TOUR DE FRANCE

Today is the final day of the Tour de France.

We’ve been watching it each of the 21 days,

glued to the television on the weekend and

watching the highlights in the evening.

during the week.

You have these hundred plus riders

start off from Florence in Italy to spend the next

three weeks on bikes heading up toward the

final destination usually Paris. Due to

Olympics there the Tour ends this year

 in Nice.

        It’s the amazing live camera shots that

catch the imagination. These riders pushing

up and down hills surrounded by nothing but

forests, through small towns and villages along

the way. Steep hills, deep valleys.

The voices of two guys over this give you

where you are. Where you’re going.

WRITER’S COMMENT:  I was lucky enough

to spend year in France working on what

I do. I'd watch the tour passing through

small towns. Seeing it live where I lived.

  The crowds packing the sides of the streets,

the roads waving their arms, jumping up and

down as these riders speed past them.

It takes the breath away.

Don't miss it.

There’s something that’s caught my attention.

As it does every year. It’s the TOUR DE FRANCE.

I tell myself, to watch it for two minutes or so

before getting my butt back to work.

What happens? I sit with my eyes glued

to the television. That and EUFA. Watching soccer from Europe.  

I’ve never played much soccer other than

at school in Oakville, Ontario when I was

booted off the team.

Maybe it’s because I’m left – handed and kicked

the ball with my left foot , sending it in the wrong direction.

I’m still left-handed and for some time wrote upside

down .   That’s when I  switched  to my right hand. It took a while.

I write with both and it still looks  messy. 

Writer’s comment: What changed ? When I changed to a typewriter,

though I’ve never gone beyond two fingers. It takes patience.

The one thing I’m good at.