stage 9

Editor,

Do you think that ProTour riders protesting early morning doping controls after long stages, dangerous descents, stages over 250 kilometers long, dangerous road conditions at stage finishes, and the race organizer’s demand for better “spectacles” is unwarranted? I do not. I think it is long overdue.

Organizers and sponsors that demand racing speed in stages over 200 kilometers long, put stage finishes in poor road conditions or crowded and narrow city streets, place media photographers bunched at a sprint finish in the path of riders, put pave at the end of a team time trial, or dozens of other dangerous combinations to make the racing “traditional and tough” do not care about the riders’ well being.

Does the UCI or other sanctioning bodies care about the conditions the riders have to race in? Do they care about their safety and well being? The answer is obviously no. They simply care about
maintaining the status quo and their authority of a professional sport granted to them by an amateur organization, the International Olympic Committee.

They only care about maintaining their existence, and they are the very definition of amateurs.

Do the race organizers or organizers care if one of the riders is under criminal investigation for illegal drug use? No they do not. They only care if his appearance will make them money, not the example he sets to others. How long do you think you would keep your job after being caught using illegal drugs? Drugs that cause death and destruction in their distribution and sale in all countries.

So, where does that leave us? I think we should get used to the rider’s protests, and we should welcome them to a sport that desperately needs some professional management and organization.

Simply put, this sport is going down the drain to piss poor management. Everyone involved is simply looking out for themselves, and as a fan and consumer of cycling products, I am getting tired of it. At least the riders are reacting, the rest are denying.

Pat O’Brien
Arizona, USA

Spoiler

Editor,

I am a subscriber to the hardcopy magazine because of a pledge I made to the Live Update Guys last year. Their grand tour coverage is great.

Don’t tell, but I watch it frequently at work.

However, sometimes I don’t get to a computer until after the race is over. Then I love to read the replay without knowing the winner. It’s still fun. Unless, I flip on Velonews.com and the first thing that comes up is a picture of that day’s stage winner. YUCK!

No one, absolutely no one, gets to Velonews.com without being an enthusiast. Anyone going to the site doesn’t need the headline picture of the stage winner to entice them to come to the site. Any visitor will scroll down looking for the winner if he wants to find out about the day’s Giro.

Please put the picture and race report farther down the page so that we can at least get to the ‘Wise Guys’ Update without necessarily seeing who won the stage.

Just my opinion.

Tyson Branyan,
Cushing, Oklahoma

Editor’s Reply: I hear you, Tyson, and we’ve gotten a few similar requests lately. To bury the biggest story of the day certainly goes against the news judgment of the ink-stained wretches here on the VeloNew.com edit team. It probably goes against our business instincts, too. We’re looking for a compromise. But no promises — that would spoil it. — Steve

Clarification Corner

Editor,

Re: your Web article, “Raffling for a cause.”

I am the Public Service Officer for the Yuba River Ranger District, Tahoe National Forest, and am quite well acquainted with the Forest Service’s partnership with Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, whom the article is about. In your article you wrote:

“Recently the U.S. Forest Service dropped its financial support of the project, thus spurning the raffle.”

Though the statement above can be considered “factual,” it can easily be taken that the Forest Service no longer supports the activities of the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship (SBTS), or a specific trail project (North Yuba Trail Extension is the project I believe that is being referred to). That would be incorrect. The Forest Service has supported SBTS since their inception and continues to do so. We have strongly supported SBTS obtaining Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act funds (RAC funds, which are Forest Service funds) to do trail maintenance and construction on the Yuba River Ranger District to the tune of over $100,000 since the 2006 fiscal year.

It was recently brought to our attention that the construction of new trails was not an allowable activity under the RAC regulations. Therefore, we could no longer support additional RAC funding for the North Yuba Trail Extension project since it is a new trail construction project. We will continue to work with and support SBTS trail maintenance project funding through the RAC program. In regards to the North Yuba Trail Extension project specifically, the Forest Service has spent over $300,000 directly to the cause, and very much desires to see its completion, so we also support SBTS’s fund raising efforts.

There is already enough misinformation between user groups and land management agencies to maintain unhealthy perceptions of land management agencies by user groups. It does not help if magazines write inaccurate, or misleading information. It only promotes more ill feelings, stifling participation rather than fostering it. We need better understanding, not less. The Forest Service is not the mountain biker’s enemy, we are a partner. The Forest Service must follow the rules, regulations, policies and laws that govern the management of the National Forests; there is no getting around that fact. A land manager could lose his/her job or go to jail for ignoring the agency’s governing regulations and laws. Please do your part to promote building partnerships between the users and the land managers. That way both will get more of what they desire. Joe

Joe Chavez
Public Service Officer
Yuba River Ranger District
Camptonville, California