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Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

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Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#11

Post by InCityDreams »

ck2 wrote: post #3
lom wrote: post #2

I started reading this, but then realized it was almost 20000 words long.. how much is there to say? He faked his career, then got called out after some time, this topic really isn’t worth all the effort that was put into it

I think the point was how many other lives and how much money was affected by just one person and to unravel it. I mean there are several books and movies written about Armstrong and the like, cycling is full of drama and people apparently like it because Armstrong has a huge fanbase and is still very successful/wealthy despite all his exposed corruption and doping. I am sure there are plenty of serious amateurs who…

'Durianrider' (cyclist) on youtube will tell you that ALL top sportsmen, in ALL sports are on the juice.

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#12

Post by langsoul-com »

This was a wild fucking journey.

It's always the follow up lies that fuck you over. They just get more and more elaborate overtime, so any plausibility disappears.

So moral of the story, if you're gonna lie, keep the chapter around 3 months. Or at most a year.

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#13

Post by wewxjfq »

ck2 wrote: post #3
lom wrote: post #2

I started reading this, but then realized it was almost 20000 words long.. how much is there to say? He faked his career, then got called out after some time, this topic really isn’t worth all the effort that was put into it

I think the point was how many other lives and how much money was affected by just one person and to unravel it. I mean there are several books and movies written about Armstrong and the like, cycling is full of drama and people apparently like it because Armstrong has a huge fanbase and is still very successful/wealthy despite all his exposed corruption and doping. I am sure there are plenty of serious amateurs who…

> still very successful/wealthy despite all his exposed corruption and doping

He would be broke if he hadn't hit the jackpot with a $100k Uber investment.

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#14

Post by Bancakes »

abdel_nasser wrote: post #7

wow that was really long but i read almost all of it. a lot of it is just going into details that are necessary to condemn him without committing libel, i feel like. the most impressive bit is that he became the CEO of a publicly traded company with totally fake CV and no education and was paid more than a million dollars. and now he works at a gun shop literally across the street from the old bike shop, peddling lie…

How do people manage to read modern science with a straight face? Is there anything more scientific - verifiable and reproducible - than our ancestral family tree relying on meats and saturated fats to live?

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#15

Post by jbm »

I loved this story but take issue with the framing. Dishonest reinvention of oneself is not a modern phenomena; my gut feeling is that this was a common occurrence. You have classic fictional books about the premise (IE the Count of Monte Cristo) which at least makes it sound like people used to feel the idea was plausible.

Rather, it strikes me that the ability to determine the lies is the real story here.

30 years ago, who would have questioned this, how would they have investigated this, and who would have paid the long distance bills for phone calls abroad?

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#16

Post by FDSGSG »

ck2 wrote: post #3
lom wrote: post #2

I started reading this, but then realized it was almost 20000 words long.. how much is there to say? He faked his career, then got called out after some time, this topic really isn’t worth all the effort that was put into it

I think the point was how many other lives and how much money was affected by just one person and to unravel it. I mean there are several books and movies written about Armstrong and the like, cycling is full of drama and people apparently like it because Armstrong has a huge fanbase and is still very successful/wealthy despite all his exposed corruption and doping. I am sure there are plenty of serious amateurs who…

What's the big problem with doping anyway? Even now, everyone is doping, it doesn't seem to be causing huge problems.

Wouldn't it be safer for everyone if it was all out in the open?

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#17

Post by geocrasher »

Reading this story, as long as it is, was quite interesting to me. I've been on the other end of the lies. As a young person, ranging from middle school to early 20's, I was repeatedly duped by people who lied to me over and over again, making up fantastic stories that were tailored to my interests and gullibility. They used these lies to gain my friendship, to control my actions to get what they wanted, or to in one case, try to dupe me into marriage (not kidding).

Yeah, I was super naïve.

But then I read about some of the people affected by Mr. Clark and his lies, and realized that maybe I was a little less culpable in allowing myself to be deceived so much. Just as they wanted to believe him because "why would he lie?" I had reason for wanting to believe, too.

Growing up, I had an aunt who was only a few years older than I who constructed huge fables at every opportunity. She always portrayed herself as either the heroine, the victim, or the Cool Kid. The people around me accepted them, and it wasn't until much later in life that I realized she was absolutely and completely full of crap, a narcissist of the worst kind. But because of my family not confronting her constant lies and embellished stories, I was primed to accept any fantastic story as truth. And... I just now realized this while I was typing. Man. That sure explains a lot.

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#18

Post by kevingadd »

lom wrote: post #2

I started reading this, but then realized it was almost 20000 words long.. how much is there to say? He faked his career, then got called out after some time, this topic really isn’t worth all the effort that was put into it

There's a lot more to it than that. If you're curious, you can skip to further sections in the article to find out more - he manipulated and harmed lots of people and his conduct is way more complex than just one faked career.

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#19

Post by pikma »

abdel_nasser wrote: post #7

wow that was really long but i read almost all of it. a lot of it is just going into details that are necessary to condemn him without committing libel, i feel like. the most impressive bit is that he became the CEO of a publicly traded company with totally fake CV and no education and was paid more than a million dollars. and now he works at a gun shop literally across the street from the old bike shop, peddling lie…

> saturated animal fat doesnt cause heart disease

Can you please tell me more? I would love for this to be true, is there evidence for this?

Re: Exposed by a Strava KOM: The Many Lives of a Fake Pro Cyclist

#20

Post by _Wintermute »

FDSGSG wrote: post #16
ck2 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point was how many other lives and how much money was affected by just one person and to unravel it. I mean there are several books and movies written about Armstrong and the like, cycling is full of drama and people apparently like it because Armstrong has a huge fanbase and is still very successful/wealthy despite all his exposed corruption and doping. I am sure there are plenty of serious amateurs who…

What's the big problem with doping anyway? Even now, everyone is doping, it doesn't seem to be causing huge problems. Wouldn't it be safer for everyone if it was all out in the open?

There's some scary stories from 80s when EPO usage was essentialy untested, teams and individuals pushed it to such extremes that athletes had to wake up in the middle of the night to stop their heart rate dropping too low as their blood was so viscous cardiac arrest was a real concern.
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