You know you're a diehard cycling fan when...

Earlier this year, LLB and I were proud to award ourselves Diehard ProCycling Fan badges (virtual, of course) because we:

1) Have been to a stage race, a TT, and a crit.
2) Have stayed watching a TT right to the end.
3) In the rain.
4) Have sat indoors and missed the few sunny days of summer, just to watch TdF on TV.

We thought that covered the more important points of fandom, but there are some more signs.

Fairly basic criteria are of course being able to name every team in the Pro-Team peloton, and you get extra points for being able to recognise most of the Continental teams, by their kit.

I get further points, as I have a team musette and bidon, left.

(Oh, yes, I'm still proud of that!)

And I get an extra point as I could have had another bidon that was thrown towards me during a race. (I gave it away - I'm good like that.)

More points are awarded for naming pets after cyclists: I have a fish called Bram Tankink.

Yes, I know he's Rabobank and has nothing to do with Leopard Trek or Andy Schleck, I just thought it was a good name. Overtones of Dracula, combined with tanking up and down, and living in a tank. It just felt right.

I have a small bear from New Zealand called Henderson, after Greg Henderson, (actually he's not even my bear, I'm looking after him for a friend. Do you know, [by the way, I'm looking after 20 or so of her second-league bears while she moved house] she hadn't even removed his tags? Or given him a name??!! So I named him Henderson. Heh heh heh...) and of course you all remember Johan Van Lobsteren - right - who is also only visiting, but who has already found out about the remote control....

Recently, Eva and I were tweeting, and it came to pass that she defined Easter this year as being during LBL, whereas next year it will be during PT.

So I suggested to her than another sign of being a diehard cycling fan was in describing events by the race which they interrupt....

...and by being prepared to watch Track events, strange as they are, in desperation, when there is no other cycling on......

...and she suggested that, as a Dutch person, knowing the English phrase "Polka Dot" was a pretty good sign, too!

I suppose that the most obvious sign of being a Diehard Cycling Fan is when you  plan your holidays around big Tours, (actually, we all do that, don't we?) but a real give-away is when you plan your family by using the Tour de France Testosterone Method: ie babies conceived during the season are going to be girls, as all the testosterone is being used up.

Honestly, it's a theory! Mark Cavendish says that he and Peta's baby is going to be a girl, for that reason.

[Thinks: perhaps we could ask Jensi if he'd be prepared to be used for market research of this hypothesis, as he has 6 children and if he would be kind enough to confirm which ones were conceived during the season.... surely that's enough for a good sample?  Go on, you ask him.]

So, if you can think of any other give-aways, do tell!