I AM SPARTACUS!!

Photo courtesy of @RSNT

As most of you know I am a great follower of cycling, and specifically of Team Radio Shack.

This last week fans like me who have been suffering through injury, illness, and controversy of the teams early season have been treated with delight to the last week of the Tour de France and RSNT's stellar performance, save Frank Schleck getting caught in a crash on Stage 6 and losing a significant amount of time.

That said, Fabian Cancellara (Spartacus) has worn yellow for the week, and Andreas Kloden (Klodi) is sitting pretty in the GC at only +00:19 seconds back.

Not bad indeed.

So what does this have to do with the price of baguettes in France?

Well, as I continue to prepare for the Memory Ride in a week or so, I sometimes ... okay often ... go out an pretend like I am riding for RSNT on The Tour ... full RSNT kit and all.

While I generally don't pretend to be Spartacus (I'm a Popo fan), it is a nice distraction from grinding out hundreds of miles in an effort to try and get better on the bike.

I used to do the same thing as a younger, and honestly amateur level referee where I would follow the career of some other, more seasoned referees, in an effort to at times emulate what they do, as it was to me,  growing to be a pro.

Now in the RSNT case it is clearly being a fan(atic) as I have no where near the skill of these guys, and never will in my lifetime. The refereeing on the other hand was another matter.

I used to revel in watching Bratsis, Kleinaitis, Evans, and Mauro, and whenever possible pick up tips, tricks, and knowledge from these men from afar, and through good fortune, personally, over time.

Today is an age too that one can follow a referee from afar using tools like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs and I am here to assure you there is no harm in emulating the good behavior of the modern day giants like de Bleeckere, Webb, Stark, and Kassai. In fact it can be quite fun.

Also too as our world gets smaller and smaller, to reach out to these folks and say hello, or even strike up an appropriate dialogue is quite excellent as well.

You may be amazingly suprised just how open folks are to share what they love, when asked.