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• Keep it short. And remember that we reserve the right to edit for grammar, length and clarity.
• Include your full name, hometown and state or nation.
• Send it to webletters@insideinc.com.

Green is in the eye ...
Editor,

I don't mean to imply that you may have fallen victim to Chinese propaganda (or bigger petroleum industry propaganda), but the Chinese characters on the grass covered building in Casey B. Gibson's Leaving Beijing gallery say "China Petroleum."

The caption, "The Chinese made a big deal of being "Green," including this grass covered building," may have been a little different if you knew that. And, the CNPC is the China National Petroleum Corporation. Green? You decide. Cheers.
Dan Cline,
Columbia, Maryland

Hats off to old guys!
Editor,

Hats off to Erik Zabel for taking third in Monday's sprint in his THIRD of the three big tours (Giro/le Tour/Vuelta). He's my hero.

And kudos to Tyler Hamilton for coming 'clean' and winning a race in North Carolina. Bravo to the seasoned racers.
Nolan Winkler,
Hillsboro, New Mexico

Leadville's third place
Editor,

It was awesome to see Lance Armstrong compete in an epic mountain bike race. And just as awesome to hear that Wiens and the Tour Icon had such a close race.

However, you completely neglected to mention the man who finished third, Manuel Prado. I’ve followed the progression of Manuel’s racing career for the last four years. He has unquestionably paid the dues to move up to the elite pro field of mountain bike competitors and is definitely due some recognition for finishing third in Leadville behind Mr. Armstrong.

Most excellent job, Manny.
Dean Swank,
Crestline, California

Hamitlon: thumbs up
Editor,

As a long-time fan of Tyler Hamilton, I've been waiting for the the opportunity for man to feel some level of redemption, of satisfaction, of happiness that even his facial features have shown he seemed to have lost since his alleged doping incident.

He did his time, and he vehemently denied ever doing any doping at all (though some would have liked him to fess-up to that charge that no matter if he did or didn't dope).

Just think, a 37 year old guy kicks the butt of a slew of twenty-somethings for the National Championships, of Tour de France and Giro stage winners, of former national champs, of up and comers ... it will surely put a bit of spring in my sprint for a while as I drop the hammer on the twenty-somethings on the local circuit here. Thanks Tyler.
Wayde Tardif,
Hometown: Stratford, Connecticut
Currently residing in: Dubai, UAE

Hamilton: thumbs up
Editor,

I hope I'm wrong, but I think I can hear the whining already: "A doper wearing the Stars and Stripes! How embarrassing!" Hey, whether you think he was innocent or guilty way back then, he served the time and he raced a heck of a race today to earn the jersey. More power to him.
Thom Falter
Westby, Wisconsin

Summer of Rage

Re: Bob Minoske's "Summer of Rage" column:

IMHO, aggression is in the eye of the beholder. And because we are — and feel — more vulnerable on a bike than in a motor vehicle, I believe that the same driver behavior we wouldn't think twice about if we were driving becomes very threatening when it happens to us on our bikes. And because of that, our response to such behavior often appears overblown to drivers and is often the catalyst for escalating confrontation.

(As for me, I have trained myself after many years to mutter my displeasure under my breath, sans gestures. I generally get the anger out of my system as completely as when I yelled directly at drivers and gestured, with the added benefit of not having to unholster my bike pump in a long time.)

Not to go unmentioned: How refreshing (not to mention insightful) to see an attorney (Bob Minoske) write about a social issue in a non-legal-centric way. Bravo Bob!
Eugene Colon, Esq.
Lido Beach, New York

Summer of Rage, part II
Editors,

The simple reason that cars continue to display rage towards bicyclist is that it is low risk. If a driver threatens another car by squeezing them to the curb it will result in thousands of dollars in damage,
increased insurance rates, and a citation, do the same to a bicyclist and your car will not be damaged, and you can drive away like nothing happened.

It is not right vs. wrong, it is economics.
Jim Cunningham
Bloomfield, Connecticut

Where are they now?
Editors,

I too am perplexed by the supposed Armstrong fatigue. VeloNews is hardly running lifestyle puff pieces about his "cribs," his yacht, or his well-known accomplishments.

These are articles about present goings-on in cycling. Lance has a lot of passion and involvement in cycling specifically and fitness generally. His athletic, charity ride and bike marketing events are newsworthy of a cycling journal. Period.

Relatedly, how many other athletes compete seriously at Leadville in their retirement? Run major marathons sub- 3:00? Actually, I'm not asking that rhetorically ... I read recently about a former Major Leage Baseball player getting involved in serious tri.

I know Laurent Jalabert is now a hardcore tri guy. Generally, I think more articles on famous athletes getting into/staying with serious cycling in their 30's would be great.

Most of us did sports in high school, got lazy after college, and started riding hard again only after our sporting prime. Coverage on retired athletes taking on cycling challenges would help a lot of people connect in a way they might not otherwise. It's not about celeb-watching. Its about letting people know that cycling 1) appeals to that long-ignored "jock" part of you, and, 2) can be started in earnest even if you're no longer in your 20's. It's certainly better than drunken golf outings, fantasy football leagues, and talking about the glory days.
Diren Singhe,
Dallas, Texas

Twelve — no thirteen! — concise points
Editor,

It seems that our society is moving more and more towards the “sound bite” so I am responding to a number of issues in that manner ….

• Good to see the Mailbag back! Its my favorite section of VeloNews online!
• Please keep Hot/Not Hot. Its my favorite section of VeloNews print edition!
• O’Grady rocks!
• NBC’s Olympic cycling coverage was poor. Did anyone really expect something better?,/li>
• Who cares what Chris Horner says? When he wins the Tour, or the Vuelta, or the Giro – THEN we’ll listen!
• The EPO test is not flawed. Same for the testosterone test. The number of false positives that are predicted statistically (if the tests are indeed flawed as alleged in the articles) should by now be fairly large (20? 40? 60?) based on the number of tests administered. However, false positives in those magnitudes have not occurred. Why not? Most likely the alleged flaw doesn’t exist.
• Ignoring false negatives in drug testing is no different than many other areas of the law. For instance, many people exceed the speed limit while driving every day. The only question is whether the radar gun was accurate for those caught — not whether someone else who was speeding got away. The playing field of enforcement is almost never level and it need not be.
• The last thing that VeloNews needs is more legal coverage of anything. Might as well start calling it VeloLaw.
• Keep the Lance news coming. He’s a living legend.
• This year’s TdF was pretty awesome! Period. No disclaimer required.
• BMX is for little kids, not Olympians.
• Critical Mass does a service for all riders whether someone approves of their tactics or not.

Thanks for reading and I hope this saved you time.
Tom Stone,
South Pasadena, California

Can I throw in one more?

• It is a war out there (cars vs bikes), but don’t forget that being right doesn’t matter when car and bike collide – the bike loses every time.

Thanks guys and keep up the good fight!
Tom

BMX: thumbs up
Editors,

Thanks for the BMX Olympic coverage.

My 9 year old son loves mountain biking, and occasionally rides the road in triathlon and other
races. But, week in and week out, the BMX track is the only place where he can continually develop the skill, legspeed, power and all around fitness in a safe, totally car free environment.

He has been at it 4 years now, has sometimes lost interest, but now loves it. It's our "karate" training. I can't balance at the gate, but he can sit perfectly poised for minutes at a time awaiting other kids to line up for the gate to drop.

Seeing pro riders at Nationals has been really exciting, and I'd like to encourage other cycling families to learn to appreciate the sport.
Anthony Kahn,
Arcata, California

More on collegiate nats
Editors,

As an addendum to the national championships achieved by Fort Lewis and MIT, I would like to draw attention to the results of another outstanding engineering school in Division II: The Colorado School of Mines.

As I was reading the results I noticed that CSM was not awarded the points it should have recieved for the 1st Place result of Mines rider, and VeloNews interviewee, Brady Kappius at the Collegiate National Cyclocross Championships.

I discussed this with a couple members of the team, and it appears that the points structure could not be redistributed to the participating schools for the Collegiate scoring due to a failure to appeal the team scoring at the event.

As a member of the Colorado School of Mines community, I would like for these outstanding scholars and athletes to be given their true recognition as the strongest Division II cycling program in the nation. Congatulations to the CSM Cycling Program. We all look forward to another successful year of great racing.
Simon Demby-Myers
Colorado School of Mines - Undergraduate