I forced myself to stay up until 8:30 last night so I could start waking up at 4:30 A.M. instead of hours earlier.

Lance Armstrong opened a huge new bike shop in Austin, Texas over the weekend, and with that and my watching bike racing every day, he's been on my mind. I'm a big fan of his. I read his first book six years ago when I was in the midst of eight months without television, so I know all about his life when he was battling cancer. I was fortunate to be able to watch his sixth Tour victory as it unfolded on TV each day. I had Livestring T-shirts in black and gold and long-sleeved white (all sold on eBay last year without my ever having worn them because they were a tad too small).

But after following the last two Tours, especially last years where every time someone put in an extraordinary day, they were busted a few days later for EPO or testosterone (except Contador), I'm afraid I started to doubt Lance. Rude people, especially French rude people, leave nasty notes on YouTube when fans say how great he was. I continued to be a fan, but whenever I read about him running a marathon, or I see him in e-mailed ads for FRS Plus, I say to myself, "I hope you were clean."

A year or two I saw a few minutes of a video called Road To Paris where a documentary crew followed Lance and the US Postal Team for 27 days as he prepared to try to win his third Tour in a row. I always wanted to buy the thing, but last night I found that someone had posted the whole hundred minutes on YT. A lot of it is dry and boring talk about watts and METS and what happens if the bike seat extends back a centimeter farther when you're climbing a hill. But then it shows how fit and lean he was for the Classic races that he only used to judge his fitness. Then it has him in France, training on almost every bit of the route for that years Tour. He was already fit and lean, and even after six hours of riding at altitude in the cold mountains, he'd turn down chocolate and eat a banana. It shows him out there riding in that rain and cold, studying the route, and where would be a good place to make attacks, and where he needs to be careful on the curves.

He had already done things like go to a wind tunnel and have someone from Trek and the bike component makers and the clothing people there to make changes on the bike, as he found the most aerodynamic position for himself and even his water bottle. He'd changed his natural cadence to get more power. He'd trained year round, including time in the North Carolina mountains in the winter. Then this video showed him out on the rural French roads, always in the rain and fog that go with mountains, and they'd get lost because all they had was a little stage map they'd printed off the Internet, and I believe him again. This is eight or so minutes of the tape, if you'd like to see it. He could have stayed at home with his family where it was warm and comfy, and just rode for five hours a day and then done fun stuff, but instead he was out riding dangerous roads in the fog, alone.

I took the day off from walking, but look forward to getting on the bike again and improving at that. I've walked eight mornings in a row, and my left achilles is hurting at night. I'd wear that overnight splint to keep my leg and foot in a neutral position at night, but of course I sold that last summer, too. I'm happy with my early training, though. My resting heart rate sitting here watching TV in the morning or at night is in the mid 60's, and weight loss and healthier foods will make that even better.

My memory is close to spot-on again for things like where things are. A while ago I was toasting some bread and decided to take my capsules. I looked up to the cabinet where they always have been, and immediately remembered that I'd moved them into the office the day before. The big thing is that I had the information without opening the cabinet to see that the bottle was gone.

I'm still forcing myself to eat bland things that I have in stock. Today the big treat is some kind of generic Rice A Roni type stuff left over from the food pantry. I'll eat it for fuel, and make sure that half of it gets put away for tomorrow.