Letters to Cyclingnews - December 23, 2005

Cyclists in South Australia

We have yet another report of cyclists being attacked by drivers (Adelaide Advertiser 22/12/05). On Wednesday evening last week a colleague was also attacked while cycling home alone on Prospect Road. A car full of laughing hoons pulled alongside and hurled a lump of wood at him. He was knocked down, hit a parked car and suffered head trauma and shoulder fractures amongst other injuries. He could easily have been killed! He is left with weeks off work and months away from his bike.

Earlier this year when rock-throwers nearly killed car driver Damian de Wit and others on the Southern Expressway, the perpetrators were pursued to the full force of the law with loud expressions of anger from our Premier and Government. Will we see the same level of response in defence of community cycling? Throwing objects at cyclists (or any road users) is illegal under the Summary Offences Act yet anecdotal evidence suggests that it has become a common occurrence.

A recent and blatant 'anti-cycling' letter also declared 'We're bigger than you, so get out of our way'. I appeal to everyone to recognise that people riding their bikes should not be 'targets' for either objects or motor vehicles! Over 70% of Adelaide's households own a bicycle and a similar percentage of adult cyclists are also car drivers. Cyclists are the same as you or I - they simply choose to travel by 'human power', something that many more of us may soon have to consider! Why should this choice involve risk of injury or death at the hand of others?

I challenge our Premier and Politicians to stand up and be counted in support of South Australia's right to safe cycling. BISA wants to see South Australia's 'hoon' legislation (with its provision for confiscation of vehicles) covering such assaults and drivers made far more responsible for their duty of care towards vulnerable road users! All cyclists - local commuters as well as visiting professionals - must be assured they can ride in safety.

Sam Powrie,

Chair, Bicycle Institute of South Australia
Thursday, December 22, 2005

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Bart Wellens

Bart Wellens being stripped of a well deserved win? What a crock of crap. I give him credit for being able to win a race even when a drunken spectator is throwing both mud and beer on him during the race. Cyclo-cross is hard enough as it is. Was the spectator sanctioned? He should be, if you can't respect the riders keep your drunken ass at home!

Nobody in their right mind would put up with someone throwing beer at them while they were practicing their profession! Why should pro athletes like Wellens have to put up with it? Now he faces possible disciplinary action, sanction, and loss of income due to some drunk fool who should have stayed home. A true tragedy for Wellens!

Tom Ahlrichs

Boise, Idaho
Wednesday, December 21, 2005

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That Damn Lance

Dear Cyclingnews,

I see from the recent news that Lance is going to boycott the Tour in 2006. Good. Frankly, I've had it with his bitching, and the less we have to see and hear of him, the better. It's great that he beat cancer, and it's great that he won the Tour seven times, (each time pissing the French off by apparently breathing through his nose while doing it). Yeah, he was a great rider. But let's face it - Lance is now officially yesterday's news, and the Tour needs him even less than he needs the Tour. And although he's clearly incapable of living outside of the limelight - witness his recent appearance on Oprah (my how the mighty have fallen...) it's time for him and his little girlyfriend to go feed their insatiable egos and idiotic lifestyles somewhere else. Please Lance, stay home in Texas with those kids you're always crying about not getting to see.

Marshall Ellis
Tuesday, December 20, 2005

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Patrice Clerc Interview

Somehow, the specific text of Spicoli's closing dialog in his first encounter with Mr Hand in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" comes to mind now whenever I think of the GT organisers, and specifically Patrice Clerc. Certainly not 'letter of the week' material, but an opinion to share none the less.

Eric Hallander

Little Silver, New Jersey
Monday, December 19, 2005

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Don't accuse every top athlete

What if the Tour de France organisers decided to ban for life anyone caught doping? They (the organisers) like to make arbitrary moves and this one could be the best of all! How many riders do you suppose would risk never being able to ride in the Tour again? What a way to make an impact on cycling! Who would dare oppose them, and can you imagine any individual, team or organisation coming out against their position?

Since they are not part of the Pro Tour (they actually object to having their race hijacked, and I don't blame them), they can do whatever they want - if you don't like it, go ride The Tour de Timbuktu.
It's time to make a bold move in the area of sports doping. This could be the "shot over the bow" cycling needs!

Bryan Funsten

Ketchum, Idaho USA
Monday, December 19, 2005

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Dope so you can

I have an old French newspaper, dated May 7th, 1919, framed and hanging on my wall at home. On the front page, right next to the articles about the armistice, there is a section on the tour - winners, losers, breaks and chases, all the usual stuff. And it mentions the next day's stage: 333km, starting at 0200 hours, predicted finish time 1400 hours. And this is back in the days when riders had two gears, one on either side of the rear wheel! Drugs in cycling? I should think so! They doped just so they could finish! It's completely inhumane to make anyone ride for three weeks around France on that type of schedule. And, it's not even the only race of the year!

While I fully believe that it is possible (but still superhuman) to complete a race like the Tour without drugs, with modern equipement, we have to look at the history of our sport. Yes, doping is a product of our society somewhat, but cycling went beyond the limits of the sane and the human way before any other sport, and to some degree it remains there. If cycling wants to clean up it's image, it's going to have to get a grip and make it at least feasible to be competitive at the big races without resorting to drugs or freakish genetics. For every tour GC contender there are ten guys just hanging on in the race, suffering, and hundreds who never made the show - those are the ones who are really going to be driven to cheat.

There's suspicion of people taking 'supplements' even in local races, small stage races, cat 1-2-3 guys, with jobs and no hope of going professional. So in the pro's…I'm never surprised by another doping story, just saddened. If pro cycling would just get a little more humane, maybe, just maybe, some of this would get a little better. Maybe. I believe there are plenty of clean pro's out there, but they are either extreme freaks of nature (like Lance, who produces less lactate charging up L'Alpe than I do typing), or they never make it to the big time. Yes, those guys are the best of the best, better cyclists than the rest of us by far, and I understand that their racing performances are going to be light years ahead of the amateurs, but they are still human.

Galen Mittermann

Eugene, Oregon, USA
Thursday, December 15, 2005

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Dope so you can #2

I know this doesn't have much to do with cycling, but…Comrade J.E McHugh ought to get off the soap box and recall a bit of sports history. It may be true that the, "...capitalist-consumerist culture teaches us from a young age...to win at any cost," but I remember that the state-sponsored sport institutes of the various communist/socialist evil empire crowd were pretty good at giving their athletes the same message and had doping well organised. Didn't WE always assume that THEY were cheaters, so if WE cheated it was only to keep up with THEM? Wait a second! That sounds a lot like one of the rationalisations I read all the time for pro cycling. Maybe some people will always cheat to get ahead regardless of economic or political persuasion?

Capitalist Running Dog Lackey

Jeff Donaghue
Saturday, December 17, 2005

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Sanctions for doping - episode 99

I am pleased to see David Miller back in Division 1/ ProTour next year as I always liked his style, although I do think he was over-rated outside of TT's. I do wonder out loud, however, whether a two-year ban for EPO use is sufficient, and whether a relatively lax regime of penalties has something to do with our beloved sport's guerrilla war with drug cheats.

If we put it in the context of other areas of employment, cycling is remarkably easy on those who let it down and threaten its existence. Think about the finance industry; hardly a week goes by without us reading about some bank manager who pulled off a fraud to feed his gambling habit. The sentence is something like 3-5 years in jail PLUS they will probably never work with cash ever again. The same thing goes for stockbrokers and company executives that get busted insider trading. No-one ever thinks of employing them again. They have sinned and are binned.

Cycling soft peddles this issue to the extreme. A two-year forced holiday, and barely any reputation damage is the gauntlet to be run when a pro looks longingly at that jar of Aranesp or Epogen. Think of all the "champions" who are still riding (or recently retired) who have got black marks on a drug testers sheet, who are still highly paid role models...Gilberto Simoni, Stefano Garzelli, Richard Virenque, Laurent Dufaux, Christophe Moureau, Johan Museeuw. I still love these guys, and the reason I do is because of the way that their "fraud" is treated by Cycling as much as it is about me. Something to mull over Christmas. Happy riding to all.

Andrew Cowlishaw

Beach Road, Victoria, Australia
Friday, December 16, 2005

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Allan Butler tribute

I had the privilege to work with Allan Butler at the Intermountain Radiopharmacy in Salt Lake City, Utah. I met Al just after returning from three years of active duty in the Army, the last nine months of my tour in combat on the Pakistan border in Eastern Afghanistan. I rode with Allan many times delivering early AM radiopharmaceutical doses with the mandatory "side stop" at Starbucks for a caramel macchiato latte (Al's recommendation). During these trips, I found we had many things in common, despite our differences in occupation and backgrounds. Our conversations usually ended up being about hunting for the perfect house, physical training and exchanging quotes from the movie "Full Metal Jacket".

What impressed me the most about Al was his straightforward candour and his drive to compete and succeed; the very qualities of the soldiers and marines I trained and fought with overseas. Although Al was a civilian, he had a warrior's heart and spirit. He reminded me of the many students I encountered as an instructor at the Army's Special Warfare Centre. If students did not possess the qualities of candour, physical fitness, and the will to succeed despite physical and environmental hardship, they simply washed out. Al possessed all these qualities and then some. Had he been a soldier, Al could have easily led Army Rangers or Special Forces and "accomplish the mission", just as he did with his cycling. Unfortunately, like many warriors of his calibre, his life ended much too early.

Al was the "hardest civilian" I have ever known. He was a true warrior.

It is my earnest hope that Al's example will continue to inspire his team mates to train and succeed so his legacy as a cyclist and warrior will endure.

Mike Montoya
Thursday, December 22, 2005

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Recent letters pages

Letters 2005

• December 9: Basso at Giro 2006, Heras EPO test procedure, The Heras case, Where are all of Heras' supporters?, Heras and drugs, Do you have to ask why?, Dope so you can, Global doping, The burden of proof, Chasing an inevitable high, EPO, Colorado State Patrol, SFGP - Bring it back!
• December 2: Heras EPO test procedure, Heras - three times lucky, The Heras case, Another profile in disappointment, SFGP - Bring it back!, San Francisco Grand Prix, San Francisco GP, Tyler Hamilton, Chasing an inevitable high, Circumstantial evidence, The burden of proof, Global Doping, Graeme Obree, Moron or marketing genius, Exciting again
• November 25: San Francisco GP, San Fran Grand Prix, San Fran GP, San Francisco city supervisor responds, A tale of two cities, Tyler Hamilton - UCI leaks, Wire in the blood part II, Tyler Hamilton, Hamilton wait time, Heras - three times lucky?, What is the UCI doing?, Exciting again, Le Tour will live on without Armstrong, Moron or marketing genius, A modest proposal, Weekend club racing world championships
• November 18: Heras - three times lucky?, What is the UCI doing?, Exciting again, 2006 Tour de France, Positive urine EPO tests, Le Tour will live on without Armstrong, LeBlanc's Tour snub of Armstrong, Tour of Southland, Schlimmer response, Exercise-induced asthma
• November 11: LeBlanc's Tour snub of Armstrong, Exciting again, Le Tour will live on without Armstrong, Armstrong, the TdF, etc, The 2006 Tour de France and Lance, Lance, Le Tour and Ethics, Armstrong snub at Tour presentation, Pro wrestling and cycling, Swimming and Cycling, What TdF?, Fair justice, Another doping letter, Where has common sense gone?, Technology in cycling, Schlimmer
• November 4: LeBlanc's Tour snub of Armstrong, The 2006 Tour de France and Lance, Le Tour de malcontent, Tour de France 2006, What TdF?, Le Tour wounded, Gossip ruins cycling, EPO, Exercise-induced asthma, Dick Pound and soccer, Tour of US, Tour of California, Swimming and Cycling
• October 28: Le Tour de Malcontent, LeBlanc's Tour snub of Armstrong, Caution needed, TdF 2006, Has cycling become a honky tonk sport?, Tristan Hoffman, UN effort to fight doping in sport, UCI ProTour, Cam Jennings, Exercise-induced asthma, Chris Sheppard is a class act, Why?, Crocodile Trophy - worlds' toughest race?
• October 14: Infallible doping tests?, Get on with your life, Doping. What else?, Pound versus Armstrong, Hamilton, etc, L'Equipe forgot - or not, John Lieswyn, Eddy Merckx
• October 7: John Lieswyn, Bravo, Lieswyn, 1999 Tour de France urine samples, Allan Butler, Tyler Hamilton, Doping versus biomechanical enhancements, Doping control, McQuaid's image, Comment on Chris Horner at Zuri Metzgete, Scientific proof, Thank goodness Moreno lost, What has happened to American Cycling?, Pound versus Armstrong, Hamilton, etc, French bias
• September 30: Petacchi and McEwen's reactions, Ale-Jet, Ale-Jet blasts his critics..., Petacchi's class, Petacchi, Bravo, Lieswyn, French bias, Tom Danielson, What has happened to American Cycling?, Quote of the year, At the heart of the matter, Lance's EPO tests, Doping control, On Pound and the like, Pound Ill informed, Verbruggen is wrong, Doping and apparel
• September 23: A quick thanks, Australian worlds team, Go Mick!, Infighting, Pound Ill informed, WADA mess, Heras and the Giro, Verbruggen is wrong, Chris Sheppard busted for EPO, Explaining increases in performance, Quote of the year, Vuelta rest day observations
• September 16: Vuelta rest day observations, Australian worlds team, Explaining the increases in performance, Debate settled, doping lives on, Samuel Sanchez, Scientific proof, The perfect crime, Another topic please, CYCLINGnews.com, Doping, Illegal motivation, Illegal motivation - another possibility, Lance and the Tour de France, Drug use, Alternate Universe, WADA, Chris Sheppard busted for EPO, Just Do It
• September 9: The debate rages, Bad for cycling, Lance and the Tour de France, EPO Testing and Haematocrit, Doping, Illegal motivation, Lance the Man, Armstrong and doping, Question for Dick Pound..., Land of the Free, home of the Brave, Lance, I have a better idea, Where are the results?, Armstrong's Tour comeback, Don't make that mistake, Lance, Response to the test
• September 2: Lance Armstrong, all-American boy, Doping, Claude Droussent lies, L'Equipe credibility, Lance versus Jan, Jan versus Lance, Cold fusion and Lance, The perfect crime, EPO and the Wink Wink Standard, Germany owed four yellow jerseys?, Lance, cycling and cancer, Lance issues, The whole Lance doping issue, Neither defense nor attack, The test, Land of the Free, home of the Brave, Armstong couldn't come clean, Summarising the Lance situation, Lance's tests, Keep an open mind, Lance and doping, Check results before you wreck yourself, Seeing is believing, L'Equipe and ASO, and Lance, Lance and EPO, Aussie perspective on the upcoming worlds, A rave rather than a rant
• August 26: Lance and LeBlanc, Lance versus France, Can of worms story, The Test, Benoit Salmon wins the 1999 Tour, The perfect crime, Armstrong tests positive, L'Equipe and ASO, Lance rubbish, Lance and the French yellow press, Armstrong, EPO and WADA, Lance Downgrading Armstrong victories, Lance doping garbage, Lance versus Jan, Doping, Six stages to win the 99 tour, EPO test under scrutiny, Lance irony, Lance as a spokesman, Cyclists and politicians, Verbruggen's campaign to elect his successor, John Lieswyn, Can of worms, Americans in Paris
• August 19: Ned Overend, Guidi positive, What is going on at Phonak?, Ullrich's riding style, How about credibility from both sides?, Lieswyn's gesture
• August 12: Pro Tour 2006, Credibility from both sides?, Zabel leaves T-Mobile, Chris Horner, Ullrich's riding style, Well done Wayne!, Armstrong and class, Possible correlations
• August 5: Zabel leaves T-Mobile, Thanks from a survivor, Bicycle safety, Message for Chris Horner, Perspective, Discovery in ninth, Tech, Armstrong and class, The King of July!, Heras through rose colored glasses, Possible correlations
• July 29: Perspective, France and Lance's Legacy, Armstrong and class, Best Wishes to Louise, Levi's Diary, Heras through rose colored glasses, The King of July, Here we go again!, Treat Lance like the others, Tech, Lance Armstrong's time trial equation, Life begins at 30
• July 22: McEwen - villain to superhero, Underdogs and overdogs at the Tour, Big George, George Hincape, Hincapie's stage win, Cadel's Tour memory, What the fans would love to see, Is Godefroot really NOT the man?, A true classic, Phonak's poor sportsmanship, Phonak double standards, My new hero, Discovery Channel tactics, Lance Infomercial?, Treat Lance like the others, TdF sprint finishes, Leaky Gas?, Little black box
• July 15: The best seat in the house, Joseba Beloki, Message for Chris Horner, Treat Lance like the others, Lance Infomercial?, McEwen defense, Rail lines in the TdF, Ruse Discovered?, Discovery's unanimous breakdown, IS Jan really the man?, Cycling socks, Patrick Lefevre quit your whining, Armstrong and class, Leaky Gas?, TdF sprint finishes, Who is in charge of the UCI?, Tires and slippery roads, Response to the Vowels of Cycling, Little black box
• July 8: McEwen defends himself, Tires and slippery roads, Random test on Lance Armstrong, French Government dope controls, The Pro Tour and Grand Tours, Tour de France's early finish?, Here we go again!, Thank you, Ed Kriege, Lance Infomercial?, No, the other Merckx!, The Vowels of Cycling, Armstrong's pre-Tour communiqués, Armstrong and class
• July 1: No, the other Merckx!, Armstrong's pre-Tour communiqués, The Vowels of Cycling, Figures of merit - TdF tipping, Lance Infomercial?, Daily Terror, Sydney article, Why Michael Rogers will be awesome with T-Mobile, I love it!, MTB news, Twins
• June 24: Sydney article, Hit and run on cyclists - Australia's new blood sport?, Another fatal hit and run on Australian cyclists, How can Ullrich win the Tour?, Drop Verbruggen, The second American, When the Tour heads up, Droppin' the Kilo!, Kilo or no go, What is Michael Rogers thinking?, Rogers to T-Mobile, For the love of god don't do it Mick!, The first yellow jersey, Horner Impressive, Leave T-Mobile/Fassa Bortolo, renew your career!, Horner's stage win at the Tour de Suisse, Bobby Julich, Daily Terror, Hell on Wheels review
• June 17: Droppin' the Kilo!, Killing the kilo and 500, The kilo, Axing the Kilo?, The track Time Trials, The first yellow jersey, Armstrong and Class, The year of the comeback, Horner's stage win at the Tour de Suisse
• June 10: The year of the comeback, An open letter to Cadel Evans, How Ullrich can win the Tour, USPRO/Liberty, Lance, the Tour and the Giro, Lance and the Tour, Show us your discards Godefroot!, Armstrong and Class, Ivan's training ride, Giro comments
• June 3: Giro comments, Giro excitement vs Tour blah, Ivan Basso, Ivan's training ride, Discovering the future, Jose Rujano, Savoldelli vs Simoni, How Ullrich can win the Tour, Eddy Merckx Interview, Johan Bruyneel, Show us your discards Godefroot!, Improving Pro Tour Team Rankings, Lance and the Tour, Armstrong and class
• May 27: Giro excitement vs Tour blah, Great Giro!, Double or nothing..., Colle delle Finestre and a Cipo farewell, Joseba Beloki, Ivan's training ride, Hell on Wheels, Matt Wittig, How Ullrich can win the Tour, UCI fines, Armstrong and class, Eddy Merckx Interview, The disappointment of Viatcheslav Ekimov, You have let us down Paolo
• May 20: Colle delle Finestre tactics, Rogues, It just keeps happening, Davis Phinney, Joseba Beloki, Australia - number one, You have let us down Paolo, Bettini/Cooke, What's up with pro cyclists these days?, Cipo, Cipo, Cipo, A question about team names, The disappointment of Viatcheslav Ekimov, Go Eki!
• May 13: Hit and run, Bettini vs Cooke, Bettini's Illegal sprint, You have let us down Paolo, Giro, Bettini/Cooke, Cookie's crumble, Bjarne's right: There's only one Jens Voigt!, Jens Voigt and the blind, South Australians protest against hit-and-run death, It just keeps happening, Liberty Seguros, The disappointment of Viatcheslav Ekimov, Go Eki!, Australia - number one, Irresistible in July, UCI weight rule
• May 6: South Australians protest against hit-and-run death, Tyler Hamilton's case, Hamilton and the facts The USADA decision on Tyler Hamilton, Tyler Hamilton, Tyler, Testing and the Virenque Comparison, How do dopers live with themselves?, General view on doping, Hamilton guilty regardless of the facts, Hamilton verdict, Tyler is good going uphill, Hamilton interview, Klöden comments, Tyler H, Simoni, Grazie Mario, Sheryl Crow, or should we say...Yoko Ono
• April 29: South Australians protest against hit-and-run death, Tyler Hamilton's case, Hamilton and the facts The USADA decision on Tyler Hamilton, Tyler Hamilton, Tyler, Testing and the Virenque Comparison, How do dopers live with themselves?, General view on doping, Hamilton guilty regardless of the facts, Hamilton verdict, Tyler is good going uphill, Hamilton interview, Klöden comments, Tyler H, Simoni, Grazie Mario, Sheryl Crow, or should we say...Yoko Ono
• April 22: Lance Armstrong's retirement, W is for Witchhunt, Tyler's mishandling defense, Not for real, is it?, Bad Science, Blood testing issues, Hamilton - finally a decision, Regarding the Tyler Hamilton decision, Tyler Hamilton, Satisfying Verdict for Hamilton Case, How do dopers live with themselves?, Hamilton's case, Tyler Hamilton's case, Hamilton, Hamilton verdict and a call for outside expertise, Tyler Hamilton saga..., Tour de France preview...2006!, Klöden comments, Tour de France Training, The New Dynamic Duo, Sheryl Crow, or should we say...Yoko Ono, Random Musings
• April 15: Glenn Wilkinson, USADA and Hamilton, Bergman; so sad, ProTour leader's jersey, That's a Jersey?, Too many chiefs?, Track World Championships, What do you think?
• April 8: The New Dynamic Duo, Boonen's Hairdo, Viral infections and antibiotics, George Hincapie, What do you think?, Track World Championships, VDB?, A little bit more about blood doping, Blood testing issues
• April 1: Well done Ale-jet, Eyes of tigers..., Viral infections and antibiotics, Let's talk about cycling…, What's worth talking about in cycling?, First Ride of the season, The New Dynamic Duo, Blood testing issues, Sydney Thousand, UCI Pro Tour Grand Theft, not Grand Tour
• March 18: The Forgotten Hero!, Way to go Bobby, Bobby J, Lance has lost the ‘Eye of the tiger’, Blood testing issues and Hamilton, With all Due Respect, All this Lance Talk..., Is Lance getting soft?
• March 11: Blood testing issues and Hamilton, Cycling on TV, In Defence of UCI president Hein Verbruggen, Defending the Pro Tour?, Is Lance getting soft?, Lance has lost the "eye of the tiger"
• March 4: In Defence of the Pro-Tour, Grand Tours back down...for now, Armstrong and Simeoni,Help - what’s on the TV?, Cycling on TV, Lance Defends His Title!, Hamilton movie role downplayed, Blood testing issues and Hamilton, I really don't know when it happened
• February 25: Lance Defends His Title!, Build it and tear it down?, Build, dismantle and donate!, Lance's Hour Record attempt, I really don't know when it happened, Can't get enough!, Dream on
• February 18: Build it and tear it down?, Remember Marco, One Reason I Love Cycling, The ongoing Hour Record Saga, Lance’s Hour Record attempt, Can't get enough!
• February 11: One Reason I Love Cycling, Francisco Cuevas, F-One - Come down to earth Lance!, Armstrong and the Hour, Can't get enough!, Greatest of all time
• February 4: F-One - Come down to earth Lance!, Armstrong and the Hour, Armstrong and Simeoni, Can't get enough!, Help, Greatest of all time Eddy is King, but who is second best?
• January 28: "I am the greatest of all time", Armstrong and the Hour Record, F-One - Come down to earth Lance!, Lance Drug Probe, Armstrong and Simeoni, Can’t get enough!, Help, NBC's 2004 RAAM Coverage, Doping, Crash distance from 1km to 3km, Eddy is King, but who is second best?
• January 21: Professional Cyclists, Der Kaiser's Goals, Jan Ullrich's problem = Lance, Rider of the Year, Crash distance from 1km to 3km, Help, Lance vs. Eddy
• January 14: Der Kaiser's goals, Help, Foreign stage races, Lance vs. Eddy, Tour '05, Rider of the Year, Best bikes for heavy riders, Quick Step helmets
• January 7: Death of Dmitri Neliubin, Der Kaiser’s goals, Rider of the Year, Best bikes for heavy riders, Who's Greater? Come on now!, Virenque "most charismatic"?, Downhilling, Downhill time trial, Trendy cyclists, No flat tyres, Spring classics trip advice, Bettini's trainer
• January 3: Spring classics trip advice, Big Bear ends downhilling, Armstrong and Simeoni, Holding teams accountable, Downhill time trial, Trendy cyclists, Bettini's trainer, No flat tyres

Letters 2004

• December 24 letters - Why are cyclists so trendy?, Business and cycling, Big Bear ends downhilling, Off-bike weight gain, No flat tires, Armstrong and Simeoni
• December 17 letters - Business and cycling, Tom versus Axel , Big Bear ends downhilling, Shane Perkins, Spring classics trip advice, Tyler Hamilton, Phonak and the UCI, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Mark Webber interview, Armstrong and Simeoni, Injured and missing it: an update, Clyde Sefton
• December 10 letters - Why are cyclists so trendy?, Big Bear ends downhilling, Floyd's choices?, Merckx, fit and trim, Pound must go, Spring classics trip advice, Tyler Hamilton, Phonak and the UCI, Punishment: Vandenbroucke vs Hamilton, Prosthetic hip, Armstrong and Simeoni, Dave Fuentes, Homeopathy, Jeremy Yates, TDF coverage for Australia, Weight limits and maintenance, Mark Webber interview
• December 3 letters - Domestiques vs Lieutenants, Tyler Hamilton, Phonak and the UCI, Dave Fuentes, Santa vs Hairy Guy, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Mark French and homeopathy, Shane Perkins, Jeremy Yates, Weight limits and maintenance, UCI regulations, Armstrong and Simeoni, Prosthetic hip
• November 26 letters - Mark French and homeopathy, Two big guns in one team, Tyler Hamilton case, Bartoli's retirement, Dave Fuentes, Shane Perkins, Merckx and Armstrong, Training like Lance, Lance Armstrong, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Phonak gets what it deserves, Armstrong and Simeoni, Bike weight, Spouseless riders, Mary McConneloug, Adam Craig, Mark Webber interview, Santa vs Hairy Guy
• November 19 letters - Tyler Hamilton case, Phonak gets what it deserves, Are you there Mr Coates?, Bike Weight, Merckx and Maertens make up, Heart troubles, Where to find cycling spouses, Mark Webber interview, Lance Armstrong, Where's Greg?, What ever happened to..., Why are cyclists so trendy?, Armstrong and Simeoni, l'Etape du Tour registration, Still Laughing
• November 12 letters - Why Armstrong will ride the 2005 Tour, Scott Sunderland, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Armstrong and Simeoni, Where to find cycling spouses, Lance on Italian selection, Heart troubles, l'Etape du Tour registration, Tour 2005 team time trial, What ever happened to..., Love and a yellow bike
• November 5 letters - Love and a yellow bike, Tour 2005, Where to find cycling spouses, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Lance on Italian selection, Armstrong and Simeoni, Tour of Southland, Construction technique for veloway, Heart troubles, l'Etape du Tour registration, Rahsaan Bahati
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