I am not a racer so I have typically not been overly interested in le Tour de France. Well, this year I started watching the race early on and have now realized what I have been missing!

I had to write a post here to all the other cyclists and bike riders out there, that may be missing out on this, to check out the TDF whenever you get the opportunity. I am fully involved in le Tour de France this year and, being a biker (bike rider or cyclist if you prefer), I find the race and the entire event captivating and really exciting.

BTW: The Tour de France is being broadcast this year throughout the day on Versus and the end will also be broadcast on NBC.

It doesn’t matter what kind of cycling you are into (road biking, mountain biking, touring, trail riding, BMX, etc.), if you are really into riding, the TDF will have something to interest you.

Whether it is the overall speed that these guys are riding at, the twists and turns of the mountain passes, the individual and team strategies, the scenery, the wild and crazy fans, the crashes, or the total excitement of the finish of each stage, there is bound to be something to keep your interest once you get into it.

These riders are often averaging around 25-30mph on flat ground or going up the mountains and sometimes up to 60mph or more going down the mountains(!!! ) (I am American so I am more familiar with mph although, since this is a European event, they often give the speed in kph) but it’s not all just about the speed anyway (although I think that I have been inspired by the TDF lately and my own rides have been much faster than usual 🙂 ) there is also the bike handling and strategy (conserving energy until you really need it, etc.).

If you are new to biking then the speeds that these guys ride at will make much more sense when you monitor your own ride stats with your Cycle Computer. If you don’t already have one, this is an essential piece of equipment (and a lot of  fun too).

I must admit that I did not even know all of the basics about the TDF until this year. Well, Wikipedia has done pretty well at explaining the various jerseys that are won and worn, the various competitions, the history behind the TDF  and quite a bit more if you want to take the time to read all of it.

Briefly (since Wikipedia has so much information that you need to filter through it), the Yellow Jersey is worn by the general classification leader and is awarded at the end of each day to the rider with the lowest overall time, the Green Jersey is awarded to the rider with the most points which are earned by winning various events within each stage and Polka Dot Jersey(red and white)  is awarded to the king of the mountain (the best climber). There are other jerseys too and quite a bit more on the jerseys but I’ll have to refer you to the Wikipedia article for all of the details.

After contenplating the difficulty of the le Tour de France, it just blows me away that Lance Armstrong was able to win this race 7 times! The significance of the 7 stars on the seat of the Livestrong LS28iC Limited Edition Indoor Cycle  just can’t be overstated or overlooked.

Well, we have another exciting stage of le Tour in the Alps again today so for those of you that might have been missing this, there is plenty more excitement to catch today and the rest of the week.

Very exciting and very inspirational!