Cyclops
An eye for lies and a tooth for truth
Cyclops USA
is an irregular journal of bicycle racing and governance. It attempts to
advance the sport of cycling by analyzing the forces that shape it and the inevitable
corruption that creeps into the governance process. It originated during the editor’s tenure on
the board of directors of the United States Cycling Federation (USCF) and its
committees (1977-1999) and has continued since his successful lawsuits against
its successor, USA Cycling, which unfortunately remains rather corrupt.
Cyclops
USA is an aperiodical -- publication dates are determined on the same basis as our office cleaning: we do it
whenever enough dirt accumulates. This web
site is under construction and, over time, will include both new articles and
additional older ones. Early articles
were originally published in printed form, facilitated by the editor’s
invention of the spelling checker in 1962 and by his1981 introduction, while
founding CEO of IMAGEN Corporation, of desktop publishing systems using laser
printers.
Editor: Les
Earnest <les at
cs.stanford.edu>
Liability Press,
April 2007
Fans of this great race have
been treated to many spectacular and thrilling exploits over its first quarter
century. The history of the Classic reads like a movie script sprung from some
Hollywood writer’s imagination, but it isn’t – it all really did happen, and
that makes its tradition one of the richest of all sports. (By Charles Howe <velodynamics at
yahoo.com>).
August 2004
Why was cycling
not included in the ancient Olympics?
The first proto-bicycle
appeared at the beginning of the 19th Century but should have been
invented thousands of years earlier. Had
that happened, world history would have been considerably different.
July 2004
Le Tour Trilogy
Three articles review events
that led to the inaugural Tour de France and the pivotal races of 1964 and
1975.
“The Great Moral
Crusade of Cycle-Sport”
The
inaugural Tour de France was a byproduct of a feud between two French
newspapers that started with a political scandal.
With apologies to Mr. LeMond, this one was even better
than '89
Merckx stood as tall in defeat as he ever did in
victory
September 1989
The Brain Bucket Bash
On January 1, 1986, the U.S.
Cycling Federation became the first national or international bicycle racing
organization to adopt a strong helmet rule. This happened in spite of cycling
traditions, rider apathy, and political chicanery by officers and directors. It
was made possible by a timely mishap.
Part 1 Skirmishes
Tradition usually takes precedence
over common sense
Part 2 1985
report
There
are many reasons for not wearing a safe helmet
Part 3 The big decision
The
adoption of a strong helmet rule was aided by timely misfortune
The lessons of Sesame Street are yet to be
learned
October 1988
The United States
Cycling Federation has a longer history of voting fraud than most Third World
countries.
January 1989
Advocates
investigation of EPO as an alternative to other blood boosting schemes.
BOOK REVIEW: Dave
Prouty’s In spite of us
Cycling's
old guard takes a licking but keeps on ticking.
Why was cycling
not included in the ancient Olympics?
The first proto-bicycle
appeared at the beginning of the 19th Century but should have been
invented thousands of years earlier. Had
that happened, world history would have been considerably different (Superseded by the August 2004 revision.)
August 1988
The number of cyclists is cyclic. The reasons are enigmatic.
Who will control
cycling in 2001?
USCF has held power for 47
years. Will there be a successor soon?
Protecting the roads against
cyclists is a tough job, but Rupp does it.
Alexi Grewal won a gold medal
in cycling at the Los Angeles Olympic Games shortly after admitting that he
took ephedrine during an international stage race. This was facilitated by U.S.
Olympic Committee and cycling officials who had a conflict of interest that
would not be fixed for another 16 years. A number of other political machinations
were also involved.
Blood dopes of the
1984 Olympic Games
Blood transfusions that were
unethically administered to U.S. cyclists during the Olympics probably didn’t
improve their performance but might have serious medical consequences later.
April 1985
Rolling Stone magazine and
others publicly denounced blood doping that occurred during the 1984 Olympics.
However, the Stone’s claims were mostly fabricated in spite of the fact that
they had accurate inside information.
U.S. cycling coach defends
blood doping.
January 1985
How Cyclops USA began as an
aperiodical muckraking journal.
How the threat of terrorism
was used to justify illicit blood testing during the 1984 Olympic Games.
How blood boosting became
established in the United States Tiddlywinks Federation.
January 1979
Chris Springer was a four
time national champion as a Junior when he came to the starting line at the