As usual I have been gripped by laziness and lethargy causing me to think more than do and the sands slip out of the hour glass with frightening pace. It’s been a hard week which was crowned by an ordinary weekend and followed by a couple of mentally challenging days at work which included some interactions with workmates that were conducted without my usual courtesy causing some angst and consternation for they on the receiving end of my flummoxed temper.
It’s not as bad as it sounds but I was a little down and depressed on Monday but I have climbed out of that dark recess and have been feeling much better as the week rolls on.
I was tired when I got home from work last night and could feel a fuzzy throat coming on but the Tour de France was traversing the cobblestone tracks of northern France near Roubaix and I couldn’t help but sit up until well past midnight to watch the show as it rolled on.
I had a chuckle this morning when reading that the big names of the Tour were upset that such a stage had been included and the downpour which made the roads treacherous certainly didn’t improve their moods in post-race press conferences. Are racing cyclists getting too soft or is it just a case of such races being anachronistic? Should stages such as last night be consigned to history? Even Fabian Cancellara the current king of the cobbles complained it wasn’t the same as racing the one day classics over the same roads in April because it was wet and far more dangerous. Hhmm. I don’t know whether he is right or wrong and it is easy to criticise whilst watching on television from the other side of the world snuggled safe and warm under my doona. One can’t help think that the champions of old would have taken it on the chin. In fact five time Tour champion Eddy Merckx was quoted last night as saying he would have loved to have ridden a Tour stage like that. A few wet cobblestones would never scare the Cannibal.
Cyclists have always raced in the rain. Surely the modern champs can handle a bit of precipitation? Maybe I am just stranded in the past.
So, as a result of succumbing to my temptations and watching the Tour late into the night I felt the need to lay in bed later than usual which has left me feeling a little more refreshed than may have been the case otherwise.
So, as the day meanders on, I shall take my leave and prepare myself for what lies ahead. No Tour for me tonight. A full and fitful sleep is on the card as it is merely a transition stage which I’m sure will lack the the excitement of last night’s carnage.
Have a good day and I will see you all again soon.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 