triandgiveadam: Tour De France

Monday July 9th 2012,

I headed down off the mountain from the race back to Perpignon today. On my way up to the race I saw what looked like a castle or fort. I figured I would stop and check it out on my way down. Turns out it was a fort and behind the protected walls was an old city. It was neat to see places like this in person. People still lived behind these walls and it was also a place for tourists. There were these super old ladies who were heading out for their Sunday worship. They and their families must have been living here for generations.

I toured around the streets and tried to envision the people who used to live and rule in these streets. So much history and stories of people who came before us. I headed back to Perpignon and caught the last hour of church before heading back to the Benedetti home for my last few days in France.

I miscalculated the drive and distance and start time for the Time Trial day at the Tour De France. I had wanted to head out the door early Monday morning but it was just too far away. So I had a good few lazy days in Perpignon where I just chilled and relaxed. I made sure to get out and walk around a bit. I located a local bakery and enjoyed what is called a Religious (but said with a strong french R roll). It is a tasty chocolate treat I remembered from my time is Paris many years ago.

Dinner France Style!

On Tuesday afternoon I packed up and headed to Jerome’s brother in laws house which happened to be on my way to where I would be watching the TDF stage. It was a nice drive and I chose the NO TOLL option on my GPS unit. I wasn’t in a huge rush as he wasn’t going to be home till after 5:30 pm. I stopped off in Avingnon and toured "Palais des Papes" (The Pope's Palace). I did the audio toured and again marvelled at this time period.

Palaid des Papes

This is the chimney in the middle of a huge kitchen where the cook MEAT!

Always room for Ice cream!

I choose non toll roads today to avoid this feeling ;)

The drive was nice and took me through small towns and fun windy roads. It would be so much fun to come to Europe and rent motorbikes and just cruise.... One day Sunny Jo. My dad would love to ride these roads. I found a oven pizza place on wheels and it was just what I was in the mood for. I headed over to my house for the night. I was in a super small town, I mean a really small town. Fernand was super nice and welcomed me into his home. The place was quiet as his wife and kids were at her mothers for the night. I spent the night talking with Sunny and my kids, thank you Skype.

Tour De France (Wednesday)

I woke up with excitement as today was the day I get to go to the tour and watch the big boys ride. I drove to the part of the stage that I though would be good for viewing. I didn’t want to go and just see all the riders together and blow by me in 30 seconds in one big peleton. Stage 10 was the first stage that had some real climbs that would split up the riders for a little longer viewing of them. The race started in Mâcon and finished in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. I found the biggest climb on the tour and wanted to bike up and sit about half way up. I arrived with plenty of time and biked around town a bit, picked up a few souvenirs before heading up the climb to stake out my position. I was there a few hours early but found a great spot where I could see the riders go by and I could also see the road below before the riders got to me. The side of the road started to fill up with people wanting to see the riders dominate this climb. I passed the time by writing in my blog waiting for the riders. Before the rider came by there was the parade of cars. And I just don’t mean the bike support for all the teams, I mean an actual parade. All the big sponsors decorate their cars and trucks and come by one after another throwing out toys, shirts, hats and treats. This helped the time go by faster and was fun. It built up the excitement for the big show of the day. Soon after the riders started to come. I got it right and I had climbed up high enough to where the peleton had split and the riders were more spread out into smaller groups and individual riders. The crowd started going nuts as the riders went by. It was a lot of run seeing these guys climb like animals. Small upper bodies and monster legs propelled these guys up these climbs. I was a rush and super fun to watch. Before I knew it the race had gone by and everyone started back down the mountain. WHAT AN AWESOME DAY!! I biked back to my car and headed out to find my next stop just over the Switzerland border. I was suppose to stay at a guys house who’s name is Tony. I had Tony’s address and his first name but no last name. I found his condo but I didn’t know which button to push on the outside. I didn’t have an apartment number just the building number. None of the name plates said “Tony”. I asked a few people entering the building if they knew a Tony but no one did. So I loaded back up in my car and headed to what would be my final European destination in Zurich Switzerland.

Oh Ya, I'm here.

Grabbed a snack before my climb to stake my spot.

Found the perfect spot.

Here comes the parade

Here comes the big boys.

Wiggins.. The man in Yellow.

Proof I was there in the flesh!

There were a few bad car crashes on my way which slowed my journey. I hoped to not arrive too late at my destination as they weren’t expecting me till tomorrow sometime. I rolled into town just after 9 pm and luckily the Viagas-Haws family was still up. They welcome me in and I settled in. We stayed up late and just talked for a while. Julianna and Tony are both super nice and I am grateful that they are letting me stay at their place for so long. I will end up staying her for 6 nights which is the longest I have stayed anywhere. This takes a lot of stress off of me knowing I can just settle in till race day and not worry too much about where I will be staying next and how I am going to get there.