Dore Holte - Who Are You?

(I snagged this picture from this MSNBC article)

I’m pretty sure that no one who reads this blog (with the exception of Tony) watches cycling. A few years ago I didn’t watch it either; but when I started dating Tony, he got me interested in it and now I really love to watch.

Cycling brings out all kinds of weirdoes. Fans from around the world will go to the Tour de France and dress up in the most outlandish outfits and run alongside the cyclists. These people absolutely crack me up and make watching cycling all the better. Often during the Tour de France coverage, I will spot a man wearing a jersey, carrying an American flag, and wearing a helmet that has either longhorns or antlers on it running up the mountainside while the cyclists are trudging up a mountain. This guy makes me laugh most of all because of his overzealous helmet and his obvious love for the sport.

Earlier this week, I sent an email to Versus TV asking them to do a feature story on this guy. During the tour, Versus will do mini-documentaries on various cyclists and show the piece during the race. So, why not do a story on this guy? I’m sure I’m not the only person in the world who wants to know more about him. How did he get into cycling? Does he cycle? I find this man to be absolutely fascinating! Here’s the email:

Versus – Love your cycling coverage and am super stoked that you are back on DirecTV! I have an idea for a feature story for this year’s Tour de France. There is a guy who is at almost every mountain stage of all the big cycling events – I know you know who this guy is because your cycling coverage often shows shots of him running alongside the cyclists. He is the guy that wears jerseys and a helmet and the helmet always has some kind of horns – antler horns, dear horns, longhorn horns. You name it. This guy fascinates me. Where is he from? What does he do? How does he afford to go to all the major cycling events? How does he get those horns on an airplane? I beg of you? If you do 100 stories on Lance Armstrong, surely you can do one story on this mystery man! Inquiring viewers want to know. Thanks for you help!!

Do you think they will heed my advice and do a story on him? I sure hope so. In the meantime, I did a little research of my own and found this blog post from George the cyclist who ran into this mystery man while in France at the Tour last year. Apparently the man’s name is Dore Holte and he works at Boeing in Seattle. Dore Holte – if you are reading this, I would love to hear your story! Leave a comment and let me know how to contact you. Tony and I are tentatively planning a trip to the Tour in 2011 so we need some pointers.

(Snagged this photo from somewhere off the intenet)