Day 2, Tour De France

After a two hour bus ride to the town of Laruns we were in base camp. We all got a much needed expresso. We then mounted our bikes and headed out for our journey up the HC, beyond category climb, called the Col d' Aubisque a 16.5km mountain with a 7% grade. After one hour of pedaling we had gone 7.5 miles. We were impressed with ourselves and feeling pretty good. The climb would range from a couple of degrees of rise to as much as 13% in some places. All the way up we were going thru small quaint little towns, passing 100's of campers, cars and spectators along the side of the road. You could look out over the landscapes and see far off farms with sheep hanging off the cliffs. The mountain seemed to feel our presence and decided to try to get ride of us by steadily getting harder as we went higher. At the 9 mile point we were in the small ski village of Gourettes, where stopped to do some shopping and take a breather. Trek Travel had a base camp here complete with tents, chairs, beer, and lunch. They reserved a ski lodge for the day and had a viewing room set up with a large screen TV for us to be able to watch the race up to the point of them getting to the mountain, then we would go out and cheer them on.

I am getting ahead of myself, we first decided to finish the last 2.3 miles to the top so we could say we defeated the beast. We saw, and smelled, the devil, and I think I got a picture of him as we rode by. I must say with great delight that I beat Jodi to the top by about 4 minutes. Not bad, she is getting very strong, at one point early in the climb I thought I was in trouble after she passed me, but it was a short spurt of energy for her, and I was able to go back around her after only a couple of minutes.

We made it to the top and spent about 45 minutes there enjoying the sites, and sounds of the tour and the energy everyone was putting out. We had a sausage and some frys, did a little shopping and then rode back down to Gourettes where we had lunch and watched the race on the big screen until they were just a few miles from us then we went down to the road and cheered them on as they rode by. Lance was right where he needed to be and they all went by in a matter of minutes. Sorry I thought I could put pictures up, but have not figured out how so I will have them all at the shop when we get back.

Day 3 Tour De France

Sorry for the 2 day disappearance. We were staying at the Crown Plaza in Toulouse, France and I could not figure out how to get onto the wireless internet.

So we got up early for a great breakfast in Biarritz and took a 4 hour bus ride to the town of Revel. The Trek Travel team was all set up with bikes and had reserved a restaurant on the last climb of the day. Jodi and I went for a short walk and decided we wanted to enjoy the sights and sounds of the tour rather than ride for the day. We stayed at the open area of the restaurant and had lunch with about half of our group. The other half went out for a hilly 40-70 mile ride around the country side. We are surprised with the food and people of France. The smaller towns are unique in every way from the type of service and appearance you experience. The staff at the restaurant would not serve us food until we filled all of the seats at the table and would smoke cigarettes while serving food. This I must say is not the norm, we only experienced it in the town of Revel. The food was a local dish full of beans, cheese, chicken, bones included, pork, and sausage. Jodi and I did not care for it, but most seemed to like it and were excited to have a dish that was local. We were able to have a great time and were still full from breakfast so it didn't really matter. The caravan from the tour started to roll thru town shortly after lunch. This is several hundred cars and trucks made up of all the sponsors of the tour. It is a free for all of flying trinkets and food. They have trucks roll thru before and after selling magazines of the tour and all types of shirts, hats, and mussetts. They have loud speakers and blair out French and American music as well as promote their products. The caravan has tons of people like a parade dancing and waving while throwing all the goodies. We were able to swipe a couple of hats and small items.

The riders came shortly after the caravan was gone and there was a breakaway that went fling by us, shortly followed by the peleton. Once the peleton rolled thru the last car is a tow truck and then the road fills with spectators and cars from all over. It is amazing how fast the tour breaks down after it flys by.

We watched the finish on TV's and then loaded into the bus and drove back to the hotel in Toulouse. Once we all checked into the hotel we all walked to a restaurant about 15 minutes away. It was very European. We went down several flights of stairs and were in what seemed to be an old wine cellar. There was constant tiny pieces of brick that would fall onto the table from the ceiling. It was a wonderful dinner and evening for us to be able to learn more about France from one of our guides, Nat, He was a lot of fun to talk to about the cultures and experiences of France. He is studying French literature at the Colorado University and has lived in France before. French pay 65% income tax and work only 35 hours per week. They get 11 holidays and 5 weeks paid vacation. Also they get free education to any level and free health care. Lots of good, but lots of TAXES. Things are not cheap here. A Euro is valued at $1.30 US and you can't get much for a Euro.

Well to top off dinner John Burke and the rest of the Trek staff had a great surprise for us. They did a drawing for 7 winners to be able to ride in the Team Discovery van on the 18th stage from Albi to Mende. Four winners got to also go on a helicopter ride in the middle of the tour and see the tour for 20 minutes from the sky. The luckiest of the 7 winners got to spend the day in the second team car and watch and hear all of the team strategy unfold right in front of them.

Well beyond my wildest dreams Jodi and I were chosen as a winner to be able to ride in the Team Discovery van and go on the helicopter ride. Only one of us could go and Jodi would not let me convince her it should be her. So tune back in tonight and I will give you all the details. Now we have just gotten to Paris and are going downstairs to watch the finish of today's stage and explore the sights. The Eiffel tower is only a 20 minute walk away.

Day 4 Tour De France

The morning started at 6am with a wake up call that would not stop. The phone would keep ringing every 5 minutes. Anyway it worked we got up headed to the lobby for breakfast and got on the bus for the ride to Albi. It was about a 1 hour ride to town, once there we split into two groups. Those of us that were going out on the ride went to a kiosk and got our credentials for the day. We then went to the Tour village. It was an area that was set up for all the VIP's and sponsors. Lots of music, food and entertainment. A couple of riders were there doing autographs and even getting hair cuts. After walking around I went out into the race course at the start line. If anyone has experienced the pits of a Nascar race or other event it was very similar. I was the lucky one on the inside of the fence. I got to walk up to the beginning announcer stage, thru the start line and even with all the riders. As all the team buses rolled up we were able to stand there and be beside all the riders when they came out and got on their bikes and rode up to the sign in table. It is a policy that every rider has to check in each morning before the race starts. I was able to brush shoulders with Levi, Jan, Landis and 50 or 60 other riders I don't even know. It was a very cool 20 minutes. We all gathered at the Discovery bus, but Lance has learned not to come out until the very last minute, so no Lance shoulder rubs. We had to rush off about 1/2 mile up the race course by foot 35 minutes before the start so we could get in the Discovey van, it was a Mercedes mini van, and get out on the course.

We had to spend the entire day in our own race. If we got caught by any of the riders we had to get off the course and yet we couldn't go so fast to get up into the sponsorship parade otherwise we would be stuck due to them being strick about staying put in your place on the course. There are almost exactly 1000 cars that drive on the daily closed course, except for time trial days. We had Shaun for a driver and this was his 16th day doing the VIP drive on the course. Believe me he knew exactly what that Mercedes could do. We were going over 60-70 miles an hour on the road in both lanes thru turns and round abouts. It is an average of 20 feet that get ran over per year in the tour, we were not one to do it today, but did anyone see the guy that got hit by the motorcycle a few days ago?

We went out about 35 km and stopped in a field where there were no spectators to take a whiz. Lots of sun flower fields and rolling hillsides. At 91 km we came to the feed zone and Shaun said this would be a great spot for us to stop for lunch and talk to the guys that hand off the Mussets. We got some sandwiches and drinks from the back of the van and had a bit to eat as we walked over to the Team Discovery Subaru. The guys were finishing up with the Mussets and gave us a look inside. They were white with the Discovery logo, they had a Coke, two waterbottles, some Powerbars and gels and some pastries wrapped in foil. We also had a wonderful surprise when we were there. Another Team Discovery Subaru was there and Sheryl Crow was riding in it. She came out and started chatting with all of us like she knew us for years. She told us about her and Lance picking out her new bike on the Project One website. She loves to ride and was hoping she would have time on Friday. She was going to go and pick up Lance's kids and his mom so they could all be there for the finish in Paris after the time trial on Saturday. We all got pictures with her and she was very nice. She was asked by one French men that wondered up if she was Lance's wife and she laughed and said no, but I am his girlfriend. She was very patient and took pictures with anyone that came up and asked. We left the same time she did and got back on the road so the riders would not get to close.

If you were wondering, Shaun said that Robin Williams is doing a movie and was not going to be able to come to the tour, although he thinks he still might show up for the last day in Paris. I will Keep an eye out for him.

Our next stop was at 122km where the helicopter drop off was. It was at the base of the category 2 climb which was 9.2km tall with a 5.3% grade. We, the four lucky ones, were dropped off here and got to watch the 10 man breakaway fly by us then we went down to the helicopter and after the peleton rode by we took off. The pilot spoke only French and lucky for us one of the four winners was Eve from Quebec and spoke great French. The flight was about 20 minutes long, we flew over the riders two different times in a circle motion with about 5 other choppers and then started to go to the next chopper drop point. We have tons of pictures to put up on the site when we get back.

We landed without any problems and got back into the van and speed off to the finish. It is really cool to see the race from the racers perspective. There are at least 1 million people on the race course per day. Most of them were happy to see the Discovery van and were waving and cheering. We went thru tiny villages, farm land, up and down mountains and thru large towns. Everywhere we drove there were people out having picnics. Cars, trucks, campers, tractors with trailers and hay bales with tarps. They were all happy and anticipating their 1 minute of seeing the peleton race by at 40km. We did have a few people that booed or put there thumbs down at us. A couple threw water at us and when we reached the last climb of the day we got attacked by hundreds of people. The crowd was so thick you could barely drive thru them. It was just like you see the riders just before they summit a mountain, walls of people. They were banging on the side of the van and Boeing us for a few moments. At the end of the race the last climb was a category 2 3.1 km climb with a 10.1% grade. Believe me it was steep.

We rolled over the top and went the last 2km to the finish which was an airport runway. We parked behind the Team Discovery bus and went up to a VIP viewing area 100m before the finish. There was a 2 story TV screen there and we watched the riders suffer up the last climb. They came thru the finish area at such great speeds I didn't get much more than blurs on the camera. It was neat to see the riders come back by us after they finished the race on their way to the team buses. I got a couple of good shots of some guys. You would swear Hincapie is posing for me. Before all the riders were even finished we had to start our way to the bus that was to take us back to Albi. We waited a while for all the riders to come in and the jersey ceremonies then we got to start our journey back. It took us 3 hours on the bus to get back to Albi and then another hour in a private van to get back to Toulous. We got in after 10:30pm.

It was during the bus ride home that Ed, another lucky guy that got to go with me for the day, said today he really realized that this is a tour of France. We saw just one stage of this 3 week race and it took us all day to cover the course. You start to realize just how super human these guys are to be able to ride in this race.

Jodi and I shared stories, went out for a bit to eat, ended up at McDonald's, all we could find by this time it was 11:30pm. She did not ride for the day because it was a long ride and was afraid she would not keep up with the group, they had no maps and or real idea of where they were going to go. The thought of being lost in the middle of France in spandex and no money intimidated her, it would me too, we can't speak French and in this part of the country almost all the people here can't speak English. So she spent the day touring Toulous and visiting with the other dealers on the trip.

I forgot to mention we saw for the second time the Devil. He is a smelly and loud one. He was on the second to last climb and screaming at the top of his lungs when we drove by. Shaun said he thought he might be sponsored because he has a new car and a couple different outfits, but in the same sentence said it probably is not much of a sponsorship because he saw him doing his laundry in a river a few stages ago.

Anyway we will let you know how Paris is and talk to you soon.