I am watching a CD of the 2005 Tour De France, Sheryl Crow just gave Lance a thumbs up on his time trial. (I also watched the 2003 Tour)
This is really great, because following the Tour is a bit of a hassle. It's always on at wierd times of the day (when you are at work) and it just gets overwhelming with all the advertising and junk. So having it all edited is way cool .
www.worldcycling.com.
Oh wow, my link thing works again now. Cool!
Doh! he accidentally unclips, losing a precious two seconds.... Hincapie looks formidable and mean, licking his lips, and the german tank, Jan Ullrich, is pounding those heavy gears, looking surprisingly lean and trim. He got busted for doing ecstasy, but in these days of drug testing insanity, I say so what. (No, I've never done ecstasy). If you can ride like that and hang at a rave club once in a while, I could care less.
(I do not participate in, or endorse rave-club activities or ingestion of the drug MDA. I have tested clean, I swear).
I like Ullrich, He's resilient. He seems to have nine lives . He plummets off the side of mountains into the trees, smashes into the back of support cars, cutting his neck, and he keeps riding. He is a tough bastard.
Armstrong can be credited with equal resiliency, but his crashes are somewhat dorky. In all fairness, anything can cause a crash, it's just a matter of luck.
Armstrong's legendary farm- field-descent was definitely an amazing display of bike handling, especially with tubular tires. We all saw it replayed endlessly on ESPN.
For me, wailing down a 30 degree descent through a sheep pasture at 45 mph with carb0n fiber rims and 23 (or is it 20?) tubulars is about all I could handle. I think I'm ok at descending, but this was definitely an eye-opener. Kudos.
Watching the mountain descents can give you chest pains . The riders also have to eat and hydrate while hammering down a twisting switchback at 50 MPH. I saw one rider go off the road while trying to open a powerbar with his teeth.
Then there's the time trials with horrific crashes. Zabriskie crashes for no reason. They think he hit his handlebar with his knee. He didn't even know, he said "next thing I knew, I was down".
I am also amazed when riders slide out on dry pavement, it's just the hyper-narrow tires can't cut it sometimes...
The barriers in the towns make me cringe, the feet on them stick out far enough to catch a pedal, or break a forearm if a riders falls in between them. Fortunately, it appears they've started re-designing these.
Then there's the fans...
-Devil Man (an icon)
-running screaming German kid, stoned on hash
-half naked guy with orange clown hair
-flag flailers (a handlebar hazard)
-Boat horn snipers
-sudden road crossers
-the occasional rabid canine
Fighting my way through a tunnel of people on an ascent would send me into a rage in minutes. They need to police this better. I don't know how the riders endure this. If they yell at the fans, they expend precious energy, so they just keep plodding along. I would totally crack.
Eddy Mercxx had to drop out of a Tour after being punched in the stomach by a crazed fan. He was in the lead.
Then there are the denials. The best one was during a final sprint.
"I did not butt him with my head, I was reacting to his move into me with his elbow". Sorry pal, but look at the tape , it's blatantly obvious, you head butted him.
I forget who that was.
The condemnation of componentry manufacturers: A riders' chain falls off, he loses a precious two seconds in a sprint...
"This bike did not have Campagnolo components, somebody's going to pay dearly for this, heads are going to roll!"
What an arrogant bastard.
I like Floyd Landis a lot. He's just a cool guy. I truly believe he is innocent of doping charges, and I hope his life is back on track now. He's got a lot of guts, and a good sense of humor as well. I would hang out with Floyd Landis. You can always pick him out of the pack, he comes in at a respectable time, and his face stands out, all scrunched up...
It will be interesting to see what happens to the sport in the next couple years. Apparently this past year had some hope with little accusation and scandal going on. Or maybe the UCI is just laying low for a bit until their next attack.
I have no desire to race. I put bike racing in the same category as climbing Everest. I have read many books on Everest, it's just fascinating, what some men do to push themselves for glory.
It's fun, though, to jump on my fastest bike and wail madly, all alone, through the mountains, but on those days I have only to compete with myself and the headwinds.
Just surviving that day to ride again is enough for me.
Peace out
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