So you've probably heard about The Tour Baby! - that started out as one man's adventure with a video camera at the 2000 Tour de France, and became a feature length fundraiser film for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

If you haven't, here's a brief recap: Former track cyclist and rabid cycling fan Scott Coady took a trip to the Tour de France in 2000. He took a video camera and met up with a friend who speaks French (a good move since Scott definitely didn't), deciding to capture what he could of the Tour. His road trip evolved into an incredible behind-the-scenes look at the Tour, Scott gaining access to many places the average Tour visitor would never see.

He encountered some of the biggest names in the pro peloton scene, from Pascal Herve to Lance Armstrong to Jean Marie Le Blanc to Roll and Sherwen and Liggett, to Frankie Andreu to Robin Williams to the beautiful Credit Lyonnais podium girls. And his camera went some places that a fan would never, ever see. Scott realized he had the makings of a feature film, and decided to make it a vehicle to raise money for Armstrong's cancer survivorship organization. The rest is becoming history, and my official prediction is that The Tour Baby! will be the cycling fan's next "cult film," if it's not already.

Now, The Tour Baby! has been out on videotape for some time, but last month Scott released the DVD version of this film, re-edited and remastered, but with additional features, including Scott's visit to Alpe d'Huez in 2001 and his Tour visit in 2002. There are also out-takes, but, uh, make sure the kids are out of the room before you watch them...

I watched the DVD the other night - the original film and all the new stuff - and then I watched the film again with the director's commentary. As a rule I don't do that, but Scott gives even more info on what happened during his adventure and it was great, so make sure you do that. (I also made my boss watch the Mont Ventoux sequences, cloud-encased with 80 mile per hour winds a day or two before the stage, and then the epic Pantani-Armstrong battle on a sunny and cold mile-high day, the rest of the peloton following behind at a virtual crawl up the mountain. My boss, who is not (or was not) a cycling aficionado, ended up watching the film to the end...)

So I am going to admit my bias right now - I loved the film when I first watched it. There is this "Oh my God" quality to the whole thing - it is the chronicle of a dream come true for a cycling fan.

But then, talking to Scott on the phone a few weeks ago, he told me about all his adventures at Paris-Roubaix and Tour de Georgia this year (for his next film) which were ne plus ultra, then I found out that he and I attended the same school in a Los Angeles suburb (we missed each other by one year) and that two of his closest friends are guys I went to elementary school with! Small world or what??? So part of my bias is that even though I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting Scott in person, I feel like I already know him through the film.

But if this doesn't convince you, Scott has sent the Daily Peloton copies of the DVD that we can award as prizes for upcoming contests, our own Lance Armstrong Foundation fundraiser and fantasy games.

Scott's goal is to raise $100,000 for the LAF with The Tour Baby!, and he has raised $40,000 so far. We think that's a great goal, so we have teamed up with Scott to offer The Tour Baby! DVD for sale through the Daily Peloton. To make it easy for you to order a great film that benefits cancer survivors, look for the link at the right hand top of our site that says, "Not able to get to the Tour this year? Scott takes you there!" (He does, too.) Or, just click here. 

If you would like to see some clips from this film, visit Scott's site TheTourBaby.com. I hope you will consider supporting Scott's cause by purchasing a copy of The Tour Baby! DVD through the Daily Peloton - it's a whole lot of fun that supports a very worthwhile activity.