Things I Do: Follow Professional Cycling

I can't remember exactly when I started watching the Tour de France, though it was sometime while an American guy named Lance was winning seven in a row.  That isn't what kept me watching it, though. What did was the fun we had uncovering how the different competitions in the race affected teams' tactics; the sudden reversals that can result from a split-second incident1; and the sheer insanity of what the riders do .2

It's gone beyond Le Tour now. Gwen and I get upset when we can't get day-by-day coverage of the Giro and the Vuelta.3 I've fallen in love with the Classics, and I practically have the date of Paris-Roubaix each year tattooed on my arm.4

I love following this sport. Say what you will about doping scandals; cycling's controversies are minor league compared to other sports'. At the beginning of each season, we watch race after race to learn what each team's new kit looks like and who is riding for who.5 I think that's because more than any other sport I know, cycling put a human face on superhuman feats. Vive Le Tour!

1 Joseba Beloki's crash and Lance's off-road recovery in the 2003 Tour will stay with me forever.

2 Because it's not enough to ride up a 13.8 km climb with 7.9 percent average gradiant and with 21 hairpin turns; you must do a wheelie at the top.

 3 Curse you, Versus.

4 The 2011 race is not yet scheduled.

5 To the extent that without the commentators telling us, we noticed today that Fränk Schleck is now wearing the Luxembourg National Champion's jersey. Fränk apparently beat his younger brother Andy (who had been wearing it for the last year) at the National Championship two weeks ago.