Couch potatoes - our sporting lives!

 I don't think anyone would describe me as sporty.  For most of my life I've enjoyed cycling - rides in the Buckinghamshire countryside with my dad, then quite a lot of road riding from secondary school in Essex, sometimes including 60-mile trips home at the end of boarding terms.  Lunel, if anywhere is nearly ideal as a cycling centre, mostly flat and with some cycle paths although the town cycle lanes are wont to give out suddenly pushing you into narrow roads shared with cars.  But sadly my legs were no longer as reliable as they had been and I'd sold my bike by the time two new cycle tracks to neighbouring towns were opened a couple of years ago.  I always felt fine riding, just uneasy at manoeuvring at slow speeds, a question of confidence really.  At any rate I still have my static bike which I use daily except in the very hot weather.  Mary also abandoned her bike in town, again mainly a question of confidence.

However, one of the real pleasures we've had is watching cycling on tv.  France is as well known for the Tour de France as for any sporting event, so 3 summer weeks at least find us watching the Tour on tv.  Watching 'live' is a mug's game - hours of waiting then everyone whizzes by in seconds,  (as they have at the end of our road twice in our 15 years here, and we also once watched the start of  a Tour de France in Dublin, over the heads of a large crowd.  But the tv coverage is usually very good, well-informed commentators and a wealth of nerdish technical information about teams and riders.  

Sometimes we are lucky enough to catch the Giro d'Italia and/or the Vuelta di España on tv too - favourite riders crop up in more than one grand tour, and now the women's racing is better covered too. Track cycling is a draw for us too.  Some cynics say top cyclists are only good because they are doped in some way, and there has certainly been enough of that over the years, but until the next scandal erupts we'll continue to enjoy  young Slovenian talent and the occasional British star alongside Italian and South American riders, though sadly the best French me never quite reach the top level.  the Grand Tours are all filmed in stunning scenery (as long as the motorbikes don't add the the dangers to very unprotected riders).

Beyond cycling, Mary and I both enjoy watching soccer, rugby (league and union) and cricket.  I've always loved cricket despite my inability to hit a ball or to bowl or field, and recently the excitement of Test cricket in particular has really grabbed me.  This week the sudden ebbs and flows of the Stokes England men's team, after thrilling victories over India and New Zealand, have been really absorbing, and the latest crushing victory over South Africa (after a dismal flop!) have stirred the blood even without the advantage of any tv (we were away with the family...) These days short forms of cricket are dangled there to try and attract a younger audience, but we really appreciate the skills and subtleties of the longer forms of the game.  It's true that bowling is no less skilful but there is no room to build up pressure through a number of overs, and batting is almost always a question of hitting as hard as possible.  But even these short forms have led to creative strokeplay and bigger totals with exciting run chases.  I'm rarely gung-ho patriotic, but Joe Root, Jimmy  Anderson and Stuart Broad really quicken the pulses!

Mary, who was more active as a teenage sports is probably slightly ahead of me in enjoying rugby league, which chimes with her Lancashire roots I think.  Again, following these sports over a number of years gives us insight into the more subtle facets of both codes.  In soccer, I'm a committed Liverpool supporter and we watch highlights programmes regularly, trying to take an interest in our family's various teams!  Women's sport is better covered and better rewarded now and often less macho, more skilful, so there is always some interest in results and stories.

As for football, we each have 'our' teams (mine, Liverpool, M,  Arsenal though she is less enthused now Arsène Wenger has moved on and keep up with scores and highlights, but we cannot match our son Sam and grandson Ben for knee-deep involvement, and of course both are actively involved locally at home as coach and player.  But overall, it's fair to say sport does take up a fair amount of  our viewing time.  Oh, and I should mention that I swam backstroke for my school as an early teenager, but I was not very good and in the end one of the girls took my place in boys' races and won.  Ah well...