Jaune Juice to Power Pedals

We're reveling in the return of the Man in Yellow this morning, even if he wasn't wearing le jaune on his back today. Lance Armstrong muscled past Jan Ullrich to catch his major rival on the first Tour de France stage this morning. Ullrich had never been caught on a time trial before today. Lance rode past him like the big German diesel was standing idling. It was an amazing performance from an athlete called "too old" to win his Seventh Maillot de Jaune. Now Ulrich and the other serious contenders for the overall yellow jersey are a minute or more behind Lance.

This is the time of year when the voice of Phil Liggett rings in my ears when I climb onto my own pedals. The race commentator for OLN calls out the incredible feats from this race during July, one of the cruelest months to cycle in Austin. Even before Liggett was raving about the battle between Ullrich and Lance, I got out early with my friend Ron Wilcox, who's training for an MS 150 ride, to pedal 27 miles before 9:30. Fast, for me, with the absence of wind: 16.9 MPH. Try as I might, I couldn't make that bike computer average turn over to 17. When I rolled in, the temperature was already above 90.

It all makes for wonderful early mornings, rising soon enough to pedal before the heat arrives, then cooling off in front of the TV to the coverage of the world's greatest bike race.

There's a podcast network in Austin that will be offering commentary on the race stages. I joined the Austin Podcast Network with a few clicks of my browser this morning. I'd like to contribute to their efforts and help the group organize. The podcasters are part of the group that's putting race coverage onto the cafe deck of Central Market Central, live on 61-inch TVs, all through this month. The attention here in Austin is turned up to an unprecedented level. Last year they covered an Austin city bus in a special decal to celebrate win No. 6. They might have to cover the whole fleet if Lance manages to win No. 7.

If ever there was an event that begs for audio commentary, it would be Lance's epic try at 7, the one to retire upon. Meanwhile, the riders' images from OLN dance across my imagination, visions that power my pedals in the heart of this month's heat.