Jul. 8, 2007 - And So It Begins . . . .
The World's Toughest Sporting Event Has Begun . . . .
Yes, the greatest sporting event in the world began yesterday - The Tour de France.
This annual race through the mountains and plains of Europe is justifiably known as one the toughest sporting even going for many reasons. First of all, there's the sheer distance of it - some 3,550 kilometres over 20 days of racing. Another challenge will be the weather - it has been known to snow in the mountain passes during this race, while road-surface temperatures of 120F are completely the norm for much of the riding. There's the multi-rider crashes that are at the same time spectacular and so dangerous, but perhaps the toughest part of this race is the mental strength it takes to get up and go every morning. Getting up and knowing that there is a grueling day of work ahead for you, suffering in the saddle for 5, 6, 8 hours or more. And rest days? What's a rest day? In the Tour, a rest day is a day where there might only be 3 hours of more relaxed riding, just to 'keep the legs loose'.
I have always been enamoured by the Tour. I've never really understood what the draw of the Tour has been for me; by the time I became fascinated by it, I was too old, I thought, to pursue a cycling career. I know part of my interest came from my working for Joe Gardin, a Miltonian with very strong ties to the professional cycling community; ties so strong that I actually met Eddie Merkx, an international cycling God. I'm pretty certain too that some of my interest came from my love of endurance sports. I ran ultra-marathons, with 100 miles or longer being my best distances. I competed in about 200 marathons, and I completed a Double Ironman event, where you swim 5.2 miles, bike 236 miles and then run 52.4 miles. I loved that! I had also, by the time I got hooked on the Tour, completed an 1,100 mile bicycle race as a qualifier to the R.A.A.M.. The R.A.A.M. is a non-stop bicycle race across America, coast-to-coast. To complete something like that is the epitome of fitness and mental toughness. Or is it?
There's no way that any endurance event can be as tough as THE Tour. Nothing last as long, over such incredible terrain. No Way Jose, as the saying goes. If you want to see for yourself, you can watch the Tour on OLN (Cogeco Ch. 48 in Milton) at 8pm or watch it live first thing in the morning. You can bet that I'll be watching every night possible, and taping the rest, as I plan to complete my ultimate life test - the Race Through Death Valley in my 55th year.
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