I could never have imagined that one day I would not watch the Tour de France. Never in my wildest dreams.
In years past my life in the month of July centered on the Tour de France. I did not travel during the Tour unless I absolutely had to, which happened once. I took time off from work on key stages so I could watch live, and all told, I spent hundreds of hours each year watching, reading, and blogging about the Tour.
Before we in the U.S. had the means to watch the Tour de France on television, I followed it through print media to the extent I could, namely newspapers and Bicycling magazine. My interest in the Tour began with Greg Lemond in 1986 and only grew in 1989 when he bested Frenchman Laurent Fignon, to win the Tour by the smallest of margins – 8 seconds! Three weeks of racing, 2,000 miles, and 8 seconds separated the winner and loser! My infatuation with the Tour de France bloomed into full-blown love during Lance Armstrong’s reign.
When the Tour de France finally came to cable I lived in front of my television. Typically there were a couple of versions televised each day; live for 3-5 hours, and 2 hours recorded with analysis. I watched both. For 3 weeks. And I did my own analysis of the Tour here for several years.
When I was not watching the race I rode my bike. The month of July was typically my highest mileage month unless I did a bike tour.
I stopped last year. Until two days ago I had not really understood why or even given it any thought, other than a general awareness of the change.
Watching the Tour de France or any bike race for that matter (in the past I watched the Classics and the other two Grand Tours) reminded me of what I used to do and what I no longer can do: Ride my bike like I did before getting hit.
This year I have maybe ridden five times on our paved trails. Possibly less, maybe more? Riding on trails is not the kind of cycling I loved and although I did some of that last year, it became boring and so this year I have not had the desire to. Maybe I should, but riding on trails is maybe 20% of what cycling was for me so in some ways it is harder than not riding at all.
After getting hit in August 2021 I promised my daughter I would no longer ride on the road. I realized last year I could not ride on the road regardless of my promise. I am too scared, too jumpy, to be safe riding in traffic. No way is that doable for me.
So without realizing it, when I gave up riding on the road I also gave up the Tour de France too.
I have kept up with the general classification race on social media, but do not have the means to watch it because I did not subscribe to a streaming service. Maybe I will next year.
On the surface it may not seem like much, but no longer watching professional bike racing or writing about it here and elsewhere, is yet another consequence of the accident. Another loss of something that was important to me but is no longer available. There are many of those things. More than I ever anticipated and more than anyone else knows.
