The Outing

Parenthood changes you. Exploits that used to excite me, such as heading off to the Rockies, alone, for a month, gives me the sweats now. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to ride in the Rocky Mountains day after day for weeks on end, the problem I have is the thought of leaving behind my wife and son.

I snapped the image above at the Tour de France some years ago before the start of a stage in the Pyrenees. I wasn’t yet a father and yet seeing this family together made my heart ache for children who could share my Tourphilia.

These are dark days for professional racing and while I’m concerned about turning pro racers into role models for my son, I’m still comfortable with the celebration that races make of cycling. The problem isn’t cycling, after all. The problem lies within the hearts of men. And I don’t just mean the dopers. The UCI is as much a part of this problem as the riders ever were. After all, the history of doping in the sport shows that the UCI really never lifted a finger against doping unless there was a scandal. And boy, dead riders are the mother of all black eyes.

I look forward to the day I can take my family to the Tour and let my boy revel in the magic that is France in July. No one can ruin that for me, for us.

Friday Group Ride #15

By almost any ordinary definition the season is spring. The Spring Classics have begun. Spring training is on the minds of cyclists and baseball fans alike. Some schools are on Spring Break. Snow has stopped falling in most states and most European countries.

Not that it’s necessarily warm, mind you, but the weather is cooperative enough in theory to allow most cyclists to train. Now’s the time when many cyclists are trying to build or complete their base miles for the season.

You’ve been at this a long time and know that there’s more to logging base miles than just decent weather. Work, children, better halves, any of these can derail a three-hour ride faster than instant coffee.

That said, we know your heart. We know you want to be out there. So tell us, just how cooperative has your life been? How many hours a week have you been able to train on average?

Image: John Pierce, Photosport International