Remind me, why do I watch the Tour de France?

Capitano Tedeschi in Italy getting ready to climb the mountain June 2004

I have been spending several hours this week watching the 96th Tour de France on Versus TV. I've watched parts of the time trials in Monaco, the first stage, from Monaco to Brignoles, and I spent Monday morning watching the third stage from Marseille to La Grande-Motte. I did the same thing Tuesday morning watching the team time trials. So as I sit in front the television I ask myself, why I am watching watching this event?

I cycle to stay fit. I enjoy cycling. On the other hand, I consider time spent watching a sporting event on TV a waste of time. I don't watch football or baseball, even though I am a die-hard fan of the Kansas Chiefs and a so-so fan of the Kansas City Royals. College sports? well I sorta care about KU basketball and Ku football but that's about it. I occasionally check the box scores on ESPN when these teams play and truth be known, if I find myself spending more than 45 seconds on that task, I feel like I am wasting precious time.

There are many reasons why I am not a big fan of sports in general and team sports in particular. It was the way I grew up. My father was an accomplished amateur bowler, which meant my Saturdays were spent having to watch bowling instead of getting to watch cartoons. So as I was growing up, I came to believe that watching cartoons was more important than watching sports. Another reason was that I was never any good at sports growing up. I was big, fat, slow and uncoordinated. (Some things never change, alas). I always got picked last and usually got picked on during and after the games. So sports for me was an ordeal, a "rite de passage,"or an "auto da fe`."

But why do I care more about the Tour de France than in red-blooded all-American sports like football, baseball and basketball? Part of the answer has to do with my development as an “athlete.” Over the years, I participated in a variety of athletic activities after I graduated from college. I was a world-class pub-crawler, but they don’t give gold medals or product endorsement deals for that. After I retired from amateur pub crawling, I tried a lot of different activities to the fill the void I felt after my early retirement from the Kansas City pub crawling scene.

I did all the trendy things like jogging and swimming, and then in 1989, I got a bicycle. So I've been cycling for 20 years. I was never really serious about cycling until I decided to go on a cycling tour in 2004. In June 0f 2004, I was part of a group of Americans that cycle from Venice to Florence. It was just before that year's Tour de France, which culminated in Lance's Armstrong's sixth win. Going on a bicycle tour was a great experience. It was physically challenging to ride 30-40 miles a day. Spending 4-5 hours on a bicycle is both lonely and painful. But it was also incredibly enjoyable.

Since I was one of the slowest riders, I was usually by myself in the back of beyond in nothern Italy. After the first day, I hurt and I learned what it felt like to be impaled on a bicycle saddle. While we were in Italy, they were just getting ready to start the 2004 Tour. My leisurely travels by bicycle that summer gave me a whole new appreciation for the sport of cycling. When I am watching it on television, I can see both the beauty of the sport, and discipline and determination of those who race for the yellow, green, and polka dot jerseys. I understand their pain, the lonliness of having to peddle over long distances. I also understand the struggle of climbing a mountain and then feeling the exhilaration of going 25-30 miles an hour down a winding and dangerous mountain road.

Come the weekends, I'll be spending my mornings watching the Tour as the cyclists make their way from Monaco to Paris. Part of me is rooting for Lance Armstrong, who is cycling for the Astana Cycling Team as well as team Garmin Slipstream, who were the subject of a documentary Blood, Sweat & Gears, that is currently appearing on the Sundance Channel. Blood, Sweat & Gears really puts a human face on the sport of professional cycling and the lives of professional cyclists. It's not a glamorous life, for most pro cyclists, it's a job. But what beautiful and terrible job to have. There are 190 men competing in the 2009 Tour de France. I was them all the best of luck.


Capitano Tedeschi


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What? Me? Watch the Tour de France? copyright text and photo July 9, 2009 by Jamie Jacks