I used to be a fan

 

Souvenir from my fall trip to Paris

This morning, on the BBC, I learned that someone I'd never heard of won the Tour de France for the fourth time. Before I raced bikes, I was a fan of bike racing, which I suppose is a typical order of operations. Eventually, however, the sport, while still of tremendous importance to me and my life, became less of an entertaining spectacle to me, so while friends' recent mention had me aware the big Franch competition was happening, this morning's news was, well, news to me. 

In fact, the last I watched a Tour stage was almost ten years ago because my friend Pete had preemptively sent me an article about the stage in which descending would be a decisive factor. As an added bonus, one of the last climbs was up a road I had walked in January of 2015 when it was covered in snow and serving as part of the Foux d'Allo ski area. So, it seems my two trips to France had relations to the Tour de France at least in space, if not in time. Watching that mountain stage was fun, and I do remember a racer with a beard won.

Bike racing, like bikes, can be great, but I suppose I'm a bit more jaded about the prior. Hmm, it seems I dove into some thick, murky soup with this subject, and now as I compose, I've been sitting idle for minutes deciding where I want to head with it. I have a strong desire to not speak badly of bike racing, but I'll also acknowledge the culture of it isn't without room for massive improvement. Yes, the sport can be wonderful, and if ever given the chance, I've encouraged young riders, or anyone else, to give it a try, but, hmmm...pause...nothing is worth everything, if you race, remember it is just a portion of the life you lead. There's a saying about too much of a good thing, the pick a good balance. Happily, now that I'm done with the strain of racing, my body can handle riding a bike a lot more, and I'm a fan of that!