As I’ve said before, I’m a cycle race fan.  Whether it be pro or local amateur racing, I like watching/reading/learning and would say a great deal of my love of cycling has come from watching professional racing and I try to imitate a lot of that in my training, style and biking ‘image’.  You will almost never see me wearing anything other than team kit (replica or club), matching jersey and bibs is a must 99% of the time (unless you have a classic jersey worthy of the black shorts) and that is definitely a reflection on the culture of watching the ProTour teams on TV.  But I am well aware that some cyclists have absolutely no interest in racing and I often shy away from some of the more specialist topics that I’d like to cover here on LovingTheBike.

Guinea Pigs

The start of the 2012 Giro d’Italia is only a few days away (it begins on Saturday) and I’d like to try a very unscientific study of cyclists watching professional cycle racing for the first time.  Do you love cycling?  Do you ride daily and think about bike before car?  Do you have little to no interest in professional cycling? GREAT! I want to hear from you!

During the Giro d’Italia there will be a plethora of information, articles, videos and live feeds to keep you in touch with every second of the race as well as pre and post race activities.  The internet provides coverage like never before and I’m very interested in seeing how fans of cycling as a pastime, can relate to cycling as a sport.  If you think you fit into the mold of my ideal guinea pig please leave a comment below and I will be in touch.  I want someone who is willing to allow themselves to be immersed in Giro’ness and report back on their experiences.  I don’t need you to watch every live minute of the race, but take some time every day to watch footage of the race (live or highlights), read articles etc and see how it feels.  Is the pastime of cycling so different from the sport of cycling that they can be exclusive!?

Loving The Giro

Darryl and I will be covering the Giro from lots of different angles over the next month on here and over at The Roar and there will be a special ‘Grand Tour 101′ coming up in the week looking ahead to this year’s Giro d’Italia.  I did a similar thing last year before the 2011 Tour de France which you can read here, here and here.

Hit us up with your comments if you want to be our guinea pig… it’s going to be a fun and pink May!

Stevie