Borges

The Greatest Cycling Race in the World Gets its Start

The Tour de France is hands down the greatest cycling race in the world today. The Tour de France was founded by Henri Desgrange. The first Tour de France was in 1903, taking 19 days at six stages and covering 2828 kilometers. Cyclists were expected to pedal through the night. There were no actual breaks for sleep. Bike changes werent allowed. No outside assistance was allowed for repairs and punctures. It was all entirely up to the cyclists.

The race started as a publicity stunt for a French sports newspaper called LAuto. This was a phenomenal success; it destroyed its competitor, Le Velo. Sixty of the bravest, gutsiest, toughest cyclists of the day started the race.

Maurice Garin dominated the race from the beginning. Garin was nickname the "Chimney Sweep." He still holds a record today for the win with the greatest margin a remarkable 2 hours and 49 minutes! More than 20,000 people watched Garin cross the finish line in Paris.

Crazy Lengths to Win

It didnt take long before Tour de France cyclists became fiercely competitive and this competitiveness thrives today, fed with doping scandals in the recent past. By the next race in 1904, riders would go to crazy lengths to win. Maurice Garin won for the second time but it didnt take long before reports of cheating came in. Riders were accused of taking trains and cars and even dropping spikes on the roads to flatten their competitors tires. In the end, the first four cyclists were disqualified and a little known cyclist, Henri Cornet won. Following this disastrous race, more rigid rules were implemented.

The Ballon dAlsace

In 1905, the Ballon dAlsace, was introduced. This became the first major climb of the race. Ren Pottier was the first rider to get to the top but his success apparently was not enough. He won in 1906 but later hanged himself before the 1907 race. In 1906, the "flamme rouge" was introduced. It signaled the last kilometer. The first double winner was Lucien Petit-Breton in 1907 and 1908. In 1909, it snowed in July, during the race! By 1910, the tour goes through the Pyrenees for the first time. The following year it goes through the Alps. By 1911, there are accusations of rival teams poisoning riders!

A Temporary Break

The first World War limited the Tour. The Tour was not held between 1915 and 1918. Two former winners, Octave Lapize and Francois Faber, died in the war.

The Coveted Maillot Jeune

By 1919, the Tour covered 5560 kilometers and the famous yellow journey or "maillot jaune," was introduced. Yellow was chosen because it was the same color as the newspaper, LAuto, that sponsored the race. The lead cyclist would wear the journey to signify his race position. Before that, it was impossible to know who was winning. Eugene Christophe wore the yellow jersey for the first time. Bad luck followed Christophe. Tire punctures and broken spokes caused him to finish in third place. Firmin Lambot from Belgium won.

Mitch Mueller writes on a variety of web topics, always trying to make it easy for folks to use the web to better their lives.

If you liked this article, you'll find more Tour de France history articles and this year's Tour schedule at:

http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/calendars/printable_tour_de_france_schedule.php

http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/calendars/tour_de_france_schedule/tour_de_france_schedules.php

http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/calendars/tour_de_france_schedule/tour_de_france_schedules_stages.php

Did you know that some maternity units actually have more staff available during periods of full moon?

I've always been fascinated by the moon's effect on nature, so when a friend's wife conveyed to me what her midwife had told her during the birth of their daughter, I decided to find out more about childbirth, full moon and a possible link.

On speaking to various medical staff involved in natural childbirth, the first thing I learned was that expectant mothers often experience false signs of labor during full moon.

Contractions known as "Braxton Hicks" -- sometimes noticeable to the mother and sometimes not -- become more pronounced and many travel to the maternity unit in the belief that "it's time". Disappointed -- or perhaps relieved -- they return home, the pains having subsided and with no dilation of the cervix.

While these expectant mothers visiting the clinic with their mistaken signs of labor are part of the reason why extra staff are needed, the major difference is found in the number of women whose amniotic sac -- the water -- breaks.

Just as some women experience false labor pains, in cases where the water breaking marks the start of childbirth, full moon is the time when it's most likely to happen.

In order to discover for myself whether this could be true, I asked several female friends how their births had started. Those who responded with "the water breaking" were then asked the date of the birth. On checking this against a moon phase chart, I discovered that almost all had given birth on, or very close to, a full moon.

The theory is that the moon's gravitational pull effects the amniotic fluid in much the same way as it effects the water in the sea, rivers and even the water that's otherwise found in our bodies.

As a woman's body prepares for natural childbirth, the amniotic sac becomes distended so the point where it will easily burst if put under pressure. Under normal circumstances, the pressure of labor contractions bursts the sac. During a full moon, the pressure caused by the moon's effect on the water inside the sac can cause the same things to happen, but without the accompanying contractions.

When this happens, natural childbirth doesn't always move forward and with no other signs of labor present, the obstetrician may decide to induce the birth. During my own study of this phenomenon I found that of 8 women whose births started with the water breaking at full moon, 5 of them had no accompanying contractions.

A coincidence? Perhaps. But surely midwives wouldn't prepare themselves for an increase in natural childbirth activity if there wasn't some truth in this?

One midwife told me that when it comes to planning childbirth, full moons should always be looked for around the time of the expected delivery. If there's one within a few days either side, the chances are your baby will be born on that day.

Discover the fun and easy way to view the phases of the moon -- past, present and future. Visit http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases.

Dieting is basically done to lose excess weight. But dieting actually is managing your diet so as to keep your body healthy and fit. Even people with underweight also go for dieting to manage their weight.

When you think of weight loss and losing weight the few initial things that probably come to your mind are either those lose weight fast ! or Guaranteed weight loss articles that you see in every magazine, newspaper, websites or guaranteed by many fitness centers.

Weight loss is simple, burn more calories than you consume. If you can fully understand that, than you are on your way to losing weight.

There are six simple steps to a slimmer you

• Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Thats right, wake up and eat like you would normally eat and count the calories in everything you eat and everything you drink and keep track of it on a piece of paper or on the computer somewhere.
• At the end of that day, add up the number of calories you ate/drink. Be as exact as possible.
• Starting the day after you counted calories; eat 500 calories LESS than you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would eat 1500 calories a day.
• Instead of eating three big meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over five smaller meals. Eat one meal every two and a half to three hours. By doing this you can speed up your metabolism.
• Cardiology workouts is an important part of weight loss. If you are serious about losing weight, but dont want to do the cardiology workouts, then you are requiring your diet to do all of the work. Jog, walk, swim, jump rope, ride a bike, take an aerobics class, whatevercardiology workouts + proper diet = better than just doing one of the two.
• At the end of that week, weigh yourself. Youll notice a difference just after one week! Now, dont expect to see a 20 pound difference. But if you have a LOT of weight to lose, you can lose it.

But very few people who are on dieting know what is the safe and effective way to go for dieting, when should they do dieting, what can be the side effects of their dieting program, whom should they consult and what should they do before and while on dieting

It is advisable that one should have proper knowledge of various dieting programs and dieting tips they follow. In the process of dieting the most important consideration should be on the diet. The diet should be taken in a way so that rather than adding up calories it should add nutritional content to the body.

So if you are on dieting or planning to go for any dieting program first make yourself aware of various types of diets, low carb diets, healthful diets, side effects of ineffective dieting programs, effective and safe weight loss programs.

Author is running a health information site peoples-health.com where information on several diseases like allergies, blood disorders, cancer, childrens health, digestive disorder, liver diseases etc. and tips on dieting, nutrition and improving lifestyle has been provided. Find some useful articles on dieting here- Dieting