le tour

Short post tonight, because I am up late trying to catch up on today's stage of the Tour de France that was recorded this morning. 

I've been watching the Tour for several years now (4?), and I thoroughly enjoy it.  I originally started watching just so I could watch the helicopters fly over all the countryside and the cute little villages and castles.  I very quickly started getting caught up in the sport though, learning some about the tactics, the player's stories, and the team strategies.  The race is 3 weeks long, and I watch every stage every morning. I also scan through the evening  program to catch segments of commentary, because it is different than what is broadcast earlier during the live show.  It's the perfect thing to watch while knitting and spinning ;-)  

I missed watching a few stages of the 2nd week because we were on the road, but I was able to catch up on the important details by watching a rest day re-cap when we got home. This year has not been the most exciting I have seen.  Too many of my favorites crashed out or abandoned early, and some didn't race this year at all. It also seems like so many riders are saving themselves for the Olympics in a couple of weeks....but I am still loving it just the same.  It's just not been the edge-of-my-seat nail-biter type of racing that I have seen in years past.

There's just a couple of days left, and normally I'd say I was going to suffer from withdrawal, but I think the Olympics will save me.

I doubt I will ever make it to France to stand on the side of the road and watch the cyclists whiz by, even though I fantasize about doing it, but I swear that one of these years I'm going to park by butt on the side of the road for The Tour of California. 
Maybe next year?