Patrik Lyons - Oakmont, Pennsylvania

I love this question, because I love the fact that cyclists are wagered upon just like boxers and horses. Yeah, I know, other sports are wagered upon too -- ball sports and whatnot -- but when I think about sports that have a book, I think about the suffering sports.

When I was racing over there, betting on the kermis races was quite illegal. Yes, there were bookies there, but they operated similar to the way we've all seen bookies portrayed in the movies and on TV -- all sneaky and code-talking. The one I remember most vividly was a fairly tall man and probably dressed out at 250 lbs or so. He had dark hair and always wore a dark colored wool sport coat. Since I was almost always at the race venue early, I'd often see him talking with one of the more "specialist" kermis racers. When a bookie is talking to a bike racer, I'll lay money on the fact that that rider will be in the breakaway to control things, if he doesn't win the race outright.

For the classics, semiclassics, stage races and world championships, the story was different, as many cafés had a gambling board up for those races. Some were done with the support of the bookies and some were done independently, meaning that the café was holding the book and was not merely a conduit for the bookie.

If memory serves, there would be about a hundred names up on the board before any of the major races. Along with the usual suspects -- the favorites for any the races -- there were also odds on the local favorites, and notable foreigners, even if they had no hope of winning. I remember seeing some of the Colombians listed on the board for a couple of the classics once. Betting on one of these guys makes about as much sense as laying money down on Charles Manson as the next pope.

Whenever I saw my name, I counted myself as one of the locals -- and though I didn't pay that much attention to my own odds, I was reasonably proud of my 20:1 odds for the '88 World Road Race Championship in Ronse, Belgium.

I never had any dealings with any of the bookies, but I did throw down a wager or two on the classics. Of course, since it was insider information, there was no way that anyone would take my bet, so I had to have someone else make the bet for me.

The best bet I made was one on Rolf Sørensen for the Tour of Flanders. Rolf did not win that year, but I had not bet him to win, so I still have made some dough. The problem was, that the guy who placed the bet for me mistakenly bet on Brian Holm Sørensen instead, since the commentators used to refer to him as Brian Sørensen. It's really too bad, too, because I would have made like 20 bucks.