View From the Back - Lantern Rouge

I wonder if anyone of the "lantern rouge" has ever thought about doing a
book on their Tour experiences. Call it "Life at the Back - the trials of
the Lantern Rouge ", or something.

We could see how a rider with obviously not quite enough skill to ride the
Tour managed to hang on and perserve. Top riders have such skill that it's
hard to comprehend - maybe the guy at the back, though still 100 times
better than any of us, could tell a story that would be understandable.

Heck an actual writer might do a George Plimpton and train up and ride it
just to write the book.

Here's a link to a story from 2001 about when David Millar was the 'Last
Man Riding':

http://www.sport.telegraph.co.uk/spo.../ixothspt.html

About the only tactic I'm aware of is as he says - forming a small group of
riders who just want to finish within the cut off times. They were usually
composed of newbies and injury victims who just didn't want to quit "the
Tour". There's certainly a type of reverence felt about it among the
riders. High romance, indeed.

jj

jj wrote:
I wonder if anyone of the "lantern rouge" has ever thought about doing a
book on their Tour experiences. Call it "Life at the Back - the trials of
the Lantern Rouge ", or something.

Nobody wants to buy a book written by a loser.

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 22:38:57 -0500, Bill Henry
wrote:

jj wrote:
I wonder if anyone of the "lantern rouge" has ever thought about doing a
book on their Tour experiences. Call it "Life at the Back - the trials of
the Lantern Rouge ", or something.

Nobody wants to buy a book written by a loser.

Dumbass - anyone who completes the TdF is not a loser and is several
hundred times the cyclist you'll -ever- be.

HTH,

jj