Following the Tour de France
| On Your Mark... |
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First held in 1903, this three-week bike race covers 2,178 miles and winds through much of the French countryside, including the treacherous mountain roads in the Pyrenees and the Alps. The race consists of 21 daily legs called "stages," which range from 10.3 miles to 157 miles each. At the end of each stage, the overall standings of the racers are calculated. The person with the least amount of accumulated road time gets to wear the famous yellow jersey or malloit jaune the following day. The Tour de France ends in Paris, with the title going to the rider with the lowest overall time. This year, the title went for the third consecutive year to defending champion Lance Armstrong of the U.S. Postal Service Team. Armstrong finished the race with a recordbreaking total time of 86 hours, 17 minutes, 28 seconds. His average speed throughout the race was 24.9 mph. It seems hard to believe that this elite athlete struggled with advanced cancer just a few years ago.
The chart below shows how long it took
certain racers to complete various legs of the 2000 Tour de
France.
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Each year, about
200 cyclists battle for dominance in the
Tour de France, one of the most grueling athletic tests in
the world.
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| In Training |
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How the racers train — from what they eat to what they ride — can determine where they finish. What does Lance Armstrong eat for breakfast during the Tour de France? According to an article in USA Today, Armstrong enjoys a couple of cups of coffee with bread. He then eats "a small bowl of Wheaties, then pasta and omelets, which he likes to 'smush together.' Then more bread, this time with honey, jam or almond butter." Talk about a breakfast of champions! Eating well is just one part of Armstrong's overall training regime. He trains from two to eight hours every day to raise his aerobic threshold. His exercise plan mixes on-the-road riding with gym work to strengthen his legs, lower back, and abdominals. Armstrong also has an on-bike computer that can record his heart rate and power output — information that can be downloaded and e-mailed to his coach, Chris Carmichael, who displays the information on his own computer. |
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| The Price of Performance |
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Those early wooden frames have long since given way to lightweight materials such as carbon fiber and metals such as aluminum and titanium. These special materials make the frames extremely strong and light. They are also very expensive. The table below shows the cost and weight of different bike models. Complete the table to show the price per pound for each. |
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Bicycles have come a long way since the early 1800s, when they were invented. The very first bike was propelled by the rider's feet instead of pedals. The rider simply straddled the frame and pushed off with his feet, rolling along in a sort of gliding walk.
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There are numerous science and mathematical principles at work in the sport of bicycling. Explore these concepts in the following Middle School Gateways activities. (Requires Logal Express. Get a free trial subscription.): Explore the mathematical concepts in the Tangible Math activity, Two Objects Starting at Different Initial Positions.
A day in the life of George Hincapie, one of Lance Armstrong's teammates, offers a personal view of the Tour de France.
Read the
diary of racer Bobby Julich.
Check out the Exploratorium's
Science of Cycling exhibit.
For an inspirational read, get Lance Armstrong's
It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life.
For a fun read about the sport of cycling, get
The Quotable Cyclist,
edited by Bill Strickland.
For a thought-provoking read, get
The Literary Cyclist: Great Bicycling Scenes in Literature, edited by James E. Starrs.
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