"All those who disparage the Tour, and cycling, shoudl be required to get on a bike and ride uphill..say only a gentle 5 degree grade, for 10 minutes..."
And that's exactly WHY I just posted the article and kept my mouth shut, LOL! I tear around on my mountain bike at least 2x a day (great for running the dogs out on the "Back Forty") but no way could I even begin to touch anything even the WORST cyclist on the TdF does day in and day out. ;)
And BTW..hockey players aren't athletes either...they just slip-slide around the ice...(G)
Hey, you can take mountain biking just about as far as you can road biking these days. I'm an avid mountain biker, and I love it. I just don't want to deal with the traffic on a road bike. A 12 mile off road course can be as much exercise as any 30 mile trip on the road. I just recently ordered a Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo, and I can't wait until it gets here. With a 13" frame, the whole bike, including accessories, tools and supplies should be in the neighborhood of 25 pounds.