Cycling...

I've spent fun times at the finish line in Downtown San Luis Obispo, watching and covering the Tour of California. I interviewed the top riders and enjoyed the experience of professional cycling. I had never been so close to the action, and it was a thrill, each time! Before the Tour my only history with cycling was following Lance Armstrong for years. I read both of his books. I cheered for him through his battle with cancer. I used his story and life as inspiration for my own physical challenges, my first marathon in 1997 and a 10-mile uphill trail challenge, that same year. I looked up to him. Whether you agree with it or not, he was a hero to me. He has helped the world in many ways with his commitment to fighting cancer and researching the best medicines, cures, etc. Ok, that's the good part, now the sad news. It has changed for me. I don't follow cycling like I used to; the drugs in the sport and Armstrong turned me off. You can argue, everybody cheats, all sports deal with performance enhancers...yada, yada, yada. That doesn't matter to me. I get to be the type of fan I want to be, for any or all sports. It's affecting me this week because the Tour is in town this afternoon. I want to go, I don't want to go. I would like to find a new rider to cheer, an honest & clean team that does it right. But, I don't know when and if we'll get that in this sport. The amount of mileage and stress on the body to ride the way these people do, is incredible. I guess, I sort of understand why a lot of them feel they need medical/chemical assistance to do it and do it well. No matter, my heart isn't beating for the sport as it has in the past. And everybody appreciates a good heartbeat, right?