The Tour Of Life

 The 97th Tour de France starts Saturday July 3rd, 2010. The Tour consist of 1 prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of over 2,263 miles. This is one of my very favorite sporting events. I am a huge recreational cyclist. I have always considered cycling the one sport that was essential to my recovery when I got my first prosthesis.

Lance Armstrong , whom retired from cycling the year of my accident (2006), has always been a great role model. Lance's book, 'It's Not about The bike' is an inspirational story about his near death recovery from cancer and rise as the best cyclist in the world. Armstrong who came out of retirement finished 3rd in the 2009 Tour. Lance has admitted in recent interviews that his conditioning is not exactly where he 'hoped it would be' for the race this year. At 38 years old, if Armstrong does pull off a win, he would be the oldest person to ever win the race. Most indicators are that Armstrong's chances are fair at best to win. There are encouraging signs from his recent second place finish in the Tour de Suisse. Lance's team Team Radioshack is definitely one of the strongest teams in the tour. Armstrong will need great team support, some surprising days in the mountains and a little luck to be victorious this year. Armstrong just put out a tweet stating that this will be his final Tour De France...hmmm seems like I heard that somewhere before?

Of course, the person predicted to win the 2010 Tour is last years champion, and former Armstrong team mate Alberto Contador . Contador is heavily favored to win the Tour this year. Contador is 11 years younger than Armstrong and about 35 lbs lighter, a critical factor for riding the mountains. Alberto has won the Volta ao Algarve, Paris-Nice and Vuelta and Castilla y León races this year. Contador claims to be in better shape than he was last year. Contador's Team Astana is not great, but probably enough to support him to victory.

Other favorites to win this year are the Schlex brothers Andy and Frank . The two brothers both ride for Team Saxo Bank . The Schlex brother are phenomenal riders, especially in the mountains. Andy, the youngest brother is more suited to the type of race that the Tour is. With brother Frank watching his back and the right conditions, Andy Schlex may be the 2010 tour winner.

The are many other riders that have more than decent chances of winning the Tour. Illness, crash and injury can change the outcome of the race at any given moment. I have included a couple cycling highlight videos in an effort to maybe spurn some interest.

Cycling Motivation
Lance Armstrong Crash/Recovery 2003


I personally love to watch the riders as they start to climb in the mountains. It is a glimpse of human spirit and determination opening up right before your eyes. The question of who the strongest rider is becomes more apparent each day in the mountains. The teamwork, tactics and strategy that each team attempts to employ unfolds each day. The team with the right combination that peaks at the right moment rises up to victory.


To me life is like a bike race in many ways. Some days are good and others are bad. You make friends an rivals along the journey the to the finish line. You are inspired by the performance of others and you often inspire others yourself. Sometimes it is you and the team pulling together, other times you are all alone, climbing a big giant hill, giving it all you got and hanging on for dear life..

May the wind be at your back. Ty