Nothing Like That

I don't wish to be an anti-Froomeite, I really don't. I would prefer to give him the benefit of doubt, as I once did for L. Armstrong. But then all those "I have never tested positive" and "what more can I do" sound so very familiar. Then, when he goes and destroys the hopes of every living thing around him, it seems all too familiar as well. There is just too much doubt in professional cycling anymore for me to get as deeply into it as I once was. The action is as good as it ever was, but that dark cloud constantly shadowing the peloton is like a warning - "keep your distance, it is best not to get too close." It sucks, of course, for anyone [is there anyone] not a part of that taint, but that cloud casts everyone in its shadow.

We are deep into Tour time now, two weeks in, and at the start of the mountain stages (always my favorite). I should be stoked for the show and pageantry; there are even three coworkers willing to talk the Tour on any given day, yet I am struggling to keep interested. I have only watched a couple stages, but I check the results in the paper each morning, and at least ten websites / blogs keep me informed on all the day's action and what is still to come. And so I hang back, a few bike-lengths at least. 

There was a time - when people found out I raced bicycles on my weekends, they would invariably respond: "Oh, like the Tour de France." "Yeah, something like that" I would respond. Today the disconnect is strong and wide, commonality a hazy waver on some distant point up the road. "Yeah, something like that" is now more likely to be "Ha, no, nothing like that."