Wannabe Bike Girl

Consider this your monthly fangirling session.

Someone on Twitter said to me (in reference to this tweet) that “[I'm] coming off just a bit obsessive…take a deep breath lol.” And, you know what? He’s totally right. My response was: “Just a bit? I am totally obsessed with cycling! Oh, you mean with LA hate? Well … I can’t quite deny that, either.”

And he really is right. It’s partly the type of person I am (obsessive), but it’s also the fact that watching Versus is like watching Lance Armstrong TV and it drives me crazy. But I don’t really want to talk about that right now, because we’ve all heard the rant and we’ll heart it again tomorrow. I was updating my TDF Diary just now and ended up reading some old TDF entries. I started with ‘04, back when I still liked Lance (but seemed to like other people more). It’s interesting because as the ‘04 Tour goes on, my bitterness grows. And by the time we get to the 2008 Tour, I’ve turned turned up the bitterness to massive levels. I’m not ashamed of it, I’m more amused. Obviously I’m still bitter, but at least I can laugh about it.

The other thing I noticed was that up until 2007, I was seriously naïve. I don’t mean just about cyclists, but about cycling. I mean, I understood a lot, but I bought the party line (though you could see little strings of disconnect slipping into what I’m writing). While I was never quite miserable about all the ‘big name’ positives (Landis, Hamilton, Vino, etc), it kind of makes me sad to go back and read about jsut how out of touch I, and perhaps the cycling world, was at the time(s). We worked so hard to pretend there wasn’t doping and I don’t know that we’ve come that far. It’s still far too easy to just pretend it doesn’t exist.

But all the same, I wouldn’t stop being a fan of the sport or stop blogging just because of a doper or just because Armstrong might win the TDF (I hope he doesn’t, but it’s not the end of the world if he does). It’s just sad to see how much I invested in Vino and Tyler and whatever. But luckily for me, I tend to be fickle about GC winners and contenders, because though many have tested positive, I’ve always moved on by then. Luckily for me.

Amid Doping Scandals, Germany Has an Emerging Star (NYTimes)

PERPIGNAN, France — When Tony Martin was growing up in Germany, he would turn on his television to watch Jan Ullrich compete in the Tour de France.

JerkStrong: How Lance Armstrong is like Sarah Palin. (Slate)

Five months into Armstrong’s comeback, his athletic career has taken a positive turn: He’s just a fraction of a second off the lead in the Tour de France. His bizarre, histrionic behavior while off the bike, though, leaves one to wonder whether this guy is cut out for public life. Lance actually shares a few traits with Sarah Palin. They both react to any criticism with extreme defensiveness. They demonize their enemies while at the same time cultivating nonstop melodramas that keep them in the news. And while they both periodically issue petulant threats to quit, you get the funny feeling that neither one is going away anytime soon.

I just finished updating my TDF Diary and ended up reading my piece on last year’s stage 19 (you know, the one where Sylvain won). I was kind of reminded of it while watching Voeckler win. Not because I like Voeckler like I like Sylvain (impossible), but because I used to resent him a little. As I was telling my friend C, the year Voeckler wore the yellow, then the white and lost them both, I hated him for it. Sylvain put in so much work and Voeckler threw it all away.

Of course, that’s not really what happened. After all, when your teammate’s in yellow, you do whatever it takes to help him and that’s what Sylvain did and he should be proud of it. But at the time, I was bitter because I was worried that Sylvain was never going to get another chance to win stages — that maybe the pressure was going to be too much. I’d hoped that wasn’t the case, and when he moved to Cofidis, I worried all the same. But once again, my worries were wrong, because he went above and beyond my expectations. He did everything I’d ever wanted him to do.

In the past year and half, he’s kept it up and even if he never wins another race, I’ll always be proud of him. But to be perfectly honest, I know Sylvain has more wins in him. I know he’s better (STILL) than people think. I know he can win a stage of this Tour, the only question is if he’ll get a chance. I can only hope. It’s hard being a fan, but watching Voeckler, I’m reminded of why it’s worth it. Sure, I’m happy for Voeckler, I’m proud that a French rider could do it, but it also makes me remember that Sylvain’s there too. That he doesn’t have the pressure, he’s on QS, he’s their “leader” in spirit, though probably not really. But he can win stages. And once we get to the mountains, you can bet everything on the fact that he’s going to try.

And you know what? I’ll be watching. Because I care. No matter what happens, he’s my favorite.

If you’re looking for my tour stuff, please look no further than my TDF Diary. As I’ve been doing since 2004, you’ll find my daily tour updates. I’ll try not to whine too much about things that annoy me. As always, enjoy!