As you know, I was pretty well informed about the likely contents of the report from previous research. The names of those that testified had been leaked months ago during the Tour. I'm still reading through the report itself, but so far there hasn't been any "wow" moments. I realize that's not the case for many people. Cycling fans, Armstrong fans, pro cyclists, teams, and even journalists have been dealing with their grief. You can see those famous "Five Stages of Grief" being played out in comment sections on news sites, Twitter, cycling websites, sports pages, and personal blogs all over the world. Some people are still in denial, despite the mountain of evidence. Many fans will "Support Lance" no matter what. Some insist on avoiding the topic all together. In fact, many may never progress beyond that point. Then, there are those going through the anger stage. Finger pointing has become a favorite coping mechanism of late- it's the fault of the journalists, it's the fault of the fans. Some have entered the bargaining phase, citing the rampant doping in the peloton of that era or Armstrong's charity work. Others, and understandably so, are depressed. Vows have been made to never watch the Tour again. They can't stand to see another cyclist or race right now. They've thrown out their yellow bracelets. They're putting their Lance memorabilia on eBay. At some point, though, maybe by the time July rolls around, most will be firmly at the end of the process and will accept that the contents of the report are the truth. Cycling wasn't clean in the 90's. Beloved riders were involved. Lance lied and helped to organize the largest doping ring in sports history with tax payer money. He isn't a role model. He isn't a good guy. He will probably never admit it. There's nothing we can do about it.
Then, and only then will cycling move on. But, it's going to take a while to get there. The sport and its fans have to deal with their grief. Hopefully, part of that process will be the continuing efforts of athletes to come clean and today's teams retiring the hangers on from that era. Keep in mind, however, closure from something like this will not happen over night.
But, fans of the sport, remember this- no matter what Lance Armstrong did, no matter what those other guys did, no matter what some of the guys are doing now, cycling itself is still pure. Sure, the pro circuit is not, not by a long shot. But, those guys didn't have a clue what riding a bike is all about. They lost sight of it a long time ago and it just became a way to make money and get famous.
You and I, we know what it's all about, don't we? It's a beautiful thing to swing our legs over that saddle, place our feet on those pedals and just go. We can go wherever we want, we can go as far as we want, and we can go as fast or as slow as we want. Cycling is the perfect union between man and machine and it is beautiful. Every day you get out there on your own bicycle, be it to compete, get to work, or spend time with your family, you are experiencing the true beauty of the bicycle. Drivers can't tarnish it, city planners can't tarnish it, and the corruption of the pro peloton can never, ever tarnish it. No matter what stage of grief you're in, keep your eyes on that truth. Beautiful and wonderful things always have something or someone out there trying to hold it down, but the truly perfect things will always outlast the onslaught.
Get out there and pedal on. Throw off the baggage, the anger, and the activism. Allow yourself to fall in love with your bicycle and your sport again.
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