After a lifetime of being a cycling fan, I took the last few years off, for maybe obvious reasons. With the Tour less than a month away, Im contemplating a fan comeback. Heres why: 1. Hein Verbruggen: has nothing to do with it. 2. Froome and TDF 2013: I watched from the sidelines the high points of last years tour but like the previous few, I did not follow it like I used to. While I wont go so far as to say I believe Froome WAS clean, I can say--after reading a lot of other peoples great analyses, in context to his supposed personal lab numbers, the speed of the tour, against that field who is at least relatively more clean than the past Tours--that I believe it is physiologically possible he COULD HAVE won last years tour clean the way he and the field rode it. That is more than I could say for some of my most ardently-watched Tours, when I actually didnt believe any of it. And that wore on me. It made me feel dirty, spending my time--any time--on the farse. I live for our children not to feeling in the future like the HAVE TO dope to reach their athletic dreams. Like so many other pro sports Im not a fan of, I fell out of fandom with cycling after many long embattled years. But last year made me believe what they were doing could actually be done, and belief is the first rule of fandom. 3. Paris-Roubaix 2014: In 1985, when I was 13 and bike racing a bunch, Marc Madiot won Paris-Roubaix on a super muddy day. He was not a star of any sort and got away to beat the big guns, like Kelly, LeMond, and Vanderarden. I used to pour over Winning Bicycle Illustrated, and I used to try to get my bike hat to sit on my head to look more like Madiot after that. For a while, I even rode my bike, cocking my head just a nudge further back than natural to look on the bike like Madiot did in Paris Roubaix, before I realized the greater-than-normal shoulder fatigue. I fancied myself a mudder. Id ride around the range, looking for rough roads and dirt roads, testing the mettle of my crappy, marshmallow-soft Peugeot, pretending to be winning Paris-Roubaix, like Marc Madiot, the unknown underdog. In short, Paris-Roubaix is deep in my heart. When Gerry Hanson posted on Facebook that Paris-Roubaix was airing the next day, I watched it live. And it. was. GRIPPING! I was re-hooked. 3. My sagging mid-section and that expensive, beautiful carbon De Rosa hanging in my garage: If it wasnt for the snow in Duluth, I would have easily rode a couple hours after watching Paris Roubaix. The De Rosa is a gorgeous machine that should be ridden more, and it is that much more likely to get lots of rides if Im watching the Tour in July, and that wont do my mid-section any disservice either. 4. Phil Liggett: Lets face it. July isnt July without Phil Liggett calling the Tour as your soundtrack to life. I miss that.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 00:39:46 +0000
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