5 Things I learned from the Tour of California
Thanks to the Tour of California for a great week of bike racing. I have watched bits and pieces of the race on TV this week and today I gave a few hours of my time waiting to see the worlds best bike racers come to the finish line in person. I don't get too crazy about celebrity sightings, but this event sucked me in. I was able to see Lance Armstrong race. I wandered through the various team tents, getting an up close look at the bikes these guys ride. And I learned a few things along the way (nothing profound, just wanted to write).
So in lame blog fashion, here are 5 things I learned this year from the Tour of California.
#1 I am no pro cyclist. These guys are fast. Really fast. They corner at speeds that I descend. They climb at speeds that I corner. It really isn't fair.
#2 Sometimes even a glimpse is worth it. We arrived 3 hours early and parked about 5 blocks away (better than I expected). The race coordinators planned many things to do to help pass the time, but really, we mostly stood there and waited. And waited. And waited. Which was really all fine by me, I enjoyed the anticipation. And when the racers finally came into sight, rounded the last corner and sprinted the final 200 meters to the finish line, it was a 20 second rush of adrenaline worth every second of the previous 3 hours.
#3 Well, not every second of the previous 3 hours. I learned that participating in these sort of events is much easier without kids.
It was hard to take it all in and still keep one eye on the kids. They wandered. They complained. They fought. They were bored. They wanted every single free hand out from every single booth. Yeah, it's easier without kids, but it's great with them.
It was hard to take it all in and still keep one eye on the kids. They wandered. They complained. They fought. They were bored. They wanted every single free hand out from every single booth. Yeah, it's easier without kids, but it's great with them.#4 Perez is a ladies man. This picture earned Perez a free page of Cannondale racing stickers. It didn't make mommy real
happy, but you can't blame Perez for his good looks, and you can't credit daddy.
happy, but you can't blame Perez for his good looks, and you can't credit daddy. #5 The bigger picture. Californian Levi Leipheimer won his third consective Tour of California. He rides for team Astana, the same team that Lance rides for. In cycling, a team races for one man to win. After many years of success, it was pretty cool watching Lance race all week for Levi to win. Lance had a great race, but winning wasn't the objective. This was Levi's race.
Earlier in the week, Levi had built a commanding lead and was minutes ahead of every rider coming into the finish line...except one. This rider had drafted Levi's rear wheel for many miles, an exceptional advantage. Racers say that drafting conserves %30 of your energy. Typically, racers will share the draft. Not that day. Levi carried the entire load. As they approached the finish, the racer shot out and around Levi and won the stage, uncontested. I was so irritated. The racer celebrated his stage win, but right behind him was Levi, celebrating. Levi didn't win the stage, but his time that day gave him the over all lead (which he held on to to the finish).
A few thoughts on this last idea. Maybe coming in first isn't the determining factor if you are a winner. Maybe it's okay to let other people live some of their life in your draft. Maybe you need to spend a bit of time in someone else's draft (a friend, mentor etc.). Even if the lead out man doesn't ask for it, don't forget to thank the people that help you succeed. And if someone else get's the glory, even if you did all the work...remember...there's a bigger picture.
2 Comments
11:20 PM
way to go perezi!
11:37 AM
bummer to have missed it.. sounds rad.
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