la lanterne rouge

For those not familiar with the cycling world, the term "lanterne rouge" (="red lantern", in reference to the lamps on the last car of a train) is used to refer to the cyclist who, well, comes in last in the race.

And it has a kind of mythology all its own -- while normally you wouldn't think to celebrate coming in last, tour riders and fans do, for a very simple reason.  If you're coming in last, it means you're still on the Tour.  It means you've actually finished the Tour, which is rather an accomplishment all on its own.

They were talking about the "lanterne rouge" yesterday on Europe 1's Tour de France podcast, and one of the cyclists (I can't remember who, for the life of me, but he was Belgian) was talking about what it's like to be the "lanterne rouge" and how the most touching moment was when a young boy told him he wanted to be the "lanterne rouge" one day, too, because that would mean he'd actually been a good enough cyclist to be selected for the Tour de France, and that he'd actually finished the race.

I was thinking about this yesterday -- I've been feeling on the verge of abandoning my spinning.  The heat and humidity of the last few days have finally done me in, and the best I could do yesterday was half-heartedly pre-draft some fibre before I finally put it down and gave in to the heat-induced migraine.

And then I got mulling over the whole "lanterne rouge" thing.  And thinking maybe struggling through this year's spinning, and coming in last (metaphorically speaking, of course) is still an honourable place to be.   So I'll keep plugging, even if it's just to pick up the spindle to give it one turn and then put it down again.  I'll be the "lanterne rouge" of this Tour de Fleece, and that'll be just fine.

Because it will mean that I made it through, right to the end, and didn't throw in the towel.

p.s. -- if you're curious, there's an excellent blog that tracks the lanterne rouge

Comments

[Dianna]

We were camping with our Lutheran Marriage Encounter group this weekend - so I didn't get to spin at all on Friday. Into the office early, 2 meetings, home late, pick up the pop-up camper and dogs, out to the campground, etc. The entire day was hot, hot, hot - but the evening cooled everything off. First thing Saturday I pulled out my wheel and started. I spun most of the morning, so I caught up again! I even finished the second bobbin of the alpaca/silk blend I've been working on. I took it and a bag/ball of roving I acquired as one of the give-away items at the Medina Spinning and Weaving Guild's Rock Day celebration. The roving reminds me of that coconut candy that is pink/white/black - Neapolitan Coconut Sundaes - http://store.candywarehouse.com/brachssundaes.html
Anyway - it's spinning up ok - since I don't know it's origins or what type of fiber (other than wool) it is, I'm not sure how to go about getting the best from it, but I like what it looks like after getting a bit of the first bobbin done. It has a lot of grease in it still (not sure how that was accomplished) but my hands are liking the lanolin while spinning.
While spinning at camp, I had a constant trickle of people who wanted to know about spinning, why I was doing it on a hot day as well as what I planned to do with the yarn after it is "done". Good PR for spinning! I was spinning about 3 hours on Saturday morning, and again about an hour or two Saturday night. Coming home Sunday, I got in another 2 hours - so I'm at the head of the pack -- ahead of my goal - which is good going into this week at work!

[Spunsilver]

Heat induced migraines suck. I had one yesterday too.

[Karen P. in Ohio]

Last year, when all my friends were sailing through the Mystery Shawl (the one with beads) and I was on Clue 3, I thought of myself as the Lantern Rouge. :) I ended up abandoning, and haven't gotten back to it yet this year. But I will!

Whenever it comes to stuff like this, I always think of myself as the Lantern Rouge--hanging in there, still putting in an effort, but not kicking butt. I'm doing a bit better in this Tour de Fleece challenge! so that's nice.

My goal was just to spin a little every day; I have a spindle & am just learning. And I am indeed learning through this Tour, so it's been great for me. I'm not producing a lot of yarn, and some of it's pretty scary-looking, but I'm getting better and figuring out things along the way. :)

Thanks for the link to the Lantern Rouge blog--love it!