Yesterday was the “Duck River Rendezvous” 50-mile bicycle ride at Henry Horton State Park, which is about 30-miles south of Nashville. Unfortunately, I had to host a Nashville Palm Users Group meeting, so I was unable to participate in the ride. That didn’t stop Holly and my Mother though from deciding to try the ride. They’ve never taken part in a coordinated bicycle ride and both had never ridden more than 20 miles at a stretch, so both ladies were definitely exploring a bit of the unknown.

As I was lamenting on how long it’s been since I updated my weblog, a thought occurred to me to go check and see if there were any updates on the 2005 schedule for the Bicycle Ride Across Tennessee (BRAT). I rode a portion of the course last year and my plan is to ride the entire course this year, so I’m trying to plan ahead well in advance.

Much to my surprise, I received a response from my letter to Mr. Schoen regarding his article “Cycling is just not a big deal” yesterday. I certain was not expecting one given the fact that we all live in a busy society and e-mail has become less useful than it used to be. Yet, Mr. Schoen took the time to respond in detail and I post his comments for your perusal.

I normally don’t write letters to the editor. I guess it’s because I don’t see the point. I think that the author, or editor will never read it, or even if they do it won’t change anything. Besides everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if it’s one that I don’t agree with. However, I came across an article written by David Schoen entitled “Cycling is just not a big deal” and I just couldn’t sit idly by. I felt I had to voice a complaint. Schoen goes to great lengths to tear not only Lance Armstrong, but the entire sport of cycling. IT PISSED ME OFF.

After the Natchez Trace Bicycle Tour, I made a vow to try and do two short bicycle tours a year. I didn’t have any clear idea of when or where when I made this vow, but I enjoyed being out on the open road so much that I just knew I had to get back out there as soon as possible. My thought was that I would do one bicycle tour in the Spring and one in the Fall. Money, time and energy permitting, I would try and do an extra tour in the Summer if possible. However much like Icarus, I have soared too high on my dreams of cycling and I’ve been dashed upon the rocks of reality – I’ll be lucky if I can get one tour in this year.

Maybe it’s the “yellow fever” of watching the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong win his 6th Tour, but I’ve taken a renewed interest in cycling this summer. I’m on the bike every chance I get, rain or shine, and it’s been an absolute hoot. Having just finished Lance’s second book “Every Second Counts”, I was intrigued at how Lance uses the data collected while cycling to analyze his performance on the bike. I don’t have any of the fancy gadgets that he does, like a heart monitor, but I do have a little Sigma cycling computer and I do collect basic mileage information. My only dilemma was what to do with the data.