![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/The-bicycle-race-1910-Alrbert-Joseph-Penot-1689435559.989-300x285.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
OK, I know all you hairy-chested macho guys think the Tour is for less than manly guys, or cheaters like Lance Armstrong.<\/p>\n
Consider this: in terms of calories expended, these guys are essentially running a marathon DAILY for 23 days. They are covering the same distance as LA to Columbia, SC… on bicycles. And doing it at speeds that AVERAGE as fast as most of you can go on a bike…downhill. They go UP 10% grades faster than most are able to average on level ground. Dunno about you, but that’s hairy-chested and macho enough for me.<\/p>\n
This has been an eventful year so far. Never in history has a black African rider won a stage – but Biniam Garnay has won two stages so far (each day’s stage is normally 120-200 km in length), making history for black African riders.\u00a0 LA Times<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Cavendish became the stage-winningest rider in history when he won his 35th stage. Not the best rider (he’s ‘way down on that list) but as a sprinter – yeah, he has an undisputed record.\u00a0 AP<\/a><\/p>\n And in a rare example of style (what the French call ‘panache’) rider Julien Bernard stopped in the middle of a time trial (individual race day) to kiss his wife – and got fined by the race-runners $220. They called it “unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport.” He finished 3 minutes back, which on a race like that is equivalent to a lap down at Indy, and thought the $220 was worth it. That’s panache. USA Today<\/a><\/p>\n Think American sports draw crowds? Especially on mountain stages (where these idiots climb 3-5 serious mountains in one day) there are more than a million spectators PER DAY. It’s the most popular annual sporting event on the planet by attendance. Find a spot on the route, take your picnic lunch, have some wine, and watch ’em battle it out at high speeds inches from one another. High speeds – on a long downhill expect ’em to hit 70mph, with nothing but a bit of Lycra between them and the road if something bad happens.<\/p>\n There are American riders to root for. They aren’t the headline-grabbing Armstrong…but they’re clean.<\/p>\n Find it on TV. Tune in for a sprint finish and watch ’em\u00a0 knocking elbows and sprinting in a giant pack at almost 40 miles per hour.\u00a0 Watch a mountain top finish, where they almost have to push their way through thousands of crazed fans – in the road!) to the finish. Give it a fair try – heck, go out and try to duplicate what the LEAST of the pro riders do – and you just might learn to like it.<\/p>\n Expand your world…and you might get in better shape, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"