It’s getting hot and humid now in the nation’s armpit, you know how they say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Well I went for a ride last night and the moment I started I could feel that something wasn’t right. I felt short of breath, my nasal passages were constricted and I felt like I was breathing water instead of air. I’ve felt this before, last year when it was hot.
If you’ve been following the latest cycling news Team Sky has been on a bit of a tear lately. First off Wiggins says he’s not going to be on Sky’s Tour de France team. Then there’s a bit of a controversy concerning Froome’s inhaler. He apparently has exercise induced asthma. My first reaction is who doesn’t have exercised induced asthma. In his book, “Pro Cycling on $10 a day,” Phil Gaimon say’s that when he finally made a pro team he was given a medical checkup where the doctor diagnosed him with exercised induced asthma and prescribed him an inhaler, despite the fact that he knew he didn’t have the affliction. He didn’t take it.
I don’t doubt Froome has exercise induced asthma and I’m quite sure I don’t have it. It’s a serious condition, and with the hyper attention currently paid towards anything that even resembles doping in pro cycling I can’t believe that Froome would be cheating. In my case it seems from past experience that once I acclimate to the hot and humid air I don’t have the breathing problem, I never seem to have it all summer, only the early hot and humid rides.
I don’t know if the controversy knocked Froome off his game but he had some problems in the Dauphine and cracked. Andrew Talansky took advantage of the situation and won the race. Contador was on form as well. It’s shaping up to be an exciting Tour, though I really hope that Sky decides to bring Wiggins. A little team in fighting can make for an exciting race.
Barn Door Cycling 