I guess I'm going in reverse order as far
as recapping the weekend is concerned, but hey, I've never claimed to be
normal. For months and months I have had on my calendar the Friday
night singing at Lincoln Church of Christ which took place this past
Friday. I love singing some songs to the Lord, that is the truth, and I
really enjoy the Friday night singings. Unfortunately, most of the ones
that are in Huntsville take place in the fall, and well, the fall is
football season which means my backside is going to be sitting on a
bleacher in some stadium in this state. So, I like to attend as many as I
can when it's not football season.
Earlier in the week I had called my friend Janet to make sure she and
her sister, Deborah, were going to be there. They usually attend and I
wanted to make sure I would have someone to sit beside. When I arrived, I
noticed Erika's momma was there and had a lot of empty seats beside
her. So, I sat there and soon after Janet and Deborah joined me and then
Erika arrived with a friend of hers. It was a row full of some of my
favorite people. We enjoyed two hours of singing, but I would be remiss
if I didn't mention that, to me at least, most of the songs were slow. I
guess I was hoping for some songs with a little more pep. Also, some of
the leaders brought out some songs from the hymnal vault because I
wasn't even remotely familiar with some of the songs we sang. I was also
really hoping someone would lead "Lily of the Valley" and no one did. I
mean, that seems like one that would be lead every time, but no, not on
this particular night. Thankfully, the leader led it at church on
Sunday night and I almost let out a yelp of glee.
After the singing was over, we enjoyed some snack food. I quickly ate
the few things I put on my plate so that I could get on home and watch
the rest of the day's stage of the Tour de France. As I was gathering my
things, I swung my giant purse over my shoulder just about the time
Erika said, "watch out" and they next thing I know I had basically
assaulted an old lady behind me, knocking her snack food to the floor.
Erika and I cleaned it up and then I headed out and I would be lying if I
didn't admit I chuckled to myself about knocking that lady's food out
of her hands - not a mean laugh mind you, but it was a rather humorous
situation. Admit it, you laughed too!
Saturday morning I was up before 6:00 because my body does not even
remotely know how to sleep late. I got a few "chores" done and then
settled in for a morning of watching cycling on TV. It was the last day
in the Alps and the next to the last day of the tour and seriously, now
that the tour is over, I kind of don't know what to do with myself. I
met Jackie for lunch at Zoe's which worked out nicely because I had a
free entree there due to them leaving some things off of a recent to go
order. We visited for a couple of hours as we had a lot to catch up on.
Can you believe that was the first time we had seen each other this
whole month? She has been at the beach and we have both been busy with
this, that or the other.
After lunch we perused the furniture at Nadeau and dreamed of bigger
houses with funky furniture. I also found a copy of a new North Alabama
magazine there and picked it up for my Aunt Linda because inside were
two photos of my cousin, Alexandra serving up some Gelato and a hip
downtown joint. Jackie and I soon parted ways and I did a whole lot of
nothing while waiting on Sydney's arrival.
Sunday I woke with a sore throat and spent a lot of the day shining a
flashlight into my mouth and fearing that I had strep. I had a blister
of some sort in the back of my mouth which was painful and turned me a
wee bit paranoid that I would be spending the rest of the week on the
couch. I took Lysine in the morning and the evening in hopes that it was
just a fever blister of some sort and that the Lysine would help it to
quickly dissipate. Thankfully, come Monday, the blister had, in fact,
gone down quite a bit and visions of strep vanished from my mind. It's
still a little painful, but nothing like it was on Sunday. Hopefully, a
few more days of Lysine will do the trick.
After Sydney left on Sunday, I watched the last stage of the tour and
deeply regretted not traveling to France this year for what was
undoubtedly the most fabulous ending to any tour in recent history. A
night time finish in Paris followed by a stunning light show at the Arc
de Triomphe - yeah, major regret. I ended up dreaming about the tour
all night long and I don't know if I got up and did some cycling in the
middle of the night, but I woke Monday morning with a cramp in my right
calf; strange, I know. I'm still having withdrawals from the tour as it
feels weird to not have hours worth of cycling to watch when I get home
in the evenings. Someone on Twitter described it as a Tour de France
hangover, and honestly, I couldn't describe it any better myself.
Showing posts with label Cycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cycling. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Perfect Day on Mt. Diablo
Y'all, there's not much more in life that I like than a good mountain stage in a bike race and so I was super excited, and also a little nervous about volunteering at the Mt. Diablo finish on stage seven of this year's Amgen Tour of California. As it turns out, the day could not have gone smoother or better which made me a very happy cycling fan.
I woke up early (some things don't even change on vacation) and got ready for the day and checked email etc. until my dad woke up. We had to check in at our location at 12:30 and so we really didn't need to leave until about 10:30 I figured. So, while we were passing the time, I did some laundry. Thankfully and luckily, the hotel had guest laundry right across the hall from our room which worked out nicely.
We were about the last two in the building to eat breakfast I think (around 9:00) and after breakfast we waited on our last load of clothes to dry and then we headed towards the mountain around 10:00. We had received an email before leaving home that we were scheduled to work the 1:00-4:00 shift at the Juniper checkpoint, which was as high as most cars were allowed. There was only one spot higher to volunteer and that was the summit.
We checked in at each point and were given a pass for the car to move on up the mountain and we soon found Juniper. We parked and went to the check in table and were told we were supposed to be down the mountain to which I quickly replied that the email we received said to check in at Juniper and that I was not going down the mountain. So, the lady checked us in, gave us our shirts and hats and we checked with the volunteer coordinator at 12:30 and he allowed us to stay. We were handling parking which was the easiest peasiest job there was. The road closed at 2:00 so we really only had to work about an hour and handled very few cars in that time.
The race came through about 3:30 and it was super exciting. Of course, my dad expected to see an hour of racing and we saw about five minutes total, but that's how it goes in bike racing and to me it was great, great fun! Once the riders reached the summit, they had to bike down the mountain to get to the team buses which were below our location at Juniper. I was watching all the cyclists (professional and just average Joes) zoom down the mountain when a rider asked me a question, I looked up and my heart started pounding and I just wanted to ask for a photo, but I didn't because I was a volunteer. It was Jens Voight, AKA The Big Diesel Engine, and he wanted to know where the team buses were. My reply - "they're down the hill". His reply, "Thank you." It was such a magical moment. Actually, I'm amazed I could even find words.
I recognized some of the other riders as they came down when it wasn't so crowded and yelled a few names and got some waves. My dad and I decided to leave about 4:30 and on the way down the mountain who did we encounter but Dore Holte! I snapped a photo really quick with my phone and I will treasure the moment forever. It was the best day ever on the mountain!
The traverse down the mountain was not bad at all. In fact, there was hardly any car traffic and we were down in about 45 minutes. We ate dinner at a Greek restaurant and I had the chicken kabobs which were very good. My dad chose the dolmades which were disgusting. The bread was good and so was the salad. He just made a bad choice for his entree. He said he would never choose that again. I can't say that I blame him.
We were back at the hotel by 6:30, our earliest hotel arrival so far and we spent the evening blogging (me), emailing, checking Twitter, playing games on the computer and generally speaking doing a whole lot of nothing. It is vacation, after all and you're supposed to relax on vacation. I did do one more load of laundry which got us all caught up to that point.
On Sunday we will depart for Santa Rosa to watch the final stage of the race come in and check out the awards ceremony. Then we will make our departure for San Fransisco where we will be until Tuesday.
I woke up early (some things don't even change on vacation) and got ready for the day and checked email etc. until my dad woke up. We had to check in at our location at 12:30 and so we really didn't need to leave until about 10:30 I figured. So, while we were passing the time, I did some laundry. Thankfully and luckily, the hotel had guest laundry right across the hall from our room which worked out nicely.
We were about the last two in the building to eat breakfast I think (around 9:00) and after breakfast we waited on our last load of clothes to dry and then we headed towards the mountain around 10:00. We had received an email before leaving home that we were scheduled to work the 1:00-4:00 shift at the Juniper checkpoint, which was as high as most cars were allowed. There was only one spot higher to volunteer and that was the summit.
We checked in at each point and were given a pass for the car to move on up the mountain and we soon found Juniper. We parked and went to the check in table and were told we were supposed to be down the mountain to which I quickly replied that the email we received said to check in at Juniper and that I was not going down the mountain. So, the lady checked us in, gave us our shirts and hats and we checked with the volunteer coordinator at 12:30 and he allowed us to stay. We were handling parking which was the easiest peasiest job there was. The road closed at 2:00 so we really only had to work about an hour and handled very few cars in that time.
The race came through about 3:30 and it was super exciting. Of course, my dad expected to see an hour of racing and we saw about five minutes total, but that's how it goes in bike racing and to me it was great, great fun! Once the riders reached the summit, they had to bike down the mountain to get to the team buses which were below our location at Juniper. I was watching all the cyclists (professional and just average Joes) zoom down the mountain when a rider asked me a question, I looked up and my heart started pounding and I just wanted to ask for a photo, but I didn't because I was a volunteer. It was Jens Voight, AKA The Big Diesel Engine, and he wanted to know where the team buses were. My reply - "they're down the hill". His reply, "Thank you." It was such a magical moment. Actually, I'm amazed I could even find words.
I recognized some of the other riders as they came down when it wasn't so crowded and yelled a few names and got some waves. My dad and I decided to leave about 4:30 and on the way down the mountain who did we encounter but Dore Holte! I snapped a photo really quick with my phone and I will treasure the moment forever. It was the best day ever on the mountain!
The traverse down the mountain was not bad at all. In fact, there was hardly any car traffic and we were down in about 45 minutes. We ate dinner at a Greek restaurant and I had the chicken kabobs which were very good. My dad chose the dolmades which were disgusting. The bread was good and so was the salad. He just made a bad choice for his entree. He said he would never choose that again. I can't say that I blame him.
We were back at the hotel by 6:30, our earliest hotel arrival so far and we spent the evening blogging (me), emailing, checking Twitter, playing games on the computer and generally speaking doing a whole lot of nothing. It is vacation, after all and you're supposed to relax on vacation. I did do one more load of laundry which got us all caught up to that point.
On Sunday we will depart for Santa Rosa to watch the final stage of the race come in and check out the awards ceremony. Then we will make our departure for San Fransisco where we will be until Tuesday.
Dore Holte, people!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
A Conundrum of Sorts
As I'm sure you all know (and are probably
sick of hearing) I am a fan of cycling. My favorite team is
Garmin-Sharp, an American based team with an exceptionally cool team
manager. I, of course, follow them on Twitter and also follow the
merchandise store on Twitter because the store is always having contests
and sales and I'm not one to shy away from a contest or a sale for that
matter.
This past weekend, they announced via their Twitter feed that all orders placed before 11:00 p.m. on Sunday would receive a surprise gift. Well, if that's not an incentive to buy something, I don't know what is. So, I bought a t-shirt that was on sale for $16.99 and sat on pins and needles for the next five days while I awaited my package to come in the mail. I figured it would probably arrive in the post on Wednesday and I was correct! On Tuesday they had announced all the great things they sent out as surprise gifts, including Garmins, water bottles, t-shirts, etc. On the way home Wednesday, I started thinking about what I my number one choice of a surprise would be (autographed jersey) and then decided, well, a jersey in general would be exceptionally cool and then said to myself, I do love their water bottles and would be happy with one of those as well. There were so many choices to think about on the way home!
When I arrived and saw and felt of my package, I knew there wasn't a water bottle inside. I knew it was clothing of some sort. After letting The Tide out, I tore into my package to discover my surprise was a cycling jersey! Oh yeah! Not only do they retail for $99, but they are also exceptionally cool and I don't have any and how awesome would I look riding around the streets of Huntsville in my very own Garmin jersey. I would be the envy of everyone! After taking a couple of photos and tweeting about it and sending an email to the now jealous Tony, I took a closer look and realized they had sent me a women's jersey. Now, to most gals, the women's cut would be preferable; but, most women don't have as large of a bosom as I do. I'm just being honest here people!
I don't know if you other gals have problems with the women's cut shirts, but I have always had a problem with them because they are way too tight in the chest. So, when I saw that the jersey was, albeit in my size, a women's cut, my heart fell. I went ahead and tried it on and enjoyed a good laugh in the process. Now, cycling kits are supposed to be tight, but I don't think they were meant to be as tight as my jersey was on me. If they had sent me the men's jersey, it would have been tight, but I think it probably would have worked okay because it wouldn't have been cut so tight in the chest. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Every time I have tried on any women's cut t-shirt, etc, it doesn't fit through the chest and therefore I have to stick with the unisex or men's t-shirt - not as flattering, but at least my bosom is the poking out for all the world to notice.
So, while I am super pumped to receive an awesome surprise gift, I am also sad that I will more than likely never wear it. I will keep it though and the next time I am able to go to a race, I hope to get some autographs on it and then it will be a treasured keepsake. Here are some photos of my very first cycling jersey:
This past weekend, they announced via their Twitter feed that all orders placed before 11:00 p.m. on Sunday would receive a surprise gift. Well, if that's not an incentive to buy something, I don't know what is. So, I bought a t-shirt that was on sale for $16.99 and sat on pins and needles for the next five days while I awaited my package to come in the mail. I figured it would probably arrive in the post on Wednesday and I was correct! On Tuesday they had announced all the great things they sent out as surprise gifts, including Garmins, water bottles, t-shirts, etc. On the way home Wednesday, I started thinking about what I my number one choice of a surprise would be (autographed jersey) and then decided, well, a jersey in general would be exceptionally cool and then said to myself, I do love their water bottles and would be happy with one of those as well. There were so many choices to think about on the way home!
When I arrived and saw and felt of my package, I knew there wasn't a water bottle inside. I knew it was clothing of some sort. After letting The Tide out, I tore into my package to discover my surprise was a cycling jersey! Oh yeah! Not only do they retail for $99, but they are also exceptionally cool and I don't have any and how awesome would I look riding around the streets of Huntsville in my very own Garmin jersey. I would be the envy of everyone! After taking a couple of photos and tweeting about it and sending an email to the now jealous Tony, I took a closer look and realized they had sent me a women's jersey. Now, to most gals, the women's cut would be preferable; but, most women don't have as large of a bosom as I do. I'm just being honest here people!
I don't know if you other gals have problems with the women's cut shirts, but I have always had a problem with them because they are way too tight in the chest. So, when I saw that the jersey was, albeit in my size, a women's cut, my heart fell. I went ahead and tried it on and enjoyed a good laugh in the process. Now, cycling kits are supposed to be tight, but I don't think they were meant to be as tight as my jersey was on me. If they had sent me the men's jersey, it would have been tight, but I think it probably would have worked okay because it wouldn't have been cut so tight in the chest. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Every time I have tried on any women's cut t-shirt, etc, it doesn't fit through the chest and therefore I have to stick with the unisex or men's t-shirt - not as flattering, but at least my bosom is the poking out for all the world to notice.
So, while I am super pumped to receive an awesome surprise gift, I am also sad that I will more than likely never wear it. I will keep it though and the next time I am able to go to a race, I hope to get some autographs on it and then it will be a treasured keepsake. Here are some photos of my very first cycling jersey:
Fresh out of the package - Jersey on the Left, T-Shirt on the Right
Front of Jersey
Back of Jersey
Monday, July 2, 2012
My Weekend Revolved Around le Tour
Well, it seems that most people (two of three anyway) don't have a preference as to how many Cooking in the Car posts are posted in one week. So, for now I will kind of play it by ear. Today I felt like rambling on about nothing in particular and so decided I would pass on another Cooking post for now. I do have something in the car today that I am pretty excited about. The temperature for today was forecasted at 100, but I'm afraid that it hasn't gotten that hot and so it may be a bust and if it is, then I will try it again because I just know in my Cooking in the Car heart that it should turn out fabulous. I will obviously keep you posted.
Despite the unbearable heat, the weekend for me was really great and I have no doubt I can contribute the greatness to the beginning of the Tour de France. Friday after work I went ahead and made my weekly trip to Publix and it turned out to be the best trip I have had in weeks because for the first time in a few weeks I was actually prepared for my grocery trip. I had actually set out all my coupons, etc. which is what I normally do, but for whatever reason haven't done it in the past few weeks and have felt like a scatter brained mess at the store. After my stop at Publix, I went by Starbucks because the Starbucks locations at Target were having buy one get one free frappucinnos! Ye-ah! I got mine with soy and I'm hear to tell you there was not one bit of difference in my opinion in the taste. I enjoyed one that afternoon and saved the other for Saturday morning. When I got home that night I made eight cups of homemade salsa. Normally this wouldn't be something worth mentioning except that I have already eaten all but about one cup. What can I say? It was good.
On Saturday morning I was up bright and early and made some French toast for the opening prologue of the Tour. I ate my breakfast and enjoyed the free frappuccino from the Target visit on Friday and settled in for about four hours of time trial watching. Thankfully all of my friends and family respected me by not placing any calls during that time. Actually no one usually calls during that time any way but I was afraid someone would and they didn't and I was thankful. Just being honest here, people. The remainder of Saturday was spent napping, doing a little cleaning, eating salsa and watching replays of the Tour. I finally broke away from the Tour replays long enough to bathe and eat a real meal and eventually watched a movie before being able to recite everything the commentators had said earlier in the day. Speaking of commentators, NBC Cycling has two new guys this year who are just atrocious! Seriously, I don't even have the words to describe how bad these two are. One is brought in during the pre-race report and the other is a "side-line" guy. Oh my word, worse ever!
Sunday morning I was up bright and early again and went ahead and got ready for church. I was able to squeeze in an hour and half of tour watching before heading off to worship. I was afraid I might not make it though. When I went to put my car into drive from park, it wouldn't budge. Apparently these 100 plus degree days had loosened up the duct tape that has been holing the gear shift in a manner that allows me to maneuver from park to drive or reverse. You may recall I had the same problem earlier this year. After several panicked minutes, I made a call to my granddad to see if he would come pick me up and let me use his spare vehicle. The call went straight to voice mail. I called my parent's and had to wait on them to call me back. I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned this before, but my phone will not connect to their land line. It rings once and then disconnects. For a few months after the April 27, 2011 tornadoes, the problem went away but it returned a few months ago. So, any time I need to get in touch with them I have to call and pray that they will realize the phone has rung and wait for them to call me back. Clearly I hope I never need them in an emergency situation for I will most likely be out of luck. At any rate, as soon as my mom called back and I answered the phone, the car miraculously shifted into drive and I peeled off the old duct tape and added a tighter new layer. So far, so good. I just need to remember to check that out every few days. I went to church with my aunt and cousins and I really enjoyed the service and sitting with my family. I didn't get to stay for class because I had to make an appearance at work that afternoon. So, after church, I made a run by Target for another round of buy one get one fraps and some sushi for lunch. I think Target has pretty good sushi as far as supermarket sushi goes. I actually think it's better than Publix. (I think I may have just heard a collective gasp from the readers).
I went home to eat, change clothes and watch another 45 minutes or so of the Tour before going in to work for a few hours to audit inventory. My feet were beyond tired by the time I left. Since I usually nap on Sunday afternoons, I think I was a little delirious having to count widgets. I finally finished up watching the day's stage that evening and may have even jumped off the couch towards the end. Yes, my friends, it was that exciting.
Monday morning I had an 8:15 a.m. doctor's appointment for a blood work/ general health check up and was able to watch an hour of the tour before leaving for the day, which was nice. I look forward to watching the remainder of the stage when I get home Monday evening. Speaking of Monday evening, I'm starting at a new gym Monday night and I'll be sure and fill you in on all the details later this week; because I'm sure you are just dying to know all about it. I had actually planned on mentioning it in this post, but I've already rambled on about watching the Tour for probably 1,000 words and I'm sure you are tired of reading at this point. So, I shall end things here and will be back later on in the week with a report on all things new gym.
Despite the unbearable heat, the weekend for me was really great and I have no doubt I can contribute the greatness to the beginning of the Tour de France. Friday after work I went ahead and made my weekly trip to Publix and it turned out to be the best trip I have had in weeks because for the first time in a few weeks I was actually prepared for my grocery trip. I had actually set out all my coupons, etc. which is what I normally do, but for whatever reason haven't done it in the past few weeks and have felt like a scatter brained mess at the store. After my stop at Publix, I went by Starbucks because the Starbucks locations at Target were having buy one get one free frappucinnos! Ye-ah! I got mine with soy and I'm hear to tell you there was not one bit of difference in my opinion in the taste. I enjoyed one that afternoon and saved the other for Saturday morning. When I got home that night I made eight cups of homemade salsa. Normally this wouldn't be something worth mentioning except that I have already eaten all but about one cup. What can I say? It was good.
On Saturday morning I was up bright and early and made some French toast for the opening prologue of the Tour. I ate my breakfast and enjoyed the free frappuccino from the Target visit on Friday and settled in for about four hours of time trial watching. Thankfully all of my friends and family respected me by not placing any calls during that time. Actually no one usually calls during that time any way but I was afraid someone would and they didn't and I was thankful. Just being honest here, people. The remainder of Saturday was spent napping, doing a little cleaning, eating salsa and watching replays of the Tour. I finally broke away from the Tour replays long enough to bathe and eat a real meal and eventually watched a movie before being able to recite everything the commentators had said earlier in the day. Speaking of commentators, NBC Cycling has two new guys this year who are just atrocious! Seriously, I don't even have the words to describe how bad these two are. One is brought in during the pre-race report and the other is a "side-line" guy. Oh my word, worse ever!
Sunday morning I was up bright and early again and went ahead and got ready for church. I was able to squeeze in an hour and half of tour watching before heading off to worship. I was afraid I might not make it though. When I went to put my car into drive from park, it wouldn't budge. Apparently these 100 plus degree days had loosened up the duct tape that has been holing the gear shift in a manner that allows me to maneuver from park to drive or reverse. You may recall I had the same problem earlier this year. After several panicked minutes, I made a call to my granddad to see if he would come pick me up and let me use his spare vehicle. The call went straight to voice mail. I called my parent's and had to wait on them to call me back. I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned this before, but my phone will not connect to their land line. It rings once and then disconnects. For a few months after the April 27, 2011 tornadoes, the problem went away but it returned a few months ago. So, any time I need to get in touch with them I have to call and pray that they will realize the phone has rung and wait for them to call me back. Clearly I hope I never need them in an emergency situation for I will most likely be out of luck. At any rate, as soon as my mom called back and I answered the phone, the car miraculously shifted into drive and I peeled off the old duct tape and added a tighter new layer. So far, so good. I just need to remember to check that out every few days. I went to church with my aunt and cousins and I really enjoyed the service and sitting with my family. I didn't get to stay for class because I had to make an appearance at work that afternoon. So, after church, I made a run by Target for another round of buy one get one fraps and some sushi for lunch. I think Target has pretty good sushi as far as supermarket sushi goes. I actually think it's better than Publix. (I think I may have just heard a collective gasp from the readers).
I went home to eat, change clothes and watch another 45 minutes or so of the Tour before going in to work for a few hours to audit inventory. My feet were beyond tired by the time I left. Since I usually nap on Sunday afternoons, I think I was a little delirious having to count widgets. I finally finished up watching the day's stage that evening and may have even jumped off the couch towards the end. Yes, my friends, it was that exciting.
Monday morning I had an 8:15 a.m. doctor's appointment for a blood work/ general health check up and was able to watch an hour of the tour before leaving for the day, which was nice. I look forward to watching the remainder of the stage when I get home Monday evening. Speaking of Monday evening, I'm starting at a new gym Monday night and I'll be sure and fill you in on all the details later this week; because I'm sure you are just dying to know all about it. I had actually planned on mentioning it in this post, but I've already rambled on about watching the Tour for probably 1,000 words and I'm sure you are tired of reading at this point. So, I shall end things here and will be back later on in the week with a report on all things new gym.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
I'm A Swayer
This is going to be one of those posts where I talk about a whole lot of nothing, including a conversation I had with a total stranger at Target last night, and you will have wasted five minutes of your life. So, let me apologize in advance for that. I don’t really have much going on right now other than a fight with the insurance company and a floor replacement on my hands; but I’m saving that story for another day – like when the fight is over and it’s determined whether or not I have to pay out of pocket for a total flooring renovation in one room of my house. Stay tuned for all the gory details.
I’ve been going through all my photos and the photos I got from Bernie and Rob from the Tour de France and let me tell you people, I am missing all the fun like it’s nobody’s business. I told my cousin, Chris on Saturday that the tour was magical and as cheesy as that sounds, it truly was. I really cannot wait to do it all over again in the future!
Last night, Erika and I headed to the big city of Madison to eat at Bandito Burrito. I had bought a living social deal and when I bought it didn’t pay attention to the fine print and it was only for the Madison location. So, Erika was kind enough to drive us out there in exchange for dinner. The food was good and it was great catching up with my dear friend. There are a couple of cute looking stores there on Main Street next to the Bandito but they were closed. So, we hope to remember to go out there some time when the stores are open because one of them had the funniest/most adorable dish towels I have seen in a long while.
Before I met up with Erika I stopped by Target to get some money back on a prescription I bought last week (my discount card had expired and I needed to bring in a new one). While I was waiting, I was holding a case of Diet Coke on my hip and swaying back and forth. A lady came by and asked me if I had small children. I said, “No, why?” and she commented that it looked like I was accustomed to rocking a child back and forth because of the way I was swaying. I told her that I was just a sawyer; that I swayed in church and anytime I had to stand in a line. I actually considered it a compliment that I looked like a natural at rocking a child; maybe it will come in handy one day if the good Lord ever decides to bless me with some children of my own.
I realize you already know this, but my new mattress comes on Saturday and Saturday cannot get here soon enough.
It seems as though there was some other nonsense that I was planning to ramble on about and now that I’ve reached this point I cannot think of what it might have been. My dad and I are hitting the road again tomorrow as we will be traveling to Atlanta for the first two rounds of the PGA Championship. Please pray that we don’t have a heat stroke while we are there. After walking around in the lovely French weather, we are really going to be in for a rude awakening when we’re walking the St. John’s Golf Course the next two days. Ugh.
I’ve been going through all my photos and the photos I got from Bernie and Rob from the Tour de France and let me tell you people, I am missing all the fun like it’s nobody’s business. I told my cousin, Chris on Saturday that the tour was magical and as cheesy as that sounds, it truly was. I really cannot wait to do it all over again in the future!
There goes my man Cav, struggling up the Galibier
I miss you, Tour de France!
Last night, Erika and I headed to the big city of Madison to eat at Bandito Burrito. I had bought a living social deal and when I bought it didn’t pay attention to the fine print and it was only for the Madison location. So, Erika was kind enough to drive us out there in exchange for dinner. The food was good and it was great catching up with my dear friend. There are a couple of cute looking stores there on Main Street next to the Bandito but they were closed. So, we hope to remember to go out there some time when the stores are open because one of them had the funniest/most adorable dish towels I have seen in a long while.
Before I met up with Erika I stopped by Target to get some money back on a prescription I bought last week (my discount card had expired and I needed to bring in a new one). While I was waiting, I was holding a case of Diet Coke on my hip and swaying back and forth. A lady came by and asked me if I had small children. I said, “No, why?” and she commented that it looked like I was accustomed to rocking a child back and forth because of the way I was swaying. I told her that I was just a sawyer; that I swayed in church and anytime I had to stand in a line. I actually considered it a compliment that I looked like a natural at rocking a child; maybe it will come in handy one day if the good Lord ever decides to bless me with some children of my own.
I realize you already know this, but my new mattress comes on Saturday and Saturday cannot get here soon enough.
It seems as though there was some other nonsense that I was planning to ramble on about and now that I’ve reached this point I cannot think of what it might have been. My dad and I are hitting the road again tomorrow as we will be traveling to Atlanta for the first two rounds of the PGA Championship. Please pray that we don’t have a heat stroke while we are there. After walking around in the lovely French weather, we are really going to be in for a rude awakening when we’re walking the St. John’s Golf Course the next two days. Ugh.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
And It All Came To an End
Well, this was it folks, the last day of le Tour and it did not disappoint. I got up earlier than I really needed to, but in my older years, I’m not one for sleeping in, just napping. So, I went down to breakfast a little before 9:00 and then came back up to the room to check emails and what not. A bit later I went down to find Rob and Joy and Bernie and Catherine eating breakfast. Upon talking with them, I made plans to peruse the streets of Paris with Bernie and Catherine before meeting up with Nathalie who would lead us to our viewing spot in the Grand Stands.
So, at 10:45, I met up with Bernie and Catherine and we walked the Champs Elysees and checked out the le Tour booths one more time. I ended up getting a baseball cap this time. I had seen one on Alpe D’Huez that I liked and didn’t get it and had decided I wanted it but still didn’t find it today. I instead found one that I liked just as well. Bernie and Catherine surprised me by buying me a polka dot shirt too. I guess they were tired of me whining about not getting one. It was a very nice gesture and I am really appreciative of their generosity. I look forward to wearing it when I get home and will always remember them when I wear it.
At 12:30, we met up with Nathalie and around 1:00 we walked to the Grand Stands. We walked for what seemed like an eternity. I have not walked as much as I have this trip in I don’t know how long and I will be promptly making an appointment with Dr. Behmer when I get back in town because my foot will soon be the size of a watermelon - it’s pretty close right now. Our gift at the Grand Stands was a le Tour mug which was quite nice. We thought there was going to be food but there were only drinks and so I left in search of us some sandwiches. I finally found the stand and came back with sandwiches for us to eat so that we wouldn’t start rummaging through people’s bags for food.
At about 4:00, or perhaps a little after, the riders came through on their first lap on the Champs. They ride eight laps around and it is quite wonderful to see them pass through each time. The last day is a day for the sprinters and it is always an exciting finish. My man Cav did not disappoint and won the stage for the second year in a row and to top it off, he won the sprinter’s green jersey for the first time in his career. It was awesome.
After the award ceremonies, the riders come through in a parade and it’s a good time to get photos. I got a few but am hoping to get Bernie’s and Rob’s because they were both smart and brought their SLR cameras and have been getting some really great shots.
After the parade, we walked and walked and walked some more to the dinner cruise and finally found the boat. The cruise was actually quite nice as it is nice to see Paris all lit up at night, particularly the Eiffel Tower. The food was just mediocre in my opinion but Nathalie said it was a lot better than last year.
After the cruise, Bernie, Catherine and I got a cab back to the hotel because we were all tired of walking. The cab ride was awesome as we drove around the Arc de Triumphe which is an every man for himself type of situation and it was thrilling. I told Bernie and Catherine that I might have to take a taxi in and out of traffic around the Arc before I leave. I think it would be hilarious and fun!
Now I am back at the hotel icing my foot and hoping at least some of the swelling goes down before the morning. My dad arrives at 8:10 a.m. and I have arranged for the airport shuttle to pick me up to go and meet him. Then we’ve got to get the shuttle back. The receptionist at the hotel is supposed to help me with all of that in the morning. I’ve also got to drop off some laundry in the morning as I am running out of pants and I don’t want to go around in my undies.
So, the 2011 Le Tour is history and it was absolutely an amazing experience. I am so very glad I made this trip and maybe in a few years can come again. I want to give a shout out to Tony who taught me all about cycling and what a great and fantastic sport it is. It’s because of him that I fell in love with the sport and am now here in France; so, thanks buddy!
*No photos today. I prefer sleep over uploading them. Sorry, but love you all!
So, at 10:45, I met up with Bernie and Catherine and we walked the Champs Elysees and checked out the le Tour booths one more time. I ended up getting a baseball cap this time. I had seen one on Alpe D’Huez that I liked and didn’t get it and had decided I wanted it but still didn’t find it today. I instead found one that I liked just as well. Bernie and Catherine surprised me by buying me a polka dot shirt too. I guess they were tired of me whining about not getting one. It was a very nice gesture and I am really appreciative of their generosity. I look forward to wearing it when I get home and will always remember them when I wear it.
At 12:30, we met up with Nathalie and around 1:00 we walked to the Grand Stands. We walked for what seemed like an eternity. I have not walked as much as I have this trip in I don’t know how long and I will be promptly making an appointment with Dr. Behmer when I get back in town because my foot will soon be the size of a watermelon - it’s pretty close right now. Our gift at the Grand Stands was a le Tour mug which was quite nice. We thought there was going to be food but there were only drinks and so I left in search of us some sandwiches. I finally found the stand and came back with sandwiches for us to eat so that we wouldn’t start rummaging through people’s bags for food.
At about 4:00, or perhaps a little after, the riders came through on their first lap on the Champs. They ride eight laps around and it is quite wonderful to see them pass through each time. The last day is a day for the sprinters and it is always an exciting finish. My man Cav did not disappoint and won the stage for the second year in a row and to top it off, he won the sprinter’s green jersey for the first time in his career. It was awesome.
After the award ceremonies, the riders come through in a parade and it’s a good time to get photos. I got a few but am hoping to get Bernie’s and Rob’s because they were both smart and brought their SLR cameras and have been getting some really great shots.
After the parade, we walked and walked and walked some more to the dinner cruise and finally found the boat. The cruise was actually quite nice as it is nice to see Paris all lit up at night, particularly the Eiffel Tower. The food was just mediocre in my opinion but Nathalie said it was a lot better than last year.
After the cruise, Bernie, Catherine and I got a cab back to the hotel because we were all tired of walking. The cab ride was awesome as we drove around the Arc de Triumphe which is an every man for himself type of situation and it was thrilling. I told Bernie and Catherine that I might have to take a taxi in and out of traffic around the Arc before I leave. I think it would be hilarious and fun!
Now I am back at the hotel icing my foot and hoping at least some of the swelling goes down before the morning. My dad arrives at 8:10 a.m. and I have arranged for the airport shuttle to pick me up to go and meet him. Then we’ve got to get the shuttle back. The receptionist at the hotel is supposed to help me with all of that in the morning. I’ve also got to drop off some laundry in the morning as I am running out of pants and I don’t want to go around in my undies.
So, the 2011 Le Tour is history and it was absolutely an amazing experience. I am so very glad I made this trip and maybe in a few years can come again. I want to give a shout out to Tony who taught me all about cycling and what a great and fantastic sport it is. It’s because of him that I fell in love with the sport and am now here in France; so, thanks buddy!
*No photos today. I prefer sleep over uploading them. Sorry, but love you all!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
My Heart Was Broken In Grenoble
We were in Grenoble today for the time trial which would determine the winner of the 2011 le Tour de France. I came here hoping Andy Schleck would win, I really love that guy. Andy was wearing the maillot jaune heading into today’s stage and as I told the folks in my group, “It’s his to lose.” Andy is not very good in the time trial. He has improved in the last couple of years, but needs more improvement as this is his weak spot. Cadel Evans of Australia beat out Andy today in a fantastic time trial performance and after finishing second twice, will now wear the maillot jaune en route to Paris tomorrow as the winner of the 2011 le Tour. Andy will finish second for the third year in a row, but at least this year, his brother, Frank will be alongside him in the third place position. Maybe 2012 will be Andy’s year.
We had another exhausting day today. We had made plans with our guide to meet downstairs in our hotel at 10:45. At 9:30 she called and said we needed to be down at 10:00 with our luggage… I was in the middle of repacking. Thankfully, I got it all done on time.
We headed to our viewing area where we had a catered lunch but no place to sit down – that was a big bummer. It was raining on and off during the first hour or so but cleared up not long after we arrived. The wind was blowing and it was quite cool. I had to wear a jacket again. I could get used to this. By the late afternoon, when the leaders came through, the sun was out and it was warming up.
Once Andy went through (he was the last one) we watched the finishes on TV, which is how we discovered Cadel had won. We then went to the train station where we were to catch the 7:20 train to Paris. We waited around the train station for a bit because we had an hour or so to kill before the train loaded. Then as we were walking to the train, Bernie spotted a familiar face but couldn’t come up with the name, it was Bob Stapleton from HTC. He is the team manager. So, I went up to him and said, “Mr. Stapleton, may we have a picture with you?” He said, “Of Couse, where are you from?” and then Bernie’s wife Catherine jumped in beside Bob for a photo and said she was from Canada. It was pretty funny. Anyway, I then got my photo with Bob and told him I was from Alabama and that I was a Cav fan!! I love me some Cav! He was very nice and was taking the same train as us although we didn’t see him again.
We arrived in Paris at 10:20 and took the metro to our hotel. When we got out of the metro station, we saw the Arc de Triumphe, and I can also see it from my hotel room window. Amazing.
Tomorrow is a big day. I have a seat in the grand stands and am looking forward to a wonderful end to the best le Tour de France in a very long time. I saw a tweet from David Millar (Team Garmin-Cervelo) earlier about passing little Tommy Voeckler on the road and how broken he looked. I’ve just gotta say folks, what an amazing tour little Tommy Voeckler had. As much as I wanted Andy to win, I would not have been disappointed if it had been Voeckler. He had the whole of France on his shoulders and rode magnificently. He should be extremely satisfied with his performance and for holding on the maillot jaune for as long as he did. It was a beautiful thing to watch. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and to my dad’s arrival on Monday morning. Pray he has a safe flight. Love to you all!!
We had another exhausting day today. We had made plans with our guide to meet downstairs in our hotel at 10:45. At 9:30 she called and said we needed to be down at 10:00 with our luggage… I was in the middle of repacking. Thankfully, I got it all done on time.
We headed to our viewing area where we had a catered lunch but no place to sit down – that was a big bummer. It was raining on and off during the first hour or so but cleared up not long after we arrived. The wind was blowing and it was quite cool. I had to wear a jacket again. I could get used to this. By the late afternoon, when the leaders came through, the sun was out and it was warming up.
Our viewing location
A rider coming through
Once Andy went through (he was the last one) we watched the finishes on TV, which is how we discovered Cadel had won. We then went to the train station where we were to catch the 7:20 train to Paris. We waited around the train station for a bit because we had an hour or so to kill before the train loaded. Then as we were walking to the train, Bernie spotted a familiar face but couldn’t come up with the name, it was Bob Stapleton from HTC. He is the team manager. So, I went up to him and said, “Mr. Stapleton, may we have a picture with you?” He said, “Of Couse, where are you from?” and then Bernie’s wife Catherine jumped in beside Bob for a photo and said she was from Canada. It was pretty funny. Anyway, I then got my photo with Bob and told him I was from Alabama and that I was a Cav fan!! I love me some Cav! He was very nice and was taking the same train as us although we didn’t see him again.
Me, my red nose and Bob, looking off in the distance
We arrived in Paris at 10:20 and took the metro to our hotel. When we got out of the metro station, we saw the Arc de Triumphe, and I can also see it from my hotel room window. Amazing.
Tomorrow is a big day. I have a seat in the grand stands and am looking forward to a wonderful end to the best le Tour de France in a very long time. I saw a tweet from David Millar (Team Garmin-Cervelo) earlier about passing little Tommy Voeckler on the road and how broken he looked. I’ve just gotta say folks, what an amazing tour little Tommy Voeckler had. As much as I wanted Andy to win, I would not have been disappointed if it had been Voeckler. He had the whole of France on his shoulders and rode magnificently. He should be extremely satisfied with his performance and for holding on the maillot jaune for as long as he did. It was a beautiful thing to watch. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and to my dad’s arrival on Monday morning. Pray he has a safe flight. Love to you all!!
Alpe D'Huez!
I’m posting this one late because sweet mercy I don’t remember the last time I was as exhausted as I was last night. Before I get started with the day’s recap, there was one thing from yesterday I wanted to mentioned and forgot. As we were driving to the Galibier, we were driving on the race route and because our van is the same color as the maillot jaune, people thought we were some sort of important people and kept waving to us and so we waved back. It was great fun and quite hilarious. OK, on to the events of Friday.
It was another early start for us as we left the hotel at 8:15 to head up the mountain. It was about an hour and a half drive from the hotel in Grenoble to Oz en Oisons which is where we would have to get the ski lift to Alpe D’Huez. I was a little frightened about this whole ski life situation because whenever I am on one, I am always afraid I am going to miss my jump.
Once the tickets for the lift were bought, we got in queue for the lift, which turned out to be a gondola, an enclosed sky bucket like the ones you would ride at Six Flags, only we were going up into the Alps which is a little bit different, eh. So, we rode through the first station up to the second, got off and on to yet another gondola which took us down into Alpe D’Huez village. Once there, we rode an open air type gondola which took us into the heart of the village.
The company we are with rented a chalet on the next to the last switchback on the Alpe D’Huez route, but it was not going to be ready until 1:30. It was 11:00 when we arrived. So, we had some café and then did a little shopping. I bought a Tour de France apron which they had not had at the other spot and also an Alpe D’Huez shirt and also a winter hat which turned out to come in very handy.
After the shopping was complete and we met back up together, we made the trek down to the chalet, it was probably a 1.5 kilometer walk and it was all downhill and a very steep gradient and I think we were all dreading the climb back up to the top. We passed all sorts of magical and mysterious people on the mountain. If you don’t already know, the mountain stages in le Tour bring out the crazy in everyone and Alpe D’Huez did not disappoint. The chalet was in an absolutely perfect spot. Up high from the road, it allowed us to see the riders coming from a distance and watch them through at least three of the switchbacks.
We had grilled chicken, sausages, pasta salad, fresh fruit, and of course fresh bread to eat for lunch. I don’t know what it is about the fruit and the juice I have had since I have been here, but it seems to be the best I have ever had. We all staked out a spot at the very edge of the not-too-high overhang but before the race got started, I went down to the street to catch some more swag from the caravan; particularly in hopes of getting my polka dot t-shirt, which was referred to yesterday as the holy grail of swag. I landed some more goods, but, alas, no t-shirt.
While I was waiting for the caravan to arrive, Steve and Jordan from Radio Shack Live on Twitter came over and asked me and the people next to me if we were American. They said they were from Radio Shack and I said, hey, are you Steve and Jordan, and they were. They did a little video interview with me about who I wanted to win, etc. and it is supposed to be posted on You Tube and their facebook page. So, those of you who use facebook can check out the Radio Shack Live facebook page and let me know if it’s on there. If it is, leave a link in the comments, if you don’t mind.
After the caravan passed, I walked back up to my spot on the overhang to watch the riders come through. We also had TVs; so we knew where the riders were and what was going on in the race, which was nice.
The first man through was Alberto Contador, with Sammy Sanchez and Pierre Rolland close behind. In the third group was the Schleck brothers and Cadel Evans. Let me tell you, the mountain was FULL of people from Luxembourg to see the Schlecks. I’m pretty sure the whole country was there, or at least 75% of it. Rolland ended up winning the stage and Andy Schleck ended up in yellow!! It was just what I had hoped for!!
Backtracking a little, if you watch le Tour on TV, you may notice writings on the road in the mountains. I have always thought it to be chalk and had intended to bring some with me but then didn’t. It is actually paint. And apparently it’s rarely painted over because there was old paint and new paint alike on the street. It’s really quite interesting.
After the autobus came through, it was time for us to make the way up the steep incline to the ski lift. Rather than take the road, we climbed a mountain trail which was steeper than the road and rocky, but a shorter distance. We had to stop and rest about three times – and it wasn’t just me. First of all, your heart is already working harder because of the altitude, then you add walking on a mountain trail at a steep gradient to the mix and also for me, major sinus issues. Yeah, not fun. I really thought my legs would be screaming at me this morning, but thankfully they are not.
We made our way to the first ski lift, which was the open air one and the line was quite quick. Then we got to the first gondola station and the line looked like it would take an eternity, or at least an hour. Thankfully, we were through quickly and made it to the next station to go back down to Oz en Oisons. The total time to get back down to Oz was about one hour, which was amazingly fast considering the mass number of people trying to get down on the lifts.
We made it back to the van where we were to drive into Grenoble and take another lift up to a restaurant reserved for us for dinner, but because of the traffic, we didn’t get back into Grenoble until almost 11:00 and so we had dinner at the hotel restaurant instead. All the others ordered a multiple course meal; but I just ordered one course and when it arrived, I ate it and vamoosed to my room, leaving the others to their other courses. When I got to my room and looked at myself, it was a scary sight. My face got some sun and wind burn, but particularly my nose is burned. I suppose because I was constantly blowing my nose (thank you sinuses), I rubbed off my sunscreen and make up and therefore it was more susceptible to burn. I should have worn a cap because I now look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Today we were able to sleep in longer, which was much needed and very nice. We will be sending our luggage to Paris on the van and after watching the time trial from the Velodrome, we will take the bullet train to Paris, a three hour and 15 minute ride. It has been a great week so far and I’m looking forward to more excitement ahead! Vive le Tour!
It was another early start for us as we left the hotel at 8:15 to head up the mountain. It was about an hour and a half drive from the hotel in Grenoble to Oz en Oisons which is where we would have to get the ski lift to Alpe D’Huez. I was a little frightened about this whole ski life situation because whenever I am on one, I am always afraid I am going to miss my jump.
Once the tickets for the lift were bought, we got in queue for the lift, which turned out to be a gondola, an enclosed sky bucket like the ones you would ride at Six Flags, only we were going up into the Alps which is a little bit different, eh. So, we rode through the first station up to the second, got off and on to yet another gondola which took us down into Alpe D’Huez village. Once there, we rode an open air type gondola which took us into the heart of the village.
The company we are with rented a chalet on the next to the last switchback on the Alpe D’Huez route, but it was not going to be ready until 1:30. It was 11:00 when we arrived. So, we had some café and then did a little shopping. I bought a Tour de France apron which they had not had at the other spot and also an Alpe D’Huez shirt and also a winter hat which turned out to come in very handy.
After the shopping was complete and we met back up together, we made the trek down to the chalet, it was probably a 1.5 kilometer walk and it was all downhill and a very steep gradient and I think we were all dreading the climb back up to the top. We passed all sorts of magical and mysterious people on the mountain. If you don’t already know, the mountain stages in le Tour bring out the crazy in everyone and Alpe D’Huez did not disappoint. The chalet was in an absolutely perfect spot. Up high from the road, it allowed us to see the riders coming from a distance and watch them through at least three of the switchbacks.
We had grilled chicken, sausages, pasta salad, fresh fruit, and of course fresh bread to eat for lunch. I don’t know what it is about the fruit and the juice I have had since I have been here, but it seems to be the best I have ever had. We all staked out a spot at the very edge of the not-too-high overhang but before the race got started, I went down to the street to catch some more swag from the caravan; particularly in hopes of getting my polka dot t-shirt, which was referred to yesterday as the holy grail of swag. I landed some more goods, but, alas, no t-shirt.
While I was waiting for the caravan to arrive, Steve and Jordan from Radio Shack Live on Twitter came over and asked me and the people next to me if we were American. They said they were from Radio Shack and I said, hey, are you Steve and Jordan, and they were. They did a little video interview with me about who I wanted to win, etc. and it is supposed to be posted on You Tube and their facebook page. So, those of you who use facebook can check out the Radio Shack Live facebook page and let me know if it’s on there. If it is, leave a link in the comments, if you don’t mind.
After the caravan passed, I walked back up to my spot on the overhang to watch the riders come through. We also had TVs; so we knew where the riders were and what was going on in the race, which was nice.
The first man through was Alberto Contador, with Sammy Sanchez and Pierre Rolland close behind. In the third group was the Schleck brothers and Cadel Evans. Let me tell you, the mountain was FULL of people from Luxembourg to see the Schlecks. I’m pretty sure the whole country was there, or at least 75% of it. Rolland ended up winning the stage and Andy Schleck ended up in yellow!! It was just what I had hoped for!!
Backtracking a little, if you watch le Tour on TV, you may notice writings on the road in the mountains. I have always thought it to be chalk and had intended to bring some with me but then didn’t. It is actually paint. And apparently it’s rarely painted over because there was old paint and new paint alike on the street. It’s really quite interesting.
After the autobus came through, it was time for us to make the way up the steep incline to the ski lift. Rather than take the road, we climbed a mountain trail which was steeper than the road and rocky, but a shorter distance. We had to stop and rest about three times – and it wasn’t just me. First of all, your heart is already working harder because of the altitude, then you add walking on a mountain trail at a steep gradient to the mix and also for me, major sinus issues. Yeah, not fun. I really thought my legs would be screaming at me this morning, but thankfully they are not.
We made our way to the first ski lift, which was the open air one and the line was quite quick. Then we got to the first gondola station and the line looked like it would take an eternity, or at least an hour. Thankfully, we were through quickly and made it to the next station to go back down to Oz en Oisons. The total time to get back down to Oz was about one hour, which was amazingly fast considering the mass number of people trying to get down on the lifts.
We made it back to the van where we were to drive into Grenoble and take another lift up to a restaurant reserved for us for dinner, but because of the traffic, we didn’t get back into Grenoble until almost 11:00 and so we had dinner at the hotel restaurant instead. All the others ordered a multiple course meal; but I just ordered one course and when it arrived, I ate it and vamoosed to my room, leaving the others to their other courses. When I got to my room and looked at myself, it was a scary sight. My face got some sun and wind burn, but particularly my nose is burned. I suppose because I was constantly blowing my nose (thank you sinuses), I rubbed off my sunscreen and make up and therefore it was more susceptible to burn. I should have worn a cap because I now look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Today we were able to sleep in longer, which was much needed and very nice. We will be sending our luggage to Paris on the van and after watching the time trial from the Velodrome, we will take the bullet train to Paris, a three hour and 15 minute ride. It has been a great week so far and I’m looking forward to more excitement ahead! Vive le Tour!
Our view on Alpe D'Huez
Thursday, July 21, 2011
I Wore Layers in July!
Me on the "podium"
Today was a very exciting day in our le Tour de France adventures. We got up early this morning - 5:00 for me; had the alarm set for 5:30 but ended up awake at 5:00 - showered and ate breakfast and then met down in the lobby for our 8:00 a.m. departure. We were leaving Italy which means leaving hotels again and so everything had to be packed up and ready to go, including all the swag we scored yesterday. As mentioned in my last post, two of the teams stayed at our hotel last night and this morning the mechanics were getting everything ready, including the water bottles. The Omega Pharma Lotto guys were kind enough to give us girls a bottle which was filled with energy drink like Gatorade. A great souvenir and it has been a great drink today as I have been very thirsty. I was really thrilled with getting the water bottle it was a great start to a wonderful day.
Once we left the hotel we went to the departure village where there were all sorts of sponsor booths set up. We scored LOTS of swag. More hats, the green hands for the sprint, a bag, key chains, sausages. At the Skoda tent we girls scored some sunglasses and the guys received miniature cars. While at the Skoda tent, we ran into Robbie Venture who commentates on the “sidelines” if you will for Vs. He sat at the table next to us and I said, “Hey, Robbie Venutra, can I get my photo with you?” He said yes, and then I told him I watched him every day at home when I am at home, that is. I’m great at making conversation with famous people as you can tell.
Me and Robbie Ventura
Also while in this area we ran into the great Eddy Merckx. If you are not familiar with cycling, you may not know him, but he won the Tour de France five times and so I had my picture with him. I think he was less than thrilled, but he’ll get over it.
Me and Eddy
After a couple of hours in the start village, we went to the team busses where we still had exclusive access. I stalked the HTC bus for a while waiting on my man Cav but then missed him when I was getting a photo with a rider from Sauer. Our guide, Natalie knows a rider from Saur and so I got his autograph and a photo with him and also got the autograph of some other Saur riders. They are a wildcard team from France and I don’t really know any of them but it was still a good experience. Natalie also knows Antony Charteau who rides for Europcar, the team of Maillot Jaune wearer Little Tommy Voeckler. I got Anthony autograph as well and also a picture.
Anthony Charteau
We watched the riders coming and going and I managed to snag a few good photos and also got Mark Renshaw’s autograph. I bought this book at le Tour de France stand that has a place for autographs and I pointed out where he was to sign. This is how it went:
Me: “Can I have your autograph?”
MR: “Sure” Looking around as to where to sign.
Me: “You can sign right here where it says Mark Renshaw, because’ that’s you.”
I’m a genius, people, a genius I tell you.
Some of the others in the group got good photos of Fabian Cancellera and the Schlecks and I plan to get all of their photos downloaded to my computer before I leave here because some of their photos are great, especially on the stages where I’d rather just scream like an idiot than take photos.
After the riders took off, so did we. We took a different route than they did to get to the Col du Galibier. I had been looking forward to this all week and it did not disappoint. It has been snowing on the Galibier earlier in the week and we knew it would be cold. On the way, we stopped at a ski resort to have a sandwich for lunch and then we made our way to our designated parking spot and then walked up the Col a few meters until we found a spot in front of the French radio both. . No one was standing there and it ended up being a perfect spot. While waiting for the caravan, I had my photo taken with a French policeman which ended up being my favorite photo of the day. It cracks me up.
Wearing the new Skoda glasses
And the scarf Jackie gave me
And layers in JULY!!
Loving life!!
Soon the caravan came through and I got a … wait for it… polka-dot… hat! I know, I know, you thought I was going to say shirt. I was really hoping for a shirt, but they weren’t throwing those out yet. I think they throw them out really close to the summit and we were seven kilometers from the summit.
The Vs. booth with Phil and Paul was by wear we stood.
Unfortunately I did not get a glimpse of them.
Once the caravan was through, we knew the riders wouldn’t be far behind and about an hour later, here they came. Leading the way was Andy Schleck – love that guy – with a man from Astana riding on his wheel. Andy ended up winning the stage which was super exciting because I really want him to win. The next group included Little Tommy Voeckler, Frank Schleck and Cadel Evans and then minutes later Alberto Contador who had been dropped. Sweet Mercy, I was thrilled! I really don’t want Alberto to finish on the podium and I think he probably lost it today.
Once the pelaton came through with my man Cav struggling in the rear (Bernie got a great photo by the way) we all began making our way back down the mountain to our parking spot. We got in the van and spent an hour and a half going down amongst other cars and cyclists who had ridden up to watch the stage. After the hour and a half of driving we stopped for dinner, which I didn’t think was very good and was overpriced, but c’est la vie, I suppose.
We are now back in the van driving to Grenoble where we will stay the next two nights. Tomorrow we will head to what I expect to be my favorite stage of the race, Alpe d’Huez! I cannot wait! We are taking the ski lift up to a chalet on one of the switchbacks from where we will watch the race on TV and then of course, venture outside when the riders get close. I bought a special t-shirt for this stage and I am excited to wear it tomorrow. I will probably only wear it for some photos because it will be cold there as well and I will be layering up once again.
I guess I didn’t really mention the weather on the Col du Galibier. It was probably in the high 30s to mid-40s with a breeze blowing. Very nice. Loved it! I layered up in July, people! In July! Never before has that been done by me! I was thrilled to see snow in July! I hate the heat so much. Wow! Snow and cold in July – that is a little slice of heaven.
Speaking of heaven, the Alps are gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous and when looking at those mountains, I don’t know how a person could not believe in God! What a magnificent creation!
That’s all the news for today. As for me personally, my sinuses are out of control, my ears are going nuts in the mountains and, my foot is still swollen and I still haven’t found a bank to exchange my currency but other than that I having a blast and wish this party could continue for a while longer but, sadly the Tour comes only once a year. Vive le Tour!
Me and Jimmy Engoulvent
It's Lars Bak!
Look at that smile!!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
It's Exciting At The Finish
Once we finally arrived in Italy, we checked in to our rooms and immediately went downstairs for dinner. The dinner was very good and very filling. After we ate, I was able to get online and put up yesterday’s post and also respond to a few emails. By the time I was finished, it was midnight and I was more than ready for bed.
This morning, I got up and showered early so that I could leave all of my dirty clothes in the hall for the maid to wash. That’s a big advantage to staying in the same hotel two nights in a row. I then went down to breakfast and ate just a little bit. For some reason my stomach is still not feeling quite right. Each morning I feel a little sick to my stomach and so I keep some crackers close by to munch on when I first get up. I also woke up with major sinus drainage; I’m assuming this is due to the mountain air. I’m sure this is more information than you bargained for today, but I’m just trying to give everyone the details.
I spent the rest of the morning checking emails and bank accounts and also reading up on all the cycling news and other things such as this. I also didn’t want to walk around too much this morning because my left foot and ankle are swollen. This is the same foot on which I had surgery late last year and the top of it has been bothering me for a few weeks. So, this morning due to all the walking yesterday it is swollen and so I have slathered it with Bio Freeze and am hoping it will hold up okay today. Leave it to me to come to France and have all sorts of problems.
I am now continuing this post after returning to the hotel. For starters, my foot held up okay. It isn’t painful just swollen. I am going to try and get a bag of ice from the reception desk and ice it down this evening. Now, on to more important things like the days’ activities.
We left the hotel at noon today and went to eat at a restaurant in Pinerolo. I had a salad and pasta that was very delicious – it is Italy after all! After lunch, our guide walked us to the VIP area from which we would be viewing the stage. Today we were between 200 and 150 meters from the finish line. I have emailed Tony and given him instruction as to where to look for me on TV. I, unfortunately didn’t record today’s stage and Tony is the only one of my readers who probably watches le Tour; so, I will leave it up to him to tell me if he spots me on TV or not.
We stopped off at a le Tour de France stand to buy some souvenirs before heading into the VIP area. I bought more than I should have but have no regrets at all. J’aime le Tour! So, Natalie, out guide, took our bags with her and put them in the van for us since she wasn’t going into the VIP area. She instead just read a book or something on the park bench. She’s not really into le Tour and that’s okay. Different strokes, ya know? Our bracelets also had computer chips in them so that there could be no fakes.
When we got to the VIP area, there were free drinks and snacks and some of the caravan was coming through throwing out things. After about an hour, the big part of the caravan came through and this is the swag I got today: Candies (Haribo and Smurfs), Yellow LCL hat (you will see folks wearing these at the finish line every day), White Skoda hat (another finish line accessory), BIC pens and highlighters, French newspaper, one of those blow up things that you beat together to make noise, and pom-poms. Both of the pom poms came from French TV and both times I yelled out “Oy!” to the person handing them out and they came over and gave us some. Apparently yelling “Oy!” works. Guess it is a universal word or something.
There was a big screen to watch the stage and so we knew when the riders were getting close. With about 7 kilometers to go, I stood along the road because I wanted to make sure I had a good spot. I had spoken with Bernie beforehand about getting some photos from him. Since I didn’t bring my big camera, I knew I couldn’t take high speed photos. Bernie has the same camera I do and so I asked him if I could just cheer and get photos from him later. He agreed.
When the riders came close, it was super exciting. Edvald Bossan-Hagan won the stage today and he was ahead of all the other riders. Then when the groups starting coming in it got so confusing because they go so stinkin’ fast that you can hardly catch a glimpse of who is in what group. For example, I totally didn’t even see Little Tommy Voeckler go by in the malliot jaune! I’m embarrassed to say that, but it’s the truth. I think I was paying attention to someone else in his group. I did manage to scream out “Andy” when Andy Schleck went by and of course let out a big yell for my man Mark Cavendish!
After the stage was over, we had a glass of champagne to celebrate and then it was to the bus but first we stopped off for a scoop or sorbet or gelato. I had the strawberry sorbet – it was quite refreshing after being out in the sun all afternoon. Here the hottest time of the day is between 2:00 and 6:00 or so due to the fact that the sun doesn’t set until after 10:00.
We made it back to the van and managed the crazy post-tour streets of Pinerolo back to the hotel where when we pulled in we discovered that two teams (Omega Pharma Lotto and Movistar) are staying at our hotel. We were outside enjoying a drink (Orange juice for me – for real, ya’ll!) and Bernie had been up to our floor and said that there were riders walking around in towels. Apparently they were going from their own room to the massage room. I knew I wanted to get a glimpse of this but alas when I got upstairs, there were no naked men. Ah, C’est la vie.
Movistar Buses
View from my window - Omega Pharma Lotto
My laundry had returned and I started panicking because I thought my pants and a shirt and pair of shorts were MIA so I went down to reception to ask about it and the gal came upstairs with me. This is the same girl who helped me with the internet last night. She speaks great English and is very nice and helpful. Turns out my missing clothes were hanging in the closet. Yeah, duh! I didn’t even think to look there.
I took a shower because I felt disgusting and put on some clean clothes in preparation for dinner. We had smoked swordfish, mushroom risotto, roast beef and chocolate pudding for diner. The pudding is actually more like a flan. I am now in the room icing my poor foot which seems to get bigger each minute. My sinuses are also not much better and I had to ask Jackie to pick up some Allegra from my house and drop off with my dad to bring when he comes in on Monday.
So, that’s all the news from this side of the world. It’s an early start for us tomorrow as we are leaving the hotel at 8:00 and heading to the start village and then we will leave after the riders and take a different route to the top of the Col du Galibier to watch some mountain climbing. It should be a great day for le Tour!
Me and Joy - she's from South Africa
Two Italian policmen - polizia - holding the South African flag.
didn't bring a flag with me. Oh well.
The final meters to the finish.
Fans along the final meters.
Here I am all ready to wave my pom poms and yell as the riders pass!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
We Drove and Drove To Italy
And I mean drove! It took us between five and six hours to get here! Jeesh! The internet service is kind of wonky again here so I am putting up this post while sitting in the lobby and then am going up to te room and hope to get some pictures up if I am still connected...
Well folks, today le Tour de France got started back up after the riders had a rest day yesterday. We drove from our hotel in Pouzilhac to the start of the race in Saint-Paul Trois Chateaux in order to catch the festivities and watch the riders take off.
Hotel parking lot this morning - lots of rain!
When we first arrived, we began walking to the start and ran into the publicity caravan which throws out all sorts of swag to the fans. Anything from hats to t-shirts to sausages, yes, sausages, Since the place where we ran into the caravan was just the very beginning, they had not begun to throw out anything yet which was unfortunate, but I’m hoping to catch some swag from them on another day as I really want one of those polka dot hats and shirts for the king of the mountains.
A sample of the caravan! I want a polka dot shirt!
More caravan!
We took lots of photos of the caravan and then resumed walking to the start where we ran into the line-up of team buses. It was about an hour and a half or so before the start and the riders were all loaded on the buses already. We stood there as each bus drove by and took lots of photos again. I looked for some folks in the team cars like Jonathan Vaughters from Garmin and Johan Bruynel from Radio Shack but saw no recognizable faces. The riders were in the back of the buses too and so we couldn’t see them either.
Little Tommy Voeckler's Europcar Bus!
I kind of hope Little Tommy Voeckler wins because the French will go insane!!
Garmin! Love those guys!
We then found the start and each staked out a place. I got behind an old man and what appeared to be his grandchildren and it was a pretty good spot until other people started piling in around us. It’s le Tour and everyone is excited I know!
The riders finally pulled up and I managed to get a few okay shots. I tried holding my camera up to take a photo of my man, Mark Cavendish, but it didn’t work out too well. Bernie got a great shot of him and I will have to get a copy because I love me some Cavendish, bad attitude and all.
Big George Hincapie from the US was right in front of me and I got some shots of him leaning on his bike, no really good ones of his face though. Tyler Farrar, another American was also close by. If I had had something for Big George to autograph, I would have shouted at him but I didn’t. Maybe I will bump into him again. I heard rom our original guide Katherine that if you have big boobs you’ve got a better chance of getting autographs. So, I should be okay in that department. (Sorry Aunt Linda – just being honest here!).
So exciting at the start!
It's Big George Hincapie, I promise it is!
Finally the riders were off and so were we. We actually stayed in Saint-Paul Trois Chateaux for lunch where for 16 Euro we had a three course meal consisting of a salad with chicken, leg of lamb, and cheesecake. It was all very good.
We ate outside - this is a view from our table.
Lovely village!
We are now driving to Italy as I type this and I plan to post once we get to the hotel. We have been driving for a couple of hours and have a couple of more to go. It is chilly here in the Alps and as I mentioned in the previous post, snowing in some places. The morning actually started out with pouring rain and was quite cold, but by the time we arrived in Saint-Paul Trois Chateaux, the sun was out and it was in the 80s I would guess judging by the heat from the sun and the sweat down my back. I packed some warm clothes and will have them ready for the colder mountain stages this week.
The Alps are absolutely gorgeous as we are driving though. I haven’t taken any pictures because it is raining again and very foggy. Hopefully when we drive back through on our way to Grenoble I will be able to get some good shots.
I think that is all the news from this Tuesday in France. I am looking forward to a nice dinner at the hotel and a good night of rest so that I will be all ready for tomorrow where we will watch the race on the television and see the stage end live! Vive le Tour!
Found this one when going throught the photos just now...
There's my man Cav in the green! Woot!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
I’ll Be An Orphan For The Next Week
My parents are leaving today to fly to Seattle, Washington and from there are going on an Alaskan cruise. They will be gone for about 10 days, returning in the wee hours of May 29. Keep them in your prayers while they are gone – that they will have a safe trip and a fun time – it’s important to have fun – it is vacation after all.
They have lots of interesting experiences planned – glass blowing, visiting Captain Phil’s grave, going on a crab boat, going dog sledding. I’m anxious to hear all about it once they return. When my parents are both out of town I kind of feel like an orphan. I suppose there is some comfort in knowing they are a phone call away if something happens and when they are on vacation/out of town, I always have a slight sense of uneasiness until they return. So, maybe you should keep me in your prayers too – ha!
Speaking of vacation, my big trip to France is coming up in just eight weeks! Eight weeks! That is so hard to believe! I think I put my deposit down for this trip the first week of August last year; so, I will have been anticipating this big adventure for almost a whole year by the time I head out. The anticipation leading up to the trip has been a lot of fun and I can only imagine how amazing the trip itself will be. The sad part is that once I arrive the time will fly by and the next thing I know it will be time to come home. Hopefully I will make a lot of memories and have a lot of amazing experiences in my two weeks in France.
In a post I wrote a while back, I debated about switching hotels for my first night in town. The hotel where I had my reservation is about seven or eight miles outside of Lyon and the hotel where I had to meet my group the next day was closer to the airport. I debated for all this time about keeping my original hotel or changing to the one where I will be meeting my group on July 18 and just this week changed my hotel to the meeting location. I am a little apprehensive about being in Lyon by myself the first night – as far as finding a place to eat, etc. and felt I would be more comfortable at the other hotel where (hopefully) there will be other Americans from my group. With any luck, I will be able to meet a few of the people on that Sunday and eat dinner with them and get to know them a little bit before we start our big adventure the next day.
I will still have a room to myself and therefore be able to have some quiet time before I spend the next week rooming with a stranger and the week after that rooming with my snoring dad. I feel good about this decision and more at ease. I think I am getting more anxious in my old age! I booked through my travel agent, the lovely Elaine, and she was able to get me a better price than the touring company offered me so I was really pleased with that. It’s now only about $30 more than my original hotel and let me tell you $30 isn’t a drop in the bucket compared to what I’ve already spent, so I think I’m okay with it.
I can tell it’s getting close to time for the Tour de France just by the traffic that has come to my blog recently. Jim Brickman is still this week’s (and every week for that matter) number one read post, but the second place post usually varies from week to week. This week and last, the second most read post was “Dore Holte, Who Are You?” This is the post I wrote about Dore Holte, that crazy guy who runs along the cyclists during the mountain stages at the Tour De France. The Tour of California is on this week and I’ve been watching it in the afternoons when I get home. Yesterday towards the end of the stage I saw him running up the hill with moose antlers on his helmet. It absolutely made my day. So, I don’t know if folks are searching after seeing him at Tour of California or if they are getting anxious for le Tour and just doing searches on him, but nonetheless traffic has been high for my Dore Holte post. I sure hope that guy is in France come July because I have about a million questions for him. If you have a question for him too, then put it in the comments. If run into him while in France, I’m going to interview him for my blog – provided I can meet him without appearing like a stalker anyway.
My French lessons in the car continue and I’m going to have to cut back on the number of days I spend on each CD. I still have two more that I haven’t even listened to yet and want to do some reviewing as well. I still think the CD with the songs has worked best for me, but I figure that’s because I have a good retention rate of songs I learn. I should be able to get by with the little French I know while I am there. I’ll obviously let you know for sure once I put my language skills to use.
I suppose that’s all the news or non-news as it were for today. Hope everyone has a great Thursday!
They have lots of interesting experiences planned – glass blowing, visiting Captain Phil’s grave, going on a crab boat, going dog sledding. I’m anxious to hear all about it once they return. When my parents are both out of town I kind of feel like an orphan. I suppose there is some comfort in knowing they are a phone call away if something happens and when they are on vacation/out of town, I always have a slight sense of uneasiness until they return. So, maybe you should keep me in your prayers too – ha!
Speaking of vacation, my big trip to France is coming up in just eight weeks! Eight weeks! That is so hard to believe! I think I put my deposit down for this trip the first week of August last year; so, I will have been anticipating this big adventure for almost a whole year by the time I head out. The anticipation leading up to the trip has been a lot of fun and I can only imagine how amazing the trip itself will be. The sad part is that once I arrive the time will fly by and the next thing I know it will be time to come home. Hopefully I will make a lot of memories and have a lot of amazing experiences in my two weeks in France.
In a post I wrote a while back, I debated about switching hotels for my first night in town. The hotel where I had my reservation is about seven or eight miles outside of Lyon and the hotel where I had to meet my group the next day was closer to the airport. I debated for all this time about keeping my original hotel or changing to the one where I will be meeting my group on July 18 and just this week changed my hotel to the meeting location. I am a little apprehensive about being in Lyon by myself the first night – as far as finding a place to eat, etc. and felt I would be more comfortable at the other hotel where (hopefully) there will be other Americans from my group. With any luck, I will be able to meet a few of the people on that Sunday and eat dinner with them and get to know them a little bit before we start our big adventure the next day.
I will still have a room to myself and therefore be able to have some quiet time before I spend the next week rooming with a stranger and the week after that rooming with my snoring dad. I feel good about this decision and more at ease. I think I am getting more anxious in my old age! I booked through my travel agent, the lovely Elaine, and she was able to get me a better price than the touring company offered me so I was really pleased with that. It’s now only about $30 more than my original hotel and let me tell you $30 isn’t a drop in the bucket compared to what I’ve already spent, so I think I’m okay with it.
I can tell it’s getting close to time for the Tour de France just by the traffic that has come to my blog recently. Jim Brickman is still this week’s (and every week for that matter) number one read post, but the second place post usually varies from week to week. This week and last, the second most read post was “Dore Holte, Who Are You?” This is the post I wrote about Dore Holte, that crazy guy who runs along the cyclists during the mountain stages at the Tour De France. The Tour of California is on this week and I’ve been watching it in the afternoons when I get home. Yesterday towards the end of the stage I saw him running up the hill with moose antlers on his helmet. It absolutely made my day. So, I don’t know if folks are searching after seeing him at Tour of California or if they are getting anxious for le Tour and just doing searches on him, but nonetheless traffic has been high for my Dore Holte post. I sure hope that guy is in France come July because I have about a million questions for him. If you have a question for him too, then put it in the comments. If run into him while in France, I’m going to interview him for my blog – provided I can meet him without appearing like a stalker anyway.
My French lessons in the car continue and I’m going to have to cut back on the number of days I spend on each CD. I still have two more that I haven’t even listened to yet and want to do some reviewing as well. I still think the CD with the songs has worked best for me, but I figure that’s because I have a good retention rate of songs I learn. I should be able to get by with the little French I know while I am there. I’ll obviously let you know for sure once I put my language skills to use.
I suppose that’s all the news or non-news as it were for today. Hope everyone has a great Thursday!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Cycling 101
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Hope all of you are wearing green today. Today we have a guest post from Tony – yes, that Tony. Erika wrote in and asked a general question or two about cycling and since Tony was the one who explained everything to me and got me hooked, I asked him to explain it to you. He does a great job at breaking down some of the basic cycling knowledge that many of you are probably unfamiliar with. So, I hope that you will find this post somewhat interesting. I know I did, and I’m a cycling lover! So, without further ado, I’ll turn it over to Tony…
In response to an outpouring of requests (Erika’s) as to just what the crazy sport of cycling is about, I have agreed to help Nat out by providing some sort of a cycling primer….we’ll call it Cycling 101.
To begin with, cycling as much as it may not seem so, is a team sport. Teams are based out of different countries depending on team ownership and riders from all over the world are employed by different teams based on their performance. Meaning that the best riders are the most sought after which results in them having the larger paychecks. Most teams have a melting pot of riders from countries from every corner of the world. For example the 2011 Radioshack team consists of 28 riders from 17 different countries. With this mix of nationalities it is extremely common for riders to be multilingual, sometimes speaking as many as 4-5 different languages. Within each team there is a hierarchy to the riders based on their skill and experience. Each rider is selected for the team based on what he can provide to the team. Some riders (the majority) are workers. These riders take care of the more talented riders and do whatever necessary for the good of the team. The cycling world’s name for these riders is domestique. The best riders for each team are the leaders (think Lance Armstrong), these guys are also called the “GC” guys (GC stands for General Classification which will be discussed further below). Each team’s mission is to help their GC rider or leader win the race. Each team has a director who is essentially the coach. The coach follows the group of riders on the road (also known as the peloton) in a support car calling the shots via a wireless radio that each rider carries. The support car carries extra bikes, supplies, H2O, and food.
Now that you know what consists of a team, let’s talk about the races. In cycling there are a number of different types of races. The three most common are single day races (in Europe these are known as the Classics), weeklong stage races (races that last 5-7 days with a different event scheduled for each day), and the most difficult, the Grand Tours (3 week stage races that circumnavigate an entire country). There are 3 Grand Tour races….the Giro d’Italia which occurs in May, the Tour de France which occurs in July, and the Vuelta a Espana which occurs in September. The Tour de France is by far the biggest event in cycling and can be compared to the Super Bowl, only for that it goes on for three weeks. GC riders, as mentioned above, are the riders who can compete for the week long and 3 week long stage races. These riders have to be well rounded, meaning they must be able to climb well and time trial well. (A time trial is essentially a race against the clock. Riders compete to see who can cover a given distance the fastest with no help from teammates.) Stage races have different types of stages on a given day. Some days will be mountain stages, some days will be flat stages for the sprinters, and some days are just hilly enough that breakaways can stay away from the pack and fight it out for the victory. In a stage race the rider’s time is accumulated throughout the three week event and the guy who completes the course in the least amount of time is the winner. In each race, the race organizers invite around 20-22 teams to compete. As for viewing these races….all you have to do is go to the side of the road along the route (living in Europe where most events occur helps). There are no admission fees to view cycling events and there are usually caravans that resemble parades that roll through the towns prior to the arrival of the cyclists. Mountain stages are by far the most exciting to watch in my opinion. Not only do you have the excitement of the race but you have shenanigans from the fans that have been camped out roadside waiting for the riders sometimes for days.
To compete well in any race each team must have a plan as to how they plan to race. The basic goal being to get their leader across the line first. In single day races the biggest challenges are to stay out of trouble (not crashing) and to stay with the front of the pack. If a rider were to miss out on a group breaking away from the peloton, he could be missing out on his chance for victory that day. In stage races you have to be smart for three weeks by staying out of trouble and not being too far back on the general classification. Another goal for the leaders in any race is to conserve as much energy as possible until the finale of the race. This is where their teammates are most important. These guys drop from the front of the group back to the cars to fetch bottles of water, chase down potential breakaways, and ride in front of the leaders so that the leaders can conserve energy by drafting. (Drafting is when a cyclist rides directly behind another cyclist so he can conserve energy by doing around 30% less work to keep the same pace as the guy in front.) In order for 9 guys to be operating on the same wavelength the director has to call the shots. The director will instruct his team on when to attack during a race and when to let other teams do the work. There is a lot of thinking that goes into the tactics from his perspective. One team can’t control every rider in the race so they have to pick and choose who they are concerned with. If a guy who has no chance in winning the overall, the director may choose to let him go from the group so that he can focus his attention on more dangerous riders who may try the same later on. Tactics are a huge part of this sport. A little luck doesn’t hurt as well.
As for shaved legs in cycling….essentially all professional cyclists and a large portion of local amateurs do shave their legs. The biggest reasons given are for ease of road rash treatment when crashes occur and for massages post race. But in my experience the main reason for this practice is simply that it is a tradition among cyclists.
Hopefully this rundown has provided some insight into the world cycling. It really is an exciting sport. Just ask Nat, she’s now hooked and has a trip booked to France for Le Tour!!
Thanks again to Tony for writing this post! There is so much more to discuss regarding cycling but hopefully this information was insightful to those of you who wanted to know a little more. If there’s anything else you would like to know about this awesome sport, leave a comment and maybe I can twist Tony’s arm and ask him to write another great post!
In response to an outpouring of requests (Erika’s) as to just what the crazy sport of cycling is about, I have agreed to help Nat out by providing some sort of a cycling primer….we’ll call it Cycling 101.
To begin with, cycling as much as it may not seem so, is a team sport. Teams are based out of different countries depending on team ownership and riders from all over the world are employed by different teams based on their performance. Meaning that the best riders are the most sought after which results in them having the larger paychecks. Most teams have a melting pot of riders from countries from every corner of the world. For example the 2011 Radioshack team consists of 28 riders from 17 different countries. With this mix of nationalities it is extremely common for riders to be multilingual, sometimes speaking as many as 4-5 different languages. Within each team there is a hierarchy to the riders based on their skill and experience. Each rider is selected for the team based on what he can provide to the team. Some riders (the majority) are workers. These riders take care of the more talented riders and do whatever necessary for the good of the team. The cycling world’s name for these riders is domestique. The best riders for each team are the leaders (think Lance Armstrong), these guys are also called the “GC” guys (GC stands for General Classification which will be discussed further below). Each team’s mission is to help their GC rider or leader win the race. Each team has a director who is essentially the coach. The coach follows the group of riders on the road (also known as the peloton) in a support car calling the shots via a wireless radio that each rider carries. The support car carries extra bikes, supplies, H2O, and food.
Now that you know what consists of a team, let’s talk about the races. In cycling there are a number of different types of races. The three most common are single day races (in Europe these are known as the Classics), weeklong stage races (races that last 5-7 days with a different event scheduled for each day), and the most difficult, the Grand Tours (3 week stage races that circumnavigate an entire country). There are 3 Grand Tour races….the Giro d’Italia which occurs in May, the Tour de France which occurs in July, and the Vuelta a Espana which occurs in September. The Tour de France is by far the biggest event in cycling and can be compared to the Super Bowl, only for that it goes on for three weeks. GC riders, as mentioned above, are the riders who can compete for the week long and 3 week long stage races. These riders have to be well rounded, meaning they must be able to climb well and time trial well. (A time trial is essentially a race against the clock. Riders compete to see who can cover a given distance the fastest with no help from teammates.) Stage races have different types of stages on a given day. Some days will be mountain stages, some days will be flat stages for the sprinters, and some days are just hilly enough that breakaways can stay away from the pack and fight it out for the victory. In a stage race the rider’s time is accumulated throughout the three week event and the guy who completes the course in the least amount of time is the winner. In each race, the race organizers invite around 20-22 teams to compete. As for viewing these races….all you have to do is go to the side of the road along the route (living in Europe where most events occur helps). There are no admission fees to view cycling events and there are usually caravans that resemble parades that roll through the towns prior to the arrival of the cyclists. Mountain stages are by far the most exciting to watch in my opinion. Not only do you have the excitement of the race but you have shenanigans from the fans that have been camped out roadside waiting for the riders sometimes for days.
To compete well in any race each team must have a plan as to how they plan to race. The basic goal being to get their leader across the line first. In single day races the biggest challenges are to stay out of trouble (not crashing) and to stay with the front of the pack. If a rider were to miss out on a group breaking away from the peloton, he could be missing out on his chance for victory that day. In stage races you have to be smart for three weeks by staying out of trouble and not being too far back on the general classification. Another goal for the leaders in any race is to conserve as much energy as possible until the finale of the race. This is where their teammates are most important. These guys drop from the front of the group back to the cars to fetch bottles of water, chase down potential breakaways, and ride in front of the leaders so that the leaders can conserve energy by drafting. (Drafting is when a cyclist rides directly behind another cyclist so he can conserve energy by doing around 30% less work to keep the same pace as the guy in front.) In order for 9 guys to be operating on the same wavelength the director has to call the shots. The director will instruct his team on when to attack during a race and when to let other teams do the work. There is a lot of thinking that goes into the tactics from his perspective. One team can’t control every rider in the race so they have to pick and choose who they are concerned with. If a guy who has no chance in winning the overall, the director may choose to let him go from the group so that he can focus his attention on more dangerous riders who may try the same later on. Tactics are a huge part of this sport. A little luck doesn’t hurt as well.
As for shaved legs in cycling….essentially all professional cyclists and a large portion of local amateurs do shave their legs. The biggest reasons given are for ease of road rash treatment when crashes occur and for massages post race. But in my experience the main reason for this practice is simply that it is a tradition among cyclists.
Hopefully this rundown has provided some insight into the world cycling. It really is an exciting sport. Just ask Nat, she’s now hooked and has a trip booked to France for Le Tour!!
Thanks again to Tony for writing this post! There is so much more to discuss regarding cycling but hopefully this information was insightful to those of you who wanted to know a little more. If there’s anything else you would like to know about this awesome sport, leave a comment and maybe I can twist Tony’s arm and ask him to write another great post!
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