I tried to resist a post about cycling during the Tour de France. Not sure why. Maybe it was because I just did not want to be so predictable. What the Hell? What is so damn wrong with predictable, ruts, and the same ole same ole? Seems to me, we humans should be more comfortable with who we are and not so concerned with being someone we are not. I will admit that for three weeks every summer since the 1980s, my mind is distracted by a sporting event thousands of miles away that most American sports fans have only a passing interest in. And this interest is only teased to something of note if an American is doing well. It is odd but many Americans consider Golf and Nascar more challenging as athletic events than a multi day, multi-thousand mile event that requires inhuman endurance, inhuman strength and intelligent team strategies to win.
The lack of respect America has for professional cycling used to piss me off. Now I just chuckle at the chuckle heads on "Fanarchy" many of whom have not developed past the knuckle dragging phase of human development. Actually, I wonder if the producers of the show have evolved much further than the fan base drawn in. Given that they ask the dumbest questions and expect intelligent answers as they seem to weigh each answer as if any of them have weight. And then allow some kind of democratic stupidity be the final answer if a majority of the fans asked agree. Whenever I tune in, I am reminded of a scene in "Stand BY Me" where the 12 year old boys argue which TV hero is the baddest ass of the bunch.
To reach the top of any sport or athletic endeavor, certain physical gifts, tenacity, and focus are needed. Comparing one to another is but an exercise in stupidity in my opinion. The recent comparison of Michael Phelps to Lance Armstrong in "Fanarchy" is the perfect example. There is no comparison but the fact that both have become the top dogs in their sport of choice. Yet the morons interviewed on Fanarchy argue with each other which one is better than the other.
I won't rehash all of Lance's accomplishments over the years he has been riding professionally. His comeback after 4 years away from the sport is phenomenal. Unprecedented. Cyclists vying for a podium spot at age 37 are unheard of in modern professional cycling. And while the talking heads of sports discuss his reasons for the comeback - proving he doesn't have to dope to do well, or he just couldn't stay away, or Pro cycling needed the PR boost his name would bring - none of these matter to me. I am just glad to see his face, hunched shoulders, and legs pumping up insanely steep mountain roads faster than I can ride on a flat road. The man is the most exciting cyclist I have ever watched. And this Tour is no different. Glad you came back Lance. Give em Hell.
Later.........
(512 / 1952)
4 comments:
Same here. Very little interest. Which is just such a shame!
When in Holland (where I was born and bred) we always watched this phenomenon on the telly and listened to the radio before that.
Here also is very little interest in the Winter Olympics which I absolutely adore (again, in Holland a very important event as we are all winter sport lovers doing this always in winter anyway except ski)
Take care
I think I miss the days when it was about pure competition. Now it's all high tech with carbon fibre frames and nono tech shoes.
When I was a kid we used to race our bikes around the school ball field until it got muddy and we wrecked the field. The janitors threw us out.
I have friends that only buy cable TV when the Tour de France is running. Me, not so much.
I've never paid any attention to it, I haven't even watched a Nascar race this year.
Maybe the sad thing is that I haven't even been on my bike this year, to busy with camping and such. And wasting my time on the internut.
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