Take it all back… Photographing The Tour

  I’m a Boston kid, born and raised.  I follow all of my hometown teams with great loyalty, but you just couldn’t pay me to watch an entire game in one sitting.  An October night at Fenway… sure.  The Beanpot in February, maybe.  But to be perfectly honest, I would probably be doing as much people watching as anything else.  I just don’t think I can sit through 9 innings, 3 periods or 4 quarters with constant attention on “the game.”  My brain wanders to the folks in the skybox seats, the players in the bullpen, the construction of the rafters in the ceiling and the guys buying peanuts seven rows to the left. 

The Tour de California Coverage

  So how is it that a Yankee hater like me loves editorial assignments involving cycling?  Or in the case of the Tour de France, how is it possible that I can gleefully watch 3 weeks of chartreuse spandex clad cyclists, hurtling through the countryside with rapt anticipation and genuine interest?  It might be because the Tour de France has always read like a soap opera, complete with bad acting, deceitful affairs and agonizing defeats.  The tour is about the backstory, the strategy, the intrigue, the human suffering.

Prelude Criterium at Tour de California

 Last year’s Tour was marred by drug doping, blood doping, cheating, lying and more lying.  A whole new era starts on Saturday… and this video is great.  It’s all about “taking back” the past behavior, the false victories and the fake competition.  Heroes step off podiums, remove their yellow jersey… and everything starts anew.

Click to See The Video

  The Tour is certainly more than a bike race… it’s a punishing journey filled with tradition and intrigue.  I’ve personally witnessed and photographed the spectacle that is The Tour de California, and found the same strange fascination.  I don’t completely understand it myself, but beginning this Saturday, I’ll be on the edge of my seat watching another saga unfold.