In the late 1980s, when Lance Armstrong was 17 years old, he happened to stop in at Criterium Bicycles in Colorado Springs. Brian Gravestock was a mechanic at the shop at the time, and he’ll never forget meeting Armstrong.

“In 30 years as a bike mechanic, I’ve never met anyone as rude as him,” said Gravestock, now in his 50s. “When he became famous, I thought, ‘I met that guy, and he’s a real jerk-off.’”

Armstrong, who reportedly confessed to Oprah Winfrey this week that he used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied career, is at the tail end of a lengthy fall from grace. And Gravestock isn’t the only Colorado Springs cyclist who doesn’t have much sympathy for the former Tour de France champion.

Former professional cyclist Erin Mirabella, who lives in Woodland Park, was one of Armstrong’s teammates at the 2000 summer Olympics in Australia. Although she never met him, Mirabella said unequivocally that Armstrong, along with plenty of other cyclists, were doping.

“Cycling is a very dirty sport. There’s a reason I’m not going to encourage my three kids to go into cycling,” Mirabella said.

Mirabella quit racing in 2005, after almost 10 years, because she never used performance-enhancing drugs, and got sick of losing to cyclists who were cheating. She said she hopes Armstrong’s former sponsors sue him, and suggested he should get jail time.

“He defrauded everybody. I don’t think a slap on the wrist is enough,” she said.

Ed Johnson, who owns Colorado Springs Bike Shop, said the sport’s reputation will suffer because of Armstrong’s lies. Plenty of the former champion’s admirers have had their hearts broken by his years of deception, Johnson said.

But, Johnson added, Armstrong’s admission is no real surprise.

“It’s kind of old news at this point. Everybody pretty much knew he’d been doing it. It was just kind of, ‘All right, when is he going to ‘fess up?’” Johnson said.

A longtime bike mechanic, trainer, and race director, Andy Bohlmann was in charge of dope control from 1984 to 1991 for the U.S. Cycling Federation, which later became USA Cycling.

Before clamming up, Bohlmann said, “Lance Armstrong being positive is no real news to anyone.”

USA Cycling Communications Director Bill Kellick said the organization had no comment on the matter.

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Contact John Schroyer: 476-4825
Twitter: @Johnschroyer
Facebook: Gazette John Schroyer

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FILE – In this July 7, 2009, file photo, Lance Armstrong, right, and Levi Leipheimer, left, both of the United States, celebrate on the podium after winning the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, a team time-trial with start and finish in Montpellier, southern France. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File) Photo by

Christophe Ena