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How can it be? A week ago today I put up the picture of my favorite cyclist, Oscar Pereiro. This morning I'm following stage 15 online as the riders descend Col Agnel into Italy in the rain when they report that Pereiro has crashed. Now they're reporting that he has a broken shoulder and femur. I can't believe it. I wonder if he'll ever ride again.
But then I wonder if I'll be able to see Le Tour de France again anyway.
The entire enterprise has come to epitomize the insanity of the petroleum age, taking the concept of an individual on a beautiful, man-powered machine and turning it into an event with one ginormous carbon footprint. Every time they pan the countryside and I see the helicopters, the pursuit vehicles, the cars of the spectators lining the roads I wonder how much longer they'll be able to do this, how much longer I'll be able to enjoy, despite my misgivings, a little virtual summer vacation in France.
update: Pereiro is reported to have a broken shoulder but no broken femur.
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20 July 2008
13 July 2008
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