[dd74]

Well, in celebration of The Tour, I bought a new bike. A LeMond Zurich w/ full Utegra components. Compared to my Colnago, this thing is a peloton wrecker - very fast. And it's steel, too.

And about the tour: I agree with most here that it is a shame - an utter shame - that 'Merican sports can cover NASCAR car crashes, Kobe Bryant and the All Star festivities without hardly a mention of Le Tour aside from Lance Armstrong leading or not leading.

Let's see, Le Tour - 1) Fittest athletes on Earth; 2) Competitors whose bodily strength can snap machinery into pieces; 3) Men who ride 1,500 miles of road work some cars can't even travel. 4) Individuals who, in addition to Lance Armstrong, are simply legend.

Ask any dude on ESPN who Bernard Hinault is, and they'll probably say "hockey player?" Miguel Indurain: what are his achievements? "Helped Argentina win a World Cup?" No, he won The Tour five times - consecutively.

Basketball, baseball and football and watching Monte Carlos catch fire at Darlington: that and a frosty Bud is all we're about, right? Or all we should be about, right?