Word: touring
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Through constant immersion, and for better or worse, I am becoming an expert on the Tour and the country it blazes through. I am living as the locals live and covering the same terrain as the cyclists (although, I must admit, in relative comfort in comparison to their journeys of sweat and strain). In this way, reporting is like acting; I must study and then acquire, for a time, the identity of my sources...
...outlook it brings to every day is what I love about reporting--the long conversations with natives about their impressions of the Tour, the importance of stopping to notice every detail and, of course, the challenge of searching high and low for the unique story, the unique angle...
...lessons I will take from covering the Tour de France for the Los Angeles Times go much deeper than names or winners to touch my own philosophy of life--and of journalism...
...been a struggle. L.A., 6,000 miles away, cannot book hotels or flash its name to make interviews and interviewees snap into place. Here, the Harvard name means nothing and the Los Angeles Times is a little-known entity. My numerous brochures about the history and itinerary of the Tour are more of a hindrance with the pounds they add to my already weighty load than a help in writing my articles...
...reliance and admitting ignorance. I say art because it takes practice to swallow your pride--something none of us Harvardians are too adept at--and to ask for help from a total stranger. But it is in these moments of helplessness that I have gained incredible insight into the Tour and its people...