What about Bob?

[William]

You gotta love a guy who will run Spokey-Dokes on his wheels while racing in the tour. Say what you will about Bob Roll, seems he has always been quite the character. According to Davis Phinney, in his book, "Training for Cycling":

"One guy that made us the talk of the pack was Bob Roll. I know a few special individuals whom I consider true "One-of-a-kinds." Mike Aisner and Eric Heiden are in that category, but Bob stands at the head of it. He is Bob---the one and only.
Bob comes from Pleasant Hill, California. The first time I went riding with him, he had Spokey-Dokes in his wheels---those plastic round pieces that come in bright colors, fasten to the spokes, and slide out to the rim when you ride. Spokey-Dokes make clacking sounds as the wheels roll. Usually you see these on the wheels of children, but never on wheels of seasoned professionals in Europe. But here was Bob Roll with his Spokey-Dokes, having a good time checking everyones reaction to him and his wheels.
The European way of traveling to a race involves uniformity. Everyone dresses the same, wearing identical team warm-up suits. When we traveled to the 1989 Tour of Sicily, teams flew to the Palermo Airport, with every team decked out in their team uniforms.
Bob walked off the plane wearing black cowboy boots, black leather motorcycle pants, a big brown leather motorcycle jacket with full fringes up and down the sleeves, and a black ten-gallon cowboy hat. He was an eyeful. The european riders couldn't stop staring at him. Italian, Belgian, French, and Swiss riders were all murmuring to themselves in every European language, but you'd keep hearing his name over and over, "Bob" this and "Bob" that.
He had recently discovered roller blades. Upon leaving the plane, he pulled his roller blades out of the backpack he was wearing, strapped up his roller blades, and roller skated around the Palermo airport. This rather excited the local militia. The Carabiniere, seriously on the alert for terrorists, tote automatic rifles that are locked and loaded. A platoon of Carabiniere suddenly ran from every direction to chase after Bob as he glided around. Bob had made another typical Bob entrance.
Bob became famous in Europe during the 1989 Tour of Italy. He rode to the start of a stage to warm up when the rest of us took the team car. For some reason, Bob had been misinformed about the time of the start and arrived early. He sat around the Piazza long before any of the other riders got there. But the sign-in table was set up, and reporters were milling around. They wondered what this 7-Eleven rider in the snakeskin warm-up tights was doing. So they went over and started talking to him. He had the stage all to himself and gave them Bob Roll industrial strength. Wow.
He told them that he is part indian, lives in a tepee, and hunts deer in the winter There he sat, this outlandish individual with a giant feather for an earring, spewing this incredible story, and the jaded cycling press just lapped it up. Feature stories about "Bob Roll, who lives in a tepee..." went all over Europe. I don't think he told a single truth, but it didn't even matter. His fame was set. That's Bob Roll. He can tell any story so well that whether it's true or not is besides the point.
In every sport there is usually someone who is considered an enforcer. You see this in Hockey or basket ball, where one guy might be responsible for making sure that the star players don't get worked over. Well, Bob Roll makes an intimidating enforcer. During the 1990 Tour De France, when Steve Bauer of our team got into a breakaway on the first day and took the race leader's Yellow jersey, Bob filled the roll as enforcer. When Steve had the Yellow Jersey, Bob would sit up at the front of the peloton and glare at the riders in the most intimidating way to discourage anyone from going off the front.
Bob was part of the American character in the European peloton. Maybe he was too much for some guys. But Kiefel and I loved him. Having somone like Bob on the team helped keep us lively, keep us American. He made light of all the silly traditions the Europeans have---the uniformity, and the seriousness that hangs over the sport if you let it. Because the sport is so hard and demanding, the humor tends to be drained from most riders. That's where Bob fit in. He could cut through the tension with his wit. We needed that to survive."



Sounds like my kind of guy.

William

[David Kirk]

thanks for the post...that was fun.

Dave

[Andreu]

I bet he was "really popular" on the European race scene.
A

[Bruce H.]

You know, people listen to Stern on radio even though they hate the guy because they want to hear him say something off color.
With Bob, I listen because I love it when he says something hilarious. You gotta love the guy and his fantastic Tour DEEE France sense of humor. :D :D
Bruce H

[William]

I bet he was "really popular" on the European race scene.

I think the point was that it didn't matter what they thought. Roll is/was the type of character who doesn't really care whether you like them or not. They are who they are, and to act any differently is not being true to themselves.

They were there to race and shake things up and remain quintessentially an "American" team where one had not been before. They were looked down upon by many and to let that get to them would be demoralizing. Roll helped them remain focused and not get intimidated by the seriousness and traditions that permeated the sport until that point.

William

[William]

thanks for the post...that was fun.

Dave

Notta problem attall. :)

William

[Tom]

He clearly loves the sport and telling people about it. That alone makes him worth watching when I'm ducking my responsibilities.

[bcm119]

Thats a great read.

Bob is such the perfect compliment to Trautwig. I think alot of what Bob says goes right over AL's head. Like yesterday, when Bob said that the riders watch music videos on their bike computers. Al just said, "well, thats the digital age for you...we'll be right back with more coverage of the 2004 Tour de France."

[William]

I should have added this before the last section I entered.

According to Davis Phinney, in his book, "Training for Cycling":

"...Another rider we picked up at the last moment was Bob Roll, who was racing as an amateur in Europe. We had met Bob the previous year in Switzerland, and he had told us how he had lived in a tent for the entire previous summer just to get by. When Ron Hayman got sick just before the Giro, Mike Neel tracked down Bob and asked him if he would turn pro and ride the Giro. He had three days to prepare. "No sweat," Bob said.

Prior to the Giro when we stopped on a training ride to get a drink at a cafe, someone asked us -- in Italian -- who was our capitain, capitano in Italian. Bob, in fluent Italian, answered, "We are all captains." Right away I liked this guy."

[shaq-d]

and here's the link to how bob roll and lance armstrong rode together, with chris carmichael, to get lance on the road again after cancer..

http://www.nytimes.com/library/sports/other/080199bike-armstrong.html

sd

[William]

I didn't know that.
That's very cool and a great read.:cool:

Thanks. :)


William

[Tom Byrnes]

William and Shaq-D - Thaks for the great reads. I always liked Bob Roll. Now, I like him even more.

Tom

[Dekonick]

I did not know Bob was 'the other rider' that week. Thanks for the article! It makes good reading at 3AM. :D

[97CSI]

In LA's first book there are a fair number of pages about his getting back on the bike and riding through the rain/cold in NC mountains. Had read earlier that it was Bob Roll, but don't think in the several pages that cover same that he mentions him by name, which I thought strange at the time. But, read it several years ago.

He is a delight to listen to going against Troutwig, who knows almost nothing.

[Fixed]

he's a funny cat like to have a beer with him imho
:beer: cheers

[gasman]

Thanks for the great story William and thanks for the link Shaq.

I went to amazon.com the other day to get a used copy of Bobke's 1st book and found out the cheapest copy went for $99 used !!!!!!!!!

I love listening to him, he is so knowledgable and so funny.

[Yukonjack]

Great article on Bob. With all the bad cycling news it's nice to have people like Bob, Phil and Paul to listen to. They are so much more enjoyable to listen to than your typical bunch of talking heads that the networks use for football, basketball and baseball. There are not many one of a kinds in the media these days, but Bob is surely one of them. Thanks for the read!

[Bruce K]

I was lucky enough to meet Bob at The Ride for the Roses a couple of years ago. He was sporting a big, bushy beard and wandering around the Expo pretty well unrecognized.

He was pleasant, down-to-earth, and just as humorous in real life as he is on the TdF broadcasts. He was also kind enough to sign my Livestrong jersey.

I can't remember if it was Weisan or exactly who from the forum that ended up riding with Bob for a short distance as LA and his posse passed them on the route but I remember they posted a picture or two.

I would love to see more of Bob in some form of a regular cycling news broadcast but I am afraid that until there is another big American star for the public to latch on to, that isn't likely to happen.

BK

[gcamp]

Absolutely a Class act that we need more of in cycling. He keeps things in the proper perspective

[Bill Bove]

I signed in for the start of the tour of the adirondacks back in 90 or 91 when Bob was at tail end of his road racing career but still a big euro stud and his name was there on the start list. I never saw him (or the front of the race) but it was still cool to see his name there.

For some reason I use my hands more when I talk during July :confused:

[Moosedryvr]

I went on one of Andy Hampsten's tours last fall and asked him to tell some Bob Roll stories. Too funny. He also told the one about Bob at the Giro. Andy said that Bob came back to the bus/van and told everyone to "wait till you see what's in the paper tomorrow." Additionally, he told how the next day Bob played it for all it was worth in the peloton, telling the Euros how he had killed a Buffalo with a bow and arrow, then ate its still beating heart, etc. Andy said all the Italians thought Bob was bigger than life and that everybody gave him extra room in the peloton as they rode because he was the "crazy American who ate beating hearts." Beautiful. He said the only Americans that didn't find it especially funny were the team management who would get pissed to find Bobke at the back of the peloton telling stories when he was supposed to be up front racing. Dude's a trip and would be a blast to ride a century with!

Shawn G.

[Lifelover]

I love listening to him, he is so knowledgable and so funny.


I was lucky enough to weasel my into a "by invite only" function at a LBS that featured a talk by Bob this past winter.

It was an absolute pleasure and I would gladly pay $100 if I had to to hear him again.

He made a statement a few nights ago during the show that Chris Horner is an excellent speaker. I'm hoping he shows up around here as well.

[old_school]

Gotta say, I have enjoyed this thread 100x more than the past 17 doping discussions. The human drama of athletic competition ... good stuff!
Thanks.

[chrisroph]

When he was in Portland for one of the Lance rides a few years back, some of my teammates got to ride with Bobke, Eddy and LA. The ride was supposed to be a century but they took some shortcuts and did about 70 miles. Bob, who was reportedly a little pudgy, still managed to win the final sprint and, afterward, told all of the skinny local racer types that they needed to eat more bacon.

[97CSI]

I went to amazon.com the other day to get a used copy of Bobke's 1st book and found out the cheapest copy went for $99 used !!!!!!!!!Yow!! I'll sell you my copy for $66. :D

He made a statement a few nights ago during the show that Chris Horner is an excellent speaker. I'm hoping he shows up around here as well.Horner certainly comes across well when he is interviewed. If he isn't riding next year, perhaps he can take Troutwigs place.

[SoCalSteve]

My wife went to hear him speak at a local tri-club function (no, my wife is not a tri-geek, we have a friend who is)...

She said he was a great speaker, very entertaining and can tell a great story....He also speaks Italian with a great Italian accent (my wife worked for an Italian company for many years and speaks it fluently).

She also said that he talked about one of the reasons he hangs with Phil and Paul is because he can keep up with them (drinking-wise).

He seems like a great guy!

Steve

[superunleaded]

Horner certainly comes across well when he is interviewed.
And his smiles and laughs are contagious(sp).

Thanks William and Shaq-D, that was a good read.

Sincerely,
-gas

[tiger]

Here's Bob posing with me at the Tour de Georgia (Brasstown Bald) a couple of years ago. He was funny as can be, and extremely gracious to everyone. A fellow spectator handed him a beer and he promply drank it and 2 minutes later was on camera discussing the race! :beer:

[Walter]

I had the privilege of attending the '90 Tour. At the finish in Paris there were maybe 20 Americans all sitting together at the finish line. When Roll came to the line, he stopped his bike, got off, bent down, and kissed the line. We went nuts.

The teams all then do a parade lap after the race and his team were all decked out in cowboy hats and seriously playing to the crowd. We loved it and we hollering to the max. Some of the French spectators below us turned and said ..."You Americans are always so loud" You can imagine the reaction that triggered.

It was Bob Roll that lit up our crowd!

[gasman]

Yow!! I'll sell you my copy for $66. :D
.


THAT"S what makes this forum so great !!

[chakatrain]

got to love bob.

[William]

Well, since Bobke is taking on the TDF Roll (:banana: ) I thought I would bump this thread back to life for those of you that didn't know that... :)






W.

[paredown]

I should have added this before the last section I entered.

According to Davis Phinney, in his book, "Training for Cycling":

"...Another rider we picked up at the last moment was Bob Roll, who was racing as an amateur in Europe. We had met Bob the previous year in Switzerland, and he had told us how he had lived in a tent for the entire previous summer just to get by. When Ron Hayman got sick just before the Giro, Mike Neel tracked down Bob and asked him if he would turn pro and ride the Giro. He had three days to prepare. "No sweat," Bob said.

...
Hayman is an old friend from BITD--we raced together as Juniors--I didn't know that that is how he missed the Giro...

Bobke is great!

[Bisquik]

Thanks for the introduction to a interesting piece of cycling history, I'll definitely check out more on Bob Roll.

[54ny77]

that made me laugh. solid. :p :hello:

Thats a great read.

Bob is such the perfect compliment to Trautwig. I think alot of what Bob says goes right over AL's head. Like yesterday, when Bob said that the riders watch music videos on their bike computers. Al just said, "well, thats the digital age for you...we'll be right back with more coverage of the 2004 Tour de France."

[William]

:)

[William]

:banana:

[William]

:bike:

[William]

:fight:

[William]

Super Bob?

[William]

:p

[William]

:help:

[glepore]

He's doing a great job, even reading the french geography bs that NBC throws at him.

[Gummee]

He's doing a great job, even reading the french geography bs that NBC throws at him.

He's gotten a lot better as a broadcaster over the last few years. He was almost unwatchable at first.

M

[redir]

LOL Bob was definitely known to go on a Roll.

He's great. You can follow him on Twitter and he's just as funny today.

[Bruce K]

He admits he was kind of a train wreck when he started in the Off Script broadcast.

As I said in the other thread - it’s definitely worth watching.

BK

[tylerbennett]

Thanks for your beautiful input. :banana:

[Hawker]

He's gotten a lot better as a broadcaster over the last few years. He was almost unwatchable at first.

M

At least he's not calling it the "Tour Day France" any longer. ;)

[gone]

A bike club I used to be part of paid for him to come and speak at our annual dinner. He'd obviously hit the wine really hard before he got up to speak and it was, by far, the biggest letdown ever.

He's got a wealth of experience and a million anecdotes but shared neither that night.

Boring doesn't even come close.

[wc1934]

sorry - this has already been posted in a different thread (somehow I missed it). Please disregard


Bob Roll on how he got into cycling, upbringing in Oakland | Off Script Part 1 |

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ria7sBW65GY


Bob Roll reflects on cycling career and transition to broadcasting | Off Script Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtduLsJaahg