greg lemond tour team?



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I just looked at greglemond.com for the first time and saw that one of his future goals is to put
together a team that can ride in the TdF.

Does he currently manage a team or have involvement with any other than as a figurehead for trek's
sponsored teams?

I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future or if its one of his "dreams"
like racing in th indy 500..

Surely, he must have the experience to do what sean yates and the like are doing at the moment...
 
Me wrote:
> I just looked at greglemond.com for the first time and saw that one of his future goals is to put
> together a team that can ride in the TdF.
>
> Does he currently manage a team or have involvement with any other than as a figurehead for trek's
> sponsored teams?
>
> I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future or if its one of his "dreams"
> like racing in th indy 500..
>
> Surely, he must have the experience to do what sean yates and the like are doing at the moment...
>
>

Imagine the inner turmoil he'll suffer if one of his riders wins the TdF and he has to say something
like, "If he's doping it's one of the greatest frauds in sports."
 
On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:34:45 -0000, "Me" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future or if its one of his "dreams"
>like racing in th indy 500..

Greg wasn't a bad race car driver and could probably qualify at Indy. If Patrick Bedard
managed it...

--
Scott Johnson
"Here's an idea of how you can change global events: quit smoking
pot long enough to register to vote!" -ddt
 
"Top Sirloin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:34:45 -0000, "Me" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future
or if its
> >one of his "dreams" like racing in th indy 500..
>
> Greg wasn't a bad race car driver and could probably qualify at
Indy. If Patrick
> Bedard managed it...

Why don't YOU try driving on the brickyard at speed. Very few people can do it in practice, you see
how many are competent to do it at racing speeds.
 
Top Sirloin <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:34:45 -0000, "Me" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future or if its one of his "dreams"
> >like racing in th indy 500..
>
> Greg wasn't a bad race car driver and could probably qualify at Indy. If Patrick Bedard
> managed it...

While LeMond wasn't that bad of a driver, he wasn't that good of one either. With his name and the
support that he had, he would have made it to the CART or INDY ranks if his skills were there. He
was a sufficient F3000 and TA driver. In cycling terms, more or less a good cat 2 or capable cat 1 .
 
On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 02:15:53 GMT, "Tom Kunich" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"Top Sirloin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:34:45 -0000, "Me" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future
>or if its
>> >one of his "dreams" like racing in th indy 500..
>>
>> Greg wasn't a bad race car driver and could probably qualify at
>Indy. If Patrick
>> Bedard managed it...
>
>Why don't YOU try driving on the brickyard at speed. Very few people can do it in practice, you see
>how many are competent to do it at racing speeds.

Ok, are you going to set up the ride or what? :)

Besides, it wasn't about me, this was about Greg, who did pretty damn good in a spec formula against
a bunch of kids who had been racing their whole lives.

There are some **** pack fodder drivers who make it into the field every year by just turning the
downforce up high enough that all they have to do is turn left 16 times.

--
Scott Johnson
"The fat burning zone is what chunky butts use
as an excuse to not break a sweat." - Richard Smith
 
"Tom Kunich" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Top Sirloin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:34:45 -0000, "Me" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future
> or if its
> > >one of his "dreams" like racing in th indy 500..
> >
> > Greg wasn't a bad race car driver and could probably qualify at
> Indy. If Patrick
> > Bedard managed it...
>
> Why don't YOU try driving on the brickyard at speed. Very few people can do it in practice, you
> see how many are competent to do it at racing speeds.

If chicks can do it...
 
My sources tell me he was **** bike handler in the pack. Perhaps this explains his driving success.

[email protected] (Bill Laudien) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Top Sirloin <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:34:45 -0000, "Me" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future or if its one of his
> > >"dreams" like racing in th indy 500..
> >
> > Greg wasn't a bad race car driver and could probably qualify at Indy. If Patrick Bedard
> > managed it...
>
> While LeMond wasn't that bad of a driver, he wasn't that good of one either. With his name and
> the support that he had, he would have made it to the CART or INDY ranks if his skills were
> there. He was a sufficient F3000 and TA driver. In cycling terms, more or less a good cat 2 or
> capable cat 1 .
 
"Top Sirloin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 02:15:53 GMT, "Tom Kunich"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >"Top Sirloin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:34:45 -0000, "Me" <[email protected]>
wrote:
> >>
> >> >I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near
future
> >or if its
> >> >one of his "dreams" like racing in th indy 500..
> >>
> >> Greg wasn't a bad race car driver and could probably qualify at
> >Indy. If Patrick
> >> Bedard managed it...
> >
> >Why don't YOU try driving on the brickyard at speed. Very few
people
> >can do it in practice, you see how many are competent to do it at racing speeds.
>
> Ok, are you going to set up the ride or what? :)
>
> Besides, it wasn't about me, this was about Greg, who did pretty
damn good in a
> spec formula against a bunch of kids who had been racing their whole
lives.
>
> There are some **** pack fodder drivers who make it into the field
every year by
> just turning the downforce up high enough that all they have to do
is turn left
> 16 times.

When I was racing motorcycles we used to have lunch at a place where a bunch of local car races hung
out and they told brickyard stories. One of them was one hell and gone fast fast fast driver. He
told me this story about going out for a practice session. Rookies have to wear helmets with a white
stripe down the middle. As you approach the turn you are required to look BOTH sides of the car as
you drop into the turn.

This was a guy that was famous for his cornering skill. He told me that he was dropping into the
corners so fast that his nose was about to bleed and he was being slammed against the sides of the
car so hard that later he had pains for a week. As he dropped into the first turn he turned his head
left and Foyt went by 30 mph faster that he was going. He turned his head left and Unser went by on
that side at least as fast. He pulled back into the pits and got out and never tried again. He said
that if they were that much faster he didn't feel he had any chance at all.

I also talked to an Indy mechanic who told this story: I was all alone with the cars after a
practice session. There was no one else on the track. I decided that I wanted to drive one of the
cars around the track to see how hard it was. (In those days the cars only had a two speed
transmission - a starting gear and a running gear - I don't know anything about them today (tom).) I
took the car out in low gear and got it up to about 60 mph and started to press down on the
accelerator and the car swapped ends MANY TIMES so fast that I couldn't do anything but hold on and
prey. After getting it stopped I thought that I had to get the car up to speed before giving it the
gas. So I got it up to about 120 on the back straight in high gear and started to press the
accelerator and IT DID THE SAME THING. I spun down the back straight, luckily in a straight line and
finally the car stopped without damage to anything but the tires. I idled it back into the garage
and never sat in a car again.

I know that I took a race car out one time. No big deal, it was a NASCAR roadracer. I was an ok
motorcycle racer and pretty used to speeds up to 140 or so. This car was sort of like that. When you
got the car into the power band it would accelerate so hard up to 150 that I only did it once and
then brought it back into the pits. As fast as any car you've ever been in would accelerate in low
gear - as hard as it would press you back - that Rambler would do it from 130 mph to 150 mph.

Car racing is for psychos. After suffering some fairly minor but often spills on the track and then
watching friends get hurt pretty seriously and seeing a couple of guys killed and then having Cal
Rayborn die in some really stupid track accident, I gave that up. Raced sailboats until the expense
got to be just too much.

Believe me, bike racing is where it's at. There is absolutely nothing that compares to it. Nothing.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Bill Laudien) wrote:

> Top Sirloin <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 19:34:45 -0000, "Me" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >I'm curious if he plans to have a european team in the near future or if its one of his
> > >"dreams" like racing in th indy 500..
> >
> > Greg wasn't a bad race car driver and could probably qualify at Indy. If Patrick Bedard
> > managed it...
>
> While LeMond wasn't that bad of a driver, he wasn't that good of one either. With his name and
> the support that he had, he would have made it to the CART or INDY ranks if his skills were
> there. He was a sufficient F3000 and TA driver. In cycling terms, more or less a good cat 2 or
> capable cat 1 .

Bill, I can't really remember Greg Lemond having particularly great support in any of his car
racing. It was good, but never great, and that does make a big difference. (I do agree with your
cycling equivalency rating, though I think I'd lean more toward the cat 1 end of the scale.) One
aspect of this is the ability to communicate what the car is doing to the crew so they can make
appropriate changes - perhaps Lemond wasn't very good at that. Another angle is the ability of a
driver to be able to market himself and his (or her) team to the public. I think the dynamic
there is different for car racers than for bike racers. A lack of that can kill your chances at
getting (or keeping) a good ride. That's how a guy like Eddie Lawson (four time World Champion on
500 GP motorcycles) ended up without a team - he was a very good driver with great technical
communication skills, but he seemed pretty boring on TV. I'd think that in the US, a champion
motorcycle racer would have (slightly???) better name recognition than a champion bike racer
(even with the Tour wins). That may not be true with Lance Armstrong, however. The people running
around at the back of the race in F1 or Indy may seem like schlubs relative to the guys at the
front, but relative to the average driver on the street, they've got very good driving skills
(generally speaking). In other words, it's not as easy as people like to think it is.

--
tanx, Howard

"Girls won't touch me 'cuz I got a misdirection..."
Pere Ubu

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?
 
Originally posted by Howard Kveck

"Girls won't touch me 'cuz I got a misdirection..."
Pere Ubu


Pere Ubu... haven't heard that in ten years. 15 year(guessing here?) ago I saw him at Paradiso, Amsterdam. A great experience.
 
Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<YOURhoward-
>
> Bill, I can't really remember Greg Lemond having particularly great support in any of his car
> racing. It was good, but never great, and that does make a big difference.

http://outside.away.com/magazine/0397/9703felemond.html

LeMond, being LeMond, has attracted some pretty special treatment that has enabled him to make
surprising progress in his new profession. According to Gibson, LeMond's sponsor is forking over
some $150,000 this year to help him shinny up his steep learning curve. Miller Milling Company
sponsors two other less-storied but more accomplished drivers, John C. Miller and Steve Knapp.
Knapp, a lanky, laconic man who vaguely resembles Ron Howard and who won the 1996 Formula Ford 2000
Championship, is the best driver in the world in his class. He has assumed the task of nursemaiding
LeMond at Buttonwillow, and he often climbs behind the wheel himself to demonstrate fine points.
This has definite advantages. It's like having, say, Greg LeMond teach you how to ride a bike
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Tuschinski <[email protected]> wrote:

> Howard Kveck wrote:
> > "Girls won't touch me 'cuz I got a misdirection..."
> > Pere Ubu
> Pere Ubu... haven't heard that in ten years. 15 year(guessing here?) agoI saw him at Paradiso,
> Amsterdam. A great experience.
> --

I got their first records back in the late '70s - very cool and different stuff. I saw David
Thomas in a reunion show with the band (Rocket from the Tombs) he'd been in before Ubu a month or
so ago. He was always a big guy, now he's positively huge.

--
tanx, Howard

"Girls won't touch me 'cuz I got a misdirection..."
Pere Ubu

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Bill Laudien) wrote:

> Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<YOURhoward-
> >
> > Bill, I can't really remember Greg Lemond having particularly great support in any of his car
> > racing. It was good, but never great, and that does make a big difference.
>
> http://outside.away.com/magazine/0397/9703felemond.html
>
> LeMond, being LeMond, has attracted some pretty special treatment that has enabled him to make
> surprising progress in his new profession. According to Gibson, LeMond's sponsor is forking over
> some $150,000 this year to help him shinny up his steep learning curve. Miller Milling Company
> sponsors two other less-storied but more accomplished drivers, John C. Miller and Steve Knapp.
> Knapp, a lanky, laconic man who vaguely resembles Ron Howard and who won the 1996 Formula Ford
> 2000 Championship, is the best driver in the world in his class. He has assumed the task of
> nursemaiding LeMond at Buttonwillow, and he often climbs behind the wheel himself to demonstrate
> fine points. This has definite advantages. It's like having, say, Greg LeMond teach you how to
> ride a bike.

Thanks for the link; I'd forgotten that he did have some pretty good people around him when he
started out racing cars. I vaguely remember it not lasting very long, though. I don't pay much
attention to car racing now
- I lost interest in it a long time ago.

--
tanx, Howard

"Girls won't touch me 'cuz I got a misdirection..."
Pere Ubu

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?
 
Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote:
> Tuschinski <[email protected]> wrote:

> > Pere Ubu... haven't heard that in ten years. 15 year(guessing here?) agoI saw him at Paradiso,
> > Amsterdam. A great experience.

> I got their first records back in the late '70s - very cool and different stuff. I saw David
> Thomas in a reunion show with the band (Rocket from the Tombs) he'd been in before Ubu a month
> or so ago. He was always a big guy, now he's positively huge.

Damn, I had no idea they were touring. I need to get out more. If there were an award for person
least likely to reveal himself as a natural born entertainer, David Thomas would win it. The guy has
presence. I have fond memories of seeing him careen around the stage at an outdoor concert in
Central Park, arms flailing, playing the theremin.

If Greg Lemond forms a team to ride the Tour, they will be very sucessful - every year they'll have
the virtual winner.
 
In article <3ff49d17$1@darkstar>, Benjamin Weiner <[email protected]>
wrote:

> Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Tuschinski <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> > > Pere Ubu... haven't heard that in ten years. 15 year(guessing here?) agoI saw him at Paradiso,
> > > Amsterdam. A great experience.
>
> > I got their first records back in the late '70s - very cool and different stuff. I saw David
> > Thomas in a reunion show with the band (Rocket from the Tombs) he'd been in before Ubu a
> > month or so ago. He was always a big guy, now he's positively huge.
>
> Damn, I had no idea they were touring. I need to get out more. If there were an award for person
> least likely to reveal himself as a natural born entertainer, David Thomas would win it. The guy
> has presence. I have fond memories of seeing him careen around the stage at an outdoor concert in
> Central Park, arms flailing, playing the theremin.

RftT has a disc out - tapes of live shows and rehearsals and a smattering of studio stuff. It's
pretty good, really. They may actually go in and record the old songs now and release it later
this year. The funny thing about that show was everyone in the band dressed in jeans and t-shirts
except D Thomas - he's in a suit with nicely trimmed beard. Very dapper. "Where's my gimpy old
man chair," he said. A friend I ran into there said it was like seeing Sebastian Cabot (the guy
from Family Affair, not the explorer, ya know...) singing for a punk band. Pere Ubu was through
about a year ago.

> If Greg Lemond forms a team to ride the Tour, they will be very sucessful - every year they'll
> have the virtual winner.

I imagine for the first year they would go for virtual stage wins, then
the virtual GC later. Gotta set proper goals and a sequence to achieve them.

--
tanx, Howard

"Girls won't touch me 'cuz I got a misdirection..."
Pere Ubu

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?
 
Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote:

> ... D Thomas - he's in a suit with nicely trimmed beard. Very dapper. "Where's my gimpy old man
> chair," he said. A friend I ran into there said it was like seeing Sebastian Cabot (the guy from
> Family Affair, not the explorer, ya know...) singing for a punk band. Pere Ubu was through about a
> year ago.

Egad. A friend in high school had a record of Sebastian Cabot reading, in dramatic poetic style, the
lyrical works of one
Mr. Bob Dylan. I **** you not. It was terrifying. We used to put it on at parties. I can still hear
him orating "It Ain't Me, Babe." Naw, naw, naw, it ain't me, babe.

Holy ****, everything is on the web these days: http://franklarosa.com/vinyl/Exhibit.jsp?AlbumID=63

> > If Greg Lemond forms a team to ride the Tour, they will be very sucessful - every year they'll
> > have the virtual winner.

> I imagine for the first year they would go for virtual stage wins, then
> the virtual GC later. Gotta set proper goals and a sequence to achieve them.

The first year they ride the Tour, their young prospect will be held back from the virtual GC by the
virtual ambitions of their fading, but still vital, star.
 
In article <3ff52fa4$1@darkstar>, Benjamin Weiner <[email protected]>
wrote:

> Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > ... D Thomas - he's in a suit with nicely trimmed beard. Very dapper. "Where's my gimpy old man
> > chair," he said. A friend I ran into there said it was like seeing Sebastian Cabot (the guy from
> > Family Affair, not the explorer, ya know...) singing for a punk band. Pere Ubu was through about
> > a year ago.
>
> Egad. A friend in high school had a record of Sebastian Cabot reading, in dramatic poetic style,
> the lyrical works of one
> Mr. Bob Dylan. I **** you not. It was terrifying. We used to put it on at parties. I can still
> hear him orating "It Ain't Me, Babe." Naw, naw, naw, it ain't me, babe.
>
> Holy ****, everything is on the web these days:
> http://franklarosa.com/vinyl/Exhibit.jsp?AlbumID=63

Nice. With that rendition of "Who Killed Davey Moore", he manages to make Dylan's lyrics sound
like a fifth rate rip-off of Dr. Seuss. "A Dramatic Reading With Music"... heh, snicker,
guffaw, etc.

>
> > > If Greg Lemond forms a team to ride the Tour, they will be very sucessful - every year they'll
> > > have the virtual winner.
>
> > I imagine for the first year they would go for virtual stage wins, then
> > the virtual GC later. Gotta set proper goals and a sequence to achieve them.
>
> The first year they ride the Tour, their young prospect will be held back from the virtual GC by
> the virtual ambitions of their fading, but still vital, star.

He'd have to say his brakes were virtually rubbing for the first hundred kilometers every day.

--
tanx, Howard

"Girls won't touch me 'cuz I got a misdirection..."
Pere Ubu

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?
 
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