Biking or Cycling for EU, India. That too road biking has never appeared exciting or even worth to pause when shifting between channels. Now I am a ardent fan of Tour de France to the point that I was crazily telling my room mate that I am going to be the first Indian in Tour de France and was starting a blog that will track my journey to Tour de France. Well, lets say it stayed a crazy idea.
All this started 7 or 8 years ago, when I bought the book 'It's Not about the Bike..' by Lance Armstrong. I knew at that time that he was a cancer survivor and he is riding bike in some road racing. When I finished the book I had a pretty good idea on what goes in to be a champion road racer. I decided to absorb and follow through and through Tour de France to understand the difficulty of it so that I can relate to what Armstrong has written. I promised myself to keep at it to follow up the re-telecast every evening after I come from office. I was ready for a boring, never ending, dragging cycle race where there is nothing but a group of 200 odd men ride the bike and thats about it. Well, I was wrong. As I started watching I got entangled in the dynamics of the race.
Most of the riders form a group called Peloton or the main group. This is the group that holds the major players. The dynamics are so master minded. Who rides in the front, who takes the wind, which team accelertaes, which team purposefully decelerates, when you have to make the peloton thin, when thick, when you have to ride like an arrow, when you have to ride like a 'V' and so many more. Believe me, the dynamics are so well managed that there is always something going on which you will not see when you just look a mass of men cycling down.
The teams are organized like honey bees, the team's purpose is to make the Queen win, they have worker bees, hunters, suppliers, teammates who just die to pull you like a sling shot to win. Peloton of Tour de France is THE best organized Group of any kind that has 180 odd men driving at an average 35 mile an hour. Even the most organized platoons of developed armies have a common goal. They are comrades. Peloton each team is competing amongst themselves but yet it moves like a single united mass. They chase down the escapees together, give respect and each riders focus is so sharp that they ride with the front and back wheels within an inch gap. Just search in google for Peloton and you will see what I mean.
In this Peloton I watched the Maillot Jaune or Yellow Jersey, the one the overall leader of the race wears, on Lance Armstrong for 5 times. Followed him from the start to finish. The way he attacks when he is attacked. The strategies, his poker face, his game plan, his teammates pulling him through. I have watched him pumping up the Alps, pierennes, swiss mountains like a mountain lion. His fights with Ullrich, Ivan Baso, Alexander Vinokorav they all stay in my mind afresh. This man won the most gruelling race in the planet 7 times. Respect. He is my Hero.
Armstrong has been tormented by controversies that sorrounds all the real winners of the world. Drug tests did not prove anything. Accusations did not hold. Each and every test that he was made to face on the sides of the road made him more and more stronger on the road. Discovery channel made a program on him. Science of Lance Armstrong. There are defenitely some differences between him and the other racers such as his lungs pump more oxygen than normal, his lactic acid - the acid that secretes in our muscles and causes the brain to interpret pain - secretion is below normal. Despite all this, if you see the Tour de France like how I do, you will appreciate the enormity of it and how this man from Austin after surviving cancer, loosing one of his testicles, surgery in the brain, part of lungs removed can do all this.
It is amazing to even think that he could put himself through this for 7 times. But he is the one who made me watch Tour de France and understand the intricacies of it, appreciate it and made me a fan of it. Like the loss of legends do to any sport - Schumacher's departure, Sachin's impending departure, Kim Yuna's eventual departure - his retirement has made a huge void in Tour de France. Though it is rude to expect anymore from him, I was hoping to see his face from the motor cycle's camera with eyes as steel, undeterred by the crowd falling on him, focused like a hungry lion, pedalling up and down and up and down like a piston, .... just one more time. Just one more time.
My first reaction on his retirement announcement was Anger. I felt like I am deprived of the sheer joy of watching him one more time. I am deprived of the wonderful unique story that he tells every time. Then I calmed down and became sad and later made peace.
Lance Armstrong - You are my Hero. There will never ever be any Warrior like you, ever be any Human like you. You have inspired people, helped people, built lives and foremost, You have showed people that Life is Meaningful!! Thank you sir.
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