Day 1 TdF - 2009

Well, it's July and that means two things: my son Matt's birthday and the Tour de France. Matt was born the day Greg LeMond won the Tour in 1989. In the Summer of 2000, I was in Paris on business. I had the opportunity to stay in Paris over the weekend to watch the final stage of the 2000 edition of the Tour. On Thursday, I phoned my son Matt, whose birthday was on the final Sunday. I asked him if he would prefer I come home to celebrate his birthday on the 23rd, or would he mind if I stayed to watch Lance win his second TdF. I explained that I would come home on Monday and we'd celebrate then. Matt asked me to come home. So, I did. This year, he said he did not mind. Last year he came to France along with the rest of the fam (fam = family) and we celebrated his birthday on Alpe d'Huez, watching the Tour (I did not ride that day; I conquered the Alpe the day before). I was a good day for me, I hope he enjoyed it.

Last year I described the Tour adventure as the Epic Summer, perhaps a bit melodramatic. Riding the Tour routes had always been a goal of mine and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to do it. It was an experience I'll never forget. Last year's ride included so many of the most famous climbs I had on my list of wanting to attempt. I spent a lot of time preparing both mentally and physically for the trip. I had many doubts about how I would manage the difficult ascents. Then, twenty days prior to leaving for the trip I broke my collar bone during a race. As I sat in the road following the crash, I never gave a thought to not going. My thoughts were much training I'd miss prior to going and how much weight I'd likely gain prior to attempting the climbs. I think I managed the experience fairly well. My 2008 blog posts chronicles the 2008 experience. If you're interested, check my 2008 blog archives.

I received a good deal of positive feedback on the 2008 blog. Many folks who know I am riding the Tour routes again in 2009 asked that I blog about this experience as well. When I review the 2008 entries, some of it was actually pretty good. I'll try to be equally entertaining and interesting this time as well. In the blogs, I try to cryptically message to teammates, friends, family and others things they will understand and you, perhaps, may not. You may even find the word choice or description odd. It makes it fun for me and makes the readers curious and entertained, I hope.

So, why do it again? Easy answer I LOVE IT. The challenge, the training, testing yourself, and the entire experience. For all the effort during the next fourteen days, the experience last year was actually incredibly relaxing. You ate, you rode, you slept. Oh, and blogged a bit. Oh, and took a couple of 4-6 hour conference calls. Mixing a little work with vaca (vaca = vacation) is just the way I roll. It reduces the anxiety of being out of touch and helps manage the mountain of work which grows from taking fourteen days off. And, Lance is riding.

I am a huge Lance fan. Regardless of the doping allegations, personality, ego, I value his focus and competitiveness. I try to gather virtues from the folks I meet or who inspire me. I have met Lance and his achievements do inspire me, along with many others. I am wise enough to know that each person has flaws. Its easy to pick at the flaws in another person. For the people who do that, it says a lot more about them than it does about the person whom they criticize. It is far more positive and rewarding to find the virtuous attributes and value them. And like my friend Da Light (RG) says, let's keep the energy positive.

This year will be different in several respects. First, my collar bone is not broken. I feel healthy and more fit and prepared than last year. Secondly, I am traveling, rooming, and riding with a good friend, Doug McConaha. Doug welcomed me to the team a few years ago. We trained a lot through the winter my first year on the team; riding with Dick Chartier in some of the worst conditions. But, we rode. He and I hit it off. Doug moved to Columbus and joined a competing team. I was fortunate to move up a category at the end of last year and now race/compete with and against Doug. He is a great competitor. We have managed to get in a few breaks during this past racing season, worked well together to keep away, but he beat me in the sprint for the wins. Quality guy, quality rider. It will be good traveling and riding with someone I know this year. For all the nice folks I met last year, it still got a little lonely not being around folks you know.

One thing will be the same, my passion for this sport and in particular, the Tour. I absolutely love this sport and the Tour. How much? (( THIS MUCH )) As you cross the line, imagine sitting up, hands off the bars, your arms spread as wide as you possibly can, and like a kid, with a huge smile, cup the air with your hands and yell "THIS MUCH." Each rider has their unique victory salute. Robbie McEwen speeds across the line in a field sprint, sitting up, pointing to his chest with both index fingers; Contador points his right hand in the shape of a gun and fires off an imaginary round with his index finger; Lance has his arms raised, elbows bent, fists clenched and pumps the air once with both fists; Em is a lot more subtle, both hands on the bars, takes her right hand and with a small fist and subtle fist pump says 'Yes'; Jamie is rolling across the line, waaaay off the front, sitting up, both hands raised, elbows straight yelling a big ole Texas "Yee Haw."

Hard to explain why I love this sport so much. Kind of irrational, but I love it so. You train not to make the races easier; but to put yourself and the competition in the pain box during the race. To win, it hurts, it really hurts. But the pain soon ends and you're left with accomplishment. To achieve, you gotta love to practice and you have to be willing to suffer, to sacrifice more than the next guy. Tune into Versus and watch this race, get out to an amateur event and watch us race. Hopefully, you'll have the chance to see me crossing the line to yell (( THIS MUCH )); I may not be first, but the passion and celebration will be there. Hopefully you'll pick that up in my blog posts and be entertained.