Provided courtesy of Saris Cycling Group

My older brother and his wife are going to have a baby in three weeks. It will be their first child — the first of our family’s next generation. Between baby showers and trips to ‘Babies R Us,’ I’ve been taking every opportunity to make fun of him, razing him that he’s not going to have enough time to make it to ‘Bed Bath and Beyond’ before he has to convert his “man office” into the new “baby room,” pulling down in the process all the plaques, awards, and pictures that have marked his well traveled career as a military helicopter pilot.

But, as I run amuck Peter Pan style all over France and as facetious as I am with my brother about becoming a parent, I can’t help and also take pause at the fear, hope, and simple possibility that exists as he and his wife settle into this next major phase of their lives — a phase where the medallions of his youth are being cashed in for real adulthood. Beyond the Tour, it’s been the first and last thing on my mind each day.

So when a reporter asked me, almost cynically, about how Christian has transformed from a domestique to one of the top riders at this year’s Tour, I simply asked, “Do you have kids?” When he replied that he did, I then asked him how he made that transformation. How did he grow from a child to man, son to father, follower to leader. He got the point immediately.

There are moments in our lives that are simply thrust upon us. As much as we might prepare for those moments, it’s not until we are in them that our strengths or weaknesses show. I always hear ‘them’ say that there’s nothing that can prepare you. That it’s so much harder than you could ever imagine. And at the same time so much better.

It’s bizarre to me that only nine months ago at our first team camp in Boulder, all we wanted was to make it to the Tour de France. At the time, I know that Christian couldn’t have been ready to lead us to a top ten finish, as our invite itself was tenuous at best. If anything, I think he was just looking forward to having a quiet season where he could rebuild and take things slowly – test the waters of leadership with a very talented but very young and blissfully ignorant group of riders and staff.

Like little children, we followed our bliss, and as our simple goal of making it and then actually racing the Tour gained more and more momentum, our team got pregnant. As much as we all take ownership in this little baby, it was really Christian who emerged as our Big Daddy. As he crossed the line atop L’Alpe d’Huez today after more than six hours of painful labor, fifteen thousand feet of climbing, and one of the most exciting yet slowest ascents up to L’Alpe d’Huez in more than a decade, I felt more than just proud. I felt scared, excited, and a whole new sense of responsibility for the future.

A new era in professional cycling is upon us. It’s an era where guys like Christian can actually start dreaming and believing again. But like all new generations, there will always be a few snakes, just as prone to the mistakes of the past. In the end, I can only believe that our unconditional love for this sport will give us the strength and patience to keep us all on the right track. I guess it only gets more complicated from here. And I guess that’s just fine with me. Cause even though I don’t have my own kids, I’m finally starting to understand what George Norlin meant when he took inspiration from Cicero and stated, “who knows only his generation, remains always a child.” It was a sentiment that later inspired George Santayana to write,“those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

The past is still very fresh in my mind – in all of our minds – and more than ever, I’m just glad that Peter Pan is finally growing up.

Featured athlete: Danny Pate
Provided courtesy of Saris Cycling Group
Team Garmin-Chipotle’s Danny Pate had an incredible ride in Sunday’s Stage 15 of the Tour de France, getting into the race-winning break within the first 12 kilometers of the 183 kilometer stage.
In order to stay away from the field, he and his 3 breakaway companions had to […]

Featured athletes: Danny Pate
Provided courtesy of Saris Cycling Group
For Stage 7, we’ll take a close look at Danny Pate’s power data. Danny Pate’s role on Team Garmin for the 2008 Tour is to be a domestique. He is charged with setting pace at the front when necessary, grabbing bottles from the team car, trying to […]

Featured athletes: Danny Pate, Magnus Backstedt
Provided courtesy of Saris Cycling Group
As the terrain begins to go upward, as it did in Stage 6’s uphill finsh, it is important for the riders to be able to maintain a high watts-per-kg or power-to-weight ratio. Watts per kilogram is power output normalized to body weight. The reason we […]

Featured Athlete: David Millar
We slept them, we fed them, we warmed them up, we cooled them down, we fed them again, we compressed them, we drove them, we dressed them, we fed them some more, we warmed them up, we iced them down, we made them drink, and in the end, they went really fast. […]

Featured Athlete: Will Frischkorn
When Will finished today, he was tired, but he wasn’t blown. At 5020 Kilojoules, an average power of 274 Watts (303 when pedaling), and less than 30 minutes of zero time, the day was about as good as it gets for a 5 hr day. But, when I went over Will’s numbers […]

Check out the Saris power file of Martijn’s impressive performance at Roubaix. Young Martijn put in 6006 kj of total work in 6:05′56″ in the saddle over 256.39 km. Not bad for a debut ride!

Saris video interview with Slipstream/Chipotle H3O talent Tyler Farrar on his preparation and goals for the 2008 Tour of California. Hear the 23-year-old talk about the argyle and his hopes for 2008 and his new team.