Le Tour - Stage 10 - Gap

Bastille Day and the last stage we would be watching in person. We were headed towards Laffrey, the first real climb of the day's stage, just right outside of Grenoble where we were staying. However, our journey took about twice as long as planned to find our spectating spot given the unanticipated scenic tour through the various small mountain villages en route. Although I would like to blame the GPS, this situation was probably due more to the poor planning by the driver (ie, yours truly). Nonetheless, we arrived in plenty of time to get a spot, see the caravan, and see the race.

Our Tour experience was now official and complete, as we were stationed about 50 meters from Didi the Devil.

Here they come! The Saxo boys leading the chase.

While picture quality is somewhat blurry, this was taken just inches from the peloton. In fact, this is Ballan charging up the mountain just beside Chuck's wrist (to the right) and me. Although only for a few seconds, as a fan, you are literally part of the race!

Heading home. While the boys would have another week and a half to go, our race was now over. What a ride it was!

Bis später

Le Tour - Stage 9 - Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne

No, this pic has not been Photoshopped, it really says "Col de la Madeleine" ;-) This was the big climb of the day. Chuck, Kelly, and I watched this stage a couple of KMs and a few switchbacks into the 25km climb. For this stage, I will keep my writing brief and let the pictures do the talking.



Chuck and me - climbing Madeleine.

Here is what happens the majority of the time at a Tour stage. Waiting around, killing time, waiting for the caravan, waiting for the sound of helicopters, then watching the race zip by in a matter of seconds.

The caravan arrives. Talk about a trainer session, I guess it beats a basement.

Quality of this picture isn't great, but it was an action shot. With the camera in my left hand, I took this picture as I snagged a green hand. No, I did not wave it at Thor as he went by to see whether he would flinch.

They have arrived! Of all of the photos I took during this year's Tour, this one is my favorite. As you can tell by the sweat and zipped-down jerseys, it was very hot and the boys are earning their pay today. This is the leaders' group. Here is George, Evan's yellow jersey helmet, Andy Schleck (who would be wearing yellow at the end of the stage), and Menchov in the background.

A few minutes later the grupetto arrives. If you look carefully you can see some big names like Voeckler, Thor, and Cavendish.

Throughout the Tour, Kelly took some really awsome photos with her camera. For the remaining photos, the credit is all hers.

If you double-click on the photo, you can get a good look at Vino up front, followed by Schleck(looking right at Kelly), Menchov, Contador, and Lance in the background. I can't tell what was up with Ballan and his limp wrist - is he sneezing?

Contador, Basso, Ballan (Gesundheit!), Lance and others.

Cancellera finally arrives. No one was going to accuse him of having an electric motor in his crank today.

A great photo that tells it all! The boys are a long, long way from the smiles in Rotterdam.

Bis später

L'Alpe d'Huez - Parts Un et Deux

While it was a rest day for the Tour, Monday was the big riding day for Chuck and me, as we would be riding the legendary Alpe d'Huez. As has often been stated, Alpe d'Huez is not the longest, highest, steepest, or hardest of the climbs in professional racing, but the history and legends surrounding it make it arguably the most epic. In short, it did not disappoint. In fact, we liked it so much we decided to climb it for a second time two days later.

As the climb begins and at the first switchback, cyclists and motorists are greeted with this sign. Pantani's record time was safe, as I would not be able to use the full road to take the best line up the mountain. :-) Actually, there was a fair amount of traffic on Monday morning, especially on the descent. On Wednesday, which was Bastille Day, we pretty much had the mountain to ourselves at 7:00am and that was quite nice.

While you are climbing, you have a lot of time to think to yourself. Sounds of Phil and Paul kept going through my head. Yes, this was a classic Walter Mitty moment! Was that where "The Look" took place? Where did Guerini get knocked over in 99? Visions of the old photos of LeMond and Hinault, Fignon and Hinault, Coppi, Menchov's drooling, Fränk Schleck's tongue hanging out, McEwin's wheely at the finish line, Pantani flying up the mountain, the 04 TT where Lance passed Basso, etc, etc, etc... All legendary stuff. As I passed the 5th switchback, I just happened to lookup and see the sign dedicated to Hampsten's win in 92. It gave me goosebumps, as I thought about what a true pioneer he was to American cycling. It's too bad most Americans have never heard of him - at least he is recognized and appreciated in Europe. I decided to stop on the descent and take this picture.


After reaching the top for the first time on Monday, I waited a couple of minutes for Chuck to finish. When he didn't appear, I decided to descend a little ways to try to find him. He was nowhere to be found, so while waiting, I took these pictures a couple of kms from the top. Well, it turned out that Chuck was enjoying the climb so much, he inadvertently decided to take an alternative side road that takes you to the summit from a different direction than is normally used in the race. Evidently it was steep, full of delivery trucks, and devoid of cyclists other than himself. Upon realizing something was amiss, he eventually turned around, got back on the main path, and summited the climb for a second time that day.

So what was the climb like? Honestly, I had underestimated it given that it is generally not considered the longest, steepest, or highest of the well-known climbs. Nonetheless, it is deemed "Hors categorie", which in laymen's terms means it is darn hard no matter how strong you are. The steepest part seemed to be right at the base of the climb. The first couple of switchbacks are pretty tough then it seemed to level a bit. However, Chuck and I both discussed afterwards that we never did locate that false flat that Phil always talks about. As well, there was no time where we felt the need to get into our big rings.

In many ways, Chuck and I both felt that the descent gave us a better appreciation for the magnitude of the mountain than the ascent. Given the speed at which I descended as compared to Chuck's, I gained quite a lot of appreciation! For me, at least, it generally took me close to 20 minutes to fully descend from top to bottom. The constant accelerating out of and braking before each switchback never seemed to end.

Here I am on Wednesday after finishing the climb for the second time that week. Monday's climb was mainly recreational riding, but Wednesday was for time. I treated it like a Friday TT at the oval, and it did indeed hurt. However, it again reinforced that I had better not quit my day job to pursue cycling for income and that professional cyclists are truly physical freaks of nature. Although I was personally pleased with my time, Pantani's record ascent remained intact and at no time was even remotely in jeopardy.

Here is Chuck celebrating what was effectively his third summit of the week. As there were no detours on this day, his ascending time had much improved over what he had done two days prior.

Bis später

European Hotels

While at our Alpine basecamp in Grenoble for this year's Tour, hotel parking was one of my biggest challenges. The entire process of parking usually took 15-20 minutes on a good day. Firstly, we had to squeeze our van into an elevator that lowered our vehicle into the underground garage. Once in the actual parking garage, then the routine was to have Chuck guide and direct me to one of the open slots. Again, not much room for error in any of the 3 dimensions we had to work with. Honestly, this was the most stressful part of the trip. I was generally sweat-drenched and quite exhausted after this 20 minute ordeal. See for yourself...


Success!!

Our daily ritual. Chuck keeping me calm and guiding me in. Despite his best efforts, my driving wreaked havoc on the hotel foam that lined the ceiling. I will not divulge the name of the hotel for fear of being asked for damage compensation.




Bis später

Le Tour - Stage 8 - Morzine-Avoriaz

Race spectating often has many similarities to actual racing, except for the intense physical pain and suffering (although this is debatable when using a van without air conditioning for transportation). As when preparing for an actual race, spectating requires one to put together a plan and strategy to meet the day's objective. However, as many of us know, once the race starts circumstances inevitably render the plan useless and you find yourself scrambling on the fly to come up with an alternative strategy.

So...our plan for this stage was to leave Annecy in the morning, drive to an early climb to watch the race, and then head south to Grenoble to check-in to our hotel that would be our basecamp for the remainder of our trip. Unfortunately, Ellen woke up ill, so standing in the intense heat in order to watch the day's stage was not an option for her. Cosette had also been ill the night before, and we had originally attributed this to my descending skills while driving the van down the mountain after yesterday's stage. However, we were now starting to suspect that these incidents were the aftereffects of the Tex-Mex we had eaten in Annecy. While we will never know the exact cause of their illnesses, we do know that we will never again eat Tex-Mex in France, just as a precautionary measure. Then again, if you really stop and think about it, why would anyone eat Tex-Mex in France in the first place?

We altered our plans and immediately drove 1.5 hrs south to Grenoble. We quickly checked-into the hotel, dropped Ellen off to rest (in a thankfully airconditioned room), and then headed north again with the intention of catching the race near the finish in Morzine. The timing would be tight and by no means a sure thing, but we decided to take a flyer and chance it anyway.

We were en route, following another Tour car, and making good time. Then it happened, I made a critical error in judgment and followed the GPS directions, over Chuck's recommendation that following the Tour car would likely be a better option. Ooops...we soon discovered that GPS was not aware of the day's Tour stage and route, as it was adamantly trying to have us take the main road that was being used as part of the day's course. Panic set in as we saw the race helicopters in the distance. Uh oh…we now found ourselves in the position of racing the race. Despite our van’s power and speed advantage, the peloton had the better road, along with the distinct advantage of knowing where it was going. We, unfortunately, found ourselves zigzagging up and down little one-lane, windy roads, on the side of a very big mountain. Chuck was kind enough not to call me the dunderhead, that I know he was thinking, for choosing the GPS over his suggested route.

With the helicopters almost directly above us, we made an impromptu stop in a small town called "La Tour", a very apropos name I must say. We quickly parked and could see the crowds along the road getting excited. Chuck and Cosette immediately jumped out of the van and went sprinting (that boy still has some sprint in him when it counts) to the race. As I rushed to get out, I hear Cara, fearful that I was going to abandon her, shout out "Daddy, I don't have my shoes on!" Uh oh! Kelly was still staying back at the van and I shout to her "Don't wait for us...go, go, go". I then realized that inquiring into why Cara's shoes had not been on her feet really wasn't going to help matters, so I just said "Please hurry up". She did, but by then it was too late...I saw a few jerseys fly by from about 50 meters away. Luckily, Chuck, Kelly, and Cosette were able to see some of the race.

Ok...we were losing the day's battle, but it still wasn't over--or at least I didn't want to admit it was over. We regrouped and consulted the map to see where we might be able to catch the race as it got closer to the finish. There was still approximately 1 hour 45+ minutes left to go in the race. We knew finding a place to park anywhere near Morzine would not work, so we opted to try to reach one of the climbs prior to the finish.

Off we went. However, when we reached our destination, we were too late...the race had passed us, probably by 5-10 minutes or so. Therefore, we decided to cut our losses and went inside small bar/cafe (see photo above) along the course to watch the remainder of the race. Actually, this was fun. The place was packed with French, Dutch, English, and Americans.

In watching the remainder of the race on TV, here we learned that Lance would definitely not win the Tour this year or finish anywhere near the podium. Bad luck and age had finally caught up with LA. Although his race had been effectively over after the cobbles of Stage 3, today there was no joy in Mudville and the fat lady sang. While I am no Lanceophile and it has been a number of years since I have been on the LA bandwagon, I must say it was very disappointing to see what was happening and to see that he was no longer riding with the intention of winning. We were witnessing the end of the Lance era.

A view from La Tour. Thanks to Chuck or Kelly for this pic. I was nowhere near this close to the race.


This is how we watched most of this stage.

Bis später

Le Tour - Stage 7 - Station des Rousses

After Bavaria we spent Friday night in Zurich and then drove to our hotel in Annecy, France on Saturday morning. Our first French meal on this trip was lunch at a faux Tex-Mex restaurant in Annecy. From Annecy, the race would be an hour+ drive north. As it was very hot (we still had not been able to activate the van's air conditioning, despite a 3rd day of trying) and it was far from a sure-thing that we would actually make it to the race in time to find a place to watch it, Kelly, Ellen, and Cara decided to stay back at the hotel, while Chuck, Cosette, and I headed to the mountains.

Despite getting slightly lost en route to the race and unintentially previewing the some of the mountain roads in the next day's stage, we found a place to park and walked to a spot at the 3km to Finish banner. Although this was the first mountain stage in Tour, it was not deemed a high stage and was really just a warm-up for the next few days.

Chuck and Cosette pose with the 3km sign behind them. As we walked to our spot, the road was quite sticky from the melted tar on the road due to the high temps.

The Little Drummer Boy arrives. In the mountains, the helicopters are quite loud and close.

Here comes Sylvain...3k from his second stage win.

Jerome Pinot, the current KOM leader. This photo is a little misleading, as it gives the false impression that he is struggling. Actually not, as he was playing to the fans by raising his hands, swinging his arms, and smiling to the crowd.

Even though this was really just a warm-up stage for the high mountains, you can see by the looks on these boys, it was still a tough day in the saddle. As they had been racing for a week now, you could start to see the toll it was taking on the riders. The faces were becoming more gaunt, the tans deeper, and other than Pinot, no one was smiling.

Here comes Fabian. Still in yellow.

There goes George, in his Stars and Stripes, heading for the finish.

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