Show your Tour love by painting your dog green, dressing like the devil, and other awesome ideas. – By Molly Hurford
Illustration By Casey Robertson
Want to flaunt your status as a Tour de France superfan? We’ve put together a list of eight things you can do to show your love of the world’s greatest sporting event. Make them even more fun by recruiting your riding buddies to join you!
Race-Winning Nail Art
Show you love of the Tour de France all month with some race-inspired nail art. Go all yellow or paint each fingernail per one of the Tour’s leader’s jerseys: green for the sprint leader, white for the best young rider, polka dot for the top climber, and yellow for the overall leader. Not sure what to do with your thumb? Try designing the national flag of your favorite rider.
Illustration By Casey Robertson
“I use normal nail polishes with toothpicks to do designs. Fine brushes work well for bigger designs,” says Gabby Durin of the Neon Velo cyclocross team. “For long lasting nails, use high-gloss gel polish for base coats. They are more resistant to wear and tear from bike riding!”
Paint Your Dog Green
Some of the most die-hard Tour de France fans are the farmers who live along the course. Some will go as far to paint their livestock yellow, green, or with polka dots. Not surprisingly, some Tour superfans have started painting their pets.
Illustration By Casey Robertson
While the idea might sound odd, or even cruel, Sean Lawes, a veterinarian in Canada, says it’s OK if you use a pet-friendly paint. It works best on animals with lighter coats, but it’s up to you to decide whether your pooch is a climber, sprinter, or an overall contender.
Let Your (Tour) Freak Flag Fly
It’s a beautiful spectacle to watch racers tear through crowds who are lining the roads and draping national flags above the pros as they pass. So why not fly the national colours of your own favorite rider, or go with the most iconic flag in cycling, the Lion of Flanders from the Flemish region of Belgium?
Illustration By Casey Robertson
Don’t just hang the flag over your front door. Head out to a race and drape it over your shoulders, or fly it above the riders as they zoom past—just like at the Tour.
Dress Like Didi
The Tour de France wouldn’t be such a spectacle without crazies like the costumed Didi Senft, better known as the Devil, and fans who paint themselves with body paint to match their favorite teams. Why not channel some of your own inner superfan by acting like one at a race near you?
Illustration By Casey Robertson
It’s simple: Make noise and show up in numbers. Costumes are a bonus. The best spots out on course are often the most obscure ones, where suffering racers can’t help but notice you.
Retired pro Frankie Andreu says, “The craziest fans are the most passionate fans… like those who walk 10 kilometres to the bottom of a mountaintop finish, then another 10 kilometers to find a place near the top of the mountain. These fans will do whatever it takes to cheer on their cycling heroes.”
Donny Breon, a regular in heckle pits, suggests rewarding those who come help you cheer. “Make it fun for them.” Add a little beer, and you’ll soon have a bunch of happy, vociferous fellow superfans.
Drink Like a Cyclist
No, we’re not talking about water. Just because Tour racers are mostly abstaining from alcohol doesn’t mean that you have to. Instead, why not be like some of the cycling titans from Tours past and toast this year’s Tour with your drink of choice?
“Belgium and France in the Pre-Depression Era, when cycling was a working man’s sport, always had beer (or bier) after races,” says Brian Worthy, owner of Vermarc USA, and former pro racer in the 1970s. “And wine was the drink of choice during feed zone stops—when it didn’t count as a hand-up!”
Race Your Buddies
Get inspired by the Tour and animate your group ride by making it more competitive. Sure, none of you will go as fast as Alberto Contador, but you can channel your excitement after watching each day’s stage into some friendly fun among your riding buddies.
Designate your ride as a sprint stage and set up intermediate sprints and a final sprint to various town lines. Or reward the youngest rider in your group as the best young rider. If it’s a hilly ride, create your own King of the Mountains competition and award points to the first few riders to the top of each climb.
Take it to the next level by creating a points system for each of the 21 “Stages” that you’ll ride in the month of July. Just don’t forget to chip in and buy the overall leader a special yellow jersey from a custom bike shop.
via Bicycling » Tour de France http://ift.tt/28XKbnP
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