Lance mania! Bookstores, bikes...what next?

Bill Henry said:

...and has anyone else browsed through the bicycling section recently?

At least half of the books seem to be about Lance Armstrong - either
written by him, his mom, or his coach, etc.

I'll admit that he's a great athlete and an inspirational success, but
I'll also be glad when he retires. Right now we've got way too much
focus on him and almost nothing else.

It's his day, dude.

Quoted message said:

There are still some good books out there, but the media has really
latched on to him and nothing else. Forty year old guys with 3 grand to
spend and a pot belly are taking up bicycling for the first time.
They'll ride for a few months, maybe, but probably not much longer, and
then all their stuff will go on Ebay.

So what? I was once that guy, now I'm the Ebay shopper with a garage
full of bikes.

Quoted message said:

Bike shops couldn't care less, though. They don't care that people
actually ride bikes, so much as BUY bikes. Bicycling magazine will have
you believe every year that last years bikes sucked and THIS year is the
time to buy.

Bike shops have always sold bikes for a living -- or do you remember a
time when they just held rides and repair clinics?

Quoted message said:

Anyhow, I suppose it's no different than any other sport. Tiger Woods
and golf is another example perhaps worth discussing. But that's for
another newsgroup, also.

Golf isn't a sport, it's something less. Cycling isn't a sport, it's
something more.

"Bill Henry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

...and has anyone else browsed through the bicycling section recently?

At least half of the books seem to be about Lance Armstrong - either
written by him, his mom, or his coach, etc.

I'll admit that he's a great athlete and an inspirational success, but
I'll also be glad when he retires. Right now we've got way too much focus
on him and almost nothing else.

There are still some good books out there, but the media has really
latched on to him and nothing else. Forty year old guys with 3 grand to
spend and a pot belly are taking up bicycling for the first time. They'll
ride for a few months, maybe, but probably not much longer, and then all
their stuff will go on Ebay.

Quoted message said:

Bike shops couldn't care less, though. They don't care that people
actually ride bikes, so much as BUY bikes. Bicycling magazine will have
you believe every year that last years bikes sucked and THIS year is the
time to buy.

Nobody ever said Americans don't like a winner and with Armstrong they've
got the whole star-spangled package (or so they want everyone to believe).
Wrapped up in a nice tidy bow by the Madison Avenue smoothies and the rest
of the henchmen looking to cash in. Delivered to the doorstep of the
anesthetized consumer and the effect is complete. A good anecdote for
cynicism, anyone?

Bill Henry said:

Forty year old guys with 3 grand to spend and a pot belly
are taking up bicycling for the first time. They'll ride
for a few months, maybe, but probably not much longer,
and then all their stuff will go on Ebay.

Good, I'll be looking for some cheap, barely-used bike stuff on eBay in
a few months!

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)

I agree on that. Two guys I hate to watch is Lance Armstrong and Tiger
Woods.
Why is the media is so much put these guys in front page? We know
what's the
media is going to say.