Who else did they forget?

Just got the LAB's current magazine (the name is now American
Bicyclist) and it contains a list of the top 25 "individuals" (loosely
defined) who influenced cycling in the US. Available to non-members
he
http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/Top25.htm

It looks a little odd to have several of the judges included in the
final list. And what's with this "Shimano family" and "Trek family"?
(Is this a case of creeping Borg tandemism where the collective equals
the one?)

And it seems like the folks who were the founders of the weekend
invitational ride (Greg & Charlie Siple; TOSRV) and week-long
cross-state tours (Karras and Kaul; RAGBRAI) might have been included.
How about Amelia Bloomer? She changed bicycling history, probably more
than Georgena Terry. John Boyd Dunlop? Dan Henry??? How about the RAAM
people? Or folks who've won medals at various Olympics? I'm not sure
what Rodale did other than purchase a magazine that happened to be for
sale. But no, we've got Juli Furtado. The NG Poster Sometimes Known as
Vandespam probably has had more influence than her!

Interestingly, it looks like the criteria were either "had an effect on
the L.A.W." *** or "someone we're read about in the paper or who could
buy an ad in the magazine." We go from Keith Kingbay (in whose living
room the League was famously resurrected!) to Lance, but we skip over
folks who created bicycling events.

Onward and upward. I gotta go.

--Karen D.


***memo to editor: please revise your stylebook and don't refer to the
assn as "LAW". It changes the law, it gets the law repealed. But it is
not the LAW, it's the L.(period) A.(period) W.(period). If you don't
believe me, ask Phyllis Harmon.

Veloise wrote:
Just got the LAB's current magazine (the name is now American
Bicyclist) and it contains a list of the top 25 "individuals" (loosely
defined) who influenced cycling in the US. Available to non-members
he
http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/Top25.htm

It looks a little odd to have several of the judges included in the
final list.

Not to them!

Hey, let's not forget the gratituous naming of Oberstar and Blumenauer.

And what's with this "Shimano family" and "Trek family"?
(Is this a case of creeping Borg tandemism where the collective equals
the one?)

And it seems like the folks who were the founders of the weekend
invitational ride (Greg & Charlie Siple; TOSRV) and week-long
cross-state tours (Karras and Kaul; RAGBRAI) might have been included.
How about Amelia Bloomer? She changed bicycling history, probably more
than Georgena Terry. John Boyd Dunlop? Dan Henry??? How about the RAAM
people? Or folks who've won medals at various Olympics? I'm not sure
what Rodale did other than purchase a magazine that happened to be for
sale. But no, we've got Juli Furtado. The NG Poster Sometimes Known as
Vandespam probably has had more influence than her!

Interestingly, it looks like the criteria were either "had an effect on
the L.A.W." *** or "someone we're read about in the paper or who could
buy an ad in the magazine." We go from Keith Kingbay (in whose living
room the League was famously resurrected!) to Lance, but we skip over
folks who created bicycling events.

Onward and upward. I gotta go.

--Karen D.


***memo to editor: please revise your stylebook and don't refer to the
assn as "LAW". It changes the law, it gets the law repealed. But it is
not the LAW, it's the L.(period) A.(period) W.(period). If you don't
believe me, ask Phyllis Harmon.


It USED to change the law and get law repealed when it really cared
about those things. But since the name changed to LAB, its been a shell
of its former self. Now L.A.B. cares more about creating bike lanes,
which result in diminished overall legal standing for bicycle users. The
politically correct nannies felt that women were being excluded and
"bicyclists" was more contemporary than "wheelman." Bring back the L.A.W!

Wayne

:
: It USED to change the law and get law repealed when it really cared
: about those things. But since the name changed to LAB, its been a shell
: of its former self. Now L.A.B. cares more about creating bike lanes,
: which result in diminished overall legal standing for bicycle users. The
: politically correct nannies felt that women were being excluded and
: "bicyclists" was more contemporary than "wheelman." Bring back the L.A.W!
:
: Wayne

Yeah, we don't want those women to think they are welcomed into the
bicycling world, do we! It's just a treehouse, er, clubhouse for boys!

Pat in TX
:

They listed Lance Armstrong on first. Why this guy on first? Lance
surely was not
contributed to the overall popularity of the bicycle in America. Does
American people ride
more bike just because Lance Armstrong won Tour de France? I don't
think so, and
there is no American would ride more bike becaues of Lance. If there is
rising
of bike riding in America. it is mainly due to the high cost rising of
gasoline.
if the Gasoline go over $5 or $6, more drivers will switch to bike.
Lance is the
money man and greedy man only cares of his money and power. He did not
contributed
to anything in bike communist. Only contribution is his apperance in
million dollars
pharmeneutical AD.

I submit that on or about 4 Oct 2005 13:37:28 -0700, the person known
to the court as "Veloise" made a statement
.com in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

And it seems like the folks who were the founders of the weekend
invitational ride (Greg & Charlie Siple; TOSRV) and week-long
cross-state tours (Karras and Kaul; RAGBRAI) might have been included.
How about Amelia Bloomer? She changed bicycling history, probably more
than Georgena Terry. John Boyd Dunlop? Dan Henry??? How about the RAAM
people? Or folks who've won medals at various Olympics?

They should include Dubya - his oil war pushing up gas prices has
surely done a lot for cycling :-)

But seriously, what idiot put Campagnolo above Gary Fisher? Fisher
and his friends probably did more to develop recreational cycling
worldwide than anyone else - just look in your LBS some time and see
what proportion of the bikes are Campag equipped road bikes versus
mountain bikes!

Plus, any list that doesn't have Sheldon in is a swindle anyway :-)
Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Wayne wrote:
...The politically correct nannies felt that women were being excluded and
"bicyclists" was more contemporary than "wheelman." Bring back the L.A.W!


Uh, Wayne, you never tried answering the phone "American Wheelmen" or
calling someone and explaining "I'm with 'American Wheelmen' magazine."
(BTDT) And I bet you never went out to buy components for your "wheel."


Believe me, "Bicyclists" is a big improvement, and I have no problem
with that. Sometimes it's worth it to change the name just to not
confuse the marketplace. (Seen my listing on the Reform site lately?
It's a few page-downs from yours.)

Changing the name back won't solve the basic problem.


--Karen D.
how come they didn't nominate Mark Terman?

wrote:
They listed Lance Armstrong on first. Why this guy on first? Lance
surely was not
contributed to the overall popularity of the bicycle in America. Does
American people ride
more bike just because Lance Armstrong won Tour de France? I don't
think so, and
there is no American would ride more bike becaues of Lance. If there is
rising
of bike riding in America. it is mainly due to the high cost rising of
gasoline.
if the Gasoline go over $5 or $6, more drivers will switch to bike.
Lance is the
money man and greedy man only cares of his money and power. He did not
contributed
to anything in bike communist. Only contribution is his apperance in
million dollars
pharmeneutical AD.

Lance did influence people the most and the most recently. Still, there
are people who I mention his name to and I get a "Lance who?". Some
people are oblivious to the rest of the world. How about Sturmy-Archer
or whoever first invented the 3 speed hub with coaster brakes? I'm sure
almost all kids (at least in the 50's) learned to ride with some variant
of that on the rear wheel.
Bill