This year’s Tour de France is marred by bizarre events.

Bizarre events do happen.  I should know.  I’m a product of one. 

I had the best and most hysterical fall—if there could ever be such a thing—in the fall of last year.  This I know for certain: I can make people laugh at my hardship and I will never look at geese the same way again.

I’m a cyclist.  I love the speeds I can gain while riding.  Coming across other cyclists that have a better speed than me is an appetizing challenge. 

The aerodynamics at play is simple.  While they push the air in front of them, they create a lower pressure behind them, creating a draft. 

That’s right, I’m a drafter. 

The catch, you have to remain close to the cyclist in front of you, to have the advantage of drafting.  Your wind resistance decreases the closer you are to the biker in front of you.

It isn’t much different than geese when they fly creating their “V” formation.  The lead breaks the air in front while those behind have less wind resistance, creating less drag.  It is the best energy conservation imaginable.   

Just like animals that roam in packs, so do cyclists.  A peloton is a group of cyclists riding together.  Cyclists can create a pace line which is called an echelon.  By being in the pack, they create an even bigger draft.  The advantage is obvious.  It saves energy for the unit as well as for the individual. 

Geese also stay in packs called a gaggle.  When in the air, they are called a skein.

What do you call a gaggle changing to a skein? 

Dangerous.

Who said ignorance doesn’t hurt? 

The goose opened its wings after hearing the call to take flight.  The wings got caught in my bike wheel as I was biking by.

A freak accident. 

The goose waddled away from the calamity, a true hit-and-run.  I didn’t hear any further honks after its squawking of coming into contact with me; just a few fallen feathers remained on the asphalt road. 

And it’s the asphalt road where Saxo Bank rider Jens Voigt hit face first when his bike hit a lip in the road during Stage 16 of the Tour de France.  Considered to be another possible freak accident after he hit the lip, he slid 20 feet before he came to a stop.  He was making the second largest decent on Stage 16 when he had the accident that left him unconscious.  He gained consciousness on his way to the hospital and is now recovering.

This is the second team member that Saxo Bank has lost in a week.  During Stage 10 Kurt-Asle Arvesen crashed after attempting to miss a spectator.

Click here to view Jens Voigt’s crash. 

Sources:  New York Times, Sky News, Tour de France, ESPN, YouTube.

On the last loop, Team Columbia-Highroad kicks into high gear for the finish. © Christine Otis

Presented by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and sponsored by TD Bank, yesterday was the pro cycling tour of the Philadelphia International Championship for men and the Liberty Classic for women.  The cycling circuit is a 14.4 mile loop starting from the Benjamin Franklin Parkway around Logan Circle to Manayunk and then climbing the infamous Manayunk Wall with its 17-percent grade rise, ascending close to 250 feet in a half-mile and then onwards to Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park.  The men make the 10 loop trek completing 156 miles while the women make the four loop trek completing 57.6 miles. 

Many people might not be aware of the reason why Benjamin Franklin Parkway is chosen.  The founders, David Chauner and Jerry Casale, wanted the ending similar to the Tour de France where it ends on Champs-Élysées in Paris, France.  For those of you who don’t know, Benjamin Franklin fashioned the parkway after Champs-Élysées.

This year marked the first time the women cyclists caught up with the men, marking their impressive hallmark in women’s cycling.  The men’s race began at 9 am, with the women’s beginning ten minutes later.  There may have been initial confusion with the women cycling along with the men, but make no mistake women have come along way in the world of cycling.

This is the most important single day cycling race in the United States.

The race almost got cancelled due to the city’s budget problems and the downfall in the economy.  The monetary gap of $500,000 needed to cover the race came in the nick of time with a couple more sponsors coming in at the last minute.     

Having been a spectator for this event on different occasions throughout the years, there’s one thing in particular I love about this race.  As the clustered cyclists whiz by, the sound that’s created is like the buzzing of dragonflies.  These dragonfly racers are clocking upwards of 45 mph.  It’s one thing to watch, it’s another to hear them.

Capturing action shots, learning a lesson and bringing home two great souvenirs—a cowbell and one of the Swedish racers’ water bottles—made this event one of the most memorable.  Crouching precariously low to take a photo while the cyclists were on their last loop, something flew straight at me like a torpedo.  Concerned for my safety, I moved and missed the shot.  It was a water bottle.  Lesson learned: who the hell cares what’s coming at me, take the damn shot!  It would have made an excellent photo with their slanted frames away from me with a high-speed water bottle in the foreground coming straight to the camera’s lens. 

The 2009 pro race results are:  men’s: Andre Greipel, Greg Henderson and Kirk O’Bee.  Women’s winners are: Ina Teutenberg, Joanne Kiesanowski and Shelley Olds.