Anything with water or wheels is big sport in New Zealand; sailing, rowing, swimming, motor sports and the topic of this blog-cycling. 4th of July weekend, a Kiwi driver, finished third in the Indy Car Race at Watkins Glen, New York to move to the top of the overall standings.

I have been a good fan of New Zealand athletes and think their accomplishments are outstanding. But with the start of the Tour de France, I have to admit I am big fan of American Lance Armstrong, cylcing phenom. What I admire most is his persistance in overcoming obstacles--testicular cancer that metastized into a tumor in his brain and lungs (his prognosis was poor), broken bones and controversy over drug tests. Is he drug-free/doping free--I hope so. I have seen medical documentaries on Armstrong's amazing physical body-his air capacity (almost 2 times the average person) and his body's resistance to building of lactate acid (not the cause of muscle fatigue but a marker for the cause of musular fatigue--muscle cell depolarization).  He is known as the most tested athlete in the world, having gone through 24 drug tests.

In terms of religious belief, Armstrong describes himself as agnostic and has been quoted saying, "at the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed a certain book, or whter I'd been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hope he didn't say, 'But you were never a Christian, so you're going the other way from heaven.' If so, I was going to reply, 'You know what? You're right. Fine."

How do I interpret that ? His words sound authentic, perhaps a bit flippant in the face of His Creator. Lance could teach a lot of us as to what it means to be fully human, maximizing life and our creation design and capabilities. I pray that Lance will discover God--not the code of conduct, religious actions, dusty theological code but the God who endowed him with his incredible capabilities and who loves him with an everlasting love, a love that is big enough for non-conformity and the implied disillusionment Lance has towards religious faith.

But to sum up . . . this is an amazing human being. I admire his indomitable spirit, his will and focus of his energies. He has won 7 Tour De France races. Here's to #8.