A phone call to an old friend...

Phone calls to old friends are always great. They revive the bonds of friendship and give both of you a good feeling. Emails can do the same thing... but a phone call is hard to beat. As any of the followers of this blog know, I've been watching the Tour daily and even blogging about it. My appreciation for professional cycling comes from Darrell, a friend of mine who owns the best bike shop in El Paso (no really, it is the best in my opinion) called Franklin Mountain Cyclery. After watching Lance walk all over the mountains the last few days and the constant reminder of Darrell as I watched the Tour daily, I decided to give him a buzz.

It was great, but after the basic "Are you riding much? Are you working? What ya doing?" he asked if I wanted to hear some bad news. He's been diagnosed with cancer. It's not terminal, but he's undergoing chemo and hasn't been able to ride much because of it. To quote him, "Shit happens to everyone... I just seem to get more than everyone else."

Darrell's a great guy. Just like anyone else he's got his quirks, but he's an honestly decent human being. That's hard to find these days. If you know Darrell, stop by or give him a buzz and let him know you're thinking of him.