Sunday, March 31, 2013

Cycling and wrath fatigue.

I spent too much of this evening watching Fabian Cancellara KILL it in the Tour of Flanders... Damn, Spartacus! 


Epic music, too

Of course a lot of ink is being spilled about Peter Sagan doing this: 

Eww. And I liked him so much when he was popping mad wheelies...

Maybe I'm just suffering wrath fatigue, but I just can't work up a sufficient amount of outrage. He's a sleazy bastard, most of them are sleazy bastards, most athletes are sleazy bastards, and the whole podium-girl thing is outdated and ridiculous. Even Spartacus looks over it. 

And yes, it's yet another symptom of rape culture and the feminist blogs I read are all riled up and boycotting cycling. And I just can't get mad about some stupid 23-year-old boy and I feel like a jerk.

I love cycling of course, and it's really been through the wringer lately. Especially with Lance Armstrong's downfall (and that of everyone he dragged down with him) I don't blame anyone for seeing it as a irredeemably corrupt sport. It will be interesting to see how things play out in the next few seasons. I hope my favorite riders don't turn out to be doping too. Or behave like immature scums. 

So I am going to think about a truly amazing stage in the 2011 Tour, where Thor Hushovd managed to rather handily win a mountain stage he wasn't supposed to, because he's a bulky sprinter and climbers tend to be built like squirrels. Here's a great video-- Thor's the one with the rainbow stripes. 


I love the Norwegian announcers absolutely losing it

And I'm going to think about the best ending of a Paris-Roubaix in recent memory-- a relatively unknown Domestique named Johan Van Summeren won quite unexpectedly, tumbled off his bike and proposed to his girlfriend right then. 

And it was adorable.

And I'm going to think how I know some of the very best people in my life through cycling, including my gentleman friend. How this sport attracts the nicest, most accepting and endearingly weird types you can imagine.

Photo by Pat Engleman. Hi Simon! Hi Sam!

It's just that the famous ones who are terrible are really publicly terrible. 

And that podium girl thing needs to be over. 

--Isis




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