It's Lunchtime!!!

Last week while listening to the radio the host declared the following. "Who grows up wanting to race a bicycle?" and "Bikes are for putting baseball cards in the spokes." are phrases that were declared.

Several years ago the man above was debating whether Lance Armstrong deserved to win Athlete of the Year over Tiger Woods. The man said that cycling isn't even a sport. That's right. Take another look at him. He still looks about the same today.

This isn't about doping allegations. This is about respect.

I challenge either of these two men to compete in the Tour de France.

Here are some stats for those of you who don't care one iota about cycling.

- The race is usually broken up into 21 days (stages) over approximately a 24 day period during the month of June.

- Over these 21 stages a cyclist covers over 2,100 miles with usually only 2 days of rest.

- During these stages there are Category 1 and Unclassified climbs into mountains which include the Alps and the Pyrenees.

- The categories are ranked by the steepness of the climb and height. Category 1 being the 2nd highest and Unclassified being so high that God hand the cyclists a water bottle if they need one.

- The climbs include gradients of 7.9 or higher. Jump on a treadmill and try 7.9. Imagine that on a bike.


I know, I know. So many cyclists have been found to be dopers. But you know what. Not all of them are!

The Tour will be going on for the 98th year in 2011. To watch the small French towns go crazy to catch a glimpse of all these men ride past them for a split second is awesome. The thousands of people who crowd the mountainside to cheer the men on as they search for every last ounce of strength they have to push those pedals is awe inspiring.

The sport of cycling uses strength, endurance, strategy, teamwork, the ability to work under pressure, the ability to work alone, hand eye coordination, courage, hard work and balls. Big balls. To go over 60mph down a a mountain with no rails to protect you from taking the plunge takes huge balls.

Just because you didn't grow up wanting to race bicycles doesn't mean there isn't a little boy somewhere, who just received a nice shiny bike from Santa, who wants to race the shit out of those two wheels.

Go ahead give the Tour a shot! You don't even have to enter. Just go while it isn't running and try the route.

Don't like something? Don't respect something? Fine. But don't force your ignorant opinions on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, there are people out there who can't make up their own minds and take every word people like you say to heart. Just because you don't understand something doesn't make it stupid. My 5 year old even understands that.