Most everyone has heard of Lance Armstrong. They know him as a cancer survivor and founder of the Livestrong Foundation. They also may know him as a pro cyclist who has won the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times. Armstrong’s tenacity and phenomenal success has raised global awareness and support for the fight against cancer. His high profile position as a cyclist has generated huge popularity for bike racing especially the Tour de France which ended its 97 season July 25, 2010 along the famed Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
I was unfamiliar with Armstrong until half a dozen years or so ago when I saw a poster at a local branch of the US Post Office. At the time Lance Armstrong was riding for the professional cycling team known as US Postal. I knew nothing about Armstrong, professional bike racing, or the Tour de France. As I am a curious woman, I wanted to know more about the man that inspired the post office to display a sign that exclaimed “Go Lance!”.
I tuned into a television broadcast of the race. I had tuned into of the mountain stages. I saw men pushing their big hearts into the red zone. They climbed to heights that I couldn’t walk up, at least not without getting dizzy. It took my breath away. I learned that the Tour is 21 days of consecutive, except for two rest days, of pedaling. There are speed stages and mountain stages. I still can't think of another event where athletes must perform at their limit for three weeks in succession. To be a winner at the Tour de France a cyclist must endure heat, cold, rain and sunshine; mobs of fans and paparazzi within inches of their face; extended days in the bike saddle nonstop – no stops for eating and only the occasional brief stop along the side of the road when nature calls, and, when it does, the relief is taken in full view of fans and their cameras. I was hooked by what I saw, and have been a fan of the Tour de France ever since.
One day I heard a sportscaster mention that an accident had occurred when one of the women’s pro cycling team had been out training. Several of the women cyclists were killed. It was the first I’d heard of a women’s Tour de France. As I was composing this post I was writing that I've not heard about women every since. Then on tonight's July 24 broadcast of the Tour on Versus the channel aired a segment on the women on HTC-Columbia! Kudos to Versus!
It isn't easy to find information on the women's Tour de France. Details are sketchy and dispersed across the Internet. Here's what I have been able to piece together. For the full text visit my blog Living in the Heartland.
(story based on resource material from Wikipedia, Helium.com, cyclingnews.com,and photo highroadsports.com).
Naomi, the Internet is still the Wild West for writers. It's my experience that there is little you can do to force anyone to pay you, give credit for your work, etc. If you contact a social media "professional" for assistance in learning how to effectively use the 'Net they are likely to tell you the first step is to build a relationship/trust with your audience. The bottom line is giving away content. That's basically what a blog is - free content. There are the few (there are no statistics I know of that provide concrete numbers) who are so successful that they earn money. Visit my writers blog http://www.outoftheboxpublishingcompany.wordpress.com to read about one women who has made a success. She had to basically give it away first. Learning to use the 'Net involves a steep learning curve, and a good deal of frustration. 90 days to learn, 90 more days to see some results. The results are mostly contacts, not financial reward. I, too, am my own agent, pr source, secretary, personal assistant, etc. It leaves me little time to write, but I'm a good deal less frustrated and negative then when I started (read the full blog then you'll understand). Soon I hope to have some exciting news re: my own success. We'll see. In the meantime, I can only encourage you to stick with the Internet. Keep your day job because money and recognition aren't going to come overnight. Even if you make a viral success the 'Net is fickle. Success is likely to be ephemeral. Good luck. Feel free to keep in touch about your writing on my writers blog.
I am and have been my own agent, pr source, secretary, personal assistant, etc, hey who knows maybe someone out there may want me to do this for them for pay! that would be swell.
you know what I would like to know, is when you are trying to get a paid gig online, how do you find out if it is legitimate? And if they refuse to pay you at some point, what can be done about that. Most of us cannot afford a literary lawyer, since they are so expensive but who knows, maybe someone out there may have that knowledge to share.
This question has everything to do with what a writer made mention of in another writers tuturial stated that she/he had been sending in her postings, her writings to some certain places/sites of which stopped sending her payments.
thanks a lot, looking forward to hear on that......
I totally agree it's not the women cyclists' fault - like you said, there have to be interested investors and sponsors out there. If media coverage of women's sports got as much as men's, maybe more people would be interested and it would be more "in demand", making sponsors want to get more involved.
It's not the women cyclists fault they aren't prominent. They are pro cyclists, and like the men they give it their all. To be prominent they need sponsorships. I can't believe their aren't companies out there who are looking for a new, exciting way to market their product. It's going to take time, support from women like us who appreciate the sport and want to see more for women's teams, and help from the men cyclists too. Thanks for visiting my blog, and leaving a comment. I hope you will be a regular here or on my http://www.livingintheheartland.com.
So funny that you wrote about this, as I was at the gym the other day (riding one of the bikes, no less), watching the Tour de France, and wondered if there was something similar for women. You'd never know it, given how little publicity there is about women cyclists. As someone who's met Lance and worked with the LAF, I'd say we need more prominent women cyclists - heck, more focus on women in sports and other fields in general!
Naomi, the Internet is still the Wild West for writers. It's my experience that there is little you can do to force anyone to pay you, give credit for your work, etc. If you contact a social media "professional" for assistance in learning how to effectively use the 'Net they are likely to tell you the first step is to build a relationship/trust with your audience. The bottom line is giving away content. That's basically what a blog is - free content. There are the few (there are no statistics I know of that provide concrete numbers) who are so successful that they earn money. Visit my writers blog http:/
I am and have been my own agent, pr source, secretary, personal assistant, etc, hey who knows maybe someone out there may want me to do this for them for pay! that would be swell.
you know what I would like to know, is when you are trying to get a paid gig online, how do you find out if it is legitimate? And if they refuse to pay you at some point, what can be done about that. Most of us cannot afford a literary lawyer, since they are so expensive but who knows, maybe someone out there may have that knowledge to share.
This question has everything to do with what a writer made mention of in another writers tuturial stated that she/he had been sending in her postings, her writings to some certain places/sites of which stopped sending her payments.
thanks a lot, looking forward to hear on that......
I totally agree it's not the women cyclists' fault - like you said, there have to be interested investors and sponsors out there. If media coverage of women's sports got as much as men's, maybe more people would be interested and it would be more "in demand", making sponsors want to get more involved.
It's not the women cyclists fault they aren't prominent. They are pro cyclists, and like the men they give it their all. To be prominent they need sponsorships. I can't believe their aren't companies out there who are looking for a new, exciting way to market their product. It's going to take time, support from women like us who appreciate the sport and want to see more for women's teams, and help from the men cyclists too. Thanks for visiting my blog, and leaving a comment. I hope you will be a regular here or on my http:/
So funny that you wrote about this, as I was at the gym the other day (riding one of the bikes, no less), watching the Tour de France, and wondered if there was something similar for women. You'd never know it, given how little publicity there is about women cyclists. As someone who's met Lance and worked with the LAF, I'd say we need more prominent women cyclists - heck, more focus on women in sports and other fields in general!