Stage 6 - A Memorable Ride

On the menu for today was a 62 miler. Other than sore legs, sore shoulders, sore triceps, a sore butt and a sore neck I feel pretty good. The body may be finally adjusting to the mileage overdose. I'm feeling a little tingle (not a good one) in my naughty regions. Feels like the start of a saddle sore - I'll need to be vigilant so as to prevent this little issue from degenerating into a big one.

The winds had died down, at least for now, and I set off in search of a good ride. For something new I decided to skirt the east side of West Bend and head north into terra incognito. It was a beautiful route of rolling hills through the corn and wheat fields on a lovely summer day. Really, the ride could not have been finer. WIth no headwinds to battle it almost felt as if I had a tailwind the entire ride. The stiff legs loosened up by mile twenty and the remaining miles all but flew by.

Riding as far north as Sheboygan County and to a place called Random Lake that I had never been before. I can report that it is a lovely town on a lovely lake. Not sure about the name though. As far as I know it's always been the same lake - nothing very random about that.

Today's route (from space, no less) with Random Lake - top and center

Riding south of Belgium I came across a spectacular midwest scene; an elderly farmer raking a freshly cut hayfield. The picture below does not do justice to the scene as you can't smell the sweetness of the hay, see the big smile on the farmer's face or hear the putt-putt of the John Deere tractor. You'll just have to trust me that this is what riding in the midwest is all about. It's also a reminder to look around when you're out riding. You never know what you might miss if you keep your head down.

A happy farmer on a fine summer day

Today is the 40th anniversary of the death of cyclist Tom Simpson. Simpson collapsed and died while riding the Mt. Ventoux stage of the 1967 Tour de France. A granite marker now sits on the spot of his collapse. Of all of the great champions who have ridden and won the climb up Mt. Ventoux, why is the only monument to a mis-guided young man who cheated? Simpson was and still is considered one of the great British cyclists, having won the World Championship in 1965. With all due respect to his family I think that the marker should be painted black as a reminder of the dirty truth about his death. He did not die from over exertion. He died because he took more amphetamines than his body could handle. He was not a true champion. He was a cheater. It feels dirty speaking of the dead this way but if we ignore both history and the truth we cannot learn from them. The amphetamine abuse in cycling in the 1960's is similar to the doping abuse in today's peloton. Why mark and commemorate where a cyclist died from drug abuse as if this is a goal for young riders to strive for?

We should mark Tom Simpson's death by pondering the senseless loss of a young cyclist. The senselessness of a sport that turns a blind eye on drug use. It should remind us that without a clean sport we have no true champions. If Simpson's life as a cyclist is to have any meaning at all we should institute "Simpson's Law", that would be a zero tolerance policy to drug use in professional cycling. Only then will the granite marker have a lasting and positive meaning.

Simpson Memorial - Don't let this happen to you