I just finished watching a two-hour documentary on the 2003 Tour de France.
It was a real eye-opener. I always thought of this *race* as being little more than a bunch of guys who looked liked tennis coaches riding bicycles around lots of pretty scenery.
Although the scenery is indeed very pretty - especially the mountains - the only people who really get to enjoy it are the spectators. To the riders all it means is another goddam big uphill part that is very steep and hard to ride up.
Then there are the injuries. Apparently, almost every rider falls off his bike at least once. They are usually going pretty fast when this happens, and the results (unlike the scenery) are not pretty. Rider after rider had large sections of skin missing from arms, legs and elsewhere.
Bones get broken too. One rider continued riding with a broken coccyx. Another rider finished a race only to find out he had broken a collarbone. "He has an incredibly high pain threshold," said a commentator.
At one point an injured rider turns to the camera and says, "Why didn't I choose surfing?"
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I caught a snippet on SBS (i think) last night about the TdF and specifically, Lance Armstrong's amazing career to date. I, like you, used to think it was just a scenic ride for a bunch of bi-wheeled fanatics, but now i know better. TdF is for hardcore godlike types.
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