:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 ::

:: Riding off Victoriously ::

I'm sure everyone has already heard or read many a sports editorial about how Lance Armstrong's last Tour de France was a Tour de Force and other banal clichés. And there probably isn't much else I could write to further amplify the marvel and epic-ness of his achievements.

Indulge me while I try anyway.

I already wrote (gushed, really) about how one of his commercials moved me in such a way that it's the only spot that I watch regularly. Looking at it his latest feat, I see another reason why this spot is so cool. And it isn't because he survived a life-threatening illness as much as he conquered it. Never mind that some humble, almost dorky-looking boy from Texas became an icon for perseverance and tenacity. It goes beyond the fact that he took a rather ordinary form of recreation and turned it into an extraordinary story of achievement.

It’s that his insanely intense training regimen is not only ridiculously demanding physically, but throughout that he had to deny himself the one thing that every guy longs for at some point:

Beer.

I just loved his insistence before, during, and after the tour that Beer was the one thing he was looking forward to the most. I'm serious. He'd always say something like "I know one thing about my retirement: It will involve enjoying a beer" before the race. When asked about how plans to relax immediately following the race, he said it'd be "on a beach, with a beer, having a blast."

It amazes me that any guy, even one as disciplined as Lance, would have the tenacity to go for so long without so much as a sip of that sweet, quenching, nectar from the Gods. And if he thought winning his seventh Tour de France was sweet, it won’t come close to one of life's greatest pleasures: that first pull from a pint of cold beer when you're really thirsty.

And really, no one has earned a good beer more than he has.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 1:10 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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