(excerpt from Velo News, February)
The following is an excerpt from a report about a recent press conference with Lance Armstrong which appeared in VeloNews. Despite the reporter's attempts to discount recumbent bikes, Lance admitted he would try one in the Tour De France if they were allowed. The "OG" was Velo's id for the reporter, apparently an "older gentleman". (OG) The Velo News writer who wrote the article thought it "weird" that Lance should even consider a recumbent bicycle (typical wedgie 'tude). Ignoring that annoying attitude, the exchange remains interesting and impressive.
OG: Um,
who makes...your bike?
LANCE: Who makes it? Trek.
OG: Trek makes the bike, and then you have the Shimano derailleurs and
parts...
LANCE: All that, right.
OG: Yeah, all that. You've heard of, I assume, a ‘recumbent bike' - a sit
down bike?
LANCE: I've heard of it, but I've never tried it.
OG: Never tried it. Well, they claim to have the world record on the
flats.
LANCE: Right...
OG: I tried one...
LANCE: [interrupting] Well, one of them sits three feet off the
ground and the other sits about six feet off the ground, so aerodynamically,
it's far superior.
OG: Yeah. Would that type of bike be legal in the Tour de France?
LANCE: No, totally illegal, [fighting back a laugh] one hundred percent.
If it were legal, we would have tried it by now.
OG: Well, it's got two wheels...
LANCE: Yeah, but you have to have a traditional geometry. They call it
double triangle. We'll get you a rulebook. [At this point Armstrong allows
himself a laugh] And when they pass it, believe me, we'll be on it.
OG: The thing is, I noticed when I tried it, going up hills, it was
much more difficult. I slowed down, and of course the owner then told me
that you have to develop the muscles, you know, if you're going to go uphill...
LANCE: He told you that you have to train. That's right, that's what he
should have told you. [Laughter and applause from a disbelieving audience]
OG: Yeah, but I don't go very fast.
LANCE: Well, you gotta train!
OG: Really? Well in comparisons with the slow, average rider, they can
get on the ‘regular geometry' type of bike and go up hills a certain speed, they
would probably get on these recumbents and go uphill a little bit slower,
where as on the flats they might go about a third faster. Anybody in here, uh,
ever taken one out one of these...?
LANCE: Nope. But our only opinion is that when we can figure out how to
use it, we'll try. We'd better talk to Trek. They may not make those. If they
don't make them, then we're not riding them. [More laughter fills the room]
source: Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: Who was that guy?
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