The Piano Inside My Brain

Over the last decade we saw two things: one of the greatest cyclists of all time and some of the worst garbage in professional sports.

Coverage for the tour starts today. No short prologue to start the race, but a full on stage with a sprint finish.

It’s a shame that last year’s winner (Alberto Contador) is not in the tour because his new team was being punished for its prior actions around drug abuse. Last year’s race was so bizarre as we watched several amazing performances followed by withdrawals for drug use. It was truly sad. Even the winner from the year before (Floyd Landis) still doesn’t have the credibility because of his alleged drug use, something he still denies.

What is important this year isn’t going to be the man on the podium on the last day. What is important will be what we don’t see: professional athletes cheating.

I have a feeling that by the time the race ends this year, we will know whether to continue to love and respect the sport, or just let it vanish until some young American rider captures our heart with a story as powerful as Lance Armstrong did.

We knew it was only a matter of time, but it was certainly a rough road getting there.

Both my wife and I love riding our bikes and we want our children to have the same love. I think that’s why it was so hard for us to watch our daughter struggle.

We tried too many different bikes of various shapes and sizes, training wheels or not, riding on the grass, etc.

Last weekend, I had a talk with my older child. We talked about why it was important to us and I made sure to find out why it was important to her.

Then we came up with a plan. She and I would go out after dinner together and practice by riding around the block. Just father and daughter.

It worked.

Last night, she had her bicycle breakthrough.

As I ran behind her just to keep up, she would stop and wait for me. And then she stopped waiting and did everything by herself.

She had finally tasted the freedom that you get when you are on the bike.

Smiles were at every turn.

Today in history… In 1830, James Starley, British inventor and father of the bicycle industry was born. One specific contribution was the tangentially spoked wheel, a huge improvement over the radially spoked version.

That said, try to get out on your bike this week. The weather in South Jersey is finally looking like Spring!