Lance Armstrong has had one of the greatest falls from grace as any sports figure in American history.

He has been banned for life from competitive cycling and had his monumental seven Tour de France victories stripped by cycling's governing body because of a string of doping charges.

Armstrong no longer contests the charges. We won't debate them here. Cycling has long been a tainted sports, allegedly ripe with substance abuse.

Still, Armstrong is a hero to generations, an inspiration to many for his Livestrong campaign and his courageous fight against cancer. He also ignited a cycling craze in the United States. Look around. So many communities have cycling paths and trails (Little Rock and North Little Rock) one of the best. More and more people, old and young, have taken up biking. Armstrong's achievements and his drawing attention to cyclying certainly had a lot to do with that.

So, there's the good, bad and ugly in this situation.

I know several who idolized Armstrong. Too bad his "spokes of clay" brought him down.