NYC event - Greg Lemond

[54ny77]

Hey folks, this will be cool:

http://www.ichallengemyself.org/HOME.asp

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Meet Tour De France Winner Greg LeMond

Interactive conversation followed by question and answer session from 7:00-9:00PM. Tickets $35. Dinner and wine cash bar.

Dinner with Greg LeMond (includes admittance to interactive conversation) from 9:00-10:00PM. Ticket $200. Space is limited to 30 guests.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

City Winery, 155 Varick Street
(Between Spring & Vandam Sts.)
NY, NY 10013

Proceeds to benefit I Challenge Myself youth fitness and cycling programs.

I Challenge Myself is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and all proceeds are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.


Ana M. Reyes
President and Founder
I Challenge Myself
1460 Broadway, Ste. 1013
New York, NY 10036
O: 212-735-7849
C: 646-489-0659
www.ichallengemyself.org

[54ny77]

Here's a reminder & location where tickets can be purchased. Look forward to meeting any VSalon members--if you're going, shoot me a PM, we'll figure out a way to meet up!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/87986

[54ny77]

Bump...

Cheers!

[pdmtong]

When GL came by my LBS for an evening of chat and slide show, I found him to be very insightful and engaging...not at all what I expected given his media persona on lance and floyd and doping. It was a GREAT evening.

I'll never forget the small talk before the actual event started, and he was talking about some minor surgery, and then all of a sudden it got to the shotgun topic, and then there is greg lifting up his shirt to show a few of us his surgery scar. maybe TMI but how odd/cool/whacked is that?

Greg signed posters for everyone..mine hangs next to andy on my wall. see post #26

[54ny77]

What a GREAT event!!!!

I'll post pics & a review later...

Fantastic turnout, including a couple of cycling notables: John Eustice & Jonathan Vaughters.

Greg's stories about racing in the pro peloton back in the day: priceless.

[54ny77]

Where to begin? Cool stories about racing against Fignon & Hinault in the tour (and other races); getting offered money by the Italians (who wanted to win the worlds); fantastic recounting of racing in NYC as a junior back in the late 70's; adoption of the then-nascent Giro aero helmet; aero bars (and how it was Fignon's manager that told him not to use the aero bars in that famous '89 TT, potentially costing him the win); the nascar-style car battles of his team manager vs. that of Fignon's manager during the '89 Tour (LeMond's driver was slamming into Fignon's driver on crazy mountain roads, preventing him from passing!); race tactics and the master tacticians of the day (Guimard); racing with Rock Shox in Paris Roubaix; physiology & biomechanics (how the important things haven't really changed in many years); how a certain Cinelli frame (yellow) with Campy was the object of desire as a kid in Reno; paying an astonishing $8 for bacon & eggs back in the early 80's at a fancy hotel restaurant here in NYC while negotiating his European pro contract....so much good stuff!

One funny part was when he described how he's been going on ebay, etc. to buy back stuff he sees being put up for sale that he gave away years ago ("Hey, that's my jersey!"). He's trying to gather stuff & preserve it for his kids. Also touched on doping issues & the roles of organizations in cycling. Couple of funny quips on his battles with a certain Texan...

Sad points were how he described his continuing battle with lead poisoning (which is getting worse) due to the hunting accident, and how he can't do any exercise with significant duration. The lead trickles into his bloodstream the more his body is working at high energy levels (I forget the medical term he used for it). He's hoping for a major development in minimally invasive surgery to remove the numerous shot pellets in his body (which, if I remember correctly, were also in or near his heart).

Greg had several comments in terms of how his life has been threatened due to all the things he's said about the sport of cycling, and that when he dies, the direct evidence he's got on certain matters will find their way into the media. That was a slightly unnerving statement.

Also in the audience was Jonathan Vaughters as well as local legend John Eustice. Attending of course was Kathy LeMond--what a wonderful lady, I had a few moments to chat with her and she was so gracious.

What I saw more than anything with Greg was an honest, genuine enthusiasm for cycling. The guy cares. It is his passion, it is his life. He's unscripted, he's always spoken his mind, often without regard to the consequences. He said it best when he said that throughout his life he tended to be somewhat naive and put a lot of faith in people, giving them the benefit of the doubt. Doing so has come back to bite him in many ways.

It was a memorable event, a highlight that I'll never forget. Oh and I got a cool autographed jersey too...

Most importantly, to point out the cause & reason for the event is the wonderful organization called I Challenge Myself here in NYC. They are amazing. Check it out at: www.ichallengemyself.org.

Here's a link to more pictures:

http://nyvelocity.com/content/galler...09/greg-lemond

[pbjbike]

Glad to hear it was a success!

[lavi]

Wow! That's all the response from this population? Slightly disheartening. Is anyone listening? Is anyone a fan of Mr. Lemond, or of American racing as a whole/hole?

Not that it matters, but I think he's a wanker. NY77, in all respect though, I would have thought to have seen more response in from the populous. If I were as passionate as you, I would have weighed in. Maybe we truly are a republic that is timeless, devoid of temporal attachments to individual racers from certain periods.

Sorry for the response, I'm really a retread bmx'er that thinks Pistol Peet rules the world.

[54ny77]

Well....LeMond might be polarizing to some, just as Lance is...

The guy speaks his mind, that's for sure. And it's in a largely unscripted, off-the-cuff way. That seems to be very different than how others approach the media (i.e., in a very calculated manner).

Could be that many people really don't know who Greg is and what he accomplished, and instead sort of know him as that cranky old American guy who also won a few TDF's and is very vocal & critical of that certain Texan.

Whatever others may think, I'm still a fan.

[djg714]

Greg rules....I take him over the other dude any day.

[lavi]

His accomplishments cannot be denied. As a racer, almost matchless. I don't even really care that much about the personalities as we all are unique with quirks.

This board has lot's of dudes that are "seasoned" vets. I was simply saying I though that others may have commented more. Folks seem to talk more about BB lengths, pedals, bars, etc...rather than discuss one of the sports icons.

[54ny77]

Gotcha, I see what you meant.

There's probably a very large percentage out there who, while remaining largely silent, agree with what he is saying in terms of global doping, cycling organizational overhaul, etc.

This thread wasn't meant to invoke that conversation though, which I'm glad of. Plenty of other opportunities to discuss that elsewhere...

Some of the dialogue at the venue started to go negative, or rather, in the direction of doping, legal battles, etc. When you constantly hear that same thing over & over, no matter how true or relevant, it can get lost and, dare I say it, tiresome.

The moderator did a great job of keeping things flowing, and apart from a few stupid questions from the audience, it was a great event. One guy was complaining about the price of bikes (duh--really, was this the right venue for that?), and another guy was kind of comical and had no point whatsoever--he was either drunk or out of his mind, rambling on while holding the mic. I started clapping out loud and shouting, "Thank you! All right!" and others at my table and adjacent tables joined in, which kind of got things back on track...

The point of the gathering in NYC was really about the chance to chat with him, hear inside stories about racing & Greg's personal history in cycling, and bring attention to the charity.

Sooo many great tidbits...how the Italian team offered him $10k at the time (when his pro contract was something like $12k/year!) to throw the Worlds and let an Italian win. Greg would have nothing of it, and mentioned something about it in the press during post-race interviews, which infuriated the Italian coach and media for quite awhile...

And the Nascar-style story from the '89 Tour was AWESOME! Turns out while going up one of the major climbs, Greg was hurting and his manager knew it (Greg said he bluffed alot when he wasn't riding well, but had a few telltale signs that could give it away, such as the shoulder-bobbing). The problem was that Fignon's manager knew it too, since he was Greg's former manager or somehow knew Greg (I may be mixing that up, but you get the idea). Since Greg was in the lead of the Tour at the time, his team car got to ride in the front of the caravan. Fignon's manager wanted to pass and get up to Fignon, tell him & his team to attack LeMond hard. But Greg's manager would have none of that. He said they literally scraped body panels, smashed bumpers, and destroyed the team car preventing Fignon's guy from passing!!! How awesome is that?!? Just think of what would've happened in today's era of race radios, or even if Fignon's manager made it to his rider, Fignon could have put enough time into LeMond that day which might have been insurmountable, thus changing the outcome.

The best part of the story is that, many years later, the two of them (Greg & Fignon) are good friends.

It would be cool if anyone could chime in who might have raced with LeMond back in the day (U.S. or abroad), or has some fun stories to share. The closest association I have was that I rode a LeMond Zurich for awhile (great bike, by the way), and one of my former teammates from waaaay back when I was a junior had raced with LeMond at the World's in Japan as a domestique. I thought that was the ultimate, life couldn't get better than that. Ahh, youth....

His accomplishments cannot be denied. As a racer, almost matchless. I don't even really care that much about the personalities as we all are unique with quirks.

This board has lot's of dudes that are "seasoned" vets. I was simply saying I though that others may have commented more. Folks seem to talk more about BB lengths, pedals, bars, etc...rather than discuss one of the sports icons.

[rickygarni]

I can give one (somewhat hazy) recollection – I took my son, about 7 at the time, to watch Lemond in the (I think) '90 Tour de Trump (ouch!) in Charlottesville, Va. He came in dead last, and was hurting (many were – there were a few brief, explosive fist fights between riders and cameramen / journalists at the finish line.)

I was worried about how Greg would act / react when he finally came in (with the broom wagon) especially in front of my son, since Greg was his hero, as he was mine.

As with the others, the journalists and cameramen ran up to him as Lemond was trying to open his car door. His hands were shaking so much that he dropped the keys. He bent over to pick them up, and as he stood up the camera almost hit him in the face, inches away.

Uh oh, I thought to myself.

Lemond just turned to the man and said, in a quiet voice, "If you could just give me a few minutes, I would appreciate it."

The cameraman complied and walked away. My son and I were right there and witnessed it, and the hero-worship that began when we saw was saw Lemond place his hand on the small of Hinault's back to push him towards the win at Alp d'Huez* was then confirmed for keeps. Yes, I've witnessed or read much since then, but neither of us can help it. There's too much goodness and honor there.


* Of course a lot of people might argue that he gave Hinault the win that stage because it was always suspected that he who won d'Huez would not win the Tour! Hats off, if so, by being both wily and honorable (!) at the same time. Still, I think he did it out of a sense of loyalty to his hero, and I suspect that that sense of loyalty, and honor, is at play with his reactions today regarding doping.

[Craig Ryan]

Gotcha, I see what you meant.
clip:
Fignon's manager knew it too, since he was Greg's former manager or somehow knew Greg (I may be mixing that up, but you get the idea).
clip:
:

I think that was Cyrille Guimard, manager of Renault. Lots of stories I'd like to hear about that guy. I'd heard that when GL came over to France and rode for him, he raised his saddle a couple of centimeters. Always liked those blue Gitane's.

[SteveP]

lemond is tremendous.
hes unscripted and it can get him into trouble.
hes always been the best american racer.
such talent as a youth. damn he was good.

i didnt see this before as i dont always read the events section- my fault.

gimme a greg lemond anyday over his arch rival.