TDF Travel Day - more from the tour!

Due to internet troubles in the Alps we were unable to post up from
the days near L'Alp d'huez. Now I am in Colorado with no internet
access, but some time to sit down and put down a few of the highlights.

On Monday we got up early for breakfast and finished off our packing -
it was the day we would leave Provence and travel to Bourg d'oisans to
see some of the mountain stages. This was a good day for a break as
the riders of the Tour were taking a rest day as well. On our way to
our next bed we would stop and pick up Tim from the TGV station.
Before we could pick up Tim we had to buy a bike rack for our van as
we calculated that there was no chance of getting all of our bikes and
boxes inside that thing.

Dave and I set off for Auvingnon to a sports store we had noticed
previously as a good possibility for a rack purchase. We found our
way to the store after about 10 roundabouts and finally got inside.
Decathelon turned out to have about everything but what we needed. We
then drove by a bike shop - closed, a store kinda like Target - nope,
then when we were trying to get out of the parking lot of the Mall we
drove by some guys installing a rack on top of their car. I asked
where they got it and they pointed to the car parts store behind us.
Turns out the car parts place is Rack Central. We had a ton of
options and picked one we thought would work - and it did after about
an hour of installation. Bikes, boxes, luggage and bodies were
finally put in the van and we took off.

We hooked up with Tim and were on our way to Grenoble and then down to
d'Oisans. The Alps were huge and impressive. About 5 we arrived in
d'Oisons and it was like entering bike Mecca - there were bikes and
riders and bike shops everywhere. Half of the people we saw were
decked out in some kind of kit - in this town wearing jeans and a
shirt looked stranger than wearing spandex shorts. We stopped for
some dinner - the usual ham and cheese, then headed for our hotel - a
place called a Gite. It is a place where hikers and travelers can
stop in as they traverse the Alps and get dinner and breakfast and
then head to the next Gite. We were a little concerned because we
had only let the owner know we were bringing three people and we
didn't want to get rejected so we went in with some fear. Only two of
us went in to check out the situation.

Turns out the owner greeted me and said - we are so glad you are here,
we weren't sure when you were arriving. Do you have 3 or 4? Are you
ready for dinner? Would you like something to drink? .....so it all
turned out OK.

A second dinner with four courses was on the table for us in a few
minutes and soon we were eating with about 10 new friends. This Ten
was a group of from a running club in Marseille. We had some good
laughs and we spent a couple of hours together. They were hiking 15
to 20 mile days through the Alps and staying at Gites (which is what
we were in) overnight. At dinner we aslo learned that the chef was
from Oklahoma! She had grown up somewhere near Tim, which probably
wasn't hard because in the 50s there were only two or three towns
inhabited by caucasians in the whole state. Tim didn't know her but
they were probably related. Anyway, she had definitely learned to
cook somewhere special because the food was outstanding. When we made
the booking we thought we might get breakfast with our stay so this
was a huge bonus to the trip.

After dinner our host showed us our room which was in the far end of
the Gite. It was like a rustic apartment with two bedrooms upstairs.
We felt like kids because our room was like a treehouse - all wood
with big beams going across the room at strange angles. We moved our
stuff in and got a good nights sleep.

Last Day in the Alps

Our day was focused on two things - seeing the start of the race in
Bourg D'oisans and then getting a good ride in before heading back to
eat and pack up for the trip to Paris and then home.

Yves stuck with us as Philip and Paul were on their way back to the UK.

The start was at 11 or so and we made our way out about 8:30.
D'oisans was about 4 miles away and we got their pretty quickly.
Hordes of people were heading into the center of town to see the
start. We had no idea where to go and just had to make some guesses.
On the way in we locked up our bikes and started walking. Again - it
was like a bad day at six flags.
As we walked along one of the roads we were suddenly waved aside by
Tour staff and several team cars and busses came by slowly. We saw a
bunch of racers - Cadel Evans and I were face to face for a minute.
Fabian Cancellara had the window down and was all smiles - that guy
has a lot of personality. The Columbia bus had 5 Lions adorning the
front window of their bus - little did they know they would add
another to it that afternoon.

We couldn't tell from the cars where we should go so we just kept
moving toward the center of town. Our first stop was against a
barrier that was protecting a big open area near the start. I went up
and found us a spot about 10 feet from the start line and we decided
to move up there. Hard to know if it was a good decision at first -
the riders all gathered and chatted down by our first location while
they were being interviewed. In the mean-time we saw Christian
Prudhomme (sp) and Bernard Hinault and Laurent Jalabert which was
pretty cool. Start time approached and the riders made their way up.
Erik Zabel rolled by a couple of times and then the leaders came
forward. Cancellara rolled up and acted like he was lunging for the
line in a sprint. The riders sat there for about 15 minutes before
the race and we were able to pick out a bunch of the biggies -
Hincapie was close and several others.

After the start the busses and team cars all came through and we made
our way back to our bikes. After we were riding we spotted a couple
of Garmin/ Chipotle vehicles and Tim noticed that the team director -
Jonathan Vaughters - was still there packing things up. Tim asked for
a pic and Vaughters was glad to give it. I guess he figured he would
have time to catch up with the peloton.

Our next move was to ride up into the mountains again - this time
toward the Col De La Croix du Fer. (on the day before the racers had
climbed all the mountains we would climb in three days - Lauteret,
Galibier, Croix du Fer, and L'Alp D'huez. We were doing this climb
the opposite way the racers did it and it was tough - very steep and
consistent. Again, we passes several cool towns and this road had
almost no cars on it - even though the tour had started just below.
We rode up for a couple of hours and at about 3 put an end to it at a
little cafe where they had spaghetti. David was hungry and you just
don't stop that train.

The descent was a blast and we got a chance to see our big belgian
friend at work - he happened to be 6'7 just like me, but 15 yrs
younger and with a lot more power. We had a good ride down to town
and caught the end of the Tour on TV at a cafe back in D'oisans. Then
it was time for dinner!

Back at the Gite we had one last dinner and a good visit with Yves and
a couple who were staying the night. Dave and I decided to work on
our language skills with them and it went pretty well for a while. We
asked the them to avoid using english and to try to help us get a bit
stronger in our french. The wheels fell off when David was getting
tired and lapsed into something he probably saw on cartoons when he
told her that American's 'no-likey' something. It wasn't exactly
french or english. We laughed until we couldn't any more. I wasn't
doing much better. Steve was trying to describe the finer points of
Texas Chip-seal road surfaces to the Chek dudes - which wasn't going
to well either. It was a good ending to the day. All of us were
tired and we had a bunch of work to do in order to be ready to get
David to the airport the next day.

A little later that evening David looked a little more closely at his
ticket and realized that it had been revised and that he needed to be
in Paris at about 9 AM the next morning. It was about 11PM and Paris
is six hours away... We had some quick thinking to do.

We all agreed that the first thing to do was to put Travel-Super-Star
Tim B on the project. (fortunately the internet was working that
night because most of his powers are tied to the digital medium.)
After a few false starts with the web site and the credit card Tim was
able to book David on a 4 AM Supertrain ride from Grenoble - about an
hour away - to Charles De Gaul. We loaded up David and his stuff and
I jumped in the drivers seat and took him up to Grenoble. The train
station was closed for several more hours and I had to leave him in a
dark and scary place to wait for the opening and the 4 AM train.
David insisted that I leave him, but it was tough. I was trying to
figure out how I would explain to Tina that it seemed OK to leave him
there with his new Apple Laptop, a $10K bike and a bunch of cash. I
am real glad I couldn't read the huge and creepy grafitti or
understand what the dangerous looking loiterers were mumbling when we
were unloading. I comforted myself in knowing that Dave had been
studying martial arts for a long time and if he got to knock out a few
knife wielding french hooligans it would make for good stories back in
the states.

After leaving David I proceeded to get completely lost in Grenoble -
with no map I ended up looping around in the down town several times.
Finally I found my way out and rolled back towards the Gite. It
turned out to be a good time to call my family and catch up a little.
About 3 I crawled into bed and passed out pretty quick. Turns out
Dave made it safely. He only had to do a couple of Martial poses to
scare off some of the local ruffians. The sad thing was that the
internet ticket machine was broken and he had to pay for the ticket
again.

The next day Steve, Tim, and I finished packing up and said goodbye to
our friends and made our way back to Paris. We were going to make an
easy drive of it and hit the old part of town for a little while
before going to the airport and our hotel for our flight the following
day.

After about $60 in tolls and $200 in gas ($10 a gallon) we made it to
the center of paris. One thing we will definitely get for the next
international trip is a GPS - it would have saved us a LOT of time.
We were pretty much forced to go 17th century and find our way by
watching the angle of the sun. Eventually we got to the Seine and
parked in a garage near the government buildings. A short walk away
and we were at Notre Dame. We walked around and saw a few memorials
that Napoleon built about 200 years ago. Then we found a good deal at
an Italian Cafe where we had pizza and watched the people and recapped
our trip. We even had a pretty interesting conversation with our
waiter about American politics. He wasn't fond of George W, but he
wasn't impressed with the 'Candidate for Change' either. No comment
on the republican candidate at all.

After dinner we walked back to our car and drove out to the hotel near
the airport. We had some serious trouble getting there, but
eventually we did it. Again - GPS would have been helpful. The next
morning we made it to our gate after a few miscues and after a couple
of trips through the xray machine we were at our gate. Dave had an
AWESOME time in the French airport as well. He traveled at least 24
hours straight - probably more. But we got home and the consensus was
that the trip was outstanding.

For a guys only trip this would be hard to top.

If you are reading this and the 100 pics on picasa aren't enough - we
have about 1000 more that we would be glad to bore you with!

L'Alp D'Huez

Another beautiful morning!
Traditional breakfast with a few boiled eggs.

Then we were packing up our stuff to go up to the famous climb.
We had discussed how to see the Tour that day with a LOT of people.
What would be the best location. How could we see as much as
possible? We decided to get as close to the top as we could and find
a clear area where we could see several turns.

The Chef made us some lunches. And they were Awesome. However, later
we found that the price was AWESOME, too.

We rode out toward Bourg d'Oisans - which is the town at the base of
D'Huez. It would be the starting town the next day.
The traffic was pretty heavy, but we were able to ride through the
crowds and cars and start our ride up the climb. All of us were
really looking forward to the experience. We couldn't have gone up
too fast even if it were possible because of the crowds. It was like
riding through the games area at the Texas State Fair on Dallas Public
School Fair day for 14 K. Except this was fun. The crowds were a
lot of fun - the highlight was probably the Dutch corner - which is at
about switchback 10 or so. It is about 200 yards of nothing but
orange outfits and people who have been partying for hours (and the
Tour was still 5 hours away). At some point there was a set of blue
wizards that gave me a good long push - I guess I looked kinda tired.

After switchback 4 - very close to the top - we were forced to get off
of our bikes and walk - the road was closed to all but official
vehicles. We decided to lock up our bikes and walk to a big open area
at turn 3 and wait. We ate the food that was packed for us - so
good. I fell asleep on the grass and we just waited. About two hours
passed and finally the caravan started to come by. What a show. Then
another long wait before the motorcycles started to roll by preceding
the racers.

We had heard there was a break at some point at the bottom of the
climb, but didn't know more than that. Eventually we heard the sound
of the helicopters climbing the mountain - that really gets things
exciting - and soon 3 or 4 were swirling around above us with
cameras. Then after hours of waiting we could see the lead group of
motos and the red car of the Tour officials. Soon a lone rider came
into view and we heard it was Sastre on his second attack on the lead
group. The crowd roared as he came towards us - we were standing on
the apex of the 3rd corner and as he went around we could see and hear
his intensity - impressive. Several minutes later the other leaders
came by with Andy Schleck looking fresh as ever. Yves took a bunch of
pics with his SLR and we just waited as the rest of the riders came
by. It took at least an hour for everyone to pass. Seeing all the
pros working that hard was cool - we were all ready to ride as soon as
the road was cleared.

We hurried back down to our bikes and happened to meet up with our
friends from the UK - Philip and Paul. The 7 of us rode up to the top
Huez and cruised through the finishing straight. Our main goal at
that point was to look for the team trucks and mechanics and see some
of the cool gear that the pros were riding. Soon, though, it was time
to return so that we wouldn't miss that dinner thing at the Gite. The
meal that night was supposed to be a home run.

It took quite a long time to ride down the mountain. There were
thousands of people going down - including the entire Caravan which
seems to be an innumerable quantity of vehicles. We zipped in and out
to get down as fast as possible. David had two flats on the way.
Probably cause he was using Italian tubes on french soil or
something. We regrouped at the bottom and made our way through the
people and cars and worked our way back up to La Danchere.

All 7 of us regrouped at dinner and shared our stories - we also met
up with a couple of guys staying at the Gite from the Chech Republic
who could speak a little english. After another incredible dinner -
shrimp, steak, and chicken that we grilled at the table - we loaded
our pictures, Yves pics, and the pics the English guys had and watched
a long slide show on Dave's mac at the dinner table. It was fun to
see in stills what we had only glimpsed as the riders passed us during
the day.

By ten or eleven we were all whipped and headed for bed. A great day.

Climbing the Galibier

Fyi - writing this in the car and I can barely see the screen so their
may be a ton of errors.

We got up early on Tuesday for breakfast and our first big ride in the
Alps. Breakfast was the usual French event - croissants, french
bread, and jelly. Our cook added some eggs and yogurt to make us feel
at home. Dave was getting pretty desperate for
'his kind of breakfast' which he said always included Barnyard
Animals. Apparently the French don't believe in Barnyard Animal
breakfasts.

We had a good visit with our friends from Marseille and took some
pictures with them before they set out on their hike. We all felt
like that group would have made a good subject for a reality TV show.
They had every possible personality.

This day our goal was to ride two of the big and famous passes of the
Tour. The Tour riders themselves were in Italy and riding across the
border into France and we were going to see them the next day.

We got our bikes all prepped and the water bottles filled up. This was
a day we had been waiting for for a long time. What would it really
feel like to climb the big ones? We rolled out of our little hamlet
of La Danchere and rolled down to the main road. Or what we thought
was the main road. (I had spent a lot of time studying the maps so
that i would have a good idea of where we were and what would be best
for us to take on - but sometimes my memory wasn't perfect) We took a
right and headed East towards the high alps. The road was beautiful -
just two lanes twisting through the mountains and along a beautiful
river. We passed several little towns and hamlets and some of the
climbing was pretty intense. David and Steve rolled up ahead of Tim
and I as usual - those guys have a lot of natural horsepower despite
their advanced ages. Tim and I are pretty sure that alot of thier
power was due to the fact that they had triples on their bikes that
they didn't mention. (that isn't true, but I wish it was).

After about 45 minutes the climbing started in earnest - we were going
straight up a steep mountainside via a bunch of sheer switchbacks. It
was pretty amazing. At some point on the climb I mentioned to Tim
that i felt like the road was a LOT shorter than I thought it would be
and that there was far less traffic, etc. Well, we found out the
reason for all that in a few more minutes - we were on the wrong
road. We had turned right too early and had ridden about an hour and
a half out of our way. I tried to remind the guys that a warm-up was
always a good idea and that it was a pretty road after all. There was
no physical mutiny so that was nice. We then turned around and
smoked down the valley, past the La Danchere turnoff and to the actual
highway that would take us to the Galibier. We turned right and
started the climbing in earnest.

it was about 10 AM by now and the sun was up, but the temps were
cool. We set a good tempo and again David and Steve rolled up ahead a
bit. Tim and I got in a groove and started ticking off the
kilometers. We went through some amazing scenery - huge mountains,
lakes, rivers, long and dark tunnels, ancient towns and churches.
Dave would pull over occasionally and we would regroup. There were
riders everywhere. Going up and coming down - just a ton of cyclists
- and the cars were all sharing the road without complaint. We didn't
get the wrath of even one big Wylie dodge pickup with huge diesel
exhaust pipes that felt he needed more of the road than he already had.

We made our first significant stop in at famous ski and mountaineering
town of La Grave - narrow streets and some of the most fantastic
views we had ever seen. We grabbed some water from a little
restaurant and had a quick break and then started the next part of the
climb. (In our false start we had climbed about 400 meters or just
1200 feet and we were going to climb 1700 meters to the top of the
Galibier) It was 8k more to the Col du Lauteret. The Tour would be
passing Lauteret the next day so when we arrived the roads were
covered with people and campers. The landscape was kinda lunar - no
trees - just high alpine grass and giant peaks with a ribbon of white
campers streching up and down the road as far as you could see. We
stopped for pictures and met a few folks doing the same thing. People
were very friendly every place we went.

The next stage was the steepest - a hard 8k up to the top - twisting
through the roads and dodging the people and campers and riders.
Apparently these people just enjoy camping at high altitude - it is
like a state park got moved up onto the roadside. The highway was
closed and there were no cars moving on the road. The big change we
felt was the temperature. It was getting really cold. When I finally
caught Steve and David at the top they were beginning to succumb to
hypothermia. The wind was howling and there was a line of people
waiting to take a picture by the sign proving the pass had been
reached. We took our place in line and got the pics. It took me
about four seconds to put my camera in my pocket and in that amount of
time David had jumped the Tour barrier and was speeding back to the
restaurant about 1k below the top to get some warmth We stood inside
the shop for about 15 minutes trying to get the blood flowing back to
our fingers and finally decided we needed to get going. The descent
was VERY cold, but every kilometer brought us closer to the warmth and
soon we were comfortable again.

We met up at the Lauteret and then started our drop down to La Grave
where we had decided to have a late lunch. The decent was a thrill -
the roads were wider and and grade perfect for going fast, but staying
in control. There is a certain kind of excitement that you feel when
you fly into a pitch black tunnel at 45 - 50 and have to look at the
headlights ahead to know if you are in the right spot. While this
might not seem to be the safest thing I can pint to two facts that
indicate it wasn't a truly bad idea: everybody else was doing it and
we made it through safe.

We were starving by the time we got to a cafe for lunch. I am
surprised that we didn't take food off of the other patrons tables.
Tim and I were somewhat awed at the number of calories that Steve and
David could put away and stay so skinny. They were kinda like
squirrels (without the puffy cheeks full of food) - both had vast
caches of food in their luggage. Dave was also rather impressive in
his use of the french language. He was working hard on it with his
computer program at night and then using it during the day. Most of
the time the nationals didn't understand, but he was determined. We
sat in shadow of some beautiful peaks - probably the most scenic stuff
we saw.

Soon it was time to hit the road again - we were determined to get
back to our Gite for a shower and our next four course meal!
The descent was really fun - We had a great highspeed chase for about
the last 5 k. Going up I am not so fast, but m 190 lbs helps get the
speed up. Before ling we were on the short climb to our home away
from home and resting up for dinner.

Weeks before the cook had planned to do a Texas style meal of Fajitas
for dinner so we were pumped. When we came down to hang out on the
deck she was grilling the chicken and peppers over the fire. Dinner
turned out to be great bur for more reasons that the food. We met
some great people. One that I may not have mentioned yet is the 100
year old matron who had lived near La Danchere and Grenoble most of
her life. She was a fireball. Fun and opinionated. Not sure what
she thought about us, but I do know that she was disappointed that we
were eating American style food while we were in France. She was not
a fan of fajitas. We tried to extract some WWII stories from her
wiith marginal success - she had escaped to LaDanchere from Grenoble
during both wars - the Germans had never made it too far into the
mountains because of the light populations and difficulty of travel.

We also met some new friends from the UK - Philip and Paul - They
were from the Cotswalds. Really interesting guys - just al ittle
younger than us. A late comer to dinner was our future riding partner
Yves. Philip worked for a big bike shop and was Paul's dealer.
Apparently Paul had a serious addiction to bikes and Philip helped to
perpetuate that addiction. They both had a great sense of humor and
we laughed a lot. Yves is a 29 year old Belgian who spoke good French
and English. For a long while it was the older lady, Yves, Philip,
Paull, and us sitting around the table - it was pretty funny to try to
communicate. After a while the matron left and we turned our
discussion purely to bikes. All of us were looking forward to riding
up L'alp d'huez the next day.
We invited them to join us and Yves took us up on it - the other guys
had a early morning plan.
After a long conversation that night we went on up to bed and went to
sleep.
A good day in France.

Je suis fatigue

Early up
This day started early - we were planning to make it as epic as we
could. The day dawned sunny and cool - beautiful mountain weather.

Breakfast
At our Gite there are no shoes allowed upstairs. They have a huge box
of slippers - kind of an odd selection, but we all picked something
out. Personally I am pretty fond of my Homer eating a huge cookie
image embroidered on my slippers. The descent from our room is
pretty perilous as the stairs are super-steep. We are all kinda
surprised Steve can get down them at all in his advanced age, but he
seems to be making the best of it.
So down we go to breakfast. The cook here is from Oklahoma...kinda
nice. We are the first Americans to stay in the Gite during the year
she has worked here. In france they don't eat 'barn yard animals' for
breakfast as David is keen to point out every morning. She set out
some boiled eggs for us with the usual bread, butter, and jelly. We
had a nice visit with her, Susan, during breakfast. She has been a
high school principal among other things and is trying something
different for a while.

Farewell to our Marseille friends
The other table at breakfast was occupied by our new Runner friends
from Marseille. They are quite a set - lots of laughter and smiles.
We have really enjoyed the little time we have had with them. They
staged out on one of the patios and we all visited for a while. We
introduced them to duct tape to cover blisters and hotspots and gave
them a little to try out on the trail. They are hiking about 15-20
miles a day through some pretty steep stuff, but without packs. They
were pretty interested in our bikes - again, Cannondale was the big
hit. Everyone likes Cannondale here for some reason. We took a few
picks and said goodbye.

Prep the bikes / check the map
David had to switch tires out and it takes a good bit of time to get
all the tires pumped up and everything checked out. I spent some time
studying the map to be sure that we were on the right track. The goal
- Col du Lauteret and Col du Galibier, both on the route of Le Tour

Beautiful valley for an hour up
Our Gite is on a pretty steep little hill in a tiny town with about 10
buildings. We dropped down the windy road to the main highway and
took a right and headed up the valley - it was a beautiful ride along
a river and between huge mountains and tiny little towns. Suddenly
the road went up steeply - about 11%. It was a bit of a shock, but we
got into a rhythm and moved on up the hill. During the ride I
commented to Tim that the road didn't seem to be large enough to be
the main route to the next major city, but the roads are narrow in
france, so I let it go. Then we hit the big climb - it was a windy
switchback road on the side of a cliff - really cool. Huge waterfalls
and totally scenic, postcard-like stuff. When were near the top we
stopped to look at a map posted by the road. Turns out we were on the
wrong road. We had done a hard hour of climbing in the wrong place.
I blamed Tim. Everyone was nice about the mistake and we shot down
the mountain to the correct road.

Down and up again
We finally found our roundabout and took our turn up the REAL route.
It wasn't long before we had to stop for lunch - one of Dave's protein
bars. They take a few minutes to eat - you don't really eat them as
much as you gnaw them down. We were informed by David of the specific
dietary qualities of the Honey Stinger meal replacement bar during the
meal.

Up, up, up - Tunnel's, villages, to the Lauteret
This road was much wider and much busier than the first road we took
off on, but it had a nice bike lane. You have never seen so many
bikes. In every direction there are bikes and roadies headed up and
down every road. The people in cars never honk unless you are really
hogging up the whole road. They just wait for a good passing spot and
then zip around. They get pretty close, but you get used to it and
since they aren't trying to be obnoxious it is easy to ride with
them. The route include several tunnels of all lengths and a bunch of
great views. It took about 2.5 hours of steady climbing to reach the
Lauteret. Behind us we had a view of some amazing peaks and glaciers,
particularly one called La meige.

The road at the Lauteret was covered with small motor home campers and
people. The Gendarme had the road closed going on up to the Galibier,
but bikes are allowed to go. We started the last and toughest 8 k of
our day. The road was just like you see it in the tour, people
everywhere camping out on the sides of the road and the edges of steep
drop-offs. We pedaled up the road and the temperature began to drop.
I remember at one point thinking that I had to be close and then I
came around a turn to see another HUGE wall of climbing in front of me
- with several switchbacks and campers the whole way. These people
park here for several days before the tour comes by and then after all
that waiting, the tour goes by in 5 minutes.
With about 1 k to go there is a sign that indicates the road is going
to be extra steep - over 11%. About 10 minutes later we were at the
top - about 6000 feet. The wind was howling and there was a line to
get a picture with the sign to prove you were there. We took that pic
as fast as possible and then hurried down the mountain. It was a VERY
cold descent for about 15 minutes and began to warm up noticeably when
we got back to about 5000 feet. Then we had food on our minds and
were on our way to stop in the next town - La Grave - to eat because
it had amazing views of the glaciers and tallest peak and we could sit
outside.

Ham and Cheese experts in Le Grave
The simplest thing to order is the Ham and Cheese. But you have to be
very careful that you dont order the ham and cheese that includes Cru
because that is raw ham. Cris it he kind of ham you want. We have
found that there is a lot of variance in the way these things are
prepared. So far my favorite is near Ventoux at Maulacene, but Dave
was kinda the one today was the best - in Le Grave. This was our
first break from from the bikes for about 6 hours and it felt pretty
good to chill out and relax. This second lunch / pre dinner didn't
last long and we were on the road - We needed to make it back to our
Gite for dinner at 7:30. We were looking forward to a shower, the
food, and the new people we would meet.

A fun descent
The road down was really fun. The roads are so smooth and the cars so
friendly that you just can't help having a great time. We sped back
through the tunnels - a couple of them seemed ancient with stone walls
- and finally hit the bottom. We had to do about 30 minutes of
climbing back to our place, but it turned out to be pretty easy after
the work we had done earlier in the day.

Showers and an unexpected dinner
We were putting the finishing touches on a great day - we were back at
6:45 - in time for showers and for dinner! The dinner is an awesome
thing - 3 or 4 courses and really tasty. The cook had planned fajitas
for this night and she didn't know that we were americans when she
made the plan! She started off with Chips and Guacamole. Wow.
Dinner was great -

New friends
Again we enjoyed the people at the table. We are adding to our
contact list in Europe. We have the belgian connection we made in
Provence, and on this night we had a good visit with two guys from
Cheltenham, England in the Cotswolds. They were real interesting
guys, just a little younger than us. One works in a bike shop and the
other is his friend and a major client of the shop. They do and
annual Tour trip and they are here to enjoy the race at Bourg d'Oisans
and Alp d'huez. We had a great visit and learned a lot about them and
about England. It was a fun conversation. Looking forward to seeing
them after the next day of riding.

Out cold
By 10:30 we were wiped out and ready to sleep. We climbed up to our
room and put our heads down. David did his usual 20 minutes on his
French lessons - he has succeeded in blending a Texas accent and
French. We listen has he repeats his vocabulary to his computer. Get
ready for fun, Tina.

114 pics from france

Click the link below or cut and paste it into your browser -  

Just a few of the 1100 pics

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.winn.family/TDF2008Top100?authkey=k6E9NUiCK-8

Le Mont Ventoux

Sunday morning --

We all slept in a bit today - got up about 9 AM.  Not a big rush today as we were not trying to get to a place where we could see Le Tour.  Today was the big day for climbing the legendary mt ventoux.  The mountain looks down over Provence and we are staying about 20k from it so we can see it clearly.  The weather was different - there were clouds and occasional light rain was falling.  Kinda of a mountain rain - big drops and on and off with thunder.  

Our original plan was to ride from the La Nesquiere - our hotel to the top of the mountain and then back, but due to the weather we decided to drive a little closer.  After another simple, but great breakfast of french bread and pastries with homemade jelly and some awesome peach/pear juice we loaded up.  We spent some time trying to decide about how much to pack - should we bring warm, wear warm, how much water? etc.  Finally, we were ready to roll.  Steve has become our primary driver, I take care of the the directions - it is kind of a rally situation because on these small roads the french drive like they are on fire and you have to be prepared for sudden roundabouts.  On our way up the rain came and went, but we were determined to roll regardless.

The pros race up the Ventoux from a city called Bedoin - the fastest time up is an hour.  We elected to take the same route.  We parked about 5K from the town in a scenic overlook.  In front of us about 2k away was a beautiful medieval city called Crillon Le Brave.  It was amazing looking perched up on a hill with walls and a church and castle.  We finished dressing and rolled toward Bedoin.  Bedoin proved to be very nice with narrow streets and lots of cafe's full of people.  BTW - we have always heard that France is over-run with tourists in the summer.  So far we have not seen that to be true.  Maybe it is because we are not doing the typical tourist thing, but we have ridden a great deal without seeing anyone at all on the roads - plenty of seats in restaurants, not much traffic except in the heart of the bigger cities like Nimes and Auvignon.  Anyway -  we stopped at a local bike shop for a cable housing for Steve's bike.  Then we were on our way.  The road up is mild for about 5 K and then jumps up to 10 percent for about 20k.  It is steep. [One thing that is amazing about this place is the roads.  They are almost perfect.  I don't think we have seen a pothole yet.  They are narrow and the cars fly by, but they deal with the bikes well.]  As we began to climb Dave faked a flat and we had to stop and fix it - it took forever because our pump takes about 500 strokes (no kidding) to get up to a rideable pressure.  Even after all that pumping Dave's tire wasn't full enough to ride up AND down.  It was then that Steve remembered he had some compressed air cartridges in his seat bag.  The one he pulled out looked like it had been in there for about ten years.  It worked.  The interesting thing is that the airline physically removed David's cartridges from deep in his bike box, but Steve's were overlooked.  That saved us about an hour of time returning to the shop in  Bedoin.  So, we got underway again and were finally on our way up Le Ventoux - something all of us had thought about since the first time we had seen it raced in the tour.    After about 2 or 3 K of pushing hard I decided to back off and let Steve and David have a chance to ride up front.  They were exhausted from the pressure I was putting on them and were already in their best gear ratio.  It was time to give them a chance and drop out of my big ring and sit up.  Then I watched the two climbers leave me behind.  Then the climb started. Those guys can climb.  Not sure if the extra 40 pounds I am carrying is too helpful going up.  I am thinking of loading up those two with a few milk jugs full of sand to level things out a bit.

The climb was tough.  The first half is in the trees and little gullies - the uphill never seems to end. There were bikers riding up and down constantly.  after about 14k we arrived at the tree line and took a quick break.  Steve and David had met some guy from New ZEaland who was working in Afghanistan. They have strange taste in friends. We got under way and rode up the last 6K - great views all around.  Not much of the storied Mistral winds in our face because of the storm. We saw lots of names painted on the roads - Hincapie was probably the best.  On top the weather was cold and rainy - we paid dearly for small cokes - about $5 each.  Then we descended the back side of the mountain to a town called Malaucene.  It was a cold and wet 20 k drop and really fun.  We were shivering pretty hard so it felt like our bikes were wobbling - never felt that before.  When we got down a way it warmed up some and the roads got dryer so we picked up the pace.  Very fun.  Malaucine was beautiful. Definitely a place to go and visit again.  We arrived in town and found a cafe with a big tv to watch the last hour of Le tour.  It was great.  Then we rode out of town through treed blvds and got on the most beautiful road we were on yet.  It was as if they had landscaped it for several miles.  We rode up to the Col du Madeleine (sp?) and over.  It was another great descent to Bedoin.  I was obliged to take the sprint points at the city limit sign.  David and Steve made me pay for it by taking off to the car on a flat section - no hope for me.  Good times.

Back to the farmhouse.  We cleaned up and went to Auvignon for some dinner.  Had a good time eating outside.  The manager spent a lot of time with us and gave us a lesson on how to tip.  Dinner was from 9:30 to 11PM.  

When we got home we started the process of figuring out how to pack our van.  It was like a puzzle.  We had to make room for Tim and his bike.  The conclusion was that we would have to buy a bike rack in town the next day.  More on that later.....



Great people we have met:

Isabelle
Charlais
Claude and Heidi  / Vic (son)


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Over the Col du Mur

Saturday was a long day - 9 hours away from the hotel riding and watching the tour.
     Before leaving we visited with some of our neighbors at the hotel.  Everyone here has been extremely nice and helpful.  We had a great visit with a family from Paris - both sets of grandparents, parents, and three daughters.  The dad was real helpful and helped confirm the route we were taking that day.  He said the villages we were going to were great and steered us away from a couple of touristy spots.  Then we visited with a family eating breakfast near us.  They were from Belgium - Heidi and Claude and their two kids - They were into cycling and were headed down to watch the tour as well - except they were driving.  We were able to give them some tips.  We talked for a while about Belgian cycling - Boonen, Museuw, etc.   We also visited with the father of the hotel owner - he is an interesting guy.  Went to the US in the 50s and began raising Charlais cattle because of what he learned in the US.  He was instrumental in getting that kind of cattle into the US and other countries - we got a good lesson in meat from him.  He speaks pretty good english.  
Other notes:
     David is brushing up on his french using Rosetta Stone - he will certainly be fluent soon.  
     We have determined that there are three kinds of French men:  1. the guy who doesn't have to wear a shirt - always has a big gut and is typically about 65 plus.  Can go without a shirt at restaurants.  Really amazing.  2.  The guy who wears 'Man Capris' this person will often have a Man-purse as well.  We don't recommend this look.  3. The dude with the HUGE mustache.  This guy is pretty cool.  I am currently working on a version of the huge mustache.
     We mapped out a course that took us from our hotel through several little villages, over a moderately high pass and then down to the road Le Tour was on. 
     Finding our way is a little difficult because our map doesn't have a ton of detail.  We have to stop alot to be sure we are on the right track.  At one point we rolled into an ancient City called St. Didier where there was a beautiful boulevard with old buildings and trees shading the way and after we made one turn we lost our way.  Fortunately, another cyclist was coming down the road (there are a ton here)  and we waved him over.  I tried to speak to him in french and his answer was, 'you are american?'.  He was very helpful and took us on a scenic route to the next turn and gave us the directions we needed.  He was from switzerland and living in this area now.  He was apparently retired from some kind of internet business and told us he was riding 400 K a day for two weeks straight - doing 100k loops.  Leaving his house at 4AM and returning at 9PM.  We asked him why and he said, ' why do people climb mountains?'  He just wanted to see if he could do it.  He dropped us at the start of the real climbing and sent us on our way.  Steve would like me to add that he was particularly impressed by Steve's Canondale.  They really seem to think Canondale is special over here.  
     After we left Mr. Switzerland we climbed a steep road to another ancient town called Vanosc which was really beautiful.  Very isolated.  We then started the climbing in earnest - not a long climb - about 10K.  It wound at a steady pace up through small canyons and hills to the Mur pass.  The area looks a little like Austin hill country. Temp was about 90, but dry so it didn't feel to hot.  We calculated that the climb was at least a Category 3, maybe 2.  
     David started moving up quickly and Steve kindly stayed back with me at a bit slower pace.  We flew down the other side through some beautiful towns and watched the tour go by.  It was moving slower this time.  People sit for hours and then it goes by and that is it.  We are trying to understand why they don't carry a radio and listen to the race as it approaches.  No one does that.  In America we would have tons of radios.
     When the race was gone we were in need of water and some lunch.  We ended up climbing up to an old town called Rousillon which was awesome.  It had all the narrow streets and a great feel.  We found a little restaurant and ate outside - in fact it looks like no one is allowed to eat inside.  The outside area was PACKED, even in the sun and there was not one person indoors.  The food was relatively inexpensive and we sat there for a while before heading out.  
     The ride back up the pass was smooth and beautiful - very little traffic.
The other side was very twisty and steep - we had an awesome ride down - so fun carving the turns.  Way better than a rollercoaster.
The bad thing was that we got separated and Steve and I ended up looking for Dave and Dave was looking for us.  We fortunately connected about 10K later at a restaurant - kinda by chance.  We stopped and had some food - again we visited with some really nice people.  We have decided that we have only met VERY friendly french people.  
After we got got home we were pretty tired - stopped by the pool and laid around until dark and then went up to sleep.  A good day.

au revoir












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Nimes pics

v


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Ridin' Provence - Friday

Today was pretty cool - 
We got up about 8 - most of the jet-lag gone - or at least it seemed like it.  Went downstairs and built our bikes up and then went to breakfast about 8:45 or so.  Breakfast was great if you can get by on a miniscule amount of food.  These French people have been awesome - really friendly, but they don't eat or drink like we do.  Tiny cups for everything.
Anyway - we hung out in garden for a while - about 70 degrees and sunny then got ready to go se Le Tour.  
     Dave was trying to deal with an asthma flare up so he decided to stay home and rest to keep from jeopardizing the rest of the trip.  Tough to leave him behind.   Steve and I got underway and rolled out.  After about 60 miles and 2 wrong turns we ended up in Nimes, found a parking place and got our bikes out of the van.   Driving DEFINITELY takes two people as the turns come fast and when you are doing multiple loops of a roundabout you need to watch the road pretty close
     It didn't take long to find the tour finish area in Nimes - lots of people, music, barriers, busses, jumbotron screen, etc.  Lots of energy.  We took a while exploring it because the racers weren't due for 4 or 5 hours (it was about noon at the time).  Finally we rolled out going backwards on the tour route.  Steve and I had the road completely to ourselves.  The gendarme had closed all the roads, but allowed us to pass.  All along the way people were chearing and clapping and telling us we were going the wrong way.  While pulling out of Nimes someone called out 'Plano' real loud and we went back to visit.  It was some guy who was from the Dallas area and had actually read about Steve on some local Dallas cycling website.  Probably a complaint, but that didn't keep Steve from talking about his world famousness for about 20 K.   
     At 25K the gendarme stopped us from going further and we couldn't find any way around them so we poked around a bit and landid on a spot that was in the shade and gave us a pretty long view of the approach so that they wouldn't just go by in a blur.  We settled in with two French families that were really nice.  One offered us Coca cola and the other offered us water and their chairs!  We had a good conversation with one family - Grandparents with grandkids.  They were on vacation.  The kids practiced english and I practiced mangled french.  Steve moslty went with sign language.
     After a LONG wait the caravan started to come.  Possibly the most unsafe event I have ever witnessed.  It would have been better to give all the 5 year olds knives and blindfolds and tell them to run crazy up and down the road.  People are lined up on blind corners and the cars and floats and trucks come flying down the road at about 50.  The people on the floats are mostly teathered in, but it wouldn't take much to have an amazing wreck.  Picture a Macy's float going 50 with people on it throwing trinkets at you.  One keychain in a plastic bag hit my leg and nearly put a hole through my calf.  I was able to save the keychain and bring it home, but it left a scar.  
As soon as the peloton and the team cars passed Steve and I said goodbye to our new friends and started riding back.  Once again the roads were closed and we flew by the cars.  We stopped at a small snack stand with at TV and watched the last 1K of the race on TV.  Kinda cool to see the roads we had just ridden on.  
     Back in town we sped around some of the roundabouts - just to see what it was like.  The finish area was still full of people when we arrived so we road around a bit more and then went back the our van (which is sponsored by Chipotle) and took off for home - arriving about 8:45 to a starving David.  We promptly headed out for some Pizza we happily have some left over.  
     Ready to sleep now - tomorrow we have about 60 miles of riding and doubtless some long waits for the peloton.  
Bon soir


How cool it would be to be a guy in France.  You can wear anything.



Unloading the bikes in the Hotel Barn



Dave gives careful approval to the French breakfast


Scott and Dave chillin at breakfast



Powered by Chipotle sucka



at the awards area in Nimes



On the road in Provence -



View from the old city in Villevielle



some old place



Our French Grandmere



Family we met waiting for Le Tour - Grandparends and Grand daughters



Roman Ruins in Nimes



Pizza after a long day - we got the 'Texan' with bbq sauce



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tdf in NIMES

Today was pretty cool -
We got up about 8 - most of the jet-lag gone - or at least it seemed like it. Went downstairs and built our bikes up and then went to breakfast about 8:45 or so. Breakfast
was great if you can get by on a miniscule amount of food. These french people have been awesome - really friendly, but they don't eat or drink like we do. Tiny cups for
everything.
Anyway - we hung out in garden for a while - about 70 degrees and sunny then got ready to go se Le Tour.
Dave was trying to deal with an asthma flare up so he decided to stay home and rest to keep from jeopardizing the rest of the trip. Tough to leave him behind. Steve and
I got underway and rolled out. After about 60 miles and 2 wrong turns we ended up in Nimes, found a parking place and got our bikes out of the van. Driving DEFINITELY
takes two people as the turns come fast and when you are doing multiple loops of a roundabout you need to watch the road pretty close
It didn't take long to find the tour finish area in Nimes - lots of people, music, barriers, busses, jumbotron screen, etc. Lots of energy. We took a while exploring it
because the racers weren't due for 4 or 5 hours (it was about noon at the time). Finally we rolled out going backwards on the tour route. Steve and I had the road completely
to ourselves. The gendarme had closed all the roads, but allowed us to pass. All along the way people were chearing and clapping and telling us we were going the wrong
way. While pulling out of Nimes someone called out 'Plano' real loud and we went back to visit. It was some guy who was from the Dallas area and had actually read about
Steve on some local Dallas cycling website. Probably a complaint, but that didn't keep Steve from talking about his world famousness for about 20 K.
At 25K the gendarme stopped us from going further and we couldn't find any way around them so we poked around a bit and landid on a spot that was in the shade and
gave us a pretty long view of the approach so that they wouldn't just go by in a blur. We settled in with two French families that were really nice. One offered us Coca cola and
the other offered us water and their chairs! We had a good conversation with one family - Grandparents with grandkids. They were on vacation. The kids practiced english
and I practiced mangled french. Steve moslty went with sign language.
After a LONG wait the caravan started to come. Possibly the most unsafe event I have ever witnessed. It would have been better to give all the 5 year olds knives and
blindfolds and tell them to run crazy up and down the road. People are lined up on blind corners and the cars and floats and trucks come flying down the road at about 50.
The people on the floats are mostly teathered in, but it wouldn't take much to have an amazing wreck. Picture a Macy's float going 50 with people on it throwing trinkets at
you. One keychain in a plastic bag hit my leg and nearly put a hole through my calf. I was able to save the keychain and bring it home, but it left a scar.
As soon as the peloton and the team cars passed Steve and I said goodbye to our new friends and started riding back. Once again the roads were closed and we flew by the
cars. We stopped at a small snack stand with at TV and watched the last 1K of the race on TV. Kinda cool to see the roads we had just ridden on.
Back in town we sped around some of the roundabouts - just to see what it was like. The finish area was still full of people when we arrived so we road around a bit more
and then went back the our van (which is sponsored by Chipotle) and took off for home - arriving about 8:45 to a starving David. We promptly headed out for some Pizza we
happily have some left over.
Ready to sleep now - tomorrow we have about 60 miles of riding and doubtless some long waits for the peloton.
Bon soir

On the route

we rode outr at 10:30 and went 40 miles through several ancient villages - awesome.
Went over a long steady climb and then bombed down a long descent to a town called Apt. The caravan is coming by now. Big party
Racers come by in about an hour.

from my handheld

Hangin with some french folks

We r on the side of the road waiting for rthe tour to come by. Right at the last sprint point. Real nice family is giving us coke a cola and cookies. Temp is about 85 and sunny. We saw bob roll at the finshing area. The caravan just came by and it was crazy they were flying. We road about 30 k out to where we r in sommiers then we will follow the tour back to nimes and chill there. Tons of energy around the finish area. One of the straights is about 8 ft wide near the end.

from my handheld

Goin to france.

from my handheld

Arrive

Steve and I are here
Everything seems to be in good shape. 64 degrees. Right now steve is out looking for les toilets.

from my handheld

On our way

David is on his way to Houston and steve and I are sitting on the plane in dallas. Late departure. Hopefully not too late.
Gonna be hard to fall asleep at 6 pm so I can wake up at 3am to start driving across france.

from my handheld

test with pic

test

Test post

here we go!

hotels in france

17th - 21st - http://www.lanesquiere.com/ -- aix en prevence
21st - 24th - http://www.gite-lauvitel.com/ -- l'alp d'huez
24th - open??
25th - david leaves -- scott and tim in paris

hotel in paris

Friday 25th - Tim and Scott - Holiday inn express paris/ charles degaulle
reserved through destination europe
includes taxes and breakfast

reseveration code 508492 for

Wednesday the 16th
temporarily booked a room for david
one person, no smoking

call 1800 835-1555
reservation code 508495 with Destination Europe
Holiday inn express

van rental in paris?

vw van or similar- 1350 usd paris to paris pick up 17th 10AM return 26th 10 AM

SEE MORE NOTES BELOW
fees to pay at airport:
$17 road fee one time
$42 airport sircharge one time
$39 - 59 add. driver fee one time

EuropeCar is the rental agency at the moment -
Auto Europe will contact me with an email confirmation once they secure the van.

Auto Europe is who I called
record number: 2788629

insurance with Mastercard: 800-622-7747
worldwide
collision and theft
not more than 31 days
list additional drivers $59 for two additional
no deductible

has arranged your rental with the car rental company shown on the voucher after your payment of the services. Auto Europe is independent, not an agent for any particular car rental company. This voucher confirms your reservation with the rental company. The voucher is not a rental agreement. When you pick up the vehicle, you must sign a rental agreement provided by the rental company and subject to local laws. Additional fees may apply for rental service beyond hours of operation.All rates are guaranteed in US Dollars.

YOUR RENTAL INCLUDES

* Sales tax as of Booking Date: 11-May-2008. Unlimited mileage and fire insurance. Liability Insurance for injuries or damages to persons or things outside the vehicle

plus some fees for this and that
Dear Mr. SCOTT WINN

We thank you for your reservation; we look forward to you renting with Auto Europe. With more than 4,000 rental locations worldwide, our team members are committed to providing you the highest level of service and satisfaction.

Attached is the travel voucher you requested. Please make sure to verify all of the terms and conditions on the voucher. To ensure proper viewing and printing, the voucher was formatted using Adobe Acrobat.

YOUR RESERVATION INFORMATION:

Name: SCOTT WINN
Car Type: FVMRFP
Pick Up: PARIS / 17-Jul-2008 / 10:00 AM
Drop Off: PARIS / 26-Jul-2008 / 10:00 AM

Voucher Number: US2788629

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Here is Scotts itenerary --

Carrier
Flight Number
Departing
Arriving
Booking
Code
City
Date & Time
City
Time

American Airlines
48
DALLAS FT WORTH
WED 16JUL
5:10 PM
PARIS DE GAULLE
9:40 AM -- July 17


American Airlines
49
PARIS DE GAULLE
SAT 26JUL
11:40 AM
DALLAS FT WORTH
3:20 PM