Tweets from the Epicenter

For over a decade he has been the growing epicenter of cycling - yip, the epicenter. Lance Armstrong is cycling's epicenter. Face it, no other cyclist has ever come close. You, cyclist or not, may not like him, you may think he is arrogant, you may think he doped and lied, you may want to strangle yourself with one of those yellow wrist-bands every time the media turns a cycling event into a Lance-event, and for those who love and follow the pro ranks there will always be Eddie, or Il Campionissimo, Kelly or Anquetil. But LA, for every average two-wheeled pedaler IS cycling. "No"?? Think not? Get this, in a world filled with a bizillion busllshit Tweets, a Tweet from the epicenter yesterday in Ireland -

"@lancearmstrong: Good morning Dublin. Who wants to ride this afternoon? I do. 5:30pm at the roundabout of Fountain Road and Chesterfield Avenue. See you there."

Got this -

Armstrong's Tweet turns out more than 1,000 riders for a jaunt around Dublin

Regardless what side of the Armstrong fence you park your ride, you are feeling the tremors from the epicenter. Some of those tremors are better or more bike lanes on our city streets; some of those tremors mean safe cycling programs in elementary schools; some of those tremors mean higher quality, lower priced bikes and bike parts; some of those tremors mean more race ops for young and old who will never make the pros; and most importantly, some of those tremors are about cancer, more money and more effort into understand and fighting cancer, and some of those cancer tremors creating everything from neighborhood rides to major anticancer drug companies supporting ride events local and national (the Tour of California).

Now here's the tremors some of you will be hiding under you 3rd grade desk over: For all of us who love the bike - despite our versions and reasons for riding - LA has made our lives better.

Photo (c) Stephen McMahon