While I deeply respect your work and insights, I'm troubled by the choice to feature Lance Armstrong. His impact on cycling extended far beyond doping - he systematically destroyed careers of those who spoke truth, threatened teammates and their families, and engaged in targeted character assassination campaigns against whistleblowers.
Armstrong has never shown genuine contrition, kept his ill-gotten sponsorship millions, and continues to benefit from public rehabilitation opportunities like this one. The cycling community and many whose lives he damaged still bear the scars of his actions.
What's particularly frustrating is how Armstrong nearly destroyed professional cycling as a whole. The sport is only now beginning to emerge from his negative influence after years of damaged credibility, lost sponsorships, and public skepticism. His actions didn't just harm individuals; they undermined the very foundation of the sport.
I understand and value diverse perspectives, but attempts to normalize Armstrong without acknowledging this context feels like enabling the erasure of very real harm he caused to individuals and the sport as a whole.
People driving massive cars they don't need is a whole other subject worth a discussion, but probably not within the realm of 2%. Also, don't forget the blinding LEDs on the Ford Raptor!
How dare you normalize that man's participation in cycling? We're to listen to his opinion about safety on the bike when he directly and indirectly endangered a generation of professional cyclists by requiring doping by his teammates and by accelerating the arms race for PEDs? There are better and more trustworthy interlocutors who are more worthy of the attention and regard of two percent. Do better.
100% second the recommendation to get HIGHLY visible clothing. There are tons of bright green/yellow light reflecting vests and jackets available - get one of those and make sure drivers can see you. I can't tell you how many people in my otherwise very bike-friendly city still don't use that. Making sure you're visible is literally step 1 for safety.
Thank you so much for this post. My 14-year just old spent his life savings to purchase an e-bike. He is a good biker, but covering more miles at a factor pace has me aging quickly over here! We will listen together this afternoon!
I just went on an awesome biking adventure, definitely inspired by you. Flew into the Vegas airport, rented a road bike from Las Vegas Cyclery. Then, ubered with the bike and my food/gear to Red Rock campground. Camped there for three nights, ate all of my food and biked back to the bike shop.
As a mountain biker, I totally agree with Lance's advice to ride a gravel bike or a mountain bike. When I'm mountain biking, keeping myself safe is *my* responsibility - when I ride on the road, I'm relying on *other* people to not be drunk/high/distracted/incompetent. While it is definitely true that mountain biking has a much higher risk of injury, road cycling has a much higher risk of death.
When I need to get in sustained mileage for endurance, I ride my gravel bike. There's not a lot of dirt roads in my area, but I can put together some long endurance rides that are a mix of less-traveled road and a lot of fire roads, bike paths and relatively non-technical singletrack.
Definitely. The trails in our area are extremely punchy and technical; with a lot of power moves - so it's almost more of a strength-training workout. As a result, it's hard to do a long endurance-type ride, because when a 6-7 mile loop takes 2+ hours and beats the crap out of your body, it becomes difficult to do for more than a couple hours. Gravel riding has been a great complement to my mountain biking; sometimes I feel too sore and beat up to mountain bike but I'm perfectly capable of doing a long Zone 2 ride.
It also makes boring trails much more interesting. Singletrack that would be quite dull on a full-suspension mountain bike can be surprisingly spicy on a full-rigid bike with skinny tires and drop handlebars.
Very disappointing to see you give Lance Armstrong any airtime at all. There’s the issue of his doping, but more importantly, his deliberate and longstanding intimidation of those around him who knew or suspected what he was doing. He might be a good cyclist but he’s not a good person.
Michael, why would you attempt to make this cheater and loser relevant again? He deserves to be forgotten for knowingly lying to the kids and cancer patients that looked up to him. Not to mention the millions of dollars he cheated out of businesses while denying his doping.
Armstrong is not a black-and-white figure, as many try to portray him. His dominance in the Tour de France was fascinating, and his comeback story after cancer inspired millions!!!
Don't forget:
1/ 1999–2005: Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times. Throughout his career, he faced constant doping allegations, was the most tested athlete on the planet – and his results were always negative.
2/ The entire peloton at the time was riddled with doping. Armstrong was simply the best in an era where (unfortunately) almost no one played clean.
3/ His mental resilience and physical abilities were phenomenal! No matter what you think of him, you can’t deny his incredible determination and willpower.
For me, Lance Armstrong is one of the greatest cyclists in history—a champion who inspired and helped millions of people worldwide, not only in sports but also those facing health challenges.
I'm not denying (1) he was a great cyclist or (2) he was just doing what everyone else in the peloton was doing. However, he's not a nice person. He's a liar. He said he wasn't doping when he was. And, when others told the truth, i.e., Frankie Andreu, Betsey Andreu, etc., he called them liars and ruined their careers and lives.
I use that same Varia, and have found it to be one of my most important pieces of riding gear. In addition to the radar, it has the blinking light to hopefully attract driver’s attention from a fair distance back. In conjunction with that, it may look dorky, but I use one of those clip on helmet mirrors such that when I see the radar alert, I can start keeping an eye on the approaching vehicle to make sure they are giving me room. I think it is also good to use a blinky front light as well. I happen to use a Varia for that, too. As much as I like to get out on the gravel roads outside of town, it is not always feasible, so I ride from home and try to mitigate the traffic risk as much as possible with the radar and high visibility gear. By the way, Ride with GPS is another service with excellent heat maps depicting well used bike routes.
Great tips, but a mention should also be made of the responsibility of the bicyclist. In my area, at least, I am constantly seeing bicyclists blowing through stop signs and red lights. A few months ago in my area a 15 year old on an e-bike (minimum age to ride in NYS is 16) with no helmet blew through a stop sign at night and was killed.
This means that, at least where I am, self-driving cars may have the opposite effect on safety. When I drive, my head is always on a swivel looking for people who are doing stupid things. A human approaching an intersection and seeing the kid barreling down the road can judge that the kid is not going to stop and act accordingly. Will a self-driving car know that, or will it just calculate that it has the right of way and keep going? I predict more tragedies.
While I deeply respect your work and insights, I'm troubled by the choice to feature Lance Armstrong. His impact on cycling extended far beyond doping - he systematically destroyed careers of those who spoke truth, threatened teammates and their families, and engaged in targeted character assassination campaigns against whistleblowers.
Armstrong has never shown genuine contrition, kept his ill-gotten sponsorship millions, and continues to benefit from public rehabilitation opportunities like this one. The cycling community and many whose lives he damaged still bear the scars of his actions.
What's particularly frustrating is how Armstrong nearly destroyed professional cycling as a whole. The sport is only now beginning to emerge from his negative influence after years of damaged credibility, lost sponsorships, and public skepticism. His actions didn't just harm individuals; they undermined the very foundation of the sport.
I understand and value diverse perspectives, but attempts to normalize Armstrong without acknowledging this context feels like enabling the erasure of very real harm he caused to individuals and the sport as a whole.
Well said
People driving massive cars they don't need is a whole other subject worth a discussion, but probably not within the realm of 2%. Also, don't forget the blinding LEDs on the Ford Raptor!
Given this man's history of lies and cheating I want nothing to do with him. Disappointed.
How dare you normalize that man's participation in cycling? We're to listen to his opinion about safety on the bike when he directly and indirectly endangered a generation of professional cyclists by requiring doping by his teammates and by accelerating the arms race for PEDs? There are better and more trustworthy interlocutors who are more worthy of the attention and regard of two percent. Do better.
I can’t imagine being so sensitive and self- important as to think I have standing to dictate what a creator posts on their page. Do better.
100% second the recommendation to get HIGHLY visible clothing. There are tons of bright green/yellow light reflecting vests and jackets available - get one of those and make sure drivers can see you. I can't tell you how many people in my otherwise very bike-friendly city still don't use that. Making sure you're visible is literally step 1 for safety.
Thank you so much for this post. My 14-year just old spent his life savings to purchase an e-bike. He is a good biker, but covering more miles at a factor pace has me aging quickly over here! We will listen together this afternoon!
I just went on an awesome biking adventure, definitely inspired by you. Flew into the Vegas airport, rented a road bike from Las Vegas Cyclery. Then, ubered with the bike and my food/gear to Red Rock campground. Camped there for three nights, ate all of my food and biked back to the bike shop.
The scenic route is such a nice place to bike.
As a mountain biker, I totally agree with Lance's advice to ride a gravel bike or a mountain bike. When I'm mountain biking, keeping myself safe is *my* responsibility - when I ride on the road, I'm relying on *other* people to not be drunk/high/distracted/incompetent. While it is definitely true that mountain biking has a much higher risk of injury, road cycling has a much higher risk of death.
When I need to get in sustained mileage for endurance, I ride my gravel bike. There's not a lot of dirt roads in my area, but I can put together some long endurance rides that are a mix of less-traveled road and a lot of fire roads, bike paths and relatively non-technical singletrack.
Yes! Glad to hear you've had the same experience.
I want to get into gravel riding for, as you put it, "sustained mileage for endurance." Mountain biking is more anaerobic.
Definitely. The trails in our area are extremely punchy and technical; with a lot of power moves - so it's almost more of a strength-training workout. As a result, it's hard to do a long endurance-type ride, because when a 6-7 mile loop takes 2+ hours and beats the crap out of your body, it becomes difficult to do for more than a couple hours. Gravel riding has been a great complement to my mountain biking; sometimes I feel too sore and beat up to mountain bike but I'm perfectly capable of doing a long Zone 2 ride.
It also makes boring trails much more interesting. Singletrack that would be quite dull on a full-suspension mountain bike can be surprisingly spicy on a full-rigid bike with skinny tires and drop handlebars.
Very disappointing to see you give Lance Armstrong any airtime at all. There’s the issue of his doping, but more importantly, his deliberate and longstanding intimidation of those around him who knew or suspected what he was doing. He might be a good cyclist but he’s not a good person.
He cheated, he doesn’t get a voice for me, full stop! Ask Greg Lemond, a real bike champion if he’s forgotten yet?! Disappointed
Can’t believe you gave this man the time of day. He ruined the careers and reputations of quite a few people who told the truth while he lied.
Kind of had the same reaction as Josh.
I haven’t given Lance any time or attention since finding out he cheated. A lot of people wasted a lot of time supporting him, only to be let down.
Michael, why would you attempt to make this cheater and loser relevant again? He deserves to be forgotten for knowingly lying to the kids and cancer patients that looked up to him. Not to mention the millions of dollars he cheated out of businesses while denying his doping.
So close to canceling my 2% subscription.
Sorry to all the critics from keyboard, BUT:
Armstrong is not a black-and-white figure, as many try to portray him. His dominance in the Tour de France was fascinating, and his comeback story after cancer inspired millions!!!
Don't forget:
1/ 1999–2005: Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times. Throughout his career, he faced constant doping allegations, was the most tested athlete on the planet – and his results were always negative.
2/ The entire peloton at the time was riddled with doping. Armstrong was simply the best in an era where (unfortunately) almost no one played clean.
3/ His mental resilience and physical abilities were phenomenal! No matter what you think of him, you can’t deny his incredible determination and willpower.
For me, Lance Armstrong is one of the greatest cyclists in history—a champion who inspired and helped millions of people worldwide, not only in sports but also those facing health challenges.
I'm not denying (1) he was a great cyclist or (2) he was just doing what everyone else in the peloton was doing. However, he's not a nice person. He's a liar. He said he wasn't doping when he was. And, when others told the truth, i.e., Frankie Andreu, Betsey Andreu, etc., he called them liars and ruined their careers and lives.
Garmin Varia radar is very useful. I can't imagine a road bike today without it.
Awesome tip! Thanks so much for sharing.
Here's a link to the product for those interested: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/698001
I use that same Varia, and have found it to be one of my most important pieces of riding gear. In addition to the radar, it has the blinking light to hopefully attract driver’s attention from a fair distance back. In conjunction with that, it may look dorky, but I use one of those clip on helmet mirrors such that when I see the radar alert, I can start keeping an eye on the approaching vehicle to make sure they are giving me room. I think it is also good to use a blinky front light as well. I happen to use a Varia for that, too. As much as I like to get out on the gravel roads outside of town, it is not always feasible, so I ride from home and try to mitigate the traffic risk as much as possible with the radar and high visibility gear. By the way, Ride with GPS is another service with excellent heat maps depicting well used bike routes.
Very much agree. They are brilliant, especially as cars are getting quieter.
Great tips, but a mention should also be made of the responsibility of the bicyclist. In my area, at least, I am constantly seeing bicyclists blowing through stop signs and red lights. A few months ago in my area a 15 year old on an e-bike (minimum age to ride in NYS is 16) with no helmet blew through a stop sign at night and was killed.
This means that, at least where I am, self-driving cars may have the opposite effect on safety. When I drive, my head is always on a swivel looking for people who are doing stupid things. A human approaching an intersection and seeing the kid barreling down the road can judge that the kid is not going to stop and act accordingly. Will a self-driving car know that, or will it just calculate that it has the right of way and keep going? I predict more tragedies.