Wide World of Sports, Eddy Merckx, Cycling and Me!

I wrote the following blog on July 29, 2009 and posted it in my Facebook Notes section -- upon seeing Paul Sherwen's post via Facebook/Twitter this morning, I decided to bring it to my blogspot -- most of you have previously read it, but here it is again ... if for nothing else but my own rememberings and amusement on this day of the great Milan-San Remo 2011 Classic

Paul Sherwen:  ON THIS DAY – Eddy Merckx won all 7 of his Milan San Remo wins on March 19th - 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975 & 1976.

AND let's remember the very first winner in 1907 - Lucien Petit-Breton (France)

... now onward to "old" material!

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I have been asked, several times, how I got interested in cycling, so I thought a little note was appropriate. I always have been a sports freak and I alway participated in any pick up game of any sort I would find and also was on my high school varsity basketball, volleyball and track teams and college volleyball team. I loved to participate in sports, watch sports live and on TV, so the question for those “of my age” is: who remembers the ABC TV Series Wide World of Sports? This show introduced me to sports that, as a child living in the Southwestern United States (mostly West Texas), I would never have been introduced to. WWS was also accompanied by the Olympics, when they rolled around every so often, in expanding my sports brain beyond football, basketball and track!

One of these sports that I was introduced to was cycling and one cyclist in particular, Eddy Merckx. At best WWS would show 15 minutes of the Tour de France and even less of some of the “other” races they might show - because it has been a slow sports week! But, this was enough as a young girl of 12, who loved the romance and drama of man (and team) pitted against other adversaries, elements and terrain itself, to be absolutely hooked into the world of cycling.

Eddy Merckx's show of tenacity, intelligence and courage sucked me right into the sport of cycling and I craved more and more cycling. I have images burned into my mind of the “Cannibal” climbing the famed mountains of the Tour de France, on much smaller and dirt roads. I believe, that in addition to my parents who taught “us” to fight at all cost in the face of adversity, that I learned even that much more about courage and tenacity from Eddy and the riders that followed.

Later I cheered for Bernard Hinault and then American Greg Lemond as they battled tooth and nail and I was sad when Lemond had his accident and all thought his cycling career was over, and yet it wasn't and I cheered his courage and tenacity as he battled Laurent Fignon for those tiny 8 seconds. (Of course, my opinion of Lemond has been tarnished as the years have past - but one thing that can't be denied, he was a large part of cycling coming to America.)

As I drifted along watching WWS, the Olympics, nightly news and any other news source I could find about cycling ... all the sudden something else happened! It seems a young American rider was starting to make a name for himself in Europe - was it really possible, then I saw him ride, I saw that fire in his belly and eyes and thought to myself “Hang on, this could be very fun!”

Welcome to the Lance Armstrong era, I remember once again being “sad” when I heard the news of his cancer and remember thinking “well that's it, game over” (my Mother had died from cancer, so in my mind - no one every defeated that disease) ... and we know the rest of that story!

Episodes of joy in cycling development - I remember my sheer happiness (and screaming and running to my husband and telling him about it) when I found my first race ticker ONLINE! How is that possible, this wonderful bit of technology called the Internet allowed me not to have to wait and scrounge for news about cycling, or find magazines where the news was 2-3 months old - I could following it online LIVE with the tickers that could occasionally be found ... AND then ABSOLUTELY-- What? Live TV coverage, unheard of ... and now, as we all know just about any race, any time on the internet and not just our ticker ways ... live streaming coverage!

Cycling and I have come long way since a young girl sat on the edge of her seat and watched those beautiful 15 minutes of cycling coverage on Wide World of Sports ... to now when some days, I'm totally on cycle information overload -- what a fabulous overload to have! So, anyway, hope you've enjoyed my little rambling trip down my cycling memory lane -- when I say I've been into cycling for many years, I really mean MANY years!

Note to Non-Cycling Friends: So, if you ever have the want to learn more about the beauty of cycling .. just give me 2 or 3 days and I'll fill you in on the best sport in history!

Side Note: The “other” sport that WWS (and the Olympics) got me hooked on .. yeppers, hang onto your saddles -- Curling! Another game of tactics, teamwork and nerves of steel!

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Have a Supermoon Day my Buddies - go forth be Great and Conquer!