Cyclists, are you just cyclists for exercise
 

but not for spectating?

We're lucky to have this forum but the discussion lags behind other cycling fora I attend. Are you just burned out on the Grand Tours?

This year's Giro is a great race but nobody seems to be following it. Is it because we have no American rider at the front, or what?

My reason for not following the races as closely is because I'm still an amateur novice. I don't know what to look for when watching.

I know what to look for in other sports, but how does one watch a cycling race to get the most out of it?

Before I was a cyclist I watched.

You can usually watch for the personalities which the broadcasters develop for you.

As far as technique, you can note tiny things, if you look for it, such as which ring they're riding in up a steep grade, how well they handle their bikes and attacking moves, but let's face, we're old and out of shape compared to those guys so imitating them is beyond our abilities. The pageantry is quite amazing.

That's a start. I like technique. That is what interests me in sporting events.

I don't mind watching just for the sake of watching, but I'm one of those who, when watching a game - be it baseball, basketball or football - gets caught up in seeing things that make the great play happen, rather than seeing the great play.

The good commentators set it up. What they try to pick up on, is which team is leading the peloton, who looks in good form, and how the leaders look. What is amazing to me is how those guys can look bad during part of a ride, recover and assert themselves.

Again, I'm just an average schmuck, so if I can enjoy it, anybody can.

It's only on tv on Sundays. That makes it a lot more work to follow.

You can follow it on the European internet channels. The Italian channels have it, and the French channels are on for the Tour.

Yeah, that's the work part I was talking about. I'd dvr it and follow it more if I could because I can do that on my own time. As it stands, I dvr the Sunday offerings and read your posts to keep up. Part of my apathy is a result of the realization that everyone was cheating for so long.

I am with steelblue. As I work for someone else, I can't justify a lot of time on the internet. That is why I do not post much as well. I wish VS. would just pick up the damn thing and make my life easy. I tivo'd the tour of cali, and I have watched some of the other one day classics, but the giro is just as good as the tour and I would love to see it other than one stage on sunday.

I follow the pro cycling tour and all of their grand tours from afar, aside form Le Tour, which I follow pretty closely.

For me, its just a matter of time. College football is really the only sport that I follow closely throughout the entire season. College hoops I follow closely in Feb and March. But all other sports has fallen back to checking the headlines in the paper over breakfast each morning or on the internet at lunch.

I follow the Tour for the history, pagentry and for the world class competition. Eveyone brings "it" for the Tour. The Giro and Vuelta, while grand tours, are still second rate on the world stage compared to the Tour. For a lot of guys its a good workout leading up to July or just a way to gauge the fitness levels of your competition.

Plus, there are too many Eye-Talians in the top 10 that I've never heard of.