Watching the Tour

It's been great to watch the Tour De France this year. It is a fortnight (yes I used Fortnight) of focused TV watching that brightens up the boring summer TV doldrums. The only issue in my household is from Diesel Jr. whose cartoons and Disney/Nick channel watching has been usurped by wafer thin men(except for their thighs) going way too fast for way to long. When I utter that great statement...." Guess what dear? It's time for the Tour", I get a resounding , "NNNoooooooooooooooooooo" which leaves me smiling.

I have enjoyed the renewed interest in the US of A due to the Lance Armstrong storyline. I think it has made more people at least look at the standings on a regular basis instead of at the end going...who won someone named Sastre(2008)? No matter what you think of Lance and his motives, just his inclusion in this years race and his subsequent showing has fueled the renewed media frenzy.


I enjoy getting the stats from the riders in mid stage. The mph (I am getting better at the KM/hr conversion in my head) and their BPM give me a better idea of how fine tuned their bodies are for stage races. I find myself saying, "Hey, my bpm is usually in that range for that speed" then I go "Oh but they are on a 12 mile continuous 7% incline".... Nevermind..... Anyway, it gives me some goals when I look down at my bike computer during my rides. "So almost passing out frothing at the mouth equals X BPM"...good to know!

I will continue to watch the rest of the Tour and marvel at the last Time Trial later this week.

Post your thoughts...