Le Tour de France

I'm blogging from The Tour!!!

Well, I'm blogging from my couch as I watch The Tour on TV. Nearly the same?

My guess is most of you aren't intricately interested in The Tour, so instead of boring details, this blog can serve as your source of talking points, or bits of news, in case you find yourself at the bar or some party talking with a cute guy/girl and the subject comes up. Rather than go drop-jawed "uhhhhhhhhhhh" you can sound interested and knowledgeable thanks to my blog! Here goes:

A) The first stage* was today, a 197.5 kilometer stretch from Brest to Plumelec.
B) In the past the race started with a week of flat stages that favored sprinters, but this year they have eliminated those flat stages in favor of more grueling hills.
C) As a result of doping charges the team favored to win, Team Astana, was banned from the race.
D) Last year's leader, Alberto Contador, is part of that team and therefore won't be able to defend his title.

*The race is 21 days long (plus a couple rest days) with each day's race called a "stage." Each stage all the riders start and finish at the same points and the leaders are determined by how much time they gain by by the end of a stage.

I've always loved watching the race, but now that I've been racing I think the viewing experience will be different. I know the feeling of riding in the peloton, the pain of dragging you and your bike up the side of a mountain, and the thrill of moving down the road at 25-30 miles per hour (or faster).

Unfortunately professional cycling has become synonymous with performance enhancing drugs. Team after team, individual after individual have been caught sticking needles in their asses. Just yesterday while riding with a former semi-pro rider from Colorado, she told me that there was significant doping by her male and female counterparts who were only semi-pro.

Still, with all the scandal, I love watching the cycling and sightseeing as they meander through France.