# Armstrong out to "Win" RAGBRAI



## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Not really, but it looks like he'll be out there with some friends to do the whole ride.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong will return to bike for RAGBRAI | ksdk.com

Good for him.





The logical, cynical reaction might be to lambaste Armstrong for taking advantage of our landscape of "Iowa nice" as the first rung on his long climb toward rehabilitating his public persona. 

Armstrong himself admits that he's simultaneously curious and insecure about how this first serious mingling outside of a handful of private charity events might unfold. 

"I'm well aware my presence is not an easy topic, and so I encourage people if they want to give a high five, great," he said. "If you want to shoot me the bird, that's OK, too." 

He called himself a "realist." 

"I'm a big boy, and so I made the bed, I get to sleep in it." 

RAGBRAI Director T.J. Juskiewicz, who said publicly in January that Armstrong was welcome to return to RAGBRAI, said Armstrong is no different than the 10,000 other bicyclists who ride annually. 

"They have a great time here, and they want to return," Juskiewicz said. 

He added, "We are open to anyone that wants to come ride RAGBRAI." 

He did see the humor in what could become a bizarre international media stir over him as the church ladies in small-town Iowa try to sell their homemade fruit pies. 

"Who knows, we might get TMZ covering RAGBRAI* this year," Juskiewicz joked. 

To be clear, RAGBRAI never has paid Armstrong a dime in appearance fees, although it's an unwritten rule, Juskiewicz said, that all Tour de France champions - whether or not they have been stripped of their titles - ride for free.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

LOL, Lance is the reason I didn't go one year. There are already too many drunks on bikes. 

Perhaps if he insists on riding it other people won't be riding it any more. If it's less crowded, I might ride it.


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## Bluenote (Oct 28, 2012)

I'm guessing some if these guys will be there, too, with their support badges. 

Support Lance Armstrong | Send Lance a Message | Lance Bike Badge

Now, who thinks he's gonna ride Iowa clean? Lol.


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

Ride on you crazy doper.


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## Doctor Falsetti (Sep 24, 2010)

He goes for the girls in the hot tubs

I wonder how many stages he will win?


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## Randy99CL (Mar 27, 2013)

I don't hate Lance even though I was a big supporter (as we all were) when he was riding. Certainly disappointed in him, though, and I'm not a fan anymore. He is really an a$$hole.

But I googled and found RAGBRAI
They're using him to promote their ride. That doesn't seem right to me.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Doctor Falsetti said:


> He goes for the girls in the hot tubs
> 
> I wonder how many stages he will win?


Is that a jab or congratulating him?


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## bellzisu (May 1, 2013)

Heck him doping on Ragbrai can't be any worse then the 10,000 plus drunks that almost plow into you during the course of the day.

Anyone can ride Ragbrai, but seriously 1/2 shouldn't ride it for safety reasons.


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

Randy99CL said:


> I don't hate Lance even though I was a big supporter (*as we all were*) when he was riding.


Sorry, but I take exception to that statement. I'm sure others do, too.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

bellzisu said:


> Heck him doping on Ragbrai can't be any worse then the 10,000 plus drunks that almost plow into you during the course of the day.
> 
> Anyone can ride Ragbrai, but seriously 1/2 shouldn't ride it for safety reasons.


This is why I don't ride it. Something about RAGBRAI and the Taco Rides seem to bring copious amounts of people who can barely ride and are boozing it up. No thanks. I have enough risk of crashing as is.


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## Notvintage (May 19, 2013)

Lance was always an as**ole. I'm glad it's all out there and will laugh when he's penniless after paying everyone back. Scumbag is all he is or ever was.


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## Slow Eddie (Jun 28, 2004)

MG537 said:


> Sorry, but I take exception to that statement. I'm sure others do, too.


Word.


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## 86TDFWinner (Jul 22, 2013)

MG537 said:


> Sorry, but I take exception to that statement. I'm sure others do, too.


X2...knew from the getgo he was a doper... Didn't believe his cancer jesus persona either.


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## Old Man (Apr 8, 2012)

86TDFWinner said:


> X2...knew from the getgo he was a doper... Didn't believe his cancer jesus persona either.


I suspected as well, but watched and enjoyed the drama each year.. I can admit that and wish he would have raced clean, but some of his moments on tour was worth committing to memory...


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## Nubster (Jul 8, 2009)

86TDFWinner said:


> X2...knew from the getgo he was a doper...


If you don't like doping pros, you must not be a fan of professional cycling.


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## 86TDFWinner (Jul 22, 2013)

Nubster said:


> If you don't like doping pros, you must not be a fan of professional cycling.



LOL, I am(hence my screenname). No place ion the sport for doping...IMO of course. You cant win clean, so you cheat to win?


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## Dave Cutter (Sep 26, 2012)

Nubster said:


> If you don't like doping pros, you must not be a fan of professional cycling.


+1 Bicycle racing and doping share a long history. Armstrong may be an ass... but he didn't screw-up cycling. 

I am glad Lance is using his celebrity status to promote cycling. I support anything that promotes cycling... without raising my taxes.


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## Nubster (Jul 8, 2009)

86TDFWinner said:


> LOL, I am(hence my screenname). No place ion the sport for doping...IMO of course. You cant win clean, so you cheat to win?


I don't disagree at all, but from my short time in cycling, one of the first things I've learned is that a lot of pros dope. Vast majority of the pros that win dope. So to be a fan of pro cycling, you have to accept doping. It's part of the game. Don't have to like it, but it's not going to stop. To hate Lance cause he's a doper, you by default hate 95% of the pros riding today.


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

RAGBRAI looks like RAGEBRA to me.


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## Doctor Falsetti (Sep 24, 2010)

Nubster said:


> To hate Lance cause he's a doper, you by default hate 95% of the pros riding today.


Nonsense. 95% of today Pro's do not dope. Even in lance's day the numbers were not 95%.


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## Data_God (Oct 9, 2012)

Dave Cutter said:


> +1 Bicycle racing and doping share a long history. Armstrong may be an ass... but he didn't screw-up cycling.
> 
> I am glad Lance is using his celebrity status to promote cycling. I support anything that promotes cycling... without raising my taxes.


You clearly don't get it ........... Lance doesn't do anything for Cycling. He only does what he does for "himself". He won't do anything that he doesn't somehow profit from .... 

It's not the doping that created the Anti-Christ.

Bill


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## Doctor Falsetti (Sep 24, 2010)

Dave Cutter said:


> +1 Bicycle racing and doping share a long history. Armstrong may be an ass... but he didn't screw-up cycling.
> 
> I am glad Lance is using his celebrity status to promote cycling. I support anything that promotes cycling... without raising my taxes.


Huh? Armstrong is an embarrassment to the sport. That is not the kind of promotion we need. A sport not filled with douchebags is a good way to promote it. Viewership of the Tour in the US up 29% this year now that the Armstrong trainwreck is out of the way. 

Regardless, it is not like RAGBRAI needs promotion. It is sold out every year. Only way to get in is via a lottery.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

Armstrong at any cycling event is going to be a mixed bag of emotions.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

More fuel for the fire:

Lance Armstrong rides RAGBRAI, talks about doping in cycling - News | FOX Sports on MSN


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

Doctor Falsetti said:


> Viewership of the Tour in the US up 29% this year now that the Armstrong trainwreck is out of the way. =


How do you know why viewership is up?

You're making a big leap there, as if to say, people feel like it's safe to watch cycling again because Armstrong got busted. Sorry, I don't buy it. Maybe it's up BECAUSE of the attention that Armstrong brought to cycling.


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## RkFast (Dec 11, 2004)

Cycling a sport not filled with douchebags....that's a good one!


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## PJay (May 28, 2004)

Doctor Falsetti said:


> Huh? Viewership of the Tour in the US up 29% this year now that the Armstrong trainwreck is out of the way.


Scooby Doo Huh - YouTube


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## Doctor Falsetti (Sep 24, 2010)

Local Hero said:


> How do you know why viewership is up?


Surprisingly there are people who track these things 

Sports Media Watch ? TV Ratings: Tour de France Viewership Up 29% on NBC, NBCSN (Also: John Deere Classic, USA Basketball)

Armstrong becoming irrelevant has been good for the sport


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

A friend of mine got her pic taken with Lance. She said he seemed like a nice guy. 

I'll be calling the USADA hotline on her. Soon........


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## PJay (May 28, 2004)

Doctor Falsetti said:


> Surprisingly there are people who track these things
> 
> Sports Media Watch ? TV Ratings: Tour de France Viewership Up 29% on NBC, NBCSN (Also: John Deere Classic, USA Basketball)
> 
> Armstrong becoming irrelevant has been good for the sport


This link suggests that viewership rose with lance, and is now regressing back to earlier levels...

Sports Media Watch ? TV Ratings: Tour de France Viewership Up 29% on NBC, NBCSN (Also: John Deere Classic, USA Basketball)


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## PJay (May 28, 2004)

how much did lance affect viewership in USA? most all of us would guess that he rose viewership - because we know.

this is a complicated question to investigate because the commercial firms that track the data hold the long-term data close to the chest - they give interesting press-release snippets.

But jumping from delayed broadcast to nearly live broadcast on Versus, then jumping to NBC, shows increasing viewer power. Now, TdF interest is waning.

TdF is waning on RBR. The daily discussions on current and recent tour progress has had more participants in previous years than this year. I expect it will go down more.

I started watching the tour in 2002 when I completed a 60 mile ride that ended at a local school. I had been riding for a little over a month. The post-race recovery deal was TdF broadcast split across like 6 TVs to make one big screen, in the school's cafetorium. I hung around and heard discussion of teams and strategy.

Since it is interesting, I will continue to follow it. I am slowly getting into following other intl cycling events, but I don't have a lot of time for watching and following sports.


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## Doctor Falsetti (Sep 24, 2010)

PJay said:


> This link suggests that viewership rose with lance, and is now regressing back to earlier levels...
> 
> Sports Media Watch ? TV Ratings: Tour de France Viewership Up 29% on NBC, NBCSN (Also: John Deere Classic, USA Basketball)


Where does it say that in this article? The 29% increase clearly is referring to 2012-2013


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## PJay (May 28, 2004)

Doctor Falsetti said:


> Where does it say that in this article? The 29% increase clearly is referring to 2012-2013


I got the link wrong - here is a link from 2009, with LA, and viewership up to 480,000.

Versus Soars With Tour de France, Armstrong | Cable Television News | Broadcast Syndication | Programming | Multichannel.com


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