The first of many annual rants on professional cycling... maybe with a new twist. :D

A good friend of mine runs a cycling forum for Central Virginia.  You can find it HERE.  The topic of the Paris-Nice race came up because one of the coolest guys in the Peloton (Bobby Julich) won the prologue.  I made the comment that I think Mr. Julich is a great guy and I wish him the best, but that I no longer watch or follow professional cycling.  When asked why, the following rant came out. 

 

I understand why professional cyclists dope.  If you look at what is asked of them during the season, it is no suprise to me at all that they turn to chemical assistance.  The guys at the top of the sport are trying to compete with each other, so they pretty much have to in order to succeed.  I'm sure there are some that don't dope and they're amazing.  For those who do use performance enhancing drugs, I don't blame them!

 

For the rank and file of the peloton, their job is often harder than that of the big names.  They've got to dope just to make it out there day after day after day.  How can I blame them either.  They're the grunts that are just out there making a living and trying to live the dream.  They didn't make the system in which they work.

 

I gave up on having favorites years ago.  Every time I found a cyclist that I liked and felt good about, they tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.  I tried to just enjoy the competition and team tactics.  That didn't really work for me. 

 

Finally I came to the conclusion that I was the problem.  I wanted to see heroic feats of strength by these guys.  Possibly my favorite cycling event ever was when Andy Hampsten broke away on Gavia pass in the Giro to take the pink jersey.  He and his breakaway partner were FLYING up and then down this pass in a freaking blizzard with snow, slush and ice on the road.  How do you top that?  Watching Lance pull away from the lead group on a climb in the Alps or Pyranese was pretty amazing... especially when i've driven or ridden some of those roads and know how steep they are.  Watching Tom Boonen or Cippo come from NOWHERE on a pack sprint to pull out a win is awe-inspiring.

 

Professional cycling promoters try to emphasize those aspects in order to get a viewing crowd.  Teams and cyclists rise to the occassion week after week throughout the whole season.  We expect that kind of heroics in every race.  The only sports season that is longer than cyclings' is NASCAR.  At least those guys have motors in the cars that do a lot of the work. 

 

Why does that make me the problem?  I was watching it on TV.  I enjoyed the coverage.  I liked what the sponsors were selling.  I bought the magazines that promote professional cycling.  I paid money to go to France, Georgia or Sonoma to watch the races.  I worked for two years for a company that promoted pro races in the 1980s.  I own a Festina watch, a Sean Kelly era green sprinter's jersey and a polka dot jersey autographed by Gert Jan Thunisse.  I religiously followed the tour back in the 1970s when the only way you could get information about the tour was by having friends in France mail you newspaper and magazine clippings.  My grandmother taught me how to read French so I could read those articles. 

 

If I'm not the reason that cycling has come to this, then who is?  I know I'm not the only reason.  I'm an idiot, but I'm not so much of an idiot that I think that anyone gives a rat's ass about how much I used to love pro cycling or that I can sway anyone to do anything. 

 

I am, however, the only person for which I can change the buying and watching habits.  My habits have changed.  I found it very easy last year to resist the pull of the tour.  It has been a long road to give it up.  Now whenever I get the urge to sit down and watch cycling coverage, I go for a ride or work on my bike.  Either works fine for me. 

 

Look at that last paragraph.  I talk about my habits like they're addictions.  I'm even replacing one habit with another.  Sounds like I need a 12 step program, eh?  Imagine an entire continent of fans 100 times more rabbid and addicted than me (Europe).  Can you blame the racers for using performance enhancing drugs?  Sounds like all of us fans have a problem... not just the cyclists. :D

 

I'll be in France during the tour this year.  I don't care a bit.  I've got a friend there who will loan me a bike that fits.  I'm going riding. :D

 

Happy Happy Joy Joy Joy....

 

Pete