Professional Cycling For the Fans - The Tour De France? It can't be that hard!

I just finished reading this fun article in the Christian Science Monitor. I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0708/p07s01-woeu.html?s=itm

This article would have been a lot better if it was written by someone who had even a marginal amount of cycling ability. This guy sounds like he would pronounce competitive shuffleboard the toughest competition in sports if they sent him to try it out.

and this thread would be a lot better here: TDF Forum (http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=217)

It's nice to see the un-initiated realizing how hard it is just do a 15mi ride let alone Grand Tour. Most people relate bicycle riding to the experiences they had as children on their Schwinn Stingrays. Last year a proffessor who was monitoring the riders of the TdF compared it to running a marathon every day for 3 weeks. Considering that most runners work a whole year just to complete on marathon it puts a little perspective on the TdF.

This article would have been a lot better if it was written by someone who had even a marginal amount of cycling ability. This guy sounds like he would pronounce competitive shuffleboard the toughest competition in sports if they sent him to try it out.

Actually I think the fact that it was a non-cyclist made it even funnier. I'm always amused at the uninitiated who think they riding a bike is easy. Sort of like when you were a kid and you rode two blocks to the store for cigaretts for you Dad.

This article would have been a lot better if it was written by someone who had even a marginal amount of cycling ability. This guy sounds like he would pronounce competitive shuffleboard the toughest competition in sports if they sent him to try it out.

Sure he's not in shape, but who's the target audience? People who know little/nothing about cycling. You can't speak to them in Cyclingspeak, they won't/can't understand. I think it's a humorous, well-written article.

Maybe it was meant to be funny, I don't know. It didn't really strike me that way. I deliberately said "a marginal amount" of cycling ability, meaning an occasional recreational rider. It's just stupid for someone as out of shape as this writer obviously is to pass any judgment on how tough the TdF is. Of course it's tough for him. Getting his ass up from the dinner table is probably tough for him. You want to impress me with how tough the TdF is, take someone who can actually do a 20 or 30 mile ride and send them up the Col de whichever.

I wan't to know where he got a 21 speed bike in 2005...seems he might have had a better shot using a current bike and triple ring.

I think it was supposed to be funny and I enjoyed it for what it was- humor form an older guy who admittedly eats alot, doesn't excercise, and realized how hard it actually is to ride LeTour.

PJ

Thanks for posting.

I agree, though, someone in better shape would have been a good idea. Take a football player and put him on a "beyond category" climb.

Thanks for posting.

I agree, though, someone in better shape would have been a good idea. Take a football player and put him on a "beyond category" climb.

Maybe not a practical idea- he'll be so frustrated he'll be up on domestic abuse charges the very next day... well, the day after whichever day it is that he recovers from his climb :D

Maybe not a practical idea- he'll be so frustrated he'll be up on domestic abuse charges the very next day... well, the day after whichever day it is that he recovers from his climb :D

I mean I love my bike as much as the next person but getting off it after 1 mile and throwing it on the ground and jumping on it until it breaks is not domestic abuse.

I enjoyed this article. Thanks for the post. Although I'm reasonably healthy, it's a safe bet my fitness level is closer to the writer's than to a TdF competitor's and so I found the perspective interesting and funny (and also a bit uncomfortable; I've done the flop on a steep grade and I can relate very well to the bruising of ego and assorted appendages).