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Fresh Korn, race purses and beer

Published: May. 20, 2008

The Mailbag is a regular department on VeloNews.com. Write to webletters@insideinc.com. Please include your full name, hometown and state or nation. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month. The letters published should not be viewed as reflecting the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company.


Race radio idea
Editors:

I’ve followed with interest the debate over the use of race radios. Although the issue evokes strong feelings on both sides, a simple idea might find common ground — why not allow race organizers at some smaller races to decide whether to permit radios or not?

Many teams may feel that the stakes are too high at the Tour de France or Paris-Roubaix to risk riding without radios, but many smaller events might benefit from the curiosity and intrigue that a radio-free experiment would create.

Imagine the added attention that would be drawn to events like the Tour of Romandie, the GP Pino Cerami, or the Commerce Bank Lancaster Classic if the racers were left to their own devices once in a while. The popular Eroica Challenge has demonstrated that a bit of nostalgia in the racing scene can quickly capture fans’ interest; a few radio-free experiments could mine the same vein.
Mark Slavonia,
San Francisco, California

Frischkorn's column
Editors:

That was a superb column. It is the same thing we all think on a multiple-hour pack ride but its nice to hear a stream-of-consciousness experience with Euro flavor instead of suburban America, if for no other reason than to show that the world is the same all over.

Yours from suburban America,
Dave Warner,
Canton, Georgia

Mionske's column
Editors:

Bob Mionske always provides a breath of legal fresh air to your web space and his 8 May column was no exception. Here Bob splits an important hair. While arguing that on narrow roads (such as many of our roads in Los Alamos County, New Mexico) riding three or more abreast may at times be a de minimus infraction, cyclists often do themselves no favors when engaging in even these violations.

One way, of course is by endangering their cases should a crash occur. Another way, which I run into far more frequently, is by giving ourselves self-inflicted wounds in the court of public opinion, and this is indeed a very important court. As Bob says, "there's no more powerful ammunition against us than the ammunition scofflaw cyclists provide to our foes every time they blow through a red light or stop sign." Or, may I add, by riding multiply-abreast on a narrow or winding road while talking story and ignoring following traffic.

As Los Alamos County's Transportation Board Chair and serving on my third term on this Board, I hear no end of complaints from irate motorists and pedestrians when they observe not just cycling scofflaws, but seemingly arrogant cycling scofflaws. Our County Council, Traffic Engineer, and local newspaper editor hear the complaints, too. So if we wish to stop handing our foes ammunition to use against us, we should try to avoid senselessly lawless actions that are bound to leave others seeing red, even if such actions are of de minimus importance in a legal perspective. Politics counts, too. Especially when there are more of them than there are of us.

We need to find a compromise between the unfettered joy of our rides and the agita we sometimes give others.
Khal Spencer,
Los Alamos, New Mexico

Armstrong should choose another restaurant
Editors:
re: Armstrong speaks out on smoking laws

Now, Lance is definitely my main man, but if he doesn't like sitting next to someone in a restaurant who is smoking, then he should only patronize restaurants that have no-smoking sections, or don't allow it at all. Winning seven Tours de France does not give him license to tell restaurant owners how to run their businesses.

BTW, in case he and you hadn't heard, recent studies indicate that the benefits of sunlight (vitamin D and, in many cases, improved skin health) outweigh its risks.
Doug Welty
Arlington, Virginia

A Q and an A
The Q:
Editors:

It seems to me that nearly every major sport publishes the cash purse for events. Cycling is the exception. I have been reading VeloNews for nearly 20 years and I still have no idea what the winner of Paris Roubaix, Flanders ect or Paris Nice takes home.

However, every Monday I can read the cash purse of seemingly insignificant pro golf events around the country. Why are the cash purses not published?
Ken Husband,
San Rafael, California

The A:
Ken,

There are several reasons.

1. It is a team sport, and the cash prizes won by a team all go into a team kitty and are divided among the riders, plus support staff like mechanics and soigneurs;
2. At races like the Tour of California, the major teams all get start money to come from Europe, so the prize purse is not the total amount that a team earns;
3. The winner of a major race like the Tour de France (we do include the prize breakdown in our Official Tour Guide) gives all his winnings to the team because by winning the race he increases his start fee for post-Tour criteriums and also boosts his salary for the following year (in golf, there is no salary, so the winnings are everything, other than commercial endorsements);
4. Besides prizes for GC, there are also prizes for every stage, prizes for team classifications, KOM, sprint points, most aggressive, etc, etc, so it would get tedious to spell all that out in detail for every race.

FYI, here are the prize lists (IN EUROS) for the cobblestone classics:

Tour of Flanders: 1. 20,000 2. 10,000 3. 5,000 4. 2,500 5. 2,000 ... down to 500 for 20th place. (Total: 50,000 euros)

Ghent-Wevelgem: 1. 16,000 2. 8,000 3. 4,000 4. 2,000 5. 1,600 ... down to 400 for 20th place. (Total: 40,000 euros)

Paris-Roubaix: 1. 30,000 2. 22,000 3. 15,000 4. 7,500 5. 3,200 ... down to 500 for 20th place. (Total: 91,000 euros)

Hope this helps,
John Wilcockson,
VeloNews Editorial Director

Beer
Guys,

I love your site and magazine. I just wanted to give you a heads up that on your site, while showing pictures of some Sea Otter Tech, you report that Trek came out with a lager to promote their new Sessions 88 LT bike. However, as an Oregonian, I am certain that Sessions lager (brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company in Hood River, Oregon) has been around a long time before the unveiling of Trek's new bike. Trust me, I love that beer and its stubby bottles!

Keep up the good work!
Pete Groblewski,
Portland, Oregon

Editor's Note: The web editor recently returned from the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, where the closing criterium circles the Full Sail brewery. He would like to take this opportunity to personally attest to the existence and quality of Sessions beer (The crit also circled the world headquarters of the company that makes Tofurkey, the edible existence of which remains unresolved).