Inspired by the Race

Today is a great day. Not just because it’s sunny outside or the middle of summer vacation (no homework for another month!). No, today is great because I have someone to look up to.

I’m actually not looking that far. This guy is only 23, just a few years older than me. But this man, Mark Cavendish, a bicycle racer from Britain. He’s riding in the world-famous Tour de France race. Experts and fans around the sport were stunned with his win yesterday, after surging in the final 900 feet of a miles-long stage of this enormous race.

Young guys like that inspire me. I love to ride my bike through the grassy rolling hills around my town, where there are a lot of people who ride for professional bicycling teams. A lot of these guys say that you have to ride for many, many years before you get a chance to get close enough to the front to win a stage of the race.

That seemed to be true when Lance Armstrong won seven straight Tours de France, but only in his late 30s. Mark’s win in this stage doesn’t change Lance’s years of greatness a lot, but it does show that anyone can win on any given day if he puts in the hard work that is needed.