Home » Top Stories » News and Features »

Wednesday's Mailbag: Thundering herds of masters and a rabid nationalist

Published: Dec. 13, 2006

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. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submitting authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, Inside Communications, Inc.


Not a complaint
Dear VeloNews,
Let me start out by clearly stating that I’m not complaining, butthere is something amiss with the way the sign-up is being handled for thecyclo-cross nationals. Here is my point. There was no listing of riders until December 1, and everyone knows you must sign up ASAP,to get a decent number for a decent start position. The result willbe large to even massive fields.Take, for example the B Masters 35+ field. There are 217 riders!I’ve never seen a road race with that kind of number! Isn’tthe TDF 200 or less? But on a ‘cross course? Give me a break.The gun will sound, and the front racers are going to be 1/2 to 2/3 throughthe course before poor old No. 217 gets clicked in and rolling.

I’m certain that promoters need to make money, but isn’t this ridiculousfor our nationals competition? My idea of nationals is a group ofthe best, not just anyone with a license, a helmet, and a bike, which bringsme to my second point: Perhaps there should be qualifications for nationals,coupled with a rider limit for each field? What do people think?Agree? Who determines how the fields are set up? Promoters?USA Cycling?I’ve been involved at the highest levels of other sports, and thoseall had criteria for participation at regional and national level competitions…shouldwe? Mind you, I probably would stand a good chance of notqualifying, but if there were qualifications to be met, that would/couldbe my goal.

Let the nationals stand out for the best-of-the-best, or at a minimumput a limit on the fields so someone coming across the country to racecould realistically expect to make a lap without the leaders coming upfrom behind them, for lap two. If a course is great, the promotercan make money the following season by holding other cyclo-cross eventsat the venue!?

I know it's just one person’s opinion, but I really believe a 200-plusrider field in cyclo-cross might be just a bit much, no?

That said, the race course was fantastic last year, despite a stormand snowy/slippery conditions. The race was run well, and everythingwas first class. I’m looking forward to it again and sharpening up thoselegs and elbows and hoping to make it long enough to not get pulled.
Ken Hamel
Coventry, Rhode IslandYeah we have to agree, Ken. It's unfortunate that the most decisive element of a "race" may actually come at on-line registration. Nonetheless, we’re also enjoying the thought that so many are interested in riding ‘cross in one place at one time these days. We’re old enough to remember that even with a standard of anyone with a bike, helmet and license, the question was whether certain divisions could even muster a race. We agree, though, that 217 is kind of a big field, even though the Masters B division isn't really a national championship event. - EditorJustice, innocence and a touch of ugly nationalism
Editor,
In response to Carol Zeissner's letter (see "Monday'smailbag") I would like to point out that the presumption of innocenceis far older than the United States. In fact, Europe has known thatprinciple since ancient times where it can be found in the laws of Athens,Sparta and Rome. Furthermore, presumption of innocence is not explicitlymentioned in the Constitution of the United States. Rather a Supreme Courtruling had to declare in 1895 that it is considered the foundation of law,specifically tracing its history back past Athens and Rome to at leastDeuteronomy. Thus, Carol, you can thank Europe for providing the basison which your legal system functions. Indeed, some might say that the Americansystem of jurisprudence struggles to function. Have you ever heardof the term "innocent until proven poor?"Basso is not guilty, but Discovery is guilty of having broken an agreementbetween the ProTour teams (see "DiscoveryChannel excluded from ProTour team group"). The ProTour teams aresanctioning Discovery for that. Such is life when you submit to the rulesof an organization. That's all there is to it.Carol, get off your high horse and travel more - or at least read somehistory that goes beyond Washington crossing the Potomac. Arrogant statementslike yours are the reason why the U.S. is unjustly hated in so many places.
Cheers,
Thomas Richter
Los Angeles, CaliforniaDouble standards?
Dear Velo,
I'm not for doping. I'm also not for hypocrisy and double standards.So it is amazing to me that the International Professional Cycling Teamsexcluded Discovery from their meeting last week and now this group is lobbyingthe UCI to have Disco excluded from the ProTour. All of this for hiringa rider "under suspicion."Please help me out here. Does the IPCT include Lampre-Fondital, CaisseD'Epargne-Iles Baleares and Saunier Duval-Prodir? Because each of theseteams has at least one rider from the Puerto Affair on their roster: GiampoloCaruso, Constantino Zaballa and Carlos Zarate, respectively (accordingto the UCI website).I would be much more inclined to believe that Disco's exclusion wasan honest attempt to clean up the sport and not a case of sour grapes ifthese other teams weren't in the identical situation... that is, that noneof them had riders "under suspicion" on their rosters.I'll save my rant about "innocent until proven guilty" for another day,since "not caught" does not equal "not guilty". And as I said at the beginning,I'm not for doping. Or dopes for that matter, of which the IPCT, WADA andthe UCI seem to have plenty.
Tim Dodge
Denver, Colorado
And then there’s always that…
Editor,
I just wanted to bring up another side of what's going on in this OperacionPuerto mess. I certainly understand that cycling wants to clean upit's image, but, people should not accept at face value that all the movesin this ongoing PR battle are noble.I wonder how much of the stance being taken against Jan and Basso isbeing fed by teams' desires to keep them out of competition. A lotof teams have a lot to lose when those two are on their bikes. Theywould undoubtedly be favorites in any of the bigger races they participatein.Maybe they will be found guilty when all is said and done and everyone(except Discovery) will look like heroes. But, if they are cleared,they will certainly be guilty of having robbed us of two competitors whohave incredible gifts and an ability to draw fans to races. I onlyhope that the motivation behind these moves is as pure and self-sacrificingas those involved would have us believe.
Roderick Vesper
Cincinnati, OhioIt’s not dope, it’s ethics
Editor: In response to AJ’sletter.
AJ,
I do not claim to know your story, nor have I ever been or will bea professional athlete. I cannot pretend to know the pressure ofhaving to perform on the bike.However, I am a professional and keenly aware of the pressures to performwithin the professional world of business. The pressures are no different.Similar to cycling we have seen recent debacles in the professional world.Some key names are Jeff Skillings and Ken Lay formerly of Enron and BernieEbbers of WorldCom.They each succumbed to the pressure from Wall Street to continue financialgrowth and "doped" their earnings. They had falsified their financial performancejust as doping produces an incorrect picture of who the strongest rideris in a given race. In either case, the outcome is an aberration of thetruth. The pressure to perform is no different, just the context.
Kerry Need
Boston, Massachusetts

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. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submitting authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, Inside Communications, Inc.