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Old November 13th 04, 03:52 AM
psycholist
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"crit pro" wrote in message
om...
The following is from www.velonews.com letters to the editor Nov 12,
2004


Don't look to George at all
Editor:
Hincapie's a dad - who cares? (See "VeloBriefs: Hincapie's a dad")
George doesn't care enough to be nice to fans (my wife) that ask for
an autograph, yet he puts his name on a sports clothing line.

Actually I'm surprised he completed this (daddyhood) task as he always
seems to come up with some sort of excuse (bad stomach, fever, bad
day) for not being able to win when it counts. We should've left him
off the Olympic team and sent Freddy. Congrats, unfriendly daddy.

Earl A. Aneas
Nashville, Tennessee


FWIW, here's the letter I just sent to VN

Regarding the letter from Earl Aneas dissing George for apparently not
signing an autograph for his wife. I'm sure that brief exposure gave Earl a
real insight into all that George is (sarcasm).

I live in the Upstate area of South Carolina near where George resides when
he's stateside. I had the priveledge to make his acquaintance. I was on a
training ride and was hit and seriously injured by a teenage driver who was
talking on a cell phone. (She made an unsignaled left turn directly into my
path.) I believe it was the second day I was in the hospital. The phone
rang.

Bob? This is George Hincapie. long pause Bob?
Right. OK. Who is this, really?
Uh, this really IS George Hincapie.

Then I recognized the voice from interviews I've heard. After I finished
freaking out, we chatted for a while. I asked him how he heard about my
accident. He heard through a friend of a friend of a friend. He didn't
know me from Adam, but he took the time to seek me out to wish me a speedy
recovery. And not only that, his brother (Rich) sent me free Hincapie
clothing to replace what had to be cut from me by the EMTs.

About a year later, he landed at the airport in Greenville, SC after flying
in from Europe, drove an hour to our little town and met with our club
before driving back home to crash. You could see he was dead on his feet
from the travel, but he honored his commitment and patiently answered all of
our questions -- questions he'd probably answered a thousand times before.

And the following Spring he was a spectator at a pro criterium in Greenwood,
SC and I got a chance to hobble up to him and thank him for calling me that
day in the hospital. He remembered me and chatted with me. It was
small-talk, but he seemed genuinely glad to have a face to put with the
voice he'd spoken to that day. And he offered me more encouragement as I
was getting back into training.

My impression is that he's a gifted, yet humble man. He's a gentleman. And
as for his ability, I was watching some of the early mountain stages of this
year's tour on DVD while riding rollers the last couple of days. When
people like Mayo and Hamilton and Sevilla and Ullrich were being dropped, it
was GEORGE at the front doing the damage on many of the early slopes.
Cycling is a team sport and I don't think there's a better team player in
the sport than George.

Bob C.


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