Little short story I cropped up the other day; Its got a tad of exaggeration to it but anyways.........Enjoy
.................................................
The following short story is about the sport of Professional Cycling and how
one man's downfall from fame and grace has allowed cycling to recover
from the horrible scandals and rumors that have nearly destroyed it.
Cycling's torrent drug history can perhaps best be viewed by examining the life
of its greater disciple Lance Armstrong; Lance Armstrong is a name many people in
North America are familiar with. Before his epic confession and downfall in 2012, Lance Armstrong was a name that inspired hope in cancer patients and admiration from everyone else. For you see Lance Armstrong had himself survived testicular cancer which was so horrific, that it had at one point spread throughout his lungs and brain. Nevertheless he was able to endure the pain of the disease and the horrible chemotherapy treatments that went along with it.
People considered it a miracle when Lance survived his cancer. Shortly after he had beaten cancer, Lance decided that he would develop a cancer charity known as the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help raise cancer awareness. His idea was well intentioned and his heart was in the right place, however not many people cared to donate money to his charity because at the time, Lance had yet to do anything truly great. He had never won the Tour de France, or won an Olympic gold medal in cycling. Although he had won the world championships, that was several years ago and people here in North America had already forgotten about him. Lance didn't want to start riding his bike again however and he needed a foundation of friends and family to push him so that he could become as great as they all believed he could be.
For you see Lance's closest companions could see how great he could be in Grand Tours even though he had never won one, since to be competitive in a grand tour bike race like a three week race such as the Tour de France, it isn't enough to have the right physical talents. It requires mental stamina, perseverance and most of all endurance. Everyone who was close to Lance could see that he possessed these traits and they wanted him to compete. Indeed, professional cycling needed a pure soul such as Lance to save cycling from the horrible reputation that professional cycling was starting to acquire.
But before we continue, just what is this horrible reputation to which I refer to? Quite simply it was the reputation that cycling had started to be seen as a sport infected with illegal drugs. Drugs had always been used in cycling just as it had been in other sports such as track or professional bodybuilding, however sometime starting in the early 90s, it was clear that cycling was going through a huge change. A new drug called EPO had been created which could alter a humans blood so that it could carry more oxygen. It was undetectable by drug tests and could boosts a cyclists performance and recovery by a huge margin.
Although this and other drugs had started engulfing cycling in the early 90's, it wasn't until the year 1998 that what was happening to cycling began to come to the public's attention. During the 1998 Tour De France, a team support car was pulled over at a border crossing, where security found a goldmine of illegal drugs such as EPO and steroids. The events that ensued afterwards was a witch hunt as police authority ransacked team buses and hotel rooms and arrested Tour de France cyclists. Charges were laid and people went to jail. For the very first time the public had got a glimpse at just what was going on inside this sport. This event would eventually come to be remembered as the "Festina Scandal".
Lance Armstrong had watched the 1998 Tour De France on television. He could see what was happening to the sports image. He also knew that in order for his charity to flourish, he would need to do something to inspire people.
It has been said that it was this moment that Lance Armstrong found the resolve to train himself to win the Tour de France and try and save cycling. He would rise up from simply being a retired cyclist and cancer survivor. He would train his body on the bike to win the race and everyone would see that he would win it cleanly without the use of drugs. By doing so, not only could he save professional cycling, but he would show to all cancer survivors around the world that there is life after this disease and when you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.
Sure enough, one year later Lance wins the 1999 Tour. Many followers of cycling called him a cheater, but he soon passes all of his drug tests and quickly acquires celebrity fame. His cancer charity takes off and cycling gets saved. Lance would go on to win the tour a total of seven times before finally retiring.
Now this would be a good point to end a true but very heart warming story, however this is not the end. Life by its very nature rarely has fairy tale endings.
Even hero's have their flaws, their lies and a dark side. We like to put our hero's on a moral pedestal, however the truth is that many hero's have the moral structure of just ordinary people. Fast forward to the year 2012 and guess what..........We learn that Lance Armstrong wasn't some super-human cancer survivor who could will himself to win cycling's most grueling bike race against cheating competitors. Nor was Lance trying to clean up the sport by encouraging clean racing. He had himself cheated since his very first tour win in 1999. In fact, not only had he cheated but investigations had proved that virtually every single contender at the tour had been found guilty of using drugs. The year 2012 proved to be the worst professional cycling's had ever endured for its image. Lance Armstrong was forced to give back his Tour de France titles and was forced to resign from his own charity which by now had raised half a billion dollars. The head of the UCI which governs professional cycling was eventually fired and right now Lance Armstrong is being sued by the federal government for 96 million dollars. Many people who we're fans of Lance now believe he is truly evil. Personally, I think he is just normal and like normal people, he just wanted to be admired and looked up to. He deceived us into believing he was this larger than life figure who possessed will-power beyond that of ordinary humans. He wanted us to believe that moral riders can ride their bikes without drugs and still defeat those who did use them. Was Armstrong truly doing this for his own benefit? Sometimes those who have cancer need to believe in something in order to keep on fighting. Lance gave them that reason. He might not have been honest and he might've been greedy, but their is no doubt in my mind that Lance saved people who we're fighting cancer and perhaps has saved cycling's image by letting the world believe that what's wrong with cycling is all because of him. He is a martyr and despite the horrible things being revealed or said, he is still my hero!
End of Short Story
.................................................
The following short story is about the sport of Professional Cycling and how
one man's downfall from fame and grace has allowed cycling to recover
from the horrible scandals and rumors that have nearly destroyed it.
Cycling's torrent drug history can perhaps best be viewed by examining the life
of its greater disciple Lance Armstrong; Lance Armstrong is a name many people in
North America are familiar with. Before his epic confession and downfall in 2012, Lance Armstrong was a name that inspired hope in cancer patients and admiration from everyone else. For you see Lance Armstrong had himself survived testicular cancer which was so horrific, that it had at one point spread throughout his lungs and brain. Nevertheless he was able to endure the pain of the disease and the horrible chemotherapy treatments that went along with it.
People considered it a miracle when Lance survived his cancer. Shortly after he had beaten cancer, Lance decided that he would develop a cancer charity known as the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help raise cancer awareness. His idea was well intentioned and his heart was in the right place, however not many people cared to donate money to his charity because at the time, Lance had yet to do anything truly great. He had never won the Tour de France, or won an Olympic gold medal in cycling. Although he had won the world championships, that was several years ago and people here in North America had already forgotten about him. Lance didn't want to start riding his bike again however and he needed a foundation of friends and family to push him so that he could become as great as they all believed he could be.
For you see Lance's closest companions could see how great he could be in Grand Tours even though he had never won one, since to be competitive in a grand tour bike race like a three week race such as the Tour de France, it isn't enough to have the right physical talents. It requires mental stamina, perseverance and most of all endurance. Everyone who was close to Lance could see that he possessed these traits and they wanted him to compete. Indeed, professional cycling needed a pure soul such as Lance to save cycling from the horrible reputation that professional cycling was starting to acquire.
But before we continue, just what is this horrible reputation to which I refer to? Quite simply it was the reputation that cycling had started to be seen as a sport infected with illegal drugs. Drugs had always been used in cycling just as it had been in other sports such as track or professional bodybuilding, however sometime starting in the early 90s, it was clear that cycling was going through a huge change. A new drug called EPO had been created which could alter a humans blood so that it could carry more oxygen. It was undetectable by drug tests and could boosts a cyclists performance and recovery by a huge margin.
Although this and other drugs had started engulfing cycling in the early 90's, it wasn't until the year 1998 that what was happening to cycling began to come to the public's attention. During the 1998 Tour De France, a team support car was pulled over at a border crossing, where security found a goldmine of illegal drugs such as EPO and steroids. The events that ensued afterwards was a witch hunt as police authority ransacked team buses and hotel rooms and arrested Tour de France cyclists. Charges were laid and people went to jail. For the very first time the public had got a glimpse at just what was going on inside this sport. This event would eventually come to be remembered as the "Festina Scandal".
Lance Armstrong had watched the 1998 Tour De France on television. He could see what was happening to the sports image. He also knew that in order for his charity to flourish, he would need to do something to inspire people.
It has been said that it was this moment that Lance Armstrong found the resolve to train himself to win the Tour de France and try and save cycling. He would rise up from simply being a retired cyclist and cancer survivor. He would train his body on the bike to win the race and everyone would see that he would win it cleanly without the use of drugs. By doing so, not only could he save professional cycling, but he would show to all cancer survivors around the world that there is life after this disease and when you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.
Sure enough, one year later Lance wins the 1999 Tour. Many followers of cycling called him a cheater, but he soon passes all of his drug tests and quickly acquires celebrity fame. His cancer charity takes off and cycling gets saved. Lance would go on to win the tour a total of seven times before finally retiring.
Now this would be a good point to end a true but very heart warming story, however this is not the end. Life by its very nature rarely has fairy tale endings.
Even hero's have their flaws, their lies and a dark side. We like to put our hero's on a moral pedestal, however the truth is that many hero's have the moral structure of just ordinary people. Fast forward to the year 2012 and guess what..........We learn that Lance Armstrong wasn't some super-human cancer survivor who could will himself to win cycling's most grueling bike race against cheating competitors. Nor was Lance trying to clean up the sport by encouraging clean racing. He had himself cheated since his very first tour win in 1999. In fact, not only had he cheated but investigations had proved that virtually every single contender at the tour had been found guilty of using drugs. The year 2012 proved to be the worst professional cycling's had ever endured for its image. Lance Armstrong was forced to give back his Tour de France titles and was forced to resign from his own charity which by now had raised half a billion dollars. The head of the UCI which governs professional cycling was eventually fired and right now Lance Armstrong is being sued by the federal government for 96 million dollars. Many people who we're fans of Lance now believe he is truly evil. Personally, I think he is just normal and like normal people, he just wanted to be admired and looked up to. He deceived us into believing he was this larger than life figure who possessed will-power beyond that of ordinary humans. He wanted us to believe that moral riders can ride their bikes without drugs and still defeat those who did use them. Was Armstrong truly doing this for his own benefit? Sometimes those who have cancer need to believe in something in order to keep on fighting. Lance gave them that reason. He might not have been honest and he might've been greedy, but their is no doubt in my mind that Lance saved people who we're fighting cancer and perhaps has saved cycling's image by letting the world believe that what's wrong with cycling is all because of him. He is a martyr and despite the horrible things being revealed or said, he is still my hero!
End of Short Story