bringing home the gold

"Lori-Ann wins gold in Olympic cycling sprint" the headlines proclaim. I so love seeing that, even though they forgot the 'e' ... and I wasn't actually in Greece this week and I've never won a race on my bike in my life except maybe with my niece and nephew (age 10 and 8 respectively).
Still.

I used to dream, when I was in Grade 10 and newly enamoured of the Tour de France (back in the Greg Lamond as king of the road days), of being a cyclist. I even bought myself a black, top-of-the-line Canadian Tire 10-speed to train with. At $98.95 plus tax, that was more than two days wages from this draconian part time job I hated more than death itself. Blood, sweat and tears, let me tell you. My training regime at the time consisted of riding like a bat out of hell from my home to the "100 Stairs" behind Hollywood Road, running up them, walking down and then peddling home totally knackered. I think I did it once. Then the bike got stolen and that was the end of my potential as the future female Lance Armstrong.

I still love riding, though (strictly for pleasure, mind you), and consider Queen's Bicycle Races song to be a bit of an anthem. There's nothing like getting on and working the legs, breeze in the hair (no, I will not wear a helmet), gliding in strides down the road. "I like to ride my bicycle; I like to ride my bike. I like to ride my bicycle; I like to ride it where I like. . . "

You don't hear of many Lori-Annes (with or without the "correct" spelling of an added 'e'), so it's kind of cool that the one who wins a gold at the Olympics does it for cycling. And she's Canadian to boot. Come to think of it, I think I read she's 38. That's five years older than me. A person could accomplish a lot in that time . . . some serious training, nose to the grindstone, . . . perhaps it's not too late after all. Hmmm. . . I think Canadian Tire might even have a sale on right now - and those 100 stairs are looking pretty appealing. . . !