2004 Tour de France

Sunday, July 04, 2004

True Belgian Riding

In the wind and the rain.

Now, Scott said I really need to run on this trip, even it it's just a short run every day. So, I got up today and ran 26 minutes along the river in Namur which was at least 2 miles, and probably more. We checked out of the hotel and drove over to Liege where we are swapping hotels with 4 of the teams. Getting up to run requires a pretty early alarm since we usually either need to be packed and ready to go or ready to ride fairly early and one doesn't want to miss breakfast.

A few of us hung out at the Liberty Seguros bus again before the stage and I got to meet Mr. Manolo Saiz. I was telling someone he was the guy who yelled "venga, venga, venga" and he denied it, laughing. I was able to get a picture taken with him. We later walked over to the start area and Errol and I were just following everyone else when suddenly we were back where the team buses were! A gendarme quickly told everyone they had to go on the other side of the fence, so we headed that way, but then I saw a wide open space diagonally off to the left and I told Errol, "Let's just walk over here and hang out until they kick us out." He agreed and we were RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CSC BUS!!!! I really admire Bjarne Riis and they are my favorite team! We got a bunch of photos around CSC, Domina, Fassa Bortolo and others (yes, Petacchi, Mario and others) and pretty much just hung out and soaked in the atmosphere and checked out the riders as they went back and forth. I also got a good shot of Johan Bruneel and got my picture taken with Phil Anderson and Pedro Delgado (who is much smaller than one would think)! What a great time!

After the start, we got on the bikes and rode out to Huy to watch the race go by (and rode in the rain and wind--welcome to Belgium.) Still lots and lots of people were waiting in the town to see the Tour go by, despite the weather.

After the race went by, some of the group rode over to the Muur de Huy (which is in the Flech Wallone race). Muur means "wall" and yes, good name. That thing was damned steep (like a 20% or more grade)!! I made it up about 60% of the way and it was tough, especially with wet streets. My back tire slid on a wet manhole cover, so I said that was enough. No one made it all the way to the top without walking. Well, except for Stevo, who has had the experience of racing up it a few times. We then rode back to Liege, including riding past a nuclear reactor and a coal generating station which was spewing lots of dark, dirty smoke into the air. Liege is an old industrial town, definitely different than Namur, which sits right on the river with lots of beautiful houses overlooking the river.

Last night a group of us had drinks in the bar, then went out to dinner in Liege. Entree, main pasta course and 5-6 bottles of Chianti came to about 20 euros/person. A deal!

Today's Ride Total: 43 miles on the bike 3:08 (includes about 10 miles of heavy city riding)
Way fun day.

For the week:
Swim: 0
Bike: 89.4 miles
Run: 12.2 miles
Time: 9:48

Monday, July 05, 2004

Riding the Course

Woke up this morning really tired so I didn't make it out to run. And, we had to be ready to go early. (And I was back to the room last night by 10:20.)

We headed over to the stage start in the bus. All the team buses were in an enclosed space with security, so no close-up photos today. Once the race started, we got on our bikes and headed out of town to intersect with the course. We had some in-town riding, but then rode out in the country on some beautiful roads.

We got onto the course at about the 25K to go mark and rode a total of 31 miles. That included from 3K to 2K to go INSIDE the barriers, getting off the course at the 1K to go kite! It was so awesome riding through the crowds, especially at the finish!!! There were lots of people on the course, especially the last 10K.

I don't remember what our total time was, over 2 hours though. When we were on the course, we were riding pretty hard and what they call flat isn't. Lots of long rollers and a couple of short steep hills. And, at the end of the ride there was a nice long AND steep climb to get to the bus. Best part of the day--I did not get a push on any hill! That happens since they need to keep the group mostly together. We split into two main groups with a small third group (including me) in between.

After the ride we dropped the bikes at the bus (a mile away from the finish) and a couple of us who have been here before and the guides stayed in the bus to watch the end of the race on TV since you can actually see it. (You can't really get close unless you get there hours early.) The funniest part of the day was when one of the guys got separated from the group at the finish and didn't see Adrian the bus driver sitting in the median in the middle of the street telling us to turn right to get to the bus. Instead, he kept riding and riding and wondering where we were. He finally stopped and asked a shop owner if he could use the phone and called Lawrie's cell phone. It probably wasn't so funny to him at the time, but it made for an amusing story the rest of the trip. Good call on the wallet-sized phone list Lawrie!

Tomorrow, is the Arenberg Forest. Pave' for sure, and it's supposed to rain. And the Kimmelberg climb, which is part of the Tour of Flanders.

Time for the group dinner.

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

On The Road

We have our first longer drive today (2.5 hrs)--Liege out to near the Arenberg Forest. I'm in the van with Inaki, our Basque mechanic and Terry, one of the guides and a super strong master's rider. It's a nice change from the bus. I'm riding shotgun and Terry is trying to sleep and Inaki keeps waking him up.

We are on the freeway and it's a lot like I5 in California--a steady stream of trucks in one lane and cars zipping by in the other lane. The rains and clouds have cleared and the skies are blue, but there is a definite nip in the air. The countryside is rolling hills with trees or farmland. Lots of wheat and corn. It reminds me of Eastern Kansas.

More later after the forest.

A Religious Pilgrimage

Well, at least a cycling religious pilgrimage. We rode 2 hours 30 minutes today, most of it at a good clip and along part of the course. We parked the bus, got on the bikes and headed out on the course, towards the Arenberg Forest. Again, beautiful roads and little traffic.

We turned off the course at the Arenberg Forest and stopped to take photos, then we rode one of the most famous 2K stretch in cycling. That was pretty incredible. The stones are fairly large and the path is crowned, so you really want to stay in the center of the path. On both sides is a dirt path which is filled with people during Paris-Roubaix. The trees grow over the path and it is cool and shaded, and I can see how it would be quite slippery when wet. I also now understand why you want to be in the front group when you get to the Forest.

After the detour through the Forest, we then got back on the course and eventually got to the first pave' section that the riders rode (3k long) and we got to ride that. Man! That really knocks you around. The faster you go, the easier it is, but that is easier said than done. This stretch was a lot rougher, with the pave' smaller than the Arenberg, but still pretty big. Your entire body is jarred and you start to feel like you are loosing your grip, but you don't want to squeeze the handlebars too much. You can't really look around since you need to keep your eyes down the road but you can't see too well since your eyes are being jarred too. The route was already lined with people which made things even more stressful since many were walking down the road. Let me tell you, you can't maneuver quickly on pave'. And, when you come off the pave', your body still feels like it's vibrating for a few minutes. Totally awesome!!

A number of days ago one of the Aussie guys (Robert) and I were having a discussion about how he'd take me in a sprint. Terry said, "Mate, she's wicked on the flats". Well, today on the course we found out who was the better sprinter. I was riding at the back of the bunch with Terry and he said, "Take my wheel and we'll go mess with Robert." We got to the front of the pack and I slipped in between Robert and Patrick and shot off the front. If there was a green jersey, I'd be wearing it today. Ha! There was payback though when Robert dumped part of a water bottle on my back.

After riding the section of pave' on the course, we rode a little more of the course, then met the bus and some people rode into town to eat, others rode back to intersect the cobbles to watch the race go by and others went to see if they could score schwag from the caravan. Pete, Errol and I went into town, ate, I scored a Cofidis key chain from the caravan and Errol scored some schwag, then we rode back down the course and watched the race go by. One note about Belgian frites....they put them INSIDE the sandwich! We ordered hot dogs and frites and they all came piled together. And you must have some sort of sauce with your frites. Some places have 20 different choices of sauces. I'll stick with ketchup, thanks.

Once they'd gone by, we rode to the bus and watched them ride the first pave' section on the TV, then hopped on the bikes to watch them go by in another spot. After the race had gone by for the second time, everyone met back at the bus and we watched the end of the race on the TV. The first thing Patrick and Stevo noted was that Mayo's teammates weren't waiting or helping him to get back to the peleton after he crashed. Perhaps a little internal dissention on the Euskatel team? On big difference Patrick said was that if Lance had crashed, US Postal would ride backwards against the peloton to get to Lance. Patrick should know since he rode for US Postal.

Once the race was over, we drove over to near the Kimmelberg climb (part of Ghent-W... and the Tour of Flanders) and about half the group got off to ride it and then ride into Ieper, where we were staying the night. No Kimmelberg for me as I had to get to the hotel for a massage appointment with Choppy. The massage was so great--it didn't feel overly deep or painful when he was doing it and his hands moved really fast and afterwards my legs felt fantastic. The next day though, I had little fingerprint bruises on my quads. But I could get used to a massage after every ride.

Ieper is a great town by the way, lots of Flanders WWI history and very beautiful. They have a ceremony every night at 8PM to honor the armies who saved their town. I missed it as I was getting the massage, but some people went and said it was very moving. I'd like to come back here and spend more time.

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Contre Le Montre

Today is TTT day, contre le montre, and we are riding the course. Last year on TTT day, I'd wondered what all the "clm" designations were on the banners and signs. I thought maybe they were just happy to see me. HA! Now I know....contre le montre--against the clock. We are on the bus on the way to the start, and just passed the Liberty Seguros bus so we all waved. It's cool and overcast and there is wind and rain projected for later this afternoon. The plan is to ride the TTT course, then watch the race from the finish, then it's off on the bus to Compienge, which is the start of Paris-Roubaix. For now, it's time for a nap.

Later

Just rode most of the TTT course and the weather may be a determinant. It is raining and the winds are gusting. It's a great course and in good weather they would fly. I did 34 miles, averaging about 19 mph, and on the flats at the beginning, we were flying at about 28 mph in a group of about 12 people (which split up a short time later).

We are now in a bar near the finish drinking beer and watching the race on TV, but getting from the finish to the bus was a bit tricky. We rode all the way up to about the 5k to go mark and then the gendarmes kicked us off the course. That's about 15k farther than I made it last year! Terry guided the group of us into town and we knew the bus was at le gare (train station). We get to the barriers and they are letting people across and about half the group made it across. Well, then the gendarmes shut that access off for good, so the rest of us had to get from here to there, but we had to take the long way around. We stopped and asked another gendarme, but he pointed us in the wrong direction. We just kept going the way we thought it had to be and then I saw a little sign, "Le GARE --->" We finally got to the bus, put on dry clothes and went straight to the bar (to see the TV, you know!) We had to ride on some wet cobbles, which was extremely nerve wracking, as you saw many riders fall during the TTT.

Thursday, July 08, 2004

Recovery Day

I did a 25 minute slow run this morning. My legs were really toast from yesterday's time trial and I wasn't moving too fast. We didn't finish dinner until after 11:00 PM so getting up and out by 6:00 AM was hard. And NO COFFEE available early! That didn't help matters.

After breakfast, a group of us headed out on a 2 hour, easy recovery ride through the Compiegne Forest, including some dirt trails. They forgot to tell us that we needed to bring our cyclocross bikes! The trails were hard dirt packed, which was fine, but one section was loose, sandy dirt and a few people fell over (not me, but we did have to stop and therefore got dirt and bark in the cleats). We rode out to the clearing where they signed the Armistice to end WWI which was quite interesting. A total of 24.5 miles at a good shake-the-legs-out pace.

The town we were in (Compeinge) is also the start of Paris-Roubaix and the hotel we stayed at is the one the teams stay in for that race.

Got back, washed the bikes, showered and we are now on the road across northern France to Nantes, arivee' around 8:30 PM.

We are now stopped at a rest stop for the driver's mandatory 45 minute break and are staying to watch the finish of the stage. There is a TV on the bus, and reception is really good when stopped. A little spotty with the winds. And, the wine was just opened.

Abientot.

Friday, July 09, 2004

Just The Best Day

Ran 25 minutes this morning to start the day off, up one side of the river and back down the other.

There were two riding options today--50 and 100k. I went on the longer ride and it was at a good pace. Mostly flat in the Loire Valley, but there were a couple of climbs and some rollers. We rode 30 miles and stopped for lunch, then rode 33 more miles. 3:51 riding time, with most of the ride about 18-21 mph avg., but slower at the beginning and end in the towns and slower on the hills. I only had to get a little assist on the big hill and kept up on the rollers pretty well. Last year I wouldn't have even attempted this ride so I'm pretty happy.

After the ride the bus was parked outside the castle in Angers and we dropped the bikes, changed and went to the finish. We ended up back where the team buses were and got a bunch of photos of riders after the race (including Lance!!!) To watch the finish, we were sitting in a bar drinking beer watching on TV (next to the buses). I stood right outside the Phonak and T-Mobile buses and got some good shots. I also got a shot of every Postie. We are now on the bus and have Stuart O'Grady's sister on the bus and the wine has been opened.

One more riding day, then it's back to Paris. :-(

Nantes is an interesting town, and Robert, Steve, Fred and I found a fabulous restaurant--very French menu, but owned by Vietnamese. The food was terrific and I think salade campagnard is my new favorite thing.

La Vache Nantaise
1, rue Kerve'gan & 11 rue Bon Secours
Nantes

Sunday, July 11, 2004

The Lance Bracelet

Yes, you are seeing them on many of the stage winners. Lots of riders are wearing them, as are pretty much everyone on our tour and half the population of Belgium and France. They've been walking around the start villages selling them for 1 euro apiece and the money raised stays in Belgium and France. You'd expect the OLN folks to be wearing them, but even the French TV announcers are wearing them.

End of My Tour

Well, my Tour has come to an end.

I woke up yesterday with a stuffed head (probably from the air conditioning) and a sore back. I didn't run since we had to be ready and checked out early, but I did the shorter ride which felt pretty good. We rode 26 miles in about 1:50. I rode on the front for about 20 of the miles and we were averaging over 15 mph just riding easy, but we kept dropping a couple of people, so we slowed down some. Again, some beautiful roads, near the start town of Chateuabriant and I could have probably averaged around 19 mph riding tempo. We rode to the start and watched it and then got on the bus and headed back to Paris. I FINALLY found the jersey guy, but he didn't have any CSC jerseys for sale. Instead, I bought myself a Fasso Bortolo jersey and a Lion of Flanders jersey for my birthday twin (Happy Birthday).

Quiz: Who holds the record for the longest solo breakaway (and subsequent stage win)? This person also won the prologue a few times and wore the yellow jersey a few times. We met him yesterday.

Answer: Thierry Marie

Thierry was kind enough to pose for photos with everyone. He looks good, like he could still go on a breakaway.

After a long bus ride, we arrived back in Paris and last night was our closing dinner. Sure wish I were going on to the mountains and the finish. Bike is packed but I will run while I'm in Paris. And no, I did not run once on the trip last year. I might even look for a pool.

2003 Tour trip:
8 days riding
234 miles

2004 Tour trip:
9 days riding
306 miles

And I very highly recommend BikeStyle Tours. Just a great bunch of people. It's like traveling with friends.

http://www.bikestyletours.com/

Today I ran +4 miles up the Right Bank and down the Left Bank. About 54 minutes running. Now it's time to read email, sit in the cafes, watch the end of today's stage on TV and then have dinner with the guys tonight. Tomorrow--shopping!

For the week:
Swim. 0
Bike. 217 miles. 14:33
Run. 11.5 miles. 2:29
Time. 17:02

Monday, July 12, 2004

La Maison de la Biere

I am sitting here waiting for my dinner at La Gueuze--La Maision de la Biere!! The house of beer. I didn't notice when I walked in. Seriously! They have about 100 kinds of beer, both pression (tap) and in the bottle. I'm having a Trappist Achel. Pretty damned good. So is the entree (frisee). And the main (beeftek dauphinoise). I love Europe.

Ah Man....

I want to stay for the rest of the Tour!!!

Met up with my buddy Barry who arrived yesterday from Melbourne, Australia. He's one of the guys I rode with and had dinner with a lot last year and we've kept in touch via email over the past year. He said to come to Room 901 for a glass of wine with a bunch of other Aussies who had just arrived that day too. We had a glass of wine, then it was about 10 of us off to the Latin Quarter for Greek food. Good food and wine and pretty cheap too! After dinner about half of us went to a nearby bar for a pint. Lots of fun, and Sebastien, the hottie bartender!

We then took the metro back to the Novotel, with a quick detour to take a photo of Le Tour Eiffel, which was all lit up like a big sparkler. I guess they turn the fizzy lights on for 5 minutes every hour and we timed it just right! A great evening.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Stereotypical Americans

I've done pretty well until tonight finding places for dinner ~off~ the tourist track. Until tonight. The restaurant is around the corner from Cafe Flore (which holds fond memories for me from my first trip to Paris), and the food is great. But, I'm sitting across from the American travel family from hell.

Mom is whinging about how she wants to go home and misses her swimming pool, youngest son (13 or 14) hates everything, dad is wearing the sloppy athletic grey t-shirt and shorts. Actually, mom is whinging about freaking everything. And they are LOUD. Next time, stay the *:/! home in Rhode Island.

Jeez.

At least the food was really good. And the demi-boutelle of Cote du Rhone is excellent.

Paris Running

I found the Paris running spot! Le Jardin du Luxembourg, which is one block from my new hotel (moved from the Novotel over by Tour Eiffel to the Place de l'Odeon, in the 6th arr.) The Jardin has nice dirt paths all over and a 1.3 mile loop around the whole thing. Bathrooms, a snack shop for water and policemen on duty, plus great people watching. I did 39 minutes this morning (call it +3 miles) since I got a late start. Having dinner at 10:00 PM didn't help. Tomorrow will be a long run. Now it's time for shopping.

Post-Shopping Report

Hit the July soldes (sales) at the beginning, not midway through like I did. Didn't find much that I wanted clothes or shoes-wise (but I didn't hit the smaller shoe shops), so instead, I bought up a lot of French lingerie. I should have shopped in Brussels when I first arrived.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Another Beer Tasting

Delirium Tremens, an "extra strong beer" from Belgium. At least that's what it says on the label.
I'd rate it below Orval and Chimay, but above the others. Very stylish heavy white opaque bottle with a blue label. Though Westmalle is still in there too. I really need to do a blind tasting.

Le 14 Julliet

July 14th is a big day here--official holiday. And the military and every gendarme that's not on duty at the Tour or on duty guarding the government buildings was in the big parade down the Champs Elysee. Plus, the French version of the Blue Angels were flying about this morning and I got to see them as I did my run.

I ran 70 minutes in the park this morning which is 5.6 miles according to the map and guidebook. I'm now back in the park sitting in the sun, which is what hundreds of other people are doing too. Le Jardin du Luxembourg is pretty darned awesome!

But, I'm ready to go home. I'm starting to get a sore throat, I could barely wake up this morning, I want nonfat yogurt and fresh blueberries for breakfast, a big cup of regular coffee, not having to decide to have gas in the water or not, and I want real MEXICAN food. Mostly, I want to ride my bike.

What I'd like to take back is the Jardin, the cafes (sans cigarettes), the cheese, and that French laidback attitude. Seems like a good place to start and I will work on that when I do get home.

Time now for a nap.

Last Paris Dinner

OK, last night in Paris. Splurging for dinner.

La Mediterraneé Restaurant (place de l’Odeon)

Radishes and great, crusty sourdough bread on the table.

Entree: Pressed leeks with goat cheese and tomatoes. Cold. Almost like a terrine. Excellent!

Main: Perche grilled and over spinach with a bit of a beurre blanc sauce. Delicious!

Demi-bouitelle of a Macon Villages blanc. Quite nice.

No dessert.

Wish you all were here!

Hotel Michelet Ode'on
6, lace de l'Ode'on
Paris 75006
www.hotelmicheletodeon.com