Thoughts on a Bicycle Trainer - Know Your Customer Peacock!
Yesterday, I received the second shingles vaccination at around 8:30am. Everything was fine until about 40 miles into a bike ride. Peddling up a small rise, I stood to stretch my legs and noticed that my neck was aching, then my back. The body aches soon progressed to feverish chills. A sudden afternoon storm found me seeking cover at a church where I called my wife for the 911 rescue. By the time she got there I was aching from head to toe and freezing.?
I popped 800mg of ibuprofen and 1000mg of acetaminophen. The NSAIDS provided a bit of relief, but the fact remained – I felt like poop. I headed to bed at 9:00pm only to wake at 2:00am shivering and aching. Once again, I popped some pills, pulled a blanket over my head, and made it through the night, but with less-than-ideal rest.
My plan was to ride over 100 miles today, but I found myself nervous, fearing that I might not be completely out of the woods yet. Discretion is the better part of valor, so they say, thus I find myself spinning circles on a trainer in my bonus room as I binge on YouTube videos.?
So, to the point – human interest stories. It occurred to me that I both hate and love them. Bob Costas used to drive me nuts during the Olympics. I was that strange guy that wanted to see every inch of the 10,000m run – yes twenty-five laps in their entirety, and I actually wanted to see the heats as well. But no, Bob Costas forced me to watch a half hour segment about Bubba from Sioux Falls who was dedicating his race to his sick uncle back home fighting some strange disease contracted from a tick on his mid-west farm. The crazy thing is that this seems to be an entirely American thing. Do we really love our human-interest stories that much? My wife hates the backstories on The Voice and America’s Got Talent. Surely, we are not the only weirdos who dislike these things.
Each year I watch every minute of the Tour de France, but I detest the American coverage. Why? Aside from the choice of commentators (Bob Roll excluded), we are obsessed with the human-interest stories. We put Steve Porino out on the side of a French road to meet and talk with Adam and Simon Yates’ parents who really just want to watch the peloton pass at 28mph and not even catch a glimpse of either of their twin sons. Just show the race and give quality commentary of tactics and the par course for crying out loud.?
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Interestingly, the European coverage does not spend precious time with human-interest stories – not on GCN, Flobikes, or Eurosport. Heck, even Peacock, who seem to have recognized that many of us do not actually care for their US coverage, gave us an alternate option this year. They provided “World Coverage” with no backstories and a Euro flavor to race. Thank goodness!
Now for the love. One of my favorite all-time shows as a young man was?On the Road?with Charles Kuralt. Ironically, it was a show dedicated solely to human-interest stories. Interesting, ordinary people being discovered by the ever-loveable Kuralt – an American treasure – was absolutely inspirational and interesting. I also cherish Sunday Morning segments on interesting people. I could watch them all day long.
So, there you have it. Human interest stories – good or bad? For me, I suppose it depends on the placement. Leave sport to sport. Let’s race on race day. If I want to cuddle up with my blankie and warm my spirit, I’ll turn on a rerun of Sunday Morning. Just don’t put pineapple on my pizza. They don’t go!