Lance is Back!

WOW! Lance Armstrong is back in pro cycling. I'm so excited!!! When Don had surgery a few years back we watched the Tour de France together and I became a confirmed pro cycling fan. I love to watch the peleton bob and weave along the country roads. It is a moving tapestry of color and motion.

I have continued to watch the races even thought Lance retired after winning his 7th (!) Tour but it hasn't been the same. Such a surprise that I can turn into a groupie in my 60s! I love to watch him cycle and really admire his strength of character. To return to cycling after the fight he had with cancer amazed me.

In the past he has only raced the Tour de France but this year he is participating in pretty much all the American and European tours so I'm wondering what his performance will be like. I just watched an interview with him and he vows that if one of his teammates is stronger then he will gladly be their domestique. For those of you who aren't familiar with cycling, the domestiques are the team members that are responsible for getting the drinks and food from the team cars in the back of the peleton for their more illustrious team mates. By the way, the peleton is the group containing the most of the cyclists. The break-away is usually a few brave souls who literally break away to the front of the peleton in the hopes of getting their names in public and some exposure for their sponsors. OK so cycling is a bit more complex than watching one or two guys on fabulous bikes race through wonderful countryside.

Next weekend the Tour de California is set to begin and Lance will be riding in it! The first year that they had the Tour, we managed to squeeze and bump our way to a spot on the finish line in Thousand Oaks. We waited patiently and then they came and went! Those guys move!! I surprised both Don and myself by screaming myself hoarse. Like I said, quite a surprise to find myself a groupie in my 60s.