Wiggo leading out Cav. Kristin want's the part of Cav on the ceiling of our room.
July 28, 2012
Vive le Tour!!
The last day was entirely devoted to the Tour. We got up and headed down to find a spot to catch the race and then stood there. All day. In the sun. All day. With annoying people crowding into our personal space. Including improper touching. But damn was it cool!!!
There were a ton of Brits there to watch Wiggo win the yellow and Cav destroy the field for the stage win. Kristin was trying to get any kind of acknowledgement from Cavendish. There were some crude comments made that I won’t repeat here. Lucky guy. I ran down to a market and grabbed a bunch of snacks and wine to enjoy while we baked in the sun for the seven hours on the curb. It was great to have the peloton come around eight times so that you could actually see some of the racers instead of a two-minute rush of chaos. We were able to get about 30 minutes of chaos.
There were some lame people that showed up late and expected us to squeeze over to let them up on the rail. Including their annoying as hell children bouncing and bumping into me for a couple hours. But the crazies from the UK were all fun to chat with and share food and drinks with. Now we can get back to watching the race from the comfort of the breakfast table next year. I love me some bike racing, but one session of that was good for me.
Well, that’s about it. Just a couple other photos from the trip home that I’ll throw into a last post with some closing thoughts.
-JL
The street is closed, might as well make use of it.
It’s the peloton!!! Not. They were filming a movie before the actual race made it into town. This was take one of four. Kind of funny to see the speed difference when the pros went by the first time and then only whipped it up faster on each lap.
The fake peloton wait for the cue to go on the second take.
The red kite! We moved a little ways up the railing to have a better view.
See that brat on the left, kid would not stop jumping around on the railing and bumping into me the whole time.
The French do it right, just legalize betting and then advertise it.
Some oddity from the pre-race caravan.
The start of the caravan of advertisers for the race. It starts about 45 minutes before the cyclists come through, but they don’t throw out any swag. Just goofy music and vehicles.
I just want to get some gear off that thing.
Happy anniversary, a little early, but it’s 5 o’clock somewhere. Oh and a day early on the anni.
Nice hat!! She still got fried in the sun.
First look at the peloton with SKY ripping it up.
Viva la biciclata at Vive le Tour!
The best-loved guy in the peloton: The Jensie.
Wiggo leading out Cav. Kristin want’s the part of Cav on the ceiling of our room.
Some Frenchie basically dry humping my wife. Despite efforts to stop the “over-crowding” it went on for a while. Delta Bravo
After the race, the teams to a lap in trainers and hats at a more human pace. Here’s the Garmin Sharp boys.
BMC with George, Tejay and Cadel toting a little one on his leg down the Champs-Élysées.
Tommy Voeckler in his dots. Even dots on the wheels!
Someone had a bad Tour Day. Nothing like passing out in the stairwell, pissing yourself and nearly breaking your neck.
Just one of the four specialty shops outside our hotel. Grrr baby!
