It has been brought to my attention that there is a sporting event underway which has worldwide attention. It goes on for weeks and is being contested by sportsmen whose strength and stamina are almost beyond belief. Along with the sporting action, there are injuries, intrigue and deep strategy. It is totally absorbing and I am following the action whenever possible.
I am not, of course, referring to the World Cup of men chasing around a pitch for ninety minutes and then going to a night club. I am absorbed in the spectacle of more than a hundred athletes, battling on the roads and mountains of France for a couple of hundred kilometres every day for three weeks. C’est Le Tour de France.
When I was a lad, my father forced me to save some of my meagre weekly pocket money. The objective was to accumulate enough cash to purchase a bike. I had no problem with the scheme because I was keen on the concept of cycling and very much wanted my own machine. Come the day when enough funds had been saved, my father took me down to the bike shop. This was a bad plan because we came out with something he had chosen. It was called a Hercules; a straight handlebar tank of a bike designed for shopping; whereas I was hoping for racing machine designed for Eddy Merckx.
Not a problem, I just waited a couple of weeks and then took my nearly new bike to another shop and swapped it for an ancient, scruffy machine which had a Reynolds 531 tubing frame, and gears and brakes that would have received the Merckx seal of approval. The transaction did not receive my father’s seal of approval; but he eventually forgave me, and the bike served me well for many years.
Just like the Tour de France riders, I could cover two hundred kilometres a day; although it would take me three times as long and I would need to rest for a couple of days afterwards. But I could, and did, cover a hundred kilometres a day with no problems; although at the time we called them “miles” and there were less of them. Nowadays I would struggle with any sort of distance unless the unit of measure was metres, but the interest in cycle racing remains.
The recent super-hero of the tour is Lance Armstrong, riding for the final time (again) this year. Struck down with cancer in 1996, Armstrong survived brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, threw himself into an unbelievably intensive training regime; and went on to win Le Tour in 1999, and six time after that. If you want to know what it’s like to go from lying on the floor vomiting after chemo, to winning the toughest sporting event in the world a few years later, “It’s not about the bike” is an inspiring read.
The first couple of days of this year’s tour have taken place in the Netherlands and Belgium where rain, cobbles and steep descents have contributed to more than the usual number of crashes. If you are living in Europe you can no doubt watch every moment live. If you live in Thailand you can download the highlights and enjoy them the following day.
Le Tour every day, and the British Grand Prix this weekend. Who needs that World Cup thingie?
Comments 🔗
2010-07-07| Lloyd saysIts been great in the UK since England got the boot theres been little or no ranting coverage on the world cup and now seeing how the Germans are in with a chance there has been even less coverage.
Cycling has been a passion of mine since I was a child, I raced as a neo-pro and domestique cyclist in Australia and Europe for 8 years however sadly I was medium level and never made the cut for the grand tours, Vuelta being my yearly stable.
You should get a bike in Thailand, after 6 months riding in and around Phuket and down to Langkawin this year I was surprised just how cyclist friendly the Thai are!
2010-07-07| Spike saysRespect!
2010-07-07| genuinej saysThis post reminded me of the time my first bike was also chosen by my father. A big, black “sit up & beg” Raleigh. I too soon changed it for a “racing bike”, black and yellow with derailleur gearing, and would think nothing of cycling 50+ miles in a day. Happy times indeed. I think I could now only ride in the direction my life has taken. Downhill all the way.
2010-07-07| Spike saysThat reads like a hangover comment genuinej. Time for a beer?
2010-07-07| Billy saysI presume Spike’s respect was an acknowledgement of Lloyd’s first ever post without a reference to Apple :-)
2010-07-08| Barry saysI am amused that the Tour De France begins in the Netherlands and Belgium. But I have zero interest in the sport as it is tainted, and that is not strong enough a word, probably more than any other sport, by drug scandals.
Or maybe it’s a hangover from the days of my youth when my father, probably quite sensibly, forbade me from having a bike as he considered it too dangerous for the streets of London. Didn’t stop me from borrowing my friends bike though.
Or maybe it is because I tend to dislike cyclists on the streets who, universally, seem to believe that traffic laws do not apply to them and, for example, completely ignore red lights - even in countries where red lights are obeyed (ie not Thailand).
Finally, did you know that there is at least one company in Bangkok that conducts cycling tours of the city. They tend to avoid Sukhumvit, but take you around that part of the city that is still wild and undeveloped situated in a big loop of the river. A pity that Bangkok traffic and pollution is so bad, because there isn’t a hill or even a slope in the entire metropolis. Should be perfect for cyclists, but it isn’t.
2010-07-09| Jamie Monk saysAlways been a cycling fan, indeed I used to ride a lot, and did a 2500km tour in France and Spain back in 1990. Very glad my cable TV in Phuket shows Le Tour.
Hey there are cycling tours in Phuket too - I did one a couple of months ago: http://jamie-monk.blogspot.com/2010/04/cycling-trip-to-koh-yao-noi.html
2010-07-09| Spike saysBarry, there is also an excellent bike shop near Lumpini park which will sell you an expensive bike. Only a fool would buy from them cough.
Jamie, liked your tour and photos. I should attempt something similar, or so says she who must be obeyed.