Anyone Watching The Tour De France

[flyfisher]

Well i know the guys look ridiculous in their skin tight "kits" but what these guys can accomplish is pretty amazing.  I like to ride when i can and seeing these guys compete is ridiculous.

 

My favorite stage so far has been the team time trial.  To think these guys can pedal at over 40mph is crazy and then get up and do it again the next day is beyond belief.

 

I know the sport is dirtier than anything else out there but to ride over 2k miles in 3 weeks is an accomplishment all to itself but to actually do it and race the entire time is pretty crazy too.

 

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Go Lance!!!

Oops. Wrong decade. Sorry about that.

It is impressive what they accomplish on their bikes though.

[Hanover_Yakker]

I enjoy watching it every year. I love watching the effort and struggles in the mountain stages. Its a shame that PEDs have tainted this event.

[Preytorien]

Yea I watch it religiously. I'm a fisherman, but before that I was, and am still, a cyclist. I ride about 40-50 miles a day. I've always dreamed of riding those same mountains they do. They're incredible athletes. They ride an average of 100+ miles a day for 21 days with only 2 rest days in between. Crazy!

 

It's a sport with a dirty past, but they claim they're "cleaning it up", let's hope they're not just being hopeful and it really is cleaner.

 

What kills me is that my current bike could buy one heck-uv-a bass boat......cost me more than my first 4 cars put together!

[flyfisher]

I am just getting back into cycling myself.  Once my son was born 3 years ago it cut into my riding time but now he is older so it is slowly giving me back some time

 

As far as bikes cost go, in college it was pretty common for us to have either mountain or road bikes on the racks of our cars that tripled or quadrupled the value of he car hauling them.  

 

I do thin they are cleaning it up but it still amazes me how many people get caught, kind of like baseball.  You know you are going to get tested and you know you will fail but i guess if my career was on the line i might take the extreme measures these guys do too.

[Marty]

 

I ride about 40-50 miles a day.

 

Impressive. That's some serious cycling when considering that my average ride is about 9 miles.

[rvadog]

I enjoy watching it every year. I love watching the effort and struggles in the mountain stages. Its a shame that PEDs have tainted this event.

I love cycling and honestly could care less about PED's. Good racing is good racing.

[flyfisher]

Impressive. That's some serious cycling when considering that my average ride is about 9 miles.

Not sure what type of bike you have but on a road bike 9 miles is not that bad at all unless it is super steep hills.

 

I used to bike to work which was anywhere from 15-20 miles one way depending on the route taken and it really didn't take that much more time than driving....basically went from about 25-45 minutes on the commute.

 

I really need to get back into it though because every time i cut my grass and see my bike sitting there i know i should ride more often.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I don't think I could ride a rode bike. The roving packs of cyclist around here drive me out of my tree. I would have to hit myself with a car door if i acted like that. Don't think I would look to good in one of those outfits either. It would probably make me gag.

I like trail riding sometimes. That's about it though.

[FD.]

I watch every minute and have for the last few decades.

 

I gave up my road bike and now only ride the mountain bike.

 

This place is 5 min from the house..

 

http://proedgebiker.com/mountain-bike-hd-videos/carter-rd/

[Sam]

Only when I kept changing back to the NBC Sports Network station in search of another bass fishing show this Sunday.

 

Did see a couple of good accidents (or were they accidents).

 

Liked the one where the guy was pushed off into the brush off a small drop. He had to climb out and then go down for his bike.

[flyfisher]

I don't think I could ride a rode bike. The roving packs of cyclist around here drive me out of my tree. I would have to hit myself with a car door if i acted like that. Don't think I would look to good in one of those outfits either. It would probably make me gag.

I like trail riding sometimes. That's about it though.

Yeah the packs of fools who take over the roads get to me too.  They always tell me well we have the right of way and my response is always the same.  I may have the right of way but getting hit by a car when i am "right" really doesn't matter when i am laid up in the hospital, not to mention it is just rude.  And don't joke about the car door.  A few of the scariest times on my bke while commuting ot work were when people would open their car doors as i was cruising past or walk about between parked cars.  Had to swerve more than once to avoid a serious collision.

 

When i was training for my first MS150 charity ride i always rode by myself.  A buddy of mine was riding it too but our training schedules could never synch up but when we rode on teh actual event it was crazy to me how much drafting helps out.  I always heard that it was so much easier blah blah blah.  Well not only is it way easier to draft it is actually more work to pull someone along which i had to do a lot because he didn't train nearly as much as he should have.  WIth about 15 miles t o go i told him he was on his own cause it was driving me nuts to keep the slower speed he needed.

[flyfisher]

Only when I kept changing back to the NBC Sports Network station in search of another bass fishing show this Sunday.

 

Did see a couple of good accidents (or were they accidents).

 

Liked the one where the guy was pushed off into the brush off a small drop. He had to climb out and then go down for his bike.

Accidents are part of the sport and the majority seem to be helped along   I remember when Lance was competing he had to avoid a wreck and basically went offroading on his 20k+ road bike and then got right back on the road like it was nothing.  I know i saw a guy this year jump up a curb on to the sidewalk then back into the peloton like ti was nothing.  The bikes are surprisingly durable even though they are very lightweight.

[Preytorien]

The Tour is pretty exciting to watch. My wife gets irritated when the multiple showings of it fills up the DVR, they're hours long each. I've done many 100+ mile rides and they wear me out. I can't imagine doing one every day for 21 days.

 

I've had my fair share of run in's with drivers, including a concussion from a driver who apparently didn't see the stopsign. Usually I keep my rides out in the middle of nowhere, but I do have about 2 miles in town here to get to my house. Most of that is neighborhood roads, but that 3/4 mile that I'm on the main road seems to be the fastest place in town, they race by me, many times only to be stopped by the light a few hundred yards ahead. I've seen many middle fingers, swearing, spitting, even a beer thrown at me.

Just remember, these cyclists may look silly and may irritate us (yes even I get irritated at them), but remember.....they're someone's son, a little girl's dad, a taxpaying citizens, and in many cases like mine, fishermen....just like you. Stay a couple feet from them and be courteous. We are required by law to use the road too, we can't control that. So just take a deep breath, wait for that oncoming car to pass then smoothly likewise pass us.

One last thought, I live in a pretty "cycling friendly" area. A particularly hurried gentleman decided to take matters into his own hands and severely injured a cyclist by running him off the road into a fencerow. The judge wasn't very sympathetic to his "I was in a hurry" and his "on the way to the hospital" excuse they found to be a lie and found him guilty of attempted vehicular assault, attempted vehicular manslaughter, and reckless driving.......that landed him in prison for 28 years. Wasn't really worth that extra couple of seconds he would've gained eh? From the news I read, those kinds of sentences are getting more and more common.

[RAMBLER]

I guess you have to really like riding bikes to watch it.  For me, it's more exciting to sit and watch my tomatoes ripen.  Different strokes for different folks.

[derekxec]

i dont watch it but wow 214512423423432 people a day now i see riding these bikes lol

[Bankbeater]

Nope.  I have been practicing my pitching and flipping.

[NEjitterbugger]

I saw a spectator moon the camera today lol!