I would imagine that we have all seen one version or another of this quote before. And if you haven’t you have now.
It seemed appropriate to use today in trying to find a fitting way to talk about the tragedy of Wouter Weylandt’s death in the third stage of the Giro.
If you are reading this you ride a bike, follow cycling, love someone who ride’s a bike (Hi Mom), or are just unicorn obsessed. The death of Wouter Weylandt bring’s to mind the waiver that most of us have signed at one time or another. The one that they give you at your local group ride, charity ride or race that say’s “Cycling is an inherently dangerous sport” I don’t think many of us give this a second thought. We scribble our name on the paper and off we go to do what we love. To ride our bikes.
Watching the fourth stage of the Giro was tough. I was growing tired of hearing the solemn statements and frankly tired of being sad. Then the final 10 K came around and Garmin-Cervelo pulled through. I was drawn away from keyboard and could only stand in front of my TV screen and watch mesmerized. When Team Leopard (Lay O PArd) Trek pulled through I had trouble breathing.
Pulling Wouter’s best friend Tyler Farrar into that line with them was just about too much for me. I was thankful for these rider’s that they had sunglasses to help hide their eyes. The tears streaming from underneath of them told the story. They rode in solidarity for Wouter but their pain was somewhat private behind the sunglass lenses.
Amazing how the death of someone most of us didn’t know struck so hard. As Ray summed up “He was doing what he loved and what we all love to do”. Man Ray can be pretty prophetic when he’s not being a nincompoop.
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| R.I.P. Wouter Weylandt Pic via cyclingnews.com taken by Roberto Bettini |
To lighten the mood just a bit I submit these photo’s for your eyeball’s. They are courtesy of Mark the Brit. He has caught on rather quickly to what stokes the fires over here at MLBB.
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| I never pictured Unicorn’s as bitter. For that matter I never pondered drinking one….Until now. |
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| Mark’s noble steed keeping the noble steed company. |
If you go camping to ride your mountain bike set your tent up next to his. You will have fun.
My newly made friends over at Bronto Bikes have some nice looking mountain bikes and they also have a nifty blog. Check both out. Perhaps you will be thinking the same thing as me “Hmmm My next bike could originate from Oregon” You may notice that a few of those pic’s look familiar on the blog. Don’t go getting all vigilante on the boy’s they have express permission to use those images.
On that brief note it is time to wrap up. Ride your bike because you love to, because your passionate about it, because life is better behind bar’s. Handlebars.