Tour de France Replay

I've written before that I am a Tour de France fan, as is David. Gregg enjoys watching, but not like David and I do.

For 23 days in July, we wake up in the morning and turn on the TV to see the live coverage; we tune in again at dinner time to watch the race replay, with full commentary. It's bad manners, but David and I even watch it while we eat dinner, sitting on the couch.

Today is a rest day for the riders, so they are replaying past broadcasts. In the spirit of replays, here are some photos of the 2009 Tour de France that we took last summer, when we were vacationing in the south of France. I hope you enjoy them.

David and me, with baguettes (and wine), waiting for the peloton to arrive.

JOY.

Excitement.

The real thing - Contador (closest to the camera) and Armstrong (in black socks and black & yellow helmet), with David and me on the far right side of the picture. You can see how close we were to the action!

They will finish in the City of Light.

Show and Tell: Tour de France

Did you ever think that blogging is just a grown-up version of "Show and Tell?" I used to LOVE "Show & Tell" at school; I loved when it was my turn. It's my turn again!

I've already written about how much we love the Tour de France here. When we were on our vacation last summer, David had high hopes of watching part of the Tour de France, in person.

When I say "high hopes," that actually means expectations, and willpower like a Trojan Horse. We heard about this frequently, as soon as we crossed the border from Italy into France.

The "Grand Depart" was in Monaco.

We stopped in Monaco to show David the city of Monte Carlo, the casino, and the beautiful architecture.

In the process, we happened upon the Tour team buses, and some of the riders.

 

We saw the LIVESTRONG vehicles.

David took lots of photos of fancy cars that he admired, such as this Aston Martin.

Then we drove to our bed and breakfast inn, in the town of Antibes. From there, it felt like one long "discussion" about where and when we could intersect the path of the Tour, with David trying to get a committment from us that it would happen. We had a magazine that showed the exact route, in detail. We had not planned our trip around this, but David did not see it that way.

After three days in Antibes and the Riviera, we drove to Provence, to stay in the town of St. Remy. David continued his campaign to see Le Tour. Gregg & I wanted to avoid crowds and traffic jams; David wanted the thrill of a big-stage finish. We compromised.

We learned that the tour was going to pass right near our accomodations, through several small towns. We bought sandwiches made on baguettes, a bottle of wine and a lot of water, and drove to a parking area in a small town. We followed the locals as they began to assemble on the side of the two-lane road. Finding a good spot under the plane trees, we started our picnic, and then, the parade of vehicles and sponsors began. They threw samples and fun things at us: key chains, hats, backpacks, packages of cookies and sausages (!). It was like a small-town, big event party. We LOVED it.

Then the police motorcycles and press motorcycles came by, and the excitement became palpable.

First, there was a breakaway group.

Then, the peloton started to appear.

Then some of our favorite cyclists whizzed RIGHT PAST US, so close that we could have grabbed their handlbars (not that we would dream of doing that, but they were that close)!

It was a fabulous, non-crowded, very French experience, and one that all of us will treasure. Here's a little slideshow so you can see how it was.

Tour de France

David and I are Tour de France junkies. We are going to be TV-dependent for the next 3 weeks...or, as they say, "23 DAYS in JULY."

Have you ever watched the sport? Have you seen the cyclists struggling up the mountains, or flying downhill in a flash of color? Bouncing over cobblestones, sliding in the rain, sprinting to the finish of each stage...every day is exciting. It is one of the most beautiful sights in sports, to see the French countryside at the height of summer, with men on simple machines, powered by their own effort. I hope you will have a chance to see some of it. If you are interested, check the official Tour website.

David and Katie have a cousin (Jim) who used to be a professional cyclist. When our kids were younger, we were greatly inspired by Lance Armstrong's comeback to the sport after he had cancer. Whether you think he is a good guy or not, his books are illuminating and his work on behalf of the cancer community has been fantastic.

We participated in the first LIVESTRONG ride in Portland, OR, in 2005, in memory of our friend and pediatrician Diane Fuquay, M.D., just after her passing, with David and me riding the 10-mile ride, and Gregg and Katie there in support of us. We enjoyed seeing Lance after the ride, along with his friends Eddy Merckx, Jim Ochowicz, George Hincapie and Bob Roll, and helping to raise money, support & awareness for the cancer community. It was a wonderful way to honor Diane, and to work out some of our grief over her passing. One of our Caringbridge cancer-survivor friends, young Johan Lofas, participated in the ride last September.

Katie had me reading Lance's first book to her as she went through her treatment. It encouraged her, I think, because he wrote about his surgery and chemo openly; he had "been there," too, and he survived. We loved watching him race in the Tour. This year, the Tour has a different cast of characters, but it is the same beautiful spectacle to watch.