Allez! Allez! Allez!

Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - Race Day

We awoke at 7:00 (AM) to the sounds of the PA on the L'Equippe van, advertising their newspaper and various other Tour souvenirs. After a night of tossing and turning on our 10 euro sleeping bags set on an 8% cement slope, this wasn't an ideal way to start our day. We begrudgingly got out of bed and were pleasantly surprised with the handiwork that had occurred the night before. Since we had left for "the Dutch corner" to party with the Hollanders the night before, we hadn't noticed that the entire road had been covered with acryllic paint T-Mobile logos, devil's pitchforks (for Didi), and various other cyclists' names with motivations in multiple languages.

We spent our day sleeping in what little shade we could find, playing cards, chatting up our neighbors, and watching the steady stream of tired riders make their way laboriously to the summit. I even had a Frenchmen offer me 20 Euro to drive him to the top. Unfortunately I had to refuse, as giving up our spot now could be disasterous, but offered some water as consolation. Disappointed, he pressed onward.

At around 15:30 (3:30 PM) the caravan began to pass through our section of the route. The caravon consists of outrageous "floats" (if you could call them that) throwing "prizes" to the crowd. Grown men turn into little boys as they push, shove, elbow and gouge other spectators, scrambing for their free candy samples, keychains, hats and magnets. The purpose of this caravan is to amp up the crowd as the race approaches (and to advertise, of course). I have to admit that it worked for me, as I was waving my arms like a kindergartner and getting into the scrum with the rest of them. Beth fared better than I in the "swag" department, catching a good bit of the goodies, all while covering the event with our camera.

The wait during the next hour was almost unbearable. We (my new Scottish friend and I) found an RV with a satellite TV hookup, and watched with race as the riders approached, judging their distance by the helicopters following the peloton.


Finally the riders began to arrive, and I watched the legends of cycling pedal by. The group was fairly tired from the nearly 180 grueling kilometers they had already traveled that day, and as a result began to spread out on the climb, allowing us a great view as they passed. I have to admit, though, that I had a hard time recognizing the faces that I had until now only seen on TV. I did spot George Hincapie, and was able to run alongside him for a short bit, encouraging him with "Allez! Allez! Allez!/Go! Go! Go!" He looked to me, but seemed a bit to tired to respond. Seeing as he had a lot of work still to do, I'll let it slide.

The caravan of riders and vehicles ended with a blue van labeled "Fin de Course." At that point, we packed up and worked our way slowly back to Grenoble. We had originally planned to camp another night, but it became apparent that we would be the only ones doing so, so we decided to try our luck in Grenoble. It wasn't easy, but we managed to find a place right by the train station.

Seeing Le Tour in person, and sharing the intensity with about one million people was an amazing experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. This was somewhat of a pilgrimmage for me, and I'm so happy to have been able to do this with Beth, and on our honeymoon no less!


Update: Added pictures!