Tour De France 2008

I am so ready for the Tour de France to start. I mean seriously, the UEFA Euro Cup ended a week ago, I have absolutely no good TV right now (well that's a lie, but still), I need something to consume my life with.

Ahhh, perfect. The Tour starts tomorrow. 23 Days of total life consumption. Gotta love it.

I'm a big fan of cycling, and the Tour is the highlight of my summer, and has been since 2001. This will be my eighth Tour. And the first that I don't get to watch live. And by that I mean, I have to watch my TiVo'ed live coverage at 4:30 when I get home from camp. It's a travesty.

I really hope this Tour isn't like the last two. Meaning, if a rider gets thrown out for doping, you better believe that I'm not going to ever watch another Tour again. Ok, that's a lie too. But seriously, I'm so sick of the Tour being marred with doping drama, and getting a bad rap. Because the Tour is the most incredible single sporting event EVER. There is nothing that is more incredible than the Tour de France, in terms of a single sporting event. Yeah the Olympics or the World Cup are cool... but they are a little different than the Tour.

The Tour is 21 stages of competition. The only cuts are done by the elements, and the minds and bodies of the athletes. You've got to be the most stable, yet craziest person in the world to race the Tour. It consumes these athletes like you wouldn't believe. They have to have the exact perfect weight or they won't be able to finish. A cold and they are done. It takes the perfect specimen of the human race to win one of these things.

I love it.

I love waking up at 6 am on a Sunday morning to watch the race go through the mountains. I love the constant commentary of Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen. I love watching the primetime coverage in the evenings when I've already seen the morning live coverage. I love correcting Bob Roll and Al Trautwig during the primetime coverage when they get the name of a rider or location wrong. I love yelling at the TV before anyone is awake. I love complaining about the riders I hate when they do well, and boasting when my favorites win. I love the dumb look on everyones face when I tell them that I like to watch the Tour de France, and then proceed to not shut up about it for at least an hour. I love that I am the only person I know that I can talk to about this sport at the level that I love and understand it. I love walking into bike shops and asking what race they are showing on their TV in the winter, and then when I proceed to detail what happens throughout the race, who wins, who crashes, who tried hard, who didn't try hard enough, only to have the staff at the bike shop look at me with the sort of admiration I have when I look at Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen.

I love the month of July like you wouldn't believe.

I love the Tour de France.

I love that it starts in less than 12 hours.