I heard a little about this, but thanks to clearing out my house and trying to get my brain back on track and life moving on, I hadn’t paid much if any attention to the news in a week. So, I missed this gem from a few days ago.

Lawson Craddock I heard was from Houston, but didn’t know what exactly he was doing. Then I realized he was going to the Tour de France.

Okay, that’s neat. I kept hearing about him raising money for the velodrome in Houston that got affected by Harvey and some other related charities.

Okay, that’s neat, too…though I had no clue what the hell a velodrome was at the time.

Then I read about how he crashed and broke bones in the beginning of the Tour de France…and after thousands of miles, he still finished the race.

That made me think really really hard about all the excuses I’ve had about “not feeling like doing exercise” or “I’m too tired” today. And how full of crap I’ve been about the whole thing.

Granted, if you’re really injured, you shouldn’t keep going til you hurt yourself (in this case, they stabilized him the best they could, it was just gonna hurt like hell if he kept going). I agree with that idea.

But when you think you can’t possibly even try…well, this Lawson Craddock guy, out of Houston, is inspiring me to inflate my bike tires and take my blue baby out for a spin again.

I know, everything seems to inspire me, but I think I needed some true story, some push to get me going.

And this cyclist’s story is just amazing to me. I hope the money he raised during this painful trip is enough to get the goals going. Post-Harvey Houston is bringing out some interesting people and things, that’s for sure.

Can’t wait til I can join them. Til then, feel free to read over this NPR article that got me crazy inspired and happy for a hometown fella:

Lawson Craddock’s Amazing Last-Place Finish in the Tour De France (from July 30, 2018)