Mr. Conflict of Interest Takes Over

Johnson, that is.

From CyclingNews:

"Gerard submitted his resignation to the full board of directors this
morning and Steve Johnson has been offered the position effective
immediately," said Mark Abramson, vice president of the USA Cycling board of
director. "Steve has the full support of the board. He will not be replaced
as Director of Athletics and will continue to perform both roles."
When asked why Bisceglia resigned, Abramson replied, "The board has
concluded the annual review of the CEO and he has chosen to resign."

"B. Lafferty" wrote in message
k.net...
Johnson, that is.

From CyclingNews:

"Gerard submitted his resignation to the full board of directors this
morning and Steve Johnson has been offered the position effective
immediately," said Mark Abramson, vice president of the USA Cycling board
of director. "Steve has the full support of the board. He will not be
replaced as Director of Athletics and will continue to perform both
roles."
When asked why Bisceglia resigned, Abramson replied, "The board has
concluded the annual review of the CEO and he has chosen to resign."

For those with memory difficulties:

Tour de Farce
Lance Armstrong, Thom Weisel, and questions about anti-doping efforts in
American cycling
By Matt Smith







While lounging on Taylor Street this past Sunday watching America's biggest
bike race make its way around North Beach, you might have allowed your mind
to wander to the recent doping scandal involving Lance Armstrong. After all,
the story -- published in the French sports daily L'Equipe last month -- was
pretty shocking. It detailed laboratory reports showing that the seven-time
Tour de France winner used banned performance-enhancing drugs to aid him in
his first Tour victory in 1999. The allegations dominated international
sporting headlines for a couple of weeks.

The French newspaper's report was taken seriously in Europe, with cycling's
international governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale, and the
World Anti-Doping Agency both announcing they would launch probes of
possible drug use at the '99 Tour.

A few days after the story broke, though, Armstrong spent an hour on CNN's
Larry King Live dismissing the L'Equipe report, contending it was unfair
because it came from a tabloid newspaper reporter's efforts, rather than
through formal anti-drug protocols. A few days later, the chief operating
officer of USA Cycling, the governing body responsible for punishing
bike-racing drug cheaters in this country, was quoted in more than 100
newspapers dismissing the L'Equipe piece as the scandalmongering of a French
tabloid newspaper, adding, in a remarkable echo of Armstrong's public
position, that the positive drug results were unfair because they had been
exposed by a news reporter, rather than through formal drug-policing
protocols.

"To me, this is an issue for the French people. They seemed very concerned
about it, and frankly I don't care what they think. And I don't think Lance
does either," Reuters quoted USA Cycling COO Steve Johnson as saying last
week. "This is just a publication in a French tabloid newspaper. That's our
perspective."

And there the story seemed to peter out. And why not? There's no point
bothering with drug allegations that the doping cops of American cycling say
are bogus, right?

By week's end, the story had disappeared from the U.S. media, just in time
for the Barclays Global Investors Grand Prix SF, the bike race local
investment banker Thom Weisel brought to the city four years ago with the
help of Armstrong, who lent his prestigious presence to the race during its
first two years. The unsavory subject of doping faded. Lance Armstrong, and
the massive publicity empire that surrounds him, remained relatively
unscathed, able to enjoy his July 2005 retirement with the inspiring tale
intact of his comeback from cancer to win the first of seven Tours de France
in 1999.

There happens to be more to USA Cycling's pooh-poohing of the charges
against Armstrong than the news headlines suggested, however. This isn't
merely an instance of U.S. doping cops repelling spurious French charges
against an American superhero.

Johnson, the widely quoted USA Cycling official, appears to suffer from a
serious conflict of interest between his organization's role as a doping cop
and his personal, institutional, and financial ties to the diversified
business world surrounding Lance Armstrong. Financier Weisel is Armstrong's
longtime patron, employer, investment manager, and friend. Weisel is also
Johnson's longtime patron and friend and the founder of a nonprofit entity
that employs him.

And then there's this little fact: Johnson essentially works for Armstrong.
In addition to serving as chief operating officer of USA Cycling, Johnson is
executive director of the USA Cycling Development Foundation, an affiliated
nonprofit organization founded by Weisel, who serves as president of the
board of directors, according to the foundation's most recently available
IRS returns, filed in 2003. According to the foundation's current Web site,
the board of directors now includes Lance Armstrong.

"This whole thing isn't a big deal for Americans," Reuters quoted Johnson as
saying of Armstrong's doping troubles last week.

That may or may not be true. It's safe to say, however, that it's a very big
deal for Johnson's bosses.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to Capital Instincts: Life As an Entrepreneur, Financier, and
Athlete, the book Thom Weisel co-wrote in 2003 with business journalist
Richard Brandt, Weisel took up cycling in 1983, and by 1985 wanted to be a
player in both the commercial and athletic ends of the sport. That year
Weisel entered his first race and started the U.S.-based amateur Montgomery
Cycling Team, sponsored by his San Francisco investment bank at the time,
Montgomery Securities. In 1987 Weisel started a company called Montgomery
Sports Inc., the predecessor to Tailwind Sports, to serve as a commercial
vehicle for running his team.

In 1990, Weisel brought on Subaru as a sponsor and turned his team pro,
hiring a young Lance Armstrong, who would leave for the stronger Motorola
team in 1992. Weisel would take steps to see that this kind of thing didn't
happen again. In 1995, he hired Olympic gold medal cyclist Mark Gorski to
build from scratch a much grander team. The U.S. Postal Service was
impressed with Weisel's vision and in 1996 signed on as the team's lead
sponsor.

In 1997, the team raced the Tour de France; its best rider, a French hired
gun, finished a lackluster 15th place. Things improved dramatically from
there. In 1998 Weisel hired back Lance Armstrong after the cyclist's French
Codifis team dumped him on the belief that he would not recover from
advanced testicular cancer. That year began Armstrong's storied comeback
from his deathbed, with high placings in prestigious races such as the
Vuelta de Espana. To show his gratitude, Weisel augmented Armstrong's meager
1998 starting salary with $1 million in bonuses out of the financier's own
pocket.

In 1999, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France with Weisel in the
follow car. The financier accompanied the team on a victory lap on the
Champs d'Elysée. Weisel's venture stake in the once-obscure sport of
American cycling had turned up gold.

The next year Weisel took control of the governing side of bike racing,
establishing the USA Cycling Development Foundation and placing himself and
two other members of his foundation on the board of USA Cycling's
predecessor, the U.S. Cycling Federation. Weisel now controlled America's
top team as well its top cycling regulator.

The next year Weisel's team backed Armstrong to another Tour win, with
Weisel in the pace car. Four more Armstrong Tour wins, and four more Weisel
pace cars, followed.

In 2005, after Armstrong had retired upon winning his record-surpassing
seventh Tour de France, Weisel's old cycling buddy and cycling-official
protégé, Steve Johnson, fielded press calls and publicly dismissed
allegations that Armstrong had won the 1999 Tour using banned drugs.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you've been following the L'Equipe doping story as closely as I have, you
may have noticed something a little weird about the short arc of Lance
Armstrong's August PR crisis in the United States.

While the head of USA Cycling was dismissing L'Equipe's allegations,
cycling's international governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale in
Aigle, Switzerland, was announcing that it took the reports seriously enough
to launch its own investigation into drug use at the 1999 Tour de France.
The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the planet's top sports-drugs cop,
likewise said his group would analyze 1999 Tour drug-test results. The
director of the Tour de France characterized the report as hard evidence
Armstrong had cheated in 1999, saying Armstrong may have deceived fans.

Was this just another case of America against Europe, of french fries vs.
Freedom Fries?

Not really. According to L'Equipe -- which enjoys the sort of
high-journalism reputation in Europe that Sports Illustrated does in the
U.S. -- a drug-testing lab developed a urine test for the banned endurance
booster erythropoietin in 2001. The lab recently examined frozen urine
samples from 1999 Tour doping tests to gauge the test's effectiveness. The
lab figured that the lack of a test for the 1999 Tour might have led some
riders to use the drug, which thickens athletes' blood so that it can carry
more oxygen to muscles. Sure enough, one cyclist came up positive for the
drug in six separate doping tests of urine given for the 1999 Tour. L'Equipe
journalists obtained a leaked copy of the anonymous results of the tests.
They compared the athlete identification number on the results with the
number on Armstrong's other drug-testing records -- and found a match.

The results at least seem definitive -- and damning.

So why have those results gotten little traction in the public mind here in
the U.S.?

The web of financial ties that connects USA Cycling, Lance Armstrong, and
the businessman who backs both -- San Francisco's own Thom Weisel -- may
offer some explanation.

In the U.S., organized cycling is a small world where many roads lead to or
through Armstrong and Weisel.

In 2000, the sporting team Weisel owned backed Armstrong as he won the Tour
de France for a second time. That same year, Weisel orchestrated the
equivalent of a leveraged buyout of the regulatory side of bicycle racing in
the United States. The U.S. Cycling Federation was suffering a $1.4 million
budget deficit, with no solvency in sight, when Weisel made the organization
an offer it couldn't refuse, according to an account from Weisel's
authorized biography. By helping to make the organization solvent, Weisel
was able to fill the board of directors with his friends and set up a
peculiar arrangement in which the bailout and future fundraising for the
renamed bike-racing regulator, USA Cycling, would be conducted through the
USA Cycling Development Foundation, a nonprofit that Weisel set up, staffed
with his friends, and led as president.

"Weisel spent over three years reorganizing USA Cycling, and his team is
largely in charge," the book explains.

In exchange for the bailout, Weisel demanded that his new nonprofit's
executive director, Steve Johnson, also be named chief operating officer of
USA Cycling, which is charged with participating in drug investigations and
handing out punishment. The president of USA Cycling is Jim Ochowicz, who is
also a broker at Weisel's current investment bank, Thomas Weisel Partners,
according to reports in Outside magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal,
and other publications. Meanwhile, USA Cycling has a marketing arrangement
with Carmichael Training Systems, the company owned by Lance Armstrong's
coach, Chris Carmichael, through which USA Cycling does mass mailings on
Carmichael's behalf in exchange for discounts on coaching services for USA
Cycling members.

At the same time that he wields influence over bike racing's regulator,
Weisel has an important financial connection to the most famous racer in the
world, Lance Armstrong: For the past eight years, Weisel has owned the team
employing the champion. Additionally, Weisel brought to San Francisco the
San Francisco Grand Prix, the culmination of America's most important pro
bike racing series. Armstrong helped get the event off the ground in 2001 by
suiting up for the start line, allowing the event to be promoted as a chance
to "come watch Lance Armstrong." Armstrong did not race the event this year
because he's retired.

Given the financial and organizational links among Weisel-related entities,
it seems reasonable to assume the financier might be irked if USA Cycling
officials in his employ did anything to acknowledge drug allegations against
Armstrong. Weisel's book mentions his "protégé and friend" Armstrong 100
times. It notes that Weisel's office is dominated by poster-size photographs
of the cycling hero. During Armstrong's post-cancer career, Weisel has
served as founder, architect, motivator, companion, and sugar daddy for
Armstrong's team, according to Weisel's book.

However, Johnson, with all his links to Weisel, Armstrong's primary patron,
sees no problem with denouncing the L'Equipe report on behalf of USA
Cycling.

"Why would that be a conflict of interest? Explain it to me," Johnson said.

Sure. The USA Cycling Development Foundation is a nonprofit entity set up by
Weisel and dedicated to raising money for USA Cycling. The foundation
provides around a quarter of USA Cycling's $4 million annual budget,
according to the group's IRS filings from 2003, 2002, and 2001. The
nonprofit employs Johnson as executive director, the filings say.

The USA Cycling Development Foundation is overseen by a board of directors
that includes Armstrong and is presided over by Weisel. Johnson runs the
nonprofit out of the same Colorado Springs office as USA Cycling, the
governing body.

Weisel is founder and owner of Tailwind Sports, which co-owns Armstrong's
new Discovery Channel Team. The team has the retired champion under contract
beyond 2006 in a public relations role, Armstrong said during an April press
conference transcripted on the team Web site. This role would seem likely to
lose significant value in the event of any U.S. anti-drug action involving
the superstar.

In his book, Weisel makes clear the connection between Armstrong's
reputation and his own financial interests. Armstrong's role as a Tour de
France champion and Armstrong himself "make up our brand," Weisel boasts in
a chapter on business philosophy that he penned himself.

Though Reuters headlined its story quoting Johnson "USA Cycling lashes out
at Armstrong allegations," it would have been just as accurate to say "A
Thom Weisel-supported official lashes out at Armstrong allegations harmful
to Thom Weisel investments in Armstrong."

A spokeswoman for Weisel said he would not comment for this column.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johnson and other Armstrong supporters have fretted in print that the
discovery of banned chemicals in Lance Armstrong's 1999 urine samples did
not follow the official protocol for exposing drug cheating. But the
L'Equipe reporters certainly followed standard protocol for journalists
wishing to get at the truth.

Allegations that Barry Bonds and other Major League Baseball players used
banned steroids might not have seen the light of day if it weren't for San
Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Faiinaru-Wada and Lance Williams, who
worked tirelessly to persuade people who had inside information on a federal
steroid investigation to bend protocol and leak some of that information.
The first time America really confronted the issue of drug use in sports was
when Associated Press reporter Steve Wilstein wrote that he'd observed in
slugger Mark McGwire's locker a bottle of the steroid Androstenedione, which
was not then banned by Major League Baseball. This, too, was a horrible
violation of protocol, baseball officials, athletes, and fans said back in
1998. Since then, the reporter's been vindicated by events.

"On behalf of the journalism profession, I want to apologize to Steve
Wilstein today," wrote Orlando Sentinel sports columnist Mike Bianchi
recently, in reference to widespread claims that Wilstein had created a
"tabloid-driven controversy."

When I spoke with him last week, Johnson repeated his press message
regarding protocol.

"As I've tried to point out, there is a well-established international
protocol for handling samples and adjudicating doping cases. We adhere to
that protocol and support it. This is not one of those cases," he said.
"What you've got to realize is that you've got a publication in a French
newspaper. From our perspective, that's not valid."

From the perspective of this particular tabloid journalist, Johnson's
statements violate protocol. The fact that Johnson represents a so-called
drugs regulator while serving a boss who would be financially harmed by any
real drugs regulation invalidates his perspective entirely.

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 19:55:24 GMT, "B. Lafferty"
wrote:

Johnson, that is.

From CyclingNews:

"Gerard submitted his resignation to the full board of directors this
morning

Someone's lying -- either Abramson of Bisceglia. I think it's the
former.

JT

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

http://www.petitiononline.com/usacref/

B. Lafferty quotes from "Capital Instincts," the book about Weisel:
In 1999, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France with Weisel in the
follow car. The financier accompanied the team on a victory lap on the
Champs d'Elysée. Weisel's venture stake in the once-obscure sport of
American cycling had turned up gold.

The next year Weisel took control of the governing side of bike racing,
establishing the USA Cycling Development Foundation and placing himself and
two other members of his foundation on the board of USA Cycling's
predecessor, the U.S. Cycling Federation. Weisel now controlled America's
top team as well its top cycling regulator.

This skips over the fact that the appointment of Weisel and his two
henchmen on the USA Cycling board was done illegally, as established by
our lawsuit, which was partly funded by contributions from rbr denizens.
When we won on appeal, they were removed from the board for a time.

A subsequent election was run crookedly by Steve Johnson that supposedly
put them back on the board. We sued again and it was clear that we would
win that suit eventually, though it would take more years going through
the appeal process. Meanwhile the crooks would still be in control of
USA Cycling and would continue to pay their legal defense expenses from
its coffers (i.e. at the expense of their victims). I eventually decided
that it was expedient to settle out of court and pursue other approaches
to cleaning up this mess, a process that is not yet complete.

-Les Earnest

Les Earnest wrote:
B. Lafferty quotes from "Capital Instincts," the book about Weisel:
In 1999, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France with Weisel in the
follow car. The financier accompanied the team on a victory lap on the
Champs d'Elysée. Weisel's venture stake in the once-obscure sport of
American cycling had turned up gold.

The next year Weisel took control of the governing side of bike racing,
establishing the USA Cycling Development Foundation and placing himselfand
two other members of his foundation on the board of USA Cycling's
predecessor, the U.S. Cycling Federation. Weisel now controlled America's
top team as well its top cycling regulator.

This skips over the fact that the appointment of Weisel and his two
henchmen on the USA Cycling board was done illegally, as established by
our lawsuit, which was partly funded by contributions from rbr denizens.
When we won on appeal, they were removed from the board for a time.

A subsequent election was run crookedly by Steve Johnson that supposedly
put them back on the board. We sued again and it was clear that we would
win that suit eventually, though it would take more years going through
the appeal process. Meanwhile the crooks would still be in control of
USA Cycling and would continue to pay their legal defense expenses from
its coffers (i.e. at the expense of their victims). I eventually decided
that it was expedient to settle out of court and pursue other approaches
to cleaning up this mess, a process that is not yet complete.

-Les Earnest
Hey Les
It's just sad that a bunch of dickheads, around here, who were self
professed experts had to spend their time trashing you rather than
dealing with the real problems. I'm really surprised they aren't
running around calling Gerard a lying scumbag now. I wish I could think
they were at least getting some of the crooked take, but I think they
were just stupid and brainwashed.
Thanks for hanging in there.
Bill C

"Bill C" wrote in message
ups.com...

Les Earnest wrote:
B. Lafferty quotes from "Capital Instincts," the book about Weisel:
In 1999, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France with Weisel in the
follow car. The financier accompanied the team on a victory lap on the
Champs d'Elysée. Weisel's venture stake in the once-obscure sport of
American cycling had turned up gold.

The next year Weisel took control of the governing side of bike racing,
establishing the USA Cycling Development Foundation and placing himself
and
two other members of his foundation on the board of USA Cycling's
predecessor, the U.S. Cycling Federation. Weisel now controlled
America's
top team as well its top cycling regulator.

This skips over the fact that the appointment of Weisel and his two
henchmen on the USA Cycling board was done illegally, as established by
our lawsuit, which was partly funded by contributions from rbr denizens.
When we won on appeal, they were removed from the board for a time.

A subsequent election was run crookedly by Steve Johnson that supposedly
put them back on the board. We sued again and it was clear that we would
win that suit eventually, though it would take more years going through
the appeal process. Meanwhile the crooks would still be in control of
USA Cycling and would continue to pay their legal defense expenses from
its coffers (i.e. at the expense of their victims). I eventually decided
that it was expedient to settle out of court and pursue other approaches
to cleaning up this mess, a process that is not yet complete.

-Les Earnest
Hey Les
It's just sad that a bunch of dickheads, around here, who were self
professed experts had to spend their time trashing you rather than
dealing with the real problems. I'm really surprised they aren't
running around calling Gerard a lying scumbag now. I wish I could think
they were at least getting some of the crooked take, but I think they
were just stupid and brainwashed.
Thanks for hanging in there.
Bill C

Maybe you can point out someone trashing Les? I haven't noticed. Though by
"around here" I suppose you might mean USCF instead of RBR.

Tom Kunich wrote:
"Bill C" wrote in message
ups.com...

Les Earnest wrote:
B. Lafferty quotes from "Capital Instincts," the book about Weisel:
In 1999, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France with Weisel in the
follow car. The financier accompanied the team on a victory lap on the
Champs d'Elysée. Weisel's venture stake in the once-obscure sport of
American cycling had turned up gold.

The next year Weisel took control of the governing side of bike racing,
establishing the USA Cycling Development Foundation and placing himself
and
two other members of his foundation on the board of USA Cycling's
predecessor, the U.S. Cycling Federation. Weisel now controlled
America's
top team as well its top cycling regulator.

This skips over the fact that the appointment of Weisel and his two
henchmen on the USA Cycling board was done illegally, as established by
our lawsuit, which was partly funded by contributions from rbr denizens.
When we won on appeal, they were removed from the board for a time.

A subsequent election was run crookedly by Steve Johnson that supposedly
put them back on the board. We sued again and it was clear that we would
win that suit eventually, though it would take more years going through
the appeal process. Meanwhile the crooks would still be in control of
USA Cycling and would continue to pay their legal defense expenses from
its coffers (i.e. at the expense of their victims). I eventually decided
that it was expedient to settle out of court and pursue other approaches
to cleaning up this mess, a process that is not yet complete.

-Les Earnest
Hey Les
It's just sad that a bunch of dickheads, around here, who were self
professed experts had to spend their time trashing you rather than
dealing with the real problems. I'm really surprised they aren't
running around calling Gerard a lying scumbag now. I wish I could think
they were at least getting some of the crooked take, but I think they
were just stupid and brainwashed.
Thanks for hanging in there.
Bill C

Maybe you can point out someone trashing Les? I haven't noticed. Though by
"around here" I suppose you might mean USCF instead of RBR.
Remember this stuff:

Date: Wed, Nov 10 1999 12:00 am
Email: "Tom Kunich"
Groups: rec.bicycles.racing




(Andrew Albright says)
2) Who died and left Les in charge of deciding what everyone wants?


Considering that Les has been a thorn in the side of USA Cycling for
years
and years it becomes evident to those who know anything about the
subject
that he was elected to office almost forever. Obviously he therefore
represents those who voted him in. But maybe he ought to forget that
responsibility to his constituency because Andrew thinks he is a bit
irritating.
I have looked at some of Les's proposals in the past some of them I
thought
were unworkable and others I just didn't like. But the majority of them
were
designed to give the rank and file membership more say in the operation
of
the controlling bicycling body in the USA.
Just between us, Les ain't young enough to make a good tyrant were he
even
interested in taking the thing over and molding it in his own image.
End Quote

This is the first bit I found, and you remember, as well as the rest of
us, how nasty some of the dickheads got towards Les.
Bill C

This WAS pretty funny reading. Some things never change. But Les is
thankfully still with us and Dickwad Albright isn't. By this time he's
probably 240 lbs and teaching first year chemistry in a high school.

But when I was referring to people not knocking Les I mean in the last half
decade since his value has risen so much.

"Bill C" wrote in message
oups.com...

Tom Kunich wrote:
"Bill C" wrote in message
ups.com...

Les Earnest wrote:
B. Lafferty quotes from "Capital Instincts," the book about Weisel:
In 1999, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France with Weisel in
the
follow car. The financier accompanied the team on a victory lap on the
Champs d'Elysée. Weisel's venture stake in the once-obscure sport of
American cycling had turned up gold.

The next year Weisel took control of the governing side of bike
racing,
establishing the USA Cycling Development Foundation and placing
himself
and
two other members of his foundation on the board of USA Cycling's
predecessor, the U.S. Cycling Federation. Weisel now controlled
America's
top team as well its top cycling regulator.

This skips over the fact that the appointment of Weisel and his two
henchmen on the USA Cycling board was done illegally, as established by
our lawsuit, which was partly funded by contributions from rbr denizens.
When we won on appeal, they were removed from the board for a time.

A subsequent election was run crookedly by Steve Johnson that supposedly
put them back on the board. We sued again and it was clear that we would
win that suit eventually, though it would take more years going through
the appeal process. Meanwhile the crooks would still be in control of
USA Cycling and would continue to pay their legal defense expenses from
its coffers (i.e. at the expense of their victims). I eventually decided
that it was expedient to settle out of court and pursue other approaches
to cleaning up this mess, a process that is not yet complete.

-Les Earnest
Hey Les
It's just sad that a bunch of dickheads, around here, who were self
professed experts had to spend their time trashing you rather than
dealing with the real problems. I'm really surprised they aren't
running around calling Gerard a lying scumbag now. I wish I could think
they were at least getting some of the crooked take, but I think they
were just stupid and brainwashed.
Thanks for hanging in there.
Bill C

Maybe you can point out someone trashing Les? I haven't noticed. Though by
"around here" I suppose you might mean USCF instead of RBR.
Remember this stuff:

Date: Wed, Nov 10 1999 12:00 am
Email: "Tom Kunich"
Groups: rec.bicycles.racing




(Andrew Albright says)
2) Who died and left Les in charge of deciding what everyone wants?


Considering that Les has been a thorn in the side of USA Cycling for
years
and years it becomes evident to those who know anything about the
subject
that he was elected to office almost forever. Obviously he therefore
represents those who voted him in. But maybe he ought to forget that
responsibility to his constituency because Andrew thinks he is a bit
irritating.
I have looked at some of Les's proposals in the past some of them I
thought
were unworkable and others I just didn't like. But the majority of them
were
designed to give the rank and file membership more say in the operation
of
the controlling bicycling body in the USA.
Just between us, Les ain't young enough to make a good tyrant were he
even
interested in taking the thing over and molding it in his own image.
End Quote

This is the first bit I found, and you remember, as well as the rest of
us, how nasty some of the dickheads got towards Les.
Bill C