Tour de France

David and I are Tour de France junkies. We are going to be TV-dependent for the next 3 weeks...or, as they say, "23 DAYS in JULY."

Have you ever watched the sport? Have you seen the cyclists struggling up the mountains, or flying downhill in a flash of color? Bouncing over cobblestones, sliding in the rain, sprinting to the finish of each stage...every day is exciting. It is one of the most beautiful sights in sports, to see the French countryside at the height of summer, with men on simple machines, powered by their own effort. I hope you will have a chance to see some of it. If you are interested, check the official Tour website.

David and Katie have a cousin (Jim) who used to be a professional cyclist. When our kids were younger, we were greatly inspired by Lance Armstrong's comeback to the sport after he had cancer. Whether you think he is a good guy or not, his books are illuminating and his work on behalf of the cancer community has been fantastic.

We participated in the first LIVESTRONG ride in Portland, OR, in 2005, in memory of our friend and pediatrician Diane Fuquay, M.D., just after her passing, with David and me riding the 10-mile ride, and Gregg and Katie there in support of us. We enjoyed seeing Lance after the ride, along with his friends Eddy Merckx, Jim Ochowicz, George Hincapie and Bob Roll, and helping to raise money, support & awareness for the cancer community. It was a wonderful way to honor Diane, and to work out some of our grief over her passing. One of our Caringbridge cancer-survivor friends, young Johan Lofas, participated in the ride last September.

Katie had me reading Lance's first book to her as she went through her treatment. It encouraged her, I think, because he wrote about his surgery and chemo openly; he had "been there," too, and he survived. We loved watching him race in the Tour. This year, the Tour has a different cast of characters, but it is the same beautiful spectacle to watch.