The Tour de France ended today.
The 3-week race started June 30 with 198 cyclists and ended today with 153 cyclists.
For 21 of the 23 days of the Tour, the cyclists pedaled.
Me, too!
For 21 of the 23 days of the Tour, the cyclists pedaled.
Me, too!
Congratulations to Bradley Wiggins, aka Wiggo, for earning the Yellow Jersey.
It was entertaining to watch Peter Sagan as he won sprints and some stages to earn the green jersey.
Sagan's "Hulk" impression.
Thomas Voeckler earned the red polka dots on a white background King of the Mountain jersey.
It seems a lot of the tour spectators like wearing the KOM clothes and hats, too. It's not something I would pick to wear.
It kind of reminds me of the measles.
The white jersey was awarded to Tejay Van Garderen for being the best young rider.....and he deserved it, since he was also number 5 overall. But why did they give him that white stuffed animal?
It seems a lot of the tour spectators like wearing the KOM clothes and hats, too. It's not something I would pick to wear.
The white jersey was awarded to Tejay Van Garderen for being the best young rider.....and he deserved it, since he was also number 5 overall. But why did they give him that white stuffed animal?
It looked like a stuffed Abominable Snowman. I have googled and I have looked in Tour Fever - The Armchair Cyclist's Guide to the Tour de France and I have looked in Tour de France for Dummies and I can find NO information about why they give a stuffed Yeti to the winner of the white jersey.
Maybe because it is the only white animal they could think of? But it's not even a REAL animal. It is fictional.
And then there is the Lantern Rouge.
I can find a lot of information about the Red Lantern.
The winner of this award is not asked to stand on the podium and he is not even handed a red lantern.
But he knows he got it.
The Lantern Rouge refers to the red lantern hung on the caboose of the railway train.
This year the end of the train award went to Jimmy Engoulvent.
No Jimmy, you didn't win first place....you won last place!
Jimmy gets to take home the distinction of being in LAST PLACE. When it was all said and done today, Jimmy was number 153. The rider who took the longest time to finish the Tour de France.
But Jimmy should be happy about his finish because 45 cyclists never made it to the finish line. Lots left the tour because of injuries from the numerous crashes. Frank Schleck pulled out because of "doping."
Several of the cyclists pulled out to get ready for this year's Olympics.
A couple of riders got dropped because they finished outside of the time limit.
Congratulations Jimmy Engoulvent!
You finished!!
You didn't crash out!!!
You didn't dope out!!!!
You didn't ride so slow that you got booted out!!!!!
You were slow, but go.
I can really relate to that, Jimmy.
The Tour de France cyclists traveled over about 2,173 miles during their 21 days of riding. That average to 103 miles a day for the pros.
I had set a goal to ride 25 percent of what the tour rides did....544 miles, or 23 miles a day.
My intention was to ride EVERY DAY of the Tour, even on the pros' rest day.
I didn't make it. I pulled a Fabian Cancellara.
The second cutest in the Tour? Really? I don't think Mark Cavendish has anything on Cancellara.
Cancellara stepped up to the plate from the beginning of the Tour and wore the yellow jersey for several days.
So did I. Well, figuratively, because I met my goal every day for those first days, but I don't own any shirts that are yellow.
In the first 20 days of the Tour, I logged 456.28 miles.
Cancellara left the Tour after Stage 10.
Why?
Cancellara left the Tour to go home to be with his wife in the final days of her pregnancy before focusing on defending his Olympic time-trial title at this year's Olympics.
Cancellara said: "I am not only a bike rider, I am also a husband and father with another baby on the way. It is my personal wish to be present when my wife Stefanie gives birth to our second child."
I can relate to this. My cycling plan fell apart on Day 21 of the Tour because, "I am not just a bike-riding triathlete that can not run at this time because of a pantellar tendon injury, I am also a wife and mother of three, one of which is an adult child with a mental disability. It is my personal wish to be available to my child whenever it is needed to make sure my child is safe and getting the required treatment."
So for two days, I did not ride my bike.
I didn't feel too badly about this. After all, the pros on the Tour took two days off. Sure, they were spaced apart. I just happened to take my two days together.
I did ride my bike today. I rode with my 20-year-old son and friends to the beach to get some breakfast. I logged another 33.63 miles.
Total for me for the 2012 Tour de France Challenge: 489.91 miles.
The pros averaged 94.47 miles a day. I average 21.30 miles a day. To meet my 25 percent goal, I would have had to ride 23.61 miles a day.
Just hand me the red lantern. I'll add it to my collection.
Until next year, Tour de France!
Cancellara said: "I am not only a bike rider, I am also a husband and father with another baby on the way. It is my personal wish to be present when my wife Stefanie gives birth to our second child."
I can relate to this. My cycling plan fell apart on Day 21 of the Tour because, "I am not just a bike-riding triathlete that can not run at this time because of a pantellar tendon injury, I am also a wife and mother of three, one of which is an adult child with a mental disability. It is my personal wish to be available to my child whenever it is needed to make sure my child is safe and getting the required treatment."
So for two days, I did not ride my bike.
I didn't feel too badly about this. After all, the pros on the Tour took two days off. Sure, they were spaced apart. I just happened to take my two days together.
I did ride my bike today. I rode with my 20-year-old son and friends to the beach to get some breakfast. I logged another 33.63 miles.
Total for me for the 2012 Tour de France Challenge: 489.91 miles.
The pros averaged 94.47 miles a day. I average 21.30 miles a day. To meet my 25 percent goal, I would have had to ride 23.61 miles a day.
Just hand me the red lantern. I'll add it to my collection.
Until next year, Tour de France!
To me you deserve a Golden Jersey! You are outstanding my friend!
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