Minus Ten Review -26

Due to the lack of any pictures on the blog this week ten years ago- you get to see THIS!

Ten years ago this week my blog was dominated by news from two Tours- One was the traditional, Pro roadie race, the other was what was to become the Tour Divide. That was being won by Matt Lee, who was out proving his point that the "prologue" section of the Great Divide Route needed to be in the event. One was fun to follow along, the other was maddening and frustrating to follow along with.

Riders were being booted from the 2006 Tour de France faster than you could bat an eyelash, and Lance was playing all nicey-nice and looking to come ride in RAGBRAI. You couldn't believe what you were watching because the next day your hero, your rider that you were inspired by, was being whisked away by the authorities. It was a depressing drama, kind of like that old film "St Elmo's Fire", where these promising young adults all end up becoming failures at post-college life and leave you feeling empty and devoid of hope. The Tour back then was like that, and this was the period where I decided that it wasn't worth keeping track of anymore. The Tour starts this weekend, and I still won't be watching, nor keeping tabs on it. Thanks 2006!

The other Tour was not without its drama as well. Ten years ago, a fellow called "Fixie Dave" came to be known to a wider audience due to his misfortune on the Great Divide route. He was napping under a tree when someone took off with his bike, leaving him stranded and his Divide route finish would have to wait for several years. Speaking of fixed gear bikes, Rudi Nadler and Matt Chester were attempting to do the entire route on fixed gear bikes. I don't think they made it out of Montana before giving up on that quest though.

The week finishes off with more news of impending 29"er infiltration and everyone was wondering when Giant and Trek would introduce their own branded 29"ers. Giant would wait four years more, while Trek absorbed Fisher and blew away all the brand equity that Fisher had back in '09, just so Trek could have its own branded 29"ers.