End on a high!

Well it was all set up to end the tour with a great day in Paris bur I have to say this was possibly one of the most rubbish days yet!

Leaving the hotel, parking the car, getting the tickets from the automated machine and lastly getting on the right train all went without a hitch. Great start to the day.

The door to the compartment of the seat number in my ticket was pretty stiff but with a couple of good shoves I got it open and sat down. Someone had left their briefcase open on the on the sear with lots of paperwork and rail tickets. When the guard came back it turned out I had broken the lock on the door of the compartment he had commandeered as his office. He got very shouty and frog marched me down the corridor and put me in another seat. Oopsie!

With that behind me finding the Place de la Concorde was easy enough but getting anywhere near the podium or finish line was a no no. Bugger! Everything is fenced off now for invitees only. Not very egalitarian! You've either got to have money or special needs to get in. Now if anyone looks like they've got special needs.....I should have been at the front of the queue.

Abandoning hope of seeing the finish I set off in search of a good spot. With tight security it wasn't until beyond the Élysées Palace that you could get to the Champs Élysées.

With crowds eight deep I had to settle for bugger all view but I was in Paris and on the Champs Élysées. I got talking to an American couple who were just in town for today before heading off to 'do' Britain. It turns out that this chap used to work for Bob Stapleton the owner of HTC Hiroad the team that Cav rides for. Just then his phone rang "Hey Bob. Long time no speak. Yeah. We're in Paris, France. That'll be neat we'd love to come and meet the guys."

He turned to me and said Bob's invited us to the team bus to meet the guys. Nice to meet you we'll be off. Obviously insane with jealousy I managed to choke out "Say Hello to Mark Cavendish." At which he said over his shoulder "Who?" and walked off.

Now I have been known to faff from time to time and double check a couple of times. Just as well I did as my return to Troyes was for 7am and not 7pm but that was OK I could sort that at the station. However, the stub of the ticket for parking the car was with the rail ticket and I only had an hour left on the ticket. KNICKERS!

I wasn't sure how strict the French are about parking fines, clamping and towing so thought I had better not wait and find out. So I managed to grab the photos below before heading back to get the train and save the car from the pound! Better luck next year eh?

Last nights

Whilst driving the long slog to my last hotel of the Tour, I was hoping for a few things from the hotel:

1. Ideally located on an industrial estate.
2. Have prefabricated toilet units where you have to have the door open to sit down. (You can see the tv from there so it's not all doom and gloom .)
3. Have a humming factory opposite.
4. It must not be located in the town where it says it is but in the style of budget airlines be located a good 5km from the named town.
5. My adjoining 'roomies' should be hard of hearing thus requiring the tv being turned up to 11.
6. Other adjoining 'roomies' should have a dog who is raising money for children in need by having a sponsored bark-a-thon!

All I can is........Mister Bed of Troyes. You rock!!

The view from my room :-)



Anyway! I'm up at stupid o'clock to get the TGV to Paris (very excited about the train ride on the TGV) and see Cavendish win the stage AND see Cadel Evans cry!

Col du Galibier

Having talked up my cold to life threatening manflu status I was feeling pretty ropey yesterday morning but thought while I'm here I might as well see if I can get half way up to the Col du Lautaret and watch the stage from there. The official Galibier climb starts in Monetiers Les Bans and climbs at a steady 4% up to the Col du Lautaret, with a little 7% sting just before the Col.

It is a glorious ride on a wide winding road with spectacular views of the alpine masif on each side. The headwind proved to be pretty fierce at times but it was manageable with such an agreeable gradient.

After a dicey part through a tunnel and a couple of switch backs I reached the Col du Lautaret with only mildly burning lungs and plenty left in the legs. Now I had left it a bit late in the day to start so was perilously close to the passing of the caravanne which would put an end to any summit bid.

Pushing on, the 8km to the Col du Galibier pops up to about 7% which was putting my lungs under a bit of pressure. It sort of felt like breathing broken glass. I was now at about 2300m above sea level and I'm guessing the air is starting to get a bit thinner? Maybe I'm just lame!

At about 4km from the top I was duly stopped by the gendarmes. Bugger! So very close, but this could be the first Col I tackle next year. (I hope you like the way I slipped that one in. A couple of weeks 'peak bagging' is on the cards I reckon and on a road bike this time.)

I descended about 2km back to a spot with a great view of the switch backs down to the Col du Lautaret.


The caravanne came and went and I got talking to a lovely French couple who had been on the mountain for a week. They saw the stage the day before that ascended past them and spent two days with a foot of snow!! We discussed the monarchy, the strength of La Republique, draconian French laws and dis respect for gendarmes. They said I should have just ignored the gendarme and carried on regardless!

Anyhow, the riders arrived and this was the first time I had seen a mountain descent and these guys were flying. They weren't fre wheeling but giving it everything they had got. The bikes were right in the edge. Hitting a stone or a pothole and they would be finished. Real courage risking everything to get to the foot of L'Alpe d'Huez first. Chapeau!

While chatting in the afternoon I had decided that 4km was too close to walk away from and although getting late, I would continue with the last of the climb. Forgetting that I had descended 2km it was of course 6km. Bugger!

Feeling like a salmon swimming up stream I battled my way up against a steady flow of descending pedestrians, cyclists,cars and camper vans. The views, terrain and switch backs on the road are amazing as you reach the summit at a reasonable 7% gradient. The signs keep telling you the height you have reached and hiw far you have gone. Some basic maths and you realise with only 2km to go at the current gradient you wont make the summit height, you'll be 100m short. Unless that is the last kilometer is at 10%.

Once you get to a tunnel and set of traffic lights there is the answer. Taking a right at the lights, the Tarmac kicks up alarmingly and a terrifying series of alpine switch backs is your reward to take you up to the summit of the Col.

So with heart pounding and chest sore, for the first time, the numbers scribbled on the road indicating distance to the summit wee correct. Reaching the summit of the Col du Galibier at 2645m above sea level is sometime else. You are on top of the world.....looking down on creation and the only thing.....la! La! La! Thank you Karen Carpenter, that was my ear worm for the entire descent! Aaargh!!



Gratuitous summit shot!

End of camping

After a long cold night with little or no sleep prompted by a failing sleeping bag, low temperatures, man flu, a fox ripping open my bin bag and finding a flat tyre I have called a halt to the camping 2 nights ahead of schedule. There have been 20 nights in a tent at 6 campsites so I feel I've done my bit.

So this afternoon I checked into a great little Logis de France hotel in the beautiful ski station of Vars St Marie high up in the southern Alps. Looking forward to the supper tonight as the plat du jour is duck. Well if you insist!

The man flu developed into a bad stomach this morning and I didn't fancy the 150m dash in the middle of the night. However, that seems to have passed leaving me starving. Still have a thick head, ringing ears, blocked nose, headache for 3rd day and no energy. Gutted that I had to watch the Galibier finish from my suck bed.

However, the view from my balcony is pretty cool.



Whilst lunching on a Jambon Buerre I found a new friend, possibly having something to do with food?



Oh and a shiny beetle. I'm guessing these are like the ones that Gerald Durrell used to buy fr the beetle man in Corfu.

Man bags

Being pathologically disorganised and constantly searching through bulging pockets to find keys, wallet, phone and various other items I have long admired the continental European male's embracing of the 'man bag'.

I finally found a great little black number by RIPCURL and have transferred the contents of my pockets to my new one stop shop for bits and bobs. Strutting along the high street in France it looks pretty cool as it is slung over the shoulder nestling in the small of my back at a jaunty rake.

Slight concern is, will this be sustainable once beyond immigration at Dover?

Man flu stops play...

I've got a stinking cold and took to my bed. Normal service will be resumed when I've recovered. Might have to miss out the Galibier tomorrow :-(((( There is 100+ mm of snow on the summit!

Sitting in the campsite bar to send this and just realised that I didn't wipe the sudocrem off the end of my sore nose before leaving the tent! Oppsie!


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Le Mont Ventoux

The unfinished business on the slopes of Le Mont Ventoux is now concluded and the account closed. Making coffee at 6.30 this morning and pulling on my cycling gear I was actually really nervous. Despite success on the Tourmalet I was still apprehensive about slaying The Giant of Provence. Having tried and failed two years ago there was something of a mental block to overcome. This was possibly the biggest obstacle of the day.

As the ride started lead like legs did nothing to reassure me that it was going to be possible. The initial part of the climb is through vineyards, olive groves and pine forests and is pretty much straight in to the average 9% gradient. Being an average means that you hit 12% at certain points. On some of the switch back corners it's like cycling up a wall.

The previous personal best of 11km came and went and I was into unexplored teritory. Just before the Chalet Reynard and the end of the tree cover there is a brutal section of tight bends that averages 10%.

After the earlier 9% and 10% sections when the gradient drops to 7% after the Chalet Reynard it feels like you are going down hill. That is until the first bend after the Chalet is reached and the wind hits you in face. Bottom gear, standing on the peddles and I came to a standstill.

Having left the cover of the trees behind the exposed section of the climb is like cycling on the moon. White limestone is banked up either side of the road creating eddies that can stop you dead or blow you over. Not to mention into the paths of descending cars and bikes. The wind changes from head wind to side wind as the road wriggles up the Giant's spine. My pannier bag was acting like a sail and pulling the back wheel to the side and then when the gradient kicks up to 10% again in the head wind the front wheel was lifting.

The monument to Tom Simpson who died on the Ventoux and is one of Le Tour's great characters came into view and the tower on top of the hill looked like it was getting closer for the first time in the ride. It probably wasn't until now that I allowed myself the luxury of thinking that this was possible.

A couple more switch backs and I would be there with one last blast of wind just as I rounded the last corner I was in the lee of the tower and had made the summit. Gratuitous summit shots below and I brought the most expensive bag of jelly babies from the sweetie stall on the summit.













I had to peddle for the first part of the descent because of the wind! It was pretty harry coming down with about 500 bikes passing me on their way up and loads of cars. Coffee and crepe at the Chalet Reynard to stop me shivering and then full tilt back to Befoin. Defiately a quiet afternoon reflecting on an awesome ride and being thankful that I never have to do that again. Well in fairness I have done it one and a half times.

Bedoin

Bedoin in Provence is all about bikes. I can see three bike shops from where I am sitting in a little square opposite a roundabout with a sign that strikes fear into the very soul of even the most hardcore cyclists.


Pretty much every restaurant does a "velo special" and I'm imagining it'll be a huge bowl of pasta. That's certainly what I'm heading for. Carb loading!

While pitching the tent in the rain this afternoon Le Mont Ventoux remained stubbornly hidden but you know it's there. Whilst geologically part of the Alps it rises to 1912m from the plains of Provence. It generates it's own weather and is always battered by high winds. There were some amazing clouds sitting just above this evening.


The rain has cleared and the weather is set fair for tomorrow. I'll be heading off at about 7am to avoid the heat as it's due to rise to 29 degrees tomorrow. Pasta now and let's see what tomorrow brings.

Seix <sniggers>

As I've seen a start, a finish, fast runs through a small village, climbing a mountain and going over the top of a Col, I thought it about time to see what happens at a feeding station. The town of Seix hosted the feeding today so with awesome comedy potential I thought I would see what Seix in France was like .

I found the designated litter drop off run and thought that there would be feed bags and bottles to collect for trophies. Not a bit of it. After a two hour wait. Not even an official Tour de France sausage!! However, the peleton was stretched out in single file so got some great video footage of the streaming past from a precarious camera position in the gutter. Don't worry Simon the camera was fine.

Back to the campsite and a quick twenty miles up the valley and back before tea. The advantage of cycling before your supper is that you can enjoy a splendid entree of flies bugs and mosquitos before you prepare the main course.

Before I forget this is Camp 4 and having a beer before packing as there is another early off tomorrow morning.






Tricky not spilling beer or dropping camera!

Anyway, knees seem to hold up ok on this evenings slight uphill so fingers crossed for The Ventoux on Monday!!

Col du Soulhor

Just having a bite to eat and still about an hour from campsite having spent the day on the Col du Soulhor. It was the last climb after the Aubuisque and I thought it would be pretty quiet.



Not a bit of it. It was rammed up there. Resting the knee I drow up to within 3pm of the top and then walked the rest of the way. Taking care to point the car down hill on as flat a bit of grass as I could.

The route up had been used previously as a way up to the Aubisque as there were names painted on the road all the way up. It was a very thin road with alpine bends galore. Trying to overtake cyclists was a nightmare as it was so narrow. The only way to do it was to wait until the cyclists signaled you could pass.

There was a lot of excitement on top as a spectator was taken I'll and had to be airlifted off. As progress was so slow up the Aubisque all the official cars stopped and 5 media helicopters landed nearby. Great cycling as they went over the top all split up. Lots of people handing out newspapers for tucking into cycling shirts.

A long walk back to the car was followed by a really long and scary descent. Sitting having my tea I've just realised that I've got sunburnt ears. Ouch!

Col du Tourmalet

Massive day in the mountains!! I parked the car in a village called Beaudean and after starting ti ride gasped when the sign read 22km to the summit of the Tourmalet. By the time I reached the town of St Marie de Campan, the last village before the climb proper I was knackered. There are markers every 1pm to tell you how high you are and how far you have to go. Counting down from 17km.

At first these are just taunting you as you. Basically saying you still have 16km and 1100m to climb. However, once you get down to single figures they are mental staging posts to head for. I had to stop at 9k, 7k,5k and most sadly at 500m to go. Sorry for the purists who want it done in one hit but this is climbing to 2115m.

The summit isn't revealed until you are within 25m as it is tucked round a corner. All of a sudden you are in amongst hundreds of Lycra clad cyclists on awesome road bikes. Up I roll on a mountain bike with thin tyres. Only being upstaged by a Welsh chap on a mountain bike, 4 paniers and a trailer! Chapeau! To him for doing that.

Anyway, it was sold cold I had to put on every bit of clothing that I had to keep warm and then descended to the Village of Pic du Midi for coffee and sandwich.

Hours of hanging around were rewarded with a great run of cyclists all spread out as the hills had really split the peleton.




Pics of the peleton below:



And the king of the mountains who was so far back he would surely be deposed:



Last but not least a heard of Alpacas threatened to run across the road. When the gendarme blew his whistle at them hoots of derision erupted. More police were drafted in to prevent disaster.




What a day. Happy happy boy :-)

Oh about the descent. That took about an hour and had to stop to defrost cramped hands and let the discs cool down! Easy day tomorrow I think.

Rain, rain go away.....

An 8 hour drive in the rain, putting up a tent in the rain, cooking tea in the rain and getting caught in the traffic heading up to the Col do Tourmalet.......in the rain.

Cold and wet. Hopefully the will come out tomorrow. Oh and the camp site is big and busy. Not what I'm used to but it'll have to do.

Order for tonight is to have tea. Tidy up and go to bed. I have lots of podcasts saved up for just such an eventuality.

First big climb tomorrow on the tour and for me so looking forward to it.


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Camping

Before coming away I was slightly apprehensive about traveling on my own in the car and in the tent. It's not like staying in a hostel with a common room where there are people 'on tap' as it were. However, I have met people every day to chat to. Initially mostly English and Dutch but being the only English person on this campsite I was something of a curiosity.

I'm obviously used to people pointing and staring so being a curiosity isn't a problem :-) At every campsite there are English speaking staff but I have said that I am trying to improve my French so I would like to speak French. To this end I can not only ask for basic things but I can now hold down a simple conversation.

The friendliness of the French and 'campers' in general has been something of a revelation and sitting in the campsite bar with my new French and Dutch friends tonight has been great. You just don't get that sitting in a hotel and the other good news is that I still have two weeks left in France.



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Aurillac to Carmaux

Frustrating day today as I underestimated the time to get to the start town of Aurillac. Obviously needed to be there early to get a good spot to see the start. So what happened was a 2 hour drive arriving late, couldn't see a damn thing and then getting very wet as it chucked it down.

A soggy 2 hour drive home but made it just in time to catch the last hour before the finish with ice cream and coffee in the campsite bar so turned the day round at the last minute. Kicking myself a quiet day would have been better due to the 7am start tomorrow and 5 hour drive to the Pyrenees.

If you think I'm driving a lot, there are 4,000 official vehicles supporting Le Tour. Add to that the 7 helicopters flying for 5 to 6 hours a day, that's a lot of gas! To follow 200 blokes on bikes.

The order "Prepare to move" has been posted and a certain amount of tidying up and reorganisation is required along with packing the car before bed. I must get hold of cash and oil for my chain tomorrow.

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Rest day

Rest day on Le Tour de France but busy on Le Tour de Ollie. Shopping and washing took up some of the day with the remainder spent lying in the shade as the temperature hit the low nineties! A beautiful early evening cycle to the top of the hill beyond the campsite has left me with sore thighs and ham strings like piano wire. May need to stretch at some point soon.

I think you can tell that you have an un healthy relationship with your bike when you go over the top of a hill and while enjoying the descent, you are kind of looking forward to turning round and climbing back up again. Anyway, I got a good solid hour of climbing in tonight as I have realised there are just three days to my first mountain. Col du Tourmalet is looming large for Thursday with the Col d'Aubisque on Friday. Sudacrem at the ready!!

The weather is set fair again for tomorrow and I'm hoping to go to start in Aurillac and then catch a Category 3 climb. That will be followed by a huge traffic jam and wondering if I'll be back by night fall.

The weather had to be good tomorrow as I washed all of my pants today and they didn't dry. Still I've got the rest of tonight to find the nearest hypermarche and practice my underpant mime.







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Stage 9 Issoire to Saint Flour

Rain hammering on the tent woke me at about half past six followed by thunder, lightning and then hail. Looking good for today! The flood warning sirens sounded a few times but no one came round to evacuate so things were looking up.

The Tour was coming close to the camp site and going off on a loop so I could catch it twice in a day. First stop was the tiny village of Lanau. I had missed the caravanne so just managed to get some video of the breakaway and then the peleton as it squeezed over a narrow bridge.

The area here on the border if the Haute Loire and southern Auvergne is beautiful. Mountains, plains, rocky out crops with churches and chateau that appear to grow out of the rock. Black Kites, Red Kites and Buzzards are in abundance here. You'll easily see 20 or 30 in a day. The Kites are in groups of 3 or 4.

Second stop after a great drive along a winding gorge was Murat. I had my eye on a category 3 climb that would have been a good spot for an attack about 50 km from the finish. However, to get there I had to cycle against the flow of traffic and the gendarme said NON! This time I caught the caravanne a whilst I have been bemoaning it I was standing on my own on the road into town and did a little dance for each of the floats and the gifts rained down on me. I feel a bit dirty now having danced for cheap plastic gifts but I have enough Haarribo to last me a couple of days. I'm going to distribute the booty to children big and small when I get back. In the meantime I'm addicted. I'll be dancing on the outskirts of many more French towns before this tour is out. Oh! and some cyclists came past quite quickly about an hour later,but that's not important. I've got seeties, hats, a bag, a plastic clapping device and a yellow back pack!!

Back to sensible things. There is a great 7 km climb with about 500m ascent up to the campsite and I managed this in about 45 minutes this evening. So I just need to do that 3 times over and contend with whatever weather Le Mont Ventoux decides to chuck at me.

Anyway the reward for the climb was this view and a fantastic down hill roll. Loose gravel lead to a few hairy corners and very hot disc brakes. Need to find another one for tomorrow.



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On the move again 09.07

The order to move was given and having got everything bar the tent and myself into the car the night before I was ready for an early start. With a travel time of 6 hours predicted by Via Michelin I could make the finish and get to camp site in good time.

What neither myself or Monsieur Michelin had allowed for was the first day of the English school holiday get away and the rest of France moving too! After a 9 hour epic journey it was tea time, beer and bed!

I'm writing this on Sunday morning in my sleeping bag. It is proper belting it down. Stair rods with thunder, lightning and hail. You know what I might just stay here and then sprint to the camp site bar and pop the telly on. Not keen on getting wetter with no way of drying out!

Bugger! There go the flood warning sirens again. Might just have to get up. Still, things could be worse I could be in a one man tent with no where else to go. I can of course go and crouch in my porch for a change of scenery.

Hmmm! It's not as good as I was hoping.

One last thought. It's best to move from a 2 star camp site to 4 star camp site rather than the other way round, which is what I did. The transition is brutal!


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Wiggins and Cavendish

I had written what I thought was a great blog yesterday evening but hadn't saved it properly before things went wrong technically and it was lost.

It was a campsite day as Le Tour had disappeared off down to Le Mans which was too far away and I knew I had a long drive on Saturday so needed a rest.

Having said that I treated myself to a 30 mile ride along the cycle path that runs along the canal that connects the English Channel to the Atlantic. It was great fun speeding up behind "leisure cyclists" on the tow path and bellowing "Attention a gauche!". Will they go into the brambles or the canal?

Cooking my tea was much like the day on Le Tour. A mixture of elation at Cavendish winning and me cooking the best lamb chop ever and desolation at the loss of Bradley Wiggins and burning the bottom of my frying pan! Well it's nothing like similar really.

Watching the last hour or so of the stage on TV, it was clear that the French seem to have taken Cavendish and Wiggins to their hearts. The commentator was genuinely gutted that Bradley Wiggins had crashed out. Placed 6th going into the mountains he was seen as a real threat and if he attacked would be on the podium in Paris.

Taking his 17th stage win (I think) Mark Cavendish was roared home by the commentator. "Chapeau! Chapeau! Chapeau! Mark Cavondeesh!!".





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Dol de Bretagne

After the excitement of the Cavendish finish, Thursday was a relatively quiet day. A short drive to the nearby town of Dol de Bretagne and arriving just in time to stock up on Harribo!

There was a long build up for a very quick fly past. A breakaway of about 6 riders were about 3 minutes in front but after only about 25km they would soon be pulled back in by the peleton at some point.

Afternoon was spent dodging showers and getting some more miles in in the blissfully quiet French roads.


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Cap Frehel finish

I'm sitting writing this dodging showers drinking mint tea and eating milk chocolate rammed into a baguette. Heaven!

A long day today but great fun. This trip is turning out to be my best so far. So far the weather has been good, campsites excellent and I've met so many friendly people to chat to at camp sites and watching Le Tour.

I kicked off with early breakfast and a great 30 mile peddle. Lots of lovely hills on the way out and a 15 mile flat canal towpath home as a reward.
The only real challenge was the wind which, no matter which direction I was cycling in, was a head wind.

A quick change round, half a baguette and I was off to the first start. An hour and a half later having been stuck in Tour traffic and had an interesting de-tour in Dinan I got to the car park. A brisk 40 minute walk and I'm at the line and on my knees.

Couldn't see a thing! Probably needed to be there since first light.
Settling for a view of the run out after the finish I was almost back at the team bus carpark. Luckily there are big screens so I watched the finish, at the finish, on TV!

The peleton flew past and I got pushed along by the crowd to the carpark. There was no security so you could wander around all the busses as the riders came back. I tried to get a pic of Contador but due to his diminutive stature he wasn't visible above the circle of press.

I got some great pics of riders being interviewed, Tony Martin (Cav's lead out man) talking to the TV and Bradley Wiggins warming down on a......can't think what it's called! One of those bikes that you get at the gym that you peddle but don't go anywhere? Sorry very tired. Time for bed and more of the same tomorrow.

A darker side to Le Tour

Each and every day La Caravanne precedes the cyclists and hands out what must be tonnes of plastic hats, trinkets, sweets and publicity material. The carnival atmosphere is fragile in the extreme as grown men fight children on their hands and knees for a free plastic frisbee, no doubt made in a far eastern sweat shop.

Families hunt in packs with the mother holding the booty haul, the father securing the immediate territory and covering the rear to mop up stray trinkets. The prettiest or neediest looking children are pushed to the front to melt the hearts of the girls on the publicity floats while the facially challenged children operate at ground level. This the most dangerous, working between the legs of adults and facing a swift rebuke if they stray into an adjoining territory.

I can only imagine how the post Caravanne analysis would play out if the family haul failed to meet expectations. If little Jean-Christophe missed a hat or a green foam PMU wavy hand. Straight to bed with no tea and make sure you do better next time. The honour of the family is at stake.

What of all the collectibles? Once the frisbee has made it maiden flight and fallen apart. What possible use is there for a green foam wavy hand once the peleton has passed? One must suspect landfill. I'm as guilty as the next, fighting grown men for a pack of Haribo but I have committed a greater sin. I took a green wavy hand and denied the family next to me and to this day, it sits in a plastic bag in my spare room, un-waved. Shame on me.


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Camp Golding 2

A morning of driving and some tricky navigating! Directions in one hand, map on lap and an eye out for a policeman. Found it no problem although having told everyone I'm going to Normandy, I'm in Brittany! The give away being the black and white Breton flags everywhere.

Anyway, Camp 2 established and another 15 miles on the clock before tea which was a lovely Coque au Vin from the local butchers.

A combination of rain and traveling in the wrong direction for Le Tour and meant that I had to spend the early evening in the camp site bar watching it on TV and chewing the breeze or shooting the fat with followers campers.

I only have a 3 man tent and one car of kit in the space allocated to a European uber camper family set up. If there is such a thing as camp set up envy then I have got it!!

The loos are a good hike away so am singing a lullaby about not having to get up in the night for a pee or pees!! Hopefully next door will have stopped arguing about the cryptic crossword they are doing and all the dogs will stop barking.



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Le Tour arrive en Apremont

Apremont is the nearest village to the campsite an ideal setting for a short film about when Le Tour comes to town. I shot about an hour of footage so hopefully will be able to get a three minute short out of that. Fingers crossed.

It was really hot here today hitting 85 degrees and I haven't started heading south yet. I'm going to have to cycle very early when I'm in the Pyrenees and Provence to avoid the heat. The rest of the day will be spent seeking out shade to watch Le Tour.

My project for the winter months back home will be to edit the film. If it's any good you'll obviously hear all about it, but if it's rubbish I'll not mention it again.

Time trials - Les Essarts

Rather than follow the "deviation" signs and go the long way round to Les Essarts I decided to carry on the main road until I got turned back by a gendarme. Sandwiched between the BMC support cars and BMC coach, I had got myself onto the road reserved for "technical support". Sure enough I got pulled over pretty quickly and turned around. So a la mode Francais I just parked on the side of the road, got my bike out and cycled into town. I did check with the man in blue if it was "interdite" and it was a "Non Monsieur. Bon Chance."

The Team Lampre car passed me and then the whole of Team Lampre who were out on a warm up run. They pootled along side for a kilometer while I tried no to fall off or wee myself with excitement. Then they took off and disappeared into the team technical area. I stopped and hung around with the rest of France hoping to catch a glimpse of someone having their calves massaged with egg beaters (sorry in film society joke).

The rest of the day was spent trying to get cool photos of time trials until the battery on the camera ran out. A couple of dodgy pics below.




The Sky bus.

Le Grand Depart

Through a combination of poor planning, camp site faffing and road closures I nearly missed the start! I couldn't get to the acctual Grand Depart but settled for the 0 km sign which is actually where the race proper begins. The precession is just for show. Well that's how I consoled myself. I wanted to get further but the Gendarmes were getting increasingly twitchy as I cycled against the on coming team cars, Le Tour merchandise vans and random press cars.

There is a Gendarmes spaced about every kilometer so it is possible to cycle until they stop you. Get off and apologise, "Oh! Pardon! C'est interdite en velo? Oh! Pardon!" then get back on when out of sight. Repeat until you get where you want to or one gets really shouty. One got really shouty at the 0 km mark, so here I stayed.



Just found my first tic!!

Calais to Le Vendee

My predicted 7 hour drive turned into a 9.5 hour epic on top of a 2.30 am start and not a lot of sleep before that. I'm normally pretty good at predicting journey times. I'm not really so the only predictable thing was the fact that it took a lot longer than I predicted. Arrived in one piece and made camp at a camp site near the village of Aprement. I managed to read my Tour de France guide for the next day before sleeping. Very excited about seeing the start of the Tour.

Camp Golding below:




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Dover

Beautiful day at Dover and very early for the ferry. I wonder how much of my life I have spent being early. Never mind I has plenty if time for a game of "Oh bugger! where's the car gone?" on the way back from the toilet :-)

Le Grand Depart

It's stupid o'clock in the morning and as I stepped out of the front door to load the last of the gear, the most amazing shooting star I have ever seen ripped across the night sky. With June behind me and July in France calling I am excited and looking forward to the first coffee and pain au chocolat in France. Pitching the tent tonight and cooking the first camp dinner seems a long way off but will be with me soon, as will 25 days eating,sleeping and drinking Le Tour.


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