"All you're left with is a plaid thermos..." the wolfman

Speaking of Twitter I gotta hand it to Vaughters for poking the bear this weekend with this quote on TimesOnLine.com, “In 2009, the tactics worked in his favor [Wiggins] and Astana were soft-pedaling a bit to not embarrass Lance [Armstrong].” Armstrong’s Twitter response, “I won’t be forgetting this comment anytime soon. #whatatool” Oh snap, it’s on now! I’m waiting for Vaughters to reply with a “Your mama” joke.

As you might have noticed Floyd Landis continues to give me the exclusive on what’s he doing and why he’s doing it. As always, when I get something interesting from the Land of Landis I’ll post it. I’ve been promised more videos, so keep your fingers crossed.

Locally the Greenville Spring Series is right around the corner and I’m feeling like I got some snap to the legs. We’ll see soon enough if that’s just delusional thinking due to a good ride yesterday. I’m anxious to race and see what kind of bite this old dog has left in him…

2.4 million Followers and growing PHOTO: Al Crawford

Now that I no longer have the relentless work pace of an editorial director of a monthly magazine, I actually have time to read the few that I subscribe to. One magazine that I always have on my bedside table and read cover to cover is WIRED. In the February issue there is an article by Clive Thompson, “In Praise of Online Obscurity” which made me contemplate the Twitter community. Basically the thesis of the article is that the more Followers a person gains eliminates the sense of community among that group. It made me think of Lance Armstrong and his 2.4 million followers. People are still replying to his Tweets or giving Facebook “thumbs up” to updates whether they are about his musical choices, cleaning his closet or fulfilling his contractual duties by alerting us that his new Michelob Ultra commercial will be broadcast during the Super Bowl. But is anyone in the Armstrong/LiveStrong entity listening or caring to the Followers? Do people who reply think that Lance is looking at each Tweet and crafting an answer? In all fairness if he did take the time to reply to even a small percentage of replies his training time would be slashed, he’d be suffering from carpel tunnel of the thumb and going through BlackBerry phones every other week. His online presence has become a faceless corporate entity. There is no sense of community or exclusivity of the Followers to enjoy. No longer is it a select group privy to the minutiae of his day. Everyone knows his every movement and journalists quote his Tweets like they are breaking news flashes.

So what can someone of Armstrong’s stature do? Is it his fault that his online popularity is among the top ten in the world? Of course it isn’t and there’s no way he can disappear into obscurity. However I will say something that is rare for a journalist; Lance you don’t need to tell us everything. Dial back the Tweets and create anticipation for your next post. Your Twitter response on the team time trial returning to the Tour in 2011 implies that you’re contemplating competing in that year’s race. That’s interesting. You watching the football game and announcing the scores that most of America is watching quite frankly isn’t. Rest the thumbs and make us look forward to your next post instead of them arriving with the frequency of an egg timer. I know that not everyone agrees with me. Some people enjoy getting those Tweets of Lance’s daily life which makes him seem more like “one of us”. But hey, maybe I’m jaded and people love to hear and see that stuff. It sure hasn’t stopped people coming in the thousands to his Tweet-Up rides. Perhaps it’s a little of both: having millions of Followers and creating a few events to keep the sense of community alive. As my own Followers grow I wonder how much of a “conversation” I’m having.

HTC-Columbia is killing it at the Tour Down Under

As January winds down the first UCI race of the year is almost complete. The Tour Down Under seems to have been tough enough in 2009 for Armstrong to cause him to have a gut check on whether his return to professional racing was a good idea. This year it’s a different story. He’s been in breakaways and mixing it up. His fellow RadioShackers have also been at the front and have been top three in some stage finishes – so far so good. Now if they can score a win this Saturday… Team Sky came in with the plan of making a race day debut splash, which they accomplished with Greg Henderson taking the win at the Cancer Council Helpline Classic. But from there on it has been Andre Greipel of HTC-Columbia putting on a daily sprint clinic. I know it’s way too early to make predictions but damn, HTC-Columbia seems to have picked up where they left off last year, dominating anything that ended with a sprint finish. Once Cav gets his choppers sorted out he’ll once again be racking up the wins as well. One bit of advice for Cav: Resist the urge to go with Team Sky. I can’t put my finger on it but my Spidey senses tingle in a bad way with the thought of him joining Sky. When his contract expires I fully expect him to hear the siren call of racing for a British pro team like any American who wasn’t racing for 7-Eleven in the ’80’s.

While teams like HTC-Columbia, RadioShack and Team Sky seem to be enjoying a healthy budget, other squads don’t seem to be faring as well. Milram, Caisse d Epargne and Saxo Bank as title sponsors are getting out of the cycling game at the conclusion of 2010. Also, Quick Step is cutting back on their racing schedule due to budget constraints. Here in the States races and teams are scaling back. One rider is taking the situation in hand and is becoming the master of his own domain. Burke Swindlehurst, a strong climber on the Bissell squad last year, is going solo in ‘10. He has cobbled together several individual sponsors and is going to be competing in both road and mountain biking. Is this the new cycling sponsorship business model in these tough economic times? In mountain biking teamwork is not a factor, however road racing is another thing all together. In crits and road races he’s going to have to rely on being in the right moves at the right time with no margin of error. That said, in a climbing race it can become mano-a-mano and Swindlehurst can climb with the best of them domestically. I’m always a fan of the underdog, so I’m betting on Burke to pop up here and there on the leader’s board. I have suggestion for Burke: install a PayPal donation widget on your website. There’s fans out there that love to see you race and can appreciate you being a fly in the ointment. Plus your musical insights are priceless, so why not let people throw a couple of bucks your way.

One last comment I have is regarding a Twitter post I read from David Zabriskie and a few Garmin-Transitions riders. It looks like today was Media Training Day for the team. I’ve sat in on a few and if you saw the bio film, “Blood, Sweat and Gears” you can see how much the media is loved by riders and staff alike. I’m curious now that most riders have Twitter accounts as well as Facebook pages, how much random, unfiltered Twittering is going to occur. As a personal plea don’t let the P.R. people completely neuter your thoughts. Those 140 characters offer a tiny glimpse of who you are as a person beyond the rolling billboard you’ve become. And that glimpse behind the curtain causes people to become fans of a sport that could use a few more.

Brian gets the shot from the top of the many rolling hills in the area

Brian Hodes of Velo Images is in Tucson at the RadioShack camp and gave a quick report from his view behind the lens. Immediately following our conversation he headed out to the hardware store to purchase rain gear. The forecast tomorrow in Tucson calls for rain and the team is riding regardless. Oh yeah, Brian is on a moto tomorrow.

The day starts off early as Brian met with the media liaison, Philippe. After introductions and a few ground rules, Hodes’ trigger finger is itching to shoot. Other than Casy Gibson, who is shooting for Lance in Liz Kreutz’s absence, Hodes is the only still photographer there. That situation will change quickly tomorrow as it becomes “media day” and journalists from around the world will be arriving.  Also in attendance this first day is a camera crew filming a  Armstrong documentary.

After a closed door meeting, the 2010 RadioShack team gathered their new bikes and headed out for their first ride as a team. The riders are contractually obliged to ride with their current team kits and to quote @theteamshack “the (RadioShack) Team Kit design is locked up tighter than a ’73 Bottechia Campy BB. Latest is Lance will debut it via twitter when ready.” After the ride it was back to the rooms for massage and dinner. This is basically the routine that the riders will have for the remaining week. That and a few dozen interviews.  Tomorrow the Livestrong U23 team arrives which includes 2009 U23 Paris-Roubaix winner and Olympian Taylor Phinney.

Here’s hoping that Brian gets enough waterproof clothes…

Brian in action

@neilroad hates whales...

I’ve been on Twitter for a long time. I registered an account almost immediately and I believe I’m one of the first 20,000 people to have done so. Originally I used the micro-blogging site as a way to be a smart ass, make stream of consciousness comments or get into random arguments with random people. Sometimes it got me into trouble, especially after a few drinks. Now Twitter has morphed from not just a way to post the minutiae of your life but a source for late breaking cycling news and much to the chagrin of PR people, the sometimes unfiltered opinions of the pros. One of my favorite Tweets was a late night post-Champs-Elysee-Tour-de-France-celebration Tweet sent by Bradley Wiggins to someone I believe is Cavendish. I feel your pain Wiggo, I’ve sent a few out like that too.

For those who like to get their pro info unfiltered and from the source a Twitter account is a must have social networking app. Luckily a fellow Twitter person, @zoerochelle has taken the work out of trying to find all the teams and pro Twitter accounts for us. She has complied a list on her site, twittercycling.tumblr.com listing all the pros, team, directors and races. So if you are looking to drive your significant other crazy with your cycling obsession, subscribe to the list. Do yourself a favor, don’t have them all go to your phone. Oh, and remember to follow me at @neilroad. I’m a big deal in the road bike industry!

Follow @uhcprocycling on Twitter for the latest team info

Team OUCH has changed their Twitter account name to @uhcprocycling to match their new title sponsor United Healthcare Pro Cycling team presented by Maxxis. Their Twitter stated, “exciting stuff to come in 2010.” While Landis has moved on and John Murphy has transferred to BMC for a chance to contest the Spring Classics, several of the key riders from 2009 seem to be staying with OUCH.