Thanks for the Ride

I can remember the first time I rode my bike. My dad pushed me down the sidewalk in front of our house on Peoria Street and my life-long love of riding bicycles had begun.  For me, riding a bicycle is the perfect form of transportation.  Riding is not so slow that it takes too long to get somewhere and it's not so fast that you miss the details.  When I used to do long rides, I loved the feel of the breeze in my face, the burn in my legs, and the rhythm of my breathing with the turn of the pedals.  There is something almost magical about riding a bike.

That is why I got hooked on the Tour de France a long time ago.  I remember watching greats like Bernard Hinault, Eddie Merckx, Jan Ullrich, Miguel Indurain, and Greg Lemond.  But the greatest rider I have ever seen ride was, of course, Lance Armstrong.  His grace, power, strength, agility, and courage made for some of the best Tour de France races I will probably ever see.  I can remember, on his way to a third victory in 2001, he used the now-famous “bluff” to trick his rivals into thinking he was weak and about to fall behind. Then at the base of the final climb, he exploded out of the pack to win the stage atop Alpe d’Huez.

In 2003, Armstrong was the least prepared he’d been for any of this Tour wins, and was under the fiercest pressure yet from the other contenders when Joseba Beloki crashed in front of him on a high-speed mountain descent; Armstrong swerved off the road, bumped over a grassy field, dismounted and hopped a drainage ditch then neatly rejoined the pack on the road below the site of the carnage. Later that same year, knocked down on a climb when a spectator’s bag snagged his handlebar, Armstrong remounted then powered up Luz Ardiden to not only catch his rivals but win the stage — on a snapped bike frame.  In 2009, the aging Texan delivered an unbelievable and improbable third place finish in the Tour after a four year "retirement" from the sport.  In 2010, Armstrong's luck ran out as his 39 year old body hit the pavement time after time and he experienced minor breakdowns throughout the race.

I know some people cry foul and say that Lance is a doper.  I hope not.  I hope that Armstrong, with his large heart and ability to process oxygen better than almost every human being alive, combined with his ferocious competitive spirit and will to win, won 7 Tours while riding clean.  Until someone proves he was a doper, I will be a fan and a believer.

Enjoy retirement 2.0 and thanks for the memories Lance.