Columnist Susan Snyder: Race offers a look at ourselves

Friday, July 11, 2003 | 8:40 a.m.

I was late to work Wednesday.

Blame the Outdoor Life Network, Lance Armstrong and the United States Postal Service Cycling Team.

I likely will be late a few more mornings until the Tour de France bicycle race ends July 27 with (we hope) Armstrong pedaling down Paris' Champs Elysees wearing the yellow winner's jersey for the fifth consecutive year.

But Wednesday was special. It was the 42.9-mile team time trial, in which teams start at five-minute intervals, rather than all at once. They see which team rides the course fastest.

The USPS team won by a whopping 30 seconds. Armstrong emerged in second place overall, one second behind his teammate, Victor Hugo Pena.

But Pena was wearing the yellow jersey for the first time. Armstrong had moved up considerably from 10th place overall, and the USPS riders won the 22-day event's team time trial for the first time.

It was a day of little victories, which we too often overlook.

Our eyes are on Armstrong, who will solidify his status as one of the best cyclists in history if he wins this grueling 2,077-mile odyssey for the fifth time. He has done for road cycling what Tiger Woods did for golf -- brought it into the mainstream.

Three years ago we wouldn't have dreamed of using a bicycle racer to sell cars. Now people who don't know a parakeet from a peloton ask, "You think Lance can do it this year?"

That's not the point. A multistage bicycle race isn't just another game we win or lose. It's about setting some goals, hanging in until the end and enjoying a few little victories along the way.

Some goals are built-in, such as midstage sprints that add points to a rider's overall standing. Some goals are brought to the starting line, such as hopes of winning a certain number of stages or winning a particular stage or beating a past time on a long climb.

Some goals emerge as a result of hardship. One rider raced in a neck brace Monday and Tuesday; another is racing while recovering from knee surgery, and a third is riding with a fractured collarbone. All are the result of a 35-bike crash during the last mile of Stage 1 on Sunday.

Finally, still being in the saddle July 27 is goal enough for some. It is OK, if not admirable, just to finish.

Need proof? Flip on the Outdoor Life Network (Cox cable channel 73) and watch the riders cruise during the middle sections of a long stage. They're pedaling like mad, but also smiling, talking and enjoying the ride.

I was late to work Wednesday because I was clutching a partially ironed skirt in one hand and whooping at the TV like a maniac when I should have been on the Las Vegas Beltway.

Guys rode in spite of injuries. The guy in last place kept pedaling. The guy in first place was ours. The guy who beat cancer was too. He knows just starting this race is a victory, even if you cross the finish line last.

Take away the bikes and funny pants, and this race could be our rat race. We can complicate, quantify and recalculate. But in the end it's about getting started, hanging in there and celebrating little victories.

A birthday. An e-mail from a son in Iraq. A parking spot in the shade. Lunch with a friend. This race is not winner-take-all. Everybody wins something.

So enjoy the ride, even when you're late for work.