The Green Mountain Cyclery in Ephrata was dressed in the same colors.

A collection of local Landis supporters stopped by the cyclery in July to paint messages of encouragement on the windows of the bike shop.

"We put (the display) up to wish him good luck and to let everyone know that we support him," said Zach Reed, 22, a Green Mountain Cyclery employee.

The now-famous bicycle shop where Landis purchased his first mountain bike is one of many local businesses displaying signs supporting the 2006 Tour de France champion.

Many local business owners said they still support Landis despite the recent controversy surrounding the cycling star.

Four days after winning the Tour de France, Landis was found to have an unusually high level of testosterone in his system after the July 20 stage of the race.

Bill Sandoe, a Realtor and associate broker for Coldwell Banker on Olde Mill Road, Ephrata, posted a yellow-and-green "Go Floyd" sign near the real estate office.

"No one gives me any grief about it," he said.

"When the controversy came, I made sure to keep (the sign) up," Sandoe said. "I truly believe that he wouldn't (cheat)."

Asked if Green Mountain Cyclery considered taking their display down as a result of the controversy, Reed said, "Not at all."

"If anything, it makes us want to support him more," Reed said. "(The allegations) are not true. He's never been the type of guy who would do something like that. It just doesn't make any sense."

Jeff Lee, owner of Melron Industries Inc., a plumbing and excavating company on South Seventh Street in Akron, said he recently considered taking down his "Way to go Floyd" sign, but changed his mind when he saw other nearby businesses were keeping their signs up.

"It's great to support a local hometown hero," Lee said, "and for someone to accomplish what he did, I think he deserves all the support that he's been receiving here."

A "Congratulations Floyd Landis World Champ" sign is showcased at Berlanco Insurance Agency in Ephrata.

Lynn Krofcheck, customer service agent at Berlanco, said she and her husband, Paul, came up with the idea for the message.

"My husband and I really enjoyed watching the race before, and this year we really got into it," she said.

Krofcheck's son, Matt, is a former employee at Green Mountain Cyclery. She said her son occasionally would talk to Landis when he visited the shop.

"He liked him a lot," Krofcheck said.

Sandoe, also a former rider on the Green Mountain Cyclery team, said he met Landis at the Ephrata bike shop about six years ago.

Now, he has a framed poster of Landis hanging in his office.

He said Landis wrote the words, "train hard, race smart, never give up" on it.

Tyson McCloud's e-mail address is tmccloud@lnpnews.com. blog comments powered by Disqus