Too Tall
03-05-2004, 08:05 AM
Marc, recently communicated with the randon community. You might have read his previous communication posted in this forum. This is a followup and reaction from Marc. Always a good thing to hear it from the horses mouth. Interesting, sad. He'll get over it and hopefully race RAAM.
================
*Pasted from "ultracycling@topica.com"
====================
Marc Leuckx wrote:
Hello all
I just finished reading all the mails about PBP after a little vacation.
I just wanted to answer to some things I've read.
I know my English isn't perfect, but I think it is rather obvious that
in my previous mail I never stated that I am the winner and all the
others are losers. I respect everyone, and finishing PBP is a great
accomplishment, whether you do it in 90 hours or 42h40. But the least I
can ask is a little respect for guys like the six of us (not only me,
because I wrote in their name too) who wanted to finish PBP as fast as
possible.
It is very strange to see what some people write. One of you nearly
described me as a publicity horny guy who thinks he is the champ and the
others suckers. I don't know him, and I can't be bothered too much. But
yes, I admit, I was shocked and hurted. Luckily a lot of mails where
positive, as well on the list as privately, from known and unknown guys.
I want to thank you all for that, especially my friends who I met on PAC
Tour 2001. A lot of you ask if they can be of any help and offer their
support. Maybe you could send a letter of mail to the PBP organisation
and give your opinion. Probably it won't change their opinion, but maybe
one of them starts to think.
Is it strange that we, the first men, want to be honored the same way as
the first woman or the first tandem?
Isn't it strange that in earlier edition they spoke and wrote about "les
premiers" and "record" if they consider PBP not as a race. Isn't it
strange they now suddenly published their results by country (while at
Paris you still could see it in arriving order, it was even published
that way in a French cycling magazine early February)?
Indeed, some noticed following cars behind us the second night. But some
saw us the same night without following cars and some stated that they
also had cars following them for kilometres because the cars had trouble
passing the riders. So I am still waiting for the proof that we were
indeed followed hour by hour by a car that lightened us.
Why always talk about those racers with their following cars? If you
look close at numbers in the results magazine you will find a lot of
those so called racers that can't ride unsupported. If the organisation
allows in their rules cars at the controls, everybody is free to take
advantage of that. And what about the mentioned not official cars
mentioned in their
magazine?
Is racing opening the door for cheating? I don't agree. Next month, I
hope to do the Tour of Flandres ride, open to everybody the day before
the professionals. This is really not a race, no group start, no time
taken,... only at the end a paper that declares you did it when you can
hand over your control card with stamps from all the check points. I
don't bother about a piece of paper like that, I ride my bike for fun
and don't need a piece of paper to confirm what I did (*). But every
year I see people who do nothing else than taking shortcuts (yuou pass
them several times, without seeing them passing you back) and go from
control to control, and at the finish they are very proud to receive
their diploma that stated they did the Tour of Flanders.
(*) Does this mean I didn't like to be for once in the centre of the
spotlight after PBP? Of course not. It is evident it was nice to be on
the podium in Paris on Wednesday just after the finish in front of the
photographers and cameras, of course it was nice that on Thursday
morning I was woken up by a phone call by Patrick Francois for an
interview for his website, of course it was nice that after a week a
Flemish newspaper found out the result of PBP and contacted me for an
interview. But a publicity horny guy like mentioned in the beginning of
this mail? I don't think so, I just returned from a one week Stephen
Roche stage on Mallorca. Only 3 of the participants know I won PBP: 1
because we spend a lot of time together and 2 French guys because we
were discussing the race. But I asked to all 3 of them not to tell it to
the others.
I only wrote my first mail because I just received at that moment my
result magazine. As you can read in Bengt his mail "As far as I
understand the rules, there where 2 possible ways of punishing cheaters,
by time punishment or disqualification. Public humiliation does not seam
right and fair." And if you read carefully their result magazine (I
received the French version), this is what they did with our group of
six leaders.
And, I can only repeat what I wrote the other time, what I really don't
accept is the notice of being a cheater. You give penalties to cheaters,
and I didn't cheat. Am I responsible for a GHOST car following us the
second night? And it becomes even worse, as you all could read. We are
being accused of being very rude, impolite, and so on. For all these
actions you could take penalties, and when I arrived in Paris I had no
note of a penalty.
Am I responsible for what happens at the first control at Villaines when
I arrive in a big bunch (I was told it was the same way in 1999)? Do I
(and the 5 other riders in the lead group) have to accept the
responsability because the situation was hectic at that control and some
behaved improper? The answer is NO, and I DON'T and I WON'T accept
that.
Enjoy your riding, (very) slow or (very) fast
Marc
42h40
PS To make sure nobody understand this in a wrong way, read this very
carefully.
One wrote:
"... kids sitting by the road for hours for a chance to fill up our
bottles or handle over cookies, locals set up tables on their front
yards. ..." Do you know that everyone who accept this gesture, acts
against the PBP rules, because no help at all is allowed, accept from
your registered car at the controls or if the aid is by an official? As
I asked very cynically to Théobald "did you give a penalty to all the
riders I saw the second night drinking and accepting food all along the
road in all the villages we rode through, because they didn't follow the
rules. And this while you gave me a 2 hour penalty and I followed all
the PBP rules?"
For the bad minds and those who don't understand my English: of course
this was to point out a ridiculous situation. It is the big charm of PBP
that a lot of villages are decorated, people are shouting and giving you
something to eat and drink. It is not because I didn't stop and took
advantage of this, that I didn't appreciate it. And believe me, just
after the finish, I told my friends I wanted to do PBP that way one
time.
And yes, we were happy and enjoyed the shouting and support by the
riders still going to Brest when we already rode to Paris. And yes, we
said hello in the beginning. But you have to realize, for the riders
getting to Brest we were the first they saw on the way back, but for us
we continued to see riders for a couple of hours that second night. It
is not because we didn't react anymore after 15 minutes to their
greetings, that we were insensible to the reactions of most of them.
================
*Pasted from "ultracycling@topica.com"
====================
Marc Leuckx wrote:
Hello all
I just finished reading all the mails about PBP after a little vacation.
I just wanted to answer to some things I've read.
I know my English isn't perfect, but I think it is rather obvious that
in my previous mail I never stated that I am the winner and all the
others are losers. I respect everyone, and finishing PBP is a great
accomplishment, whether you do it in 90 hours or 42h40. But the least I
can ask is a little respect for guys like the six of us (not only me,
because I wrote in their name too) who wanted to finish PBP as fast as
possible.
It is very strange to see what some people write. One of you nearly
described me as a publicity horny guy who thinks he is the champ and the
others suckers. I don't know him, and I can't be bothered too much. But
yes, I admit, I was shocked and hurted. Luckily a lot of mails where
positive, as well on the list as privately, from known and unknown guys.
I want to thank you all for that, especially my friends who I met on PAC
Tour 2001. A lot of you ask if they can be of any help and offer their
support. Maybe you could send a letter of mail to the PBP organisation
and give your opinion. Probably it won't change their opinion, but maybe
one of them starts to think.
Is it strange that we, the first men, want to be honored the same way as
the first woman or the first tandem?
Isn't it strange that in earlier edition they spoke and wrote about "les
premiers" and "record" if they consider PBP not as a race. Isn't it
strange they now suddenly published their results by country (while at
Paris you still could see it in arriving order, it was even published
that way in a French cycling magazine early February)?
Indeed, some noticed following cars behind us the second night. But some
saw us the same night without following cars and some stated that they
also had cars following them for kilometres because the cars had trouble
passing the riders. So I am still waiting for the proof that we were
indeed followed hour by hour by a car that lightened us.
Why always talk about those racers with their following cars? If you
look close at numbers in the results magazine you will find a lot of
those so called racers that can't ride unsupported. If the organisation
allows in their rules cars at the controls, everybody is free to take
advantage of that. And what about the mentioned not official cars
mentioned in their
magazine?
Is racing opening the door for cheating? I don't agree. Next month, I
hope to do the Tour of Flandres ride, open to everybody the day before
the professionals. This is really not a race, no group start, no time
taken,... only at the end a paper that declares you did it when you can
hand over your control card with stamps from all the check points. I
don't bother about a piece of paper like that, I ride my bike for fun
and don't need a piece of paper to confirm what I did (*). But every
year I see people who do nothing else than taking shortcuts (yuou pass
them several times, without seeing them passing you back) and go from
control to control, and at the finish they are very proud to receive
their diploma that stated they did the Tour of Flanders.
(*) Does this mean I didn't like to be for once in the centre of the
spotlight after PBP? Of course not. It is evident it was nice to be on
the podium in Paris on Wednesday just after the finish in front of the
photographers and cameras, of course it was nice that on Thursday
morning I was woken up by a phone call by Patrick Francois for an
interview for his website, of course it was nice that after a week a
Flemish newspaper found out the result of PBP and contacted me for an
interview. But a publicity horny guy like mentioned in the beginning of
this mail? I don't think so, I just returned from a one week Stephen
Roche stage on Mallorca. Only 3 of the participants know I won PBP: 1
because we spend a lot of time together and 2 French guys because we
were discussing the race. But I asked to all 3 of them not to tell it to
the others.
I only wrote my first mail because I just received at that moment my
result magazine. As you can read in Bengt his mail "As far as I
understand the rules, there where 2 possible ways of punishing cheaters,
by time punishment or disqualification. Public humiliation does not seam
right and fair." And if you read carefully their result magazine (I
received the French version), this is what they did with our group of
six leaders.
And, I can only repeat what I wrote the other time, what I really don't
accept is the notice of being a cheater. You give penalties to cheaters,
and I didn't cheat. Am I responsible for a GHOST car following us the
second night? And it becomes even worse, as you all could read. We are
being accused of being very rude, impolite, and so on. For all these
actions you could take penalties, and when I arrived in Paris I had no
note of a penalty.
Am I responsible for what happens at the first control at Villaines when
I arrive in a big bunch (I was told it was the same way in 1999)? Do I
(and the 5 other riders in the lead group) have to accept the
responsability because the situation was hectic at that control and some
behaved improper? The answer is NO, and I DON'T and I WON'T accept
that.
Enjoy your riding, (very) slow or (very) fast
Marc
42h40
PS To make sure nobody understand this in a wrong way, read this very
carefully.
One wrote:
"... kids sitting by the road for hours for a chance to fill up our
bottles or handle over cookies, locals set up tables on their front
yards. ..." Do you know that everyone who accept this gesture, acts
against the PBP rules, because no help at all is allowed, accept from
your registered car at the controls or if the aid is by an official? As
I asked very cynically to Théobald "did you give a penalty to all the
riders I saw the second night drinking and accepting food all along the
road in all the villages we rode through, because they didn't follow the
rules. And this while you gave me a 2 hour penalty and I followed all
the PBP rules?"
For the bad minds and those who don't understand my English: of course
this was to point out a ridiculous situation. It is the big charm of PBP
that a lot of villages are decorated, people are shouting and giving you
something to eat and drink. It is not because I didn't stop and took
advantage of this, that I didn't appreciate it. And believe me, just
after the finish, I told my friends I wanted to do PBP that way one
time.
And yes, we were happy and enjoyed the shouting and support by the
riders still going to Brest when we already rode to Paris. And yes, we
said hello in the beginning. But you have to realize, for the riders
getting to Brest we were the first they saw on the way back, but for us
we continued to see riders for a couple of hours that second night. It
is not because we didn't react anymore after 15 minutes to their
greetings, that we were insensible to the reactions of most of them.