LeMond

[onekgguy]

I was sitting in the sector last night with one of our trainees sitting to my side. He asked if it was true that I was into road bikes. I told him that it was true. He then mentioned that in his last job as a rep for Cirrus (http://www.cirrusdesign.com/sr22turbo/) aircraft he spent a few days with Greg LeMond a couple years ago taking him through the paces in an upgraded Cirrus.

He was surprised while out to lunch with him when Greg stepped outside the restaurant to have a smoke. Marlboro reds. Maybe the fact that he smokes is common knowledge among people here. It was news to me. I have a difficult time understanding how somebody can take up smoking later in life especially someone who has spent a good part of their life honing their body to make it as fit as possible. I know that's no longer the case for him and he's put on a few pounds since his racing days which is expected but I have a hard time understanding what the lure of a smoking addiction would be?

Kevin g

[LegendRider]

He's been under a lot of stress in the past few years - extramarital affair, son with drug problems, feud with Lance, Landis affair, childhood molestation in the public domain, souring relationship with Trek, the Yellowstone development lawsuit, etc. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

[vqdriver]

+1
tough to see how someone could start that late in life, if indeed he started recently. but remember, he spent a whole lot of time in europe where his exposure to smoking would have been very different than it is in the US in the current day. i wouldn't be surprised if some of the european pros were smokers even during their careers.

i remember being in europe years ago and there was a cloud of cigarette smoke in just about all the hotels and restaurants. it's just a normal part of life in other parts of the world, nothing to think twice about.

geez, doesn't vlade divac smoke like a pack a day???

[Buzz]

Who would have thunk. Lemond and Obama have something in common:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081207/pl_nm/us_usa_obama_smoking_3

[Lazy Bill]

.... I have a hard time understanding what the lure of a smoking addiction would be?

Kevin g
You are lucky you don't know the draw - just keep it that way.
Quitting is a bear.

[rcnute]

If he was buying a plane he gets no sympathy from me.

[onekgguy]

You are lucky you don't know the draw - just keep it that way.
Quitting is a bear.

Actually I do. I smoked the stupid things for three years in my late teens before realizing I needed to quit. It was difficult but continuing simply didn't seem to be an option. Up until 6-8 years ago I'd still have the occasional night-scare where I wake up thinking I'm a smoker again. The dream starts out with me lighting up once or twice with friends before it morphs into a full blown addiction. It's a nice dream to wake up from and realize that it was only that; a dream.

Kevin g

[thwart]

You are lucky you don't know the draw - just keep it that way. Quitting is a bear.
Nicotine... proven to be more addictive than heroin. And has led to the death of millions more than all the other drugs combined.

Hard to believe they can still sell the things.

[Chris]

I need a little more corroboration to this story than a second hand account. No offense to the poster, but this seems a bit of a stretch. I don't know that we need to be spreading some rumor on the internet.

[mike p]

If he was buying a plane he gets no sympathy from me.


***!!

Mike

[Marcusaurelius]

Well I guess stress can cause someone to do strange things but I would thought smoking would not be something he would pick up.

[Louis]

***!!

I can think of at least two possible explanations of this. There may be others.

1) People who own aircraft, by virtue of that very fact, are not deserving our our sympathy if they become addicted to a substance like nicotine or,

2) People who own aircraft are by definition rich, and rich people who smoke deserve whatever is coming to them, whether it be lung cancer or early heart attack.

[paulandmonster]

marlboro reds not exactly a beeginer or part time smokers cigarette. plus for him to have his own pack. my guess hes been smoking a while. i understand all to well stress related smoking. im trying to quit myself. this time im going about it sensably. im following the lung asoc. plan. i went from reds to mediums to light to ultra lights and should be done by spring. i cant even smoke a light now without getting sick feeling. so i dont know how greg can be smoking reds if he hasnt been smokking for a long time. my quess is theres alot more to it

[rex]

If he was buying a plane he gets no sympathy from me.

Do you really think that Greg Lemond wants or needs your sympathy?

[Viper]

LeMond let himself go after he retired, looking at his belly, it's clear so I'm not shocked to hear about cigarettes. He seemed to be very serious, dedicated and professional when racing, which matters most. Heck, some pros smoke EPO nowadays.

:beer:

[rcnute]

I can think of at least two possible explanations of this. There may be others.

1) People who own aircraft, by virtue of that very fact, are not deserving our our sympathy if they become addicted to a substance like nicotine or,

2) People who own aircraft are by definition rich, and rich people who smoke deserve whatever is coming to them, whether it be lung cancer or early heart attack.

Close. People who are rich--and therefore have the financial means to change their own behavior and circumstances--get less sympathy from me than those who aren't.

And, as a former smoker, yes, people who smoke--rich or poor--deserve whatever is coming to them.

[rcnute]

Do you really think that Greg Lemond wants or needs your sympathy?

The sentiment was expressed that he should be excused because of his life problems.

[Viper]

Close. People who are rich--and therefore have the financial means to change their own behavior and circumstances--get less sympathy from me than those who aren't.

This is where you lose me. Sympathy is a fraction of empathy and empathy is given or felt no differently based on gender, race or checking account levels. Atticus Finch says to, "Walk a mile in a man's shoes" he didn't reference whether the shoes were Christian Louboutin, Bruno Magli, Ferragamo, Gucci, Nike, Sidi or Jesus sandals.

Joy and sorrow know not the depth of one's wallet. The poor are no sooner to see the light than the rich, truth is free and it's on the shelf, always in stock.

Addiction knows not the depth of one's 401K and cures (changing one's behavior) related to cigarette use or drug use are questions which cannot be answered based on IQ or the amount of green cash at hand; no I do not resent the rich nor think they are to receive more or less sympathy just as we cannot look upon the poor as incapable of self-help, self-responsibility and self-accountabilty, helpless.

The streets of San Francisco are littered with poor drug addicts just as the rehab centers in Palm Springs are filled with rich drug addicts. Does the higher power root more or less for the homeless man on the street or the addict in a hotel room in Vegas? A true, certified drug counselor does not scorn the wealthy addict, nor scoff at the poor addict. A poor cyclist named Fillipo Simeoni is not entitled to any stage of any race. Same to be said for rich-boy-Lance; victory and loss is based on truth, the race of truth says Phil Liggett.

The deep pain Mr. Greg LeMond endures from his childhood is not greater or less than the pain Mr. Greg Nobody felt today losing his mom, dad or dog. Sorrow is sorrow is sorrow, just as joy is joy, they are universal. The pain Michael Hutchence of INXS felt before he committed suicide, his self-made noose didn't know he was a millionaire. The staircases on the towers of the World Trade Centers didn't have guards to bribe, neither did the windows we looked into with horror.

A cyclist with a flat tire needs a tube and his/her need is not defined by their credit card. One could classify the dark-skinned cyclist I helped this past summer, from Honduras, as an illegal immigrant or a sketchy looking drug dealer. He was, like many Hondurans on Long Island, a day-laborer, a landscaper. Handing him a tube was no help, he didn't know how to, "Reparcion la rueda" (my broken Spanish). I fixed his flat no faster than if he was a white-collared executive from Big Oil or the Big Three from Detroit. I gave away my Wham-O frisbee this summer, two kids that barely spoke english had more fun with it than I could. Leaving the park, the young lady I was with commented, "Well that was very Republican of you, white male for sure, you just assumed those kids were poor..." and I was startled, who's the judgmental one, who owned a narrow mind in the park that day?

The President-elect, our leader is an afro-American, from a broken family and he spent time doing hard drugs. He wears $300.00 leather shoes and he got my vote not out of sympathy, but out of admiration and respect. I use very little Spanish, I took the language in high school, but I know the world is round, like a rueda in Spain. The planet is not flat and the pain and sorrow and hunger the poor in Africa feel tonight, is no different than what the refugees feel in Palestine or the single, unemployed mom, about to lose her electricity in Philadelphia. Hope, faith and love do not know bias, it's our conscious which does and while we can easily obtain sympathy, it's that higher sense of empathy which we should reach for, attain.

atmo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JM5mrHUQKo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwMdO3HK_ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbV3NDAItZo

[flickwet]

+1 or whatever just doesn't seem aprpropriate, a great rejoinder viper, enlightening and true.

[onekgguy]

I need a little more corroboration to this story than a second hand account. No offense to the poster, but this seems a bit of a stretch. I don't know that we need to be spreading some rumor on the internet.

I have no reason to doubt what this person told me. He's not prone to making stuff up. He was surprised that Greg was a smoker as am I.

Viper...very well said.

Kevin g

[dshaner]

Well said, Viper. None of us are exempt from the "human condition". We can slide, and we can pick ourselves up. Together or separate.

[Lazy Bill]

marlboro reds not exactly a beeginer or part time smokers cigarette. plus for him to have his own pack. my guess hes been smoking a while. i understand all to well stress related smoking. im trying to quit myself. this time im going about it sensably. im following the lung asoc. plan. i went from reds to mediums to light to ultra lights and should be done by spring. i cant even smoke a light now without getting sick feeling. so i dont know how greg can be smoking reds if he hasnt been smokking for a long time. my quess is theres alot more to it
Keep at it. The only smoke you have to give up is the next one.
Its you that buys them. Its your voice that ask the clerk.
Its your hand that gives them the bills and opens the pack.
Just quit, you'll feel so much better. I promise.
Its you that does it, its you that can quit.
I like your daily pictures, if you want an email every day, I'll do it.
Its a one-day-at-a-time thing, You can do it for one day.

[MilanoTom]

+1 or whatever just doesn't seem aprpropriate, a great rejoinder viper, enlightening and true.

+1

Regards,
Tom

[johnnymossville]

I'm no anti-smoking nazi and believe people should be able to smoke if they want but Greg should know better.

[Louis]

I'm no anti-smoking nazi and believe people should be able to smoke if they want

1) It's interesting how often we end up in "personal choice vs. personal responsibility toward ourself and others" territory. (helmets, gun, cigs, etc.)

2) I'd rather they not smoke in a restaurant or in a hotel room or rental car that I will later be using.

[BumbleBeeDave]

I'm no anti-smoking nazi and believe people should be able to smoke if they want but Greg should know better.

. . . who has any kind of harmful addiction "should know better." But addiction is not like that. He's a human being, not Superman. He only rode a bike many years ago like he was. I'll cut the guy some slack.

BBD

[johnnymossville]

. . . who has any kind of harmful addiction "should know better." But addiction is not like that. He's a human being, not Superman. He only rode a bike many years ago like he was. I'll cut the guy some slack.

BBD

I doubt it's an addiction. He probably just enjoys doing it. Fine by me, it's his life. From a health standpoint and as a fan of his, I still wish he didn't smoke.

[Dekonick]

I am sure people think the same of any of you when you eat a crispy creme.
A vegan will say the same of you when you eat a steak.

Cut the guy some slack - he was one of the greats.

I'll bet he drinks alcohol too! :crap:

[39cross]

I gave away my Wham-O frisbee this summer, two kids that barely spoke english had more fun with it than I could. Leaving the park, the young lady I was with commented, "Well that was very Republican of you, white male for sure, you just assumed those kids were poor..."Viper, beautifully stated. And you're the richest man in Bedford Falls for sure. Sounds like your friend was related to Mr. Potter.

Seems hard to believe that a great athlete would be a smoker in this day and age, I'd like to think it's not true even if it is.