George The Cyclist

It's July... and to many cycling fanatics, it means following the Tour de France, a 21-stage bicycle road race covering a total distance of 3,430.5 kilometres (that's 2,131.6 miles).

This year I once again turn to my friend George Christensen's blog (George the Cyclist) for the insider coverage from the front lines of the race. George is a former Chicago bike messenger who now challenges himself with annual tours in countries around the world. And he chronicles his adventures via his blog George the Cyclist and usually via an annual slide show at a local branch of the Chicago Public Library. Earlier this spring, George presented his “Turkey By Bicycle” slideshow about his 3,500-mile circuit of Turkey that he took in November and December of 2010.

Each year he travels to France and journeys along most of the Tour de France's race route to follow the action first-hand. I wrote about George's blog last year, near the end of the Le Tour.

On today's rest day, I read about George's journey up to the finish of tomorrow's stage route, plus his take on a few of the previous stages -- dangerous ones with all the crashes.

It's so easy to get caught up in the Tour de France coverage, but definitely more fun to be out riding, too. So - if you're out racking up those miles this month, consider logging your mileage in the online with Team BikeSweets in the Aquaphor Challenge.

E.A.