Okay, the first person who can correctly say why this photo is significant, on this day, wins a free book. Here is a hint, today is Bastille Day. Have fun!
••••POSTED LATER*****BUT YOU CAN STILL WIN. READ ON******
We have a winner. Joanna gets the Yellow Jersey, and a copy of A Million Miles.
The answer: In todays running of The Tour de France, cyclists were not allowed to wear radios. Race organizers did this to make the race more exciting. There will be two stages in which radios are not allowed. Most riders don’t think it’s a big deal, but in the absence of controversy, controversy is made up. This rider is “protesting” the ban.
If you aren’t paying attention to the tour, this is, perhaps, the most fascinating race in TDF history. Team Astana boasts three potential winners in Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador and, of course Lance Armstrong. I’m pulling for Lance, but it’s honestly hard not to pull for Levi, who is an awesome rider who has supported many other winners. The reason this is so exciting is a team will normally have one potential winner, and a supporting cast to get him through the race safe and without maximum effort (winners typically draft their own teammates to save energy) but with Astana, there is more than one potential winner, meaning they need each other to get them to a place where they can win, and who knows what will break out once the final Yellow Jersey is in sight. The last week of the Tour de France is going to be very exciting. And that last time trial, heavens, it will be a heart-pounder in more ways than one. Viva Lance. Viva Levi. Viva Alberto.
Now, anybody who comes up with the funniest (though not necessarily true) reason this cyclist is wearing an antenna, also wins a book! Joanna, the book is in the mail!
Best,
Don
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I think we just discovered Lance’s mojo…
He was born that way and he would appreciate if you didn’t stare.
“And lo, I saw and beheld, yet another pale rider upon his wheels, and he that sat upon it having a helmet; and an antennae was given to him, and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”
(The Revelation of John- Chapter 6, Cutting Room Floor)
If he was a French rider, I might have thought it was a tiny flagpole on which to hoist a little white flag.
He is channeling energy from aliens for extra riding power.
Because everyone knows the French set the fashion trends worldwide. Be on the lookout for antenna boots next quarter.
The iPod ban has led to drastic measures by some riders.
but #99 is going to win it anyway.
TELETUBBIES-NEXT GENERATION!!
“Look….putting this killer looking cell phone antenna I swiped from that Green 97 Lexus who nearly hit us yesterday . . . on my can will in fact keep the people’s focus from looking at our rump ugly bike jersey’s. Now shut your flapper and let me draft.”
easy, less wind resistance than, say, a satellite dish.
Like most of us, this guy likes the Tour de France, but wants to make sure he can channel switch during the less interesting parts.
When lightning strikes the clock tower and the rider is traveling at 88 mph the electric pulse will travel through the cable, down the lightning rod (antennae) to charge the flux-capacitor making time travel possible.
Tour de France? What Tour de France?! Heck no, I was trying to pick up CNN while taking my daily bike ride!
This rider, name unknown, (let’s thank God for that! cause that antenna’s really doing nothing for his “backside”:) is wearing this antenna because God forbid, one should leave home and go in one of the most popular cycling race without one!
Maybe he is just, prematurely, “happy” to see the finish line…wink
France’s King Louis XVI decides there’s nothing left to do but don a new crown and join the fun?
that’s not an antennae…it’s a giant syringe…perhaps if the cycling gets too painful an epidural will help.
He ordered this state of the art weaponry from the United States Department of Defense because he knew that if war broke out, France wouldn’t help.
This is the first Bastille Day that space aliens are being allowed to ride in La Tour du France.
How’s that for getting a free book?
What looks lika an antennae is actually a distraction device, designed by the Reptilian race.
Factiods:
He’s not just a bike rider; he’s a professional with corporate sponsors and a team of handlers and technicians.
The antenna serves the function of keeping his head tilted at a calculated angle and orientation that give him a scientifically determined aerodynamic advantage, which will equate to riding performance gains in meters if not kilometers…
And yes, the antenna performs other functions, including piping in inspiring opera music and other motivational media content; GPS capability; and suspected social media technology integration.
It was developed by an international technology team of 6 who coordinated their design and engineering efforts via the Internet, and only met twice to assemble the final product.
It’s like a digital steroid of sorts, and yes, there are questions in the air about the device’s legal compliance with rules for the Tour. The rider’s lawyer states he is not in violation of contest rules and regulations and will appeal any disqualification efforts.
He’s wearing an early prototype of the mark of the beast.
The Tour is a long bike ride jam packed with ups and downs, not just in the physical landscape but mentally. This particular rider, a good friend of mine, let me in on his secret. This thing on his head is not an antenna but a prop as it is sometimes helpful to his mental game to duck his head and pretend that he is a huge white unicorn dashing, and sometimes taking flight, on his way through the other riders to the finish line. He even pretends to pluck other riders from their two wheeled steed with his single horn. Sometimes he also pretends that he is in a modern day jousting competition in which he plows his head through another cyclist to win the love of a lady, he finds that this prop is good for that as well. The line between fantasy and reality can become blurred in these intense moments unfortunately and his fantasies have gone to far in other competitions. He has actually harmed other riders by throwing them to the ground and trampling them with his bike leaving them bloodied and scared in the past. Hopefully, he will take it easy this time.
Silly? Maybe. But it is a good way to pass the time and stick his Head in the game as long as he can control it.
This is the one of the super smart dudes at Makezine (http://makezine.com/), who turned an ordinary car antenna into a lightning rod, so as to provide Tour de France riders with a means of avoiding lightning strikes on those stormy races down the Champs-Élysées.
Though it may be to late for the contest… I have an idea for what the antenna was really for.
The guy is a dog lover, he couldn’t imaging a day without his lovable puppy so he kept her on GPS tracking while cycling in france so that he can see her via ultra high-resolution satelite imaging. Here is a picture of his dog as seen through his goggles:
http://www.digitalburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/astro_garmin.jpg
Here we go: it’s a long flask that holds his steroid juice while he’s cycling.
I’m late but here’s my attempt at a free book:
“James Dobson focuses on yet a new kind of family today.” -headline for The Onion?
or, “Truckers refuse to abandon CB’s despite drastic changes in the trucking industry as America’s economy plummets to new lows.” -also a headline for The Onion.
or, “I always knew the French were weird” commented Sarah Palin in yet another “you betcha” interview with Fox News trying to bolster her foreign relations resume.
because he forgot to charge his ipod and now he has to go A.M. style
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