Tour de France

Last Sunday a bunch of colorful dressed cyclist decided to go for some speed cycling, despite the tropical temperatures. Yep, the Tour de France has started. In Utrecht of all places. As the Netherlands is known for their weed, ehh clogs, tulips and cycling, it came as no surprise that a lot of people lined the streets to see the cyclists flash by. I was not one of them. Firstly because I truly believe that cycling is only useful when you need to get from A to B for some serious business. A means of transportation so to speak. That is, apart from mountain biking which can count on my support. It is also an activity that does not require my attention all the time while being in the Netherlands, because it is as flat as a pancake. No mountains. Hence, theoretically speaking, no mountain biking. Lesson to be learned here is to pick the sport that you want to support, or practice for that matter, with care.

But I clearly happened to be part of the Dutch minority as far as being enthusiastic about the Tour de France goes. I chose to watch the English Formula 1 race on the Silverstone circuit instead. Did not take as long too. 

But I may have missed a heroic spectacle. Heavy rain and strong winds battered the herd of cyclists as it fought its way through the Dutch landscape. Poor cyclists. They must have thought that they had seen a glimpse of hell on that second day of the Tour. Obviously they had not, as became painfully clear the next day. Literally for at least 20 of them that crashed on their way to Belgium. And as always, it started with just one guy having a look at his cell phone or perhaps texting his girlfriend. Not paying enough attention to his colleagues in front of him. That much was obvious.

It is something I do not understand. I mean, whenever I go for a ride on my motorbike I always wear leathers. Not just for yourself but it also can come in handy when you crash and the coroner has to drag you off the scene. Leathers thereby serve as a body bag, and thus are multipurpose. But these idiotic cyclists apparently think that nothing will happen to them. They only wear a flimsy jersey, no gloves and a helmet with holes in it. What do you expect from that?  I guess that like youngsters, they have faith in fate and believe that it will knock on their neighbors door. Trust me, they will most likely learn the hard way sooner or later by experiencing the inconvenience of their outfit themselves. Well, nothing can beat a first hand experience I guess.

With many channels broadcasting the Tour de France it is hard to miss it. However, when I am more or less forced to watch it, I focus on the landscape. Especially when it crosses France and I am looking for a nice area to go to for a holiday. Or curvy roads to blast down on my motorbike. You get to see a lot of the countryside too.  This is very understandable because watching them cyclist for 6 or 7 hours on end is quite boring. So I just take for granted that the shots of the French countryside are spoiled by a bunch of cyclists crossing it and the flock of spectators lining the road side that comes with it. You cannot win them all. 

Can I make a suggestion to the organization though? Photoshop them cyclists out of the shots and just show the landscape. Or leave them out of the Tour de France altogether.

An additional advantage would be that all these drug tests can be abolished. No more cheating. To me this is a clear win-win...