Day 13 TdF - 2009

Today, we transfer from Niemes to Paris by way of the TGV high speed train. This a a really comfy way to travel. Reasonably fast, clean, comfy seat, roomy, a table and power to keep the lap top powered. Only think missing is a broadband connection. We'll take the bags to the hotel, then wander to the Champs Elysses to watch the finish of the race and a bit of shopping in Paris.

Last night, we had a closing dinner with the tour company and our travel mates. At the dinner, the tour guides announced several awards to various folks (some cycling related, some not): best climber, best on the descents, most committed to closing the bar each night, etc. Some awards were jokes, some were a bit more sincere. I received the most combative rider award. To hear it described, it was for the rider who was most consistently up for driving the tempo, aggressive on the climbs/descents and up for the town sign sprints. The award was a bottle of Cote du Ventoux. I was flattered and graciously accepted the award and wine.

Fun to be away, but can't wait to be home.

Day 12 TdF - 2009

The day after Ventoux my legs were feeling a little crispy, for the first time all trip. I guess the 500+ miles and the crushing climbs over 12 days had a little to do with it. The planned ride for the day was a cruisy 40 km ride through some gorges near the base of Mt Ventoux. We then planned to watch the race from a vineyard along the course, sample some wine and watch the finish on a big screen TV.

The gorge ride was gorgeous. The legs were feeling HEAVY with lactic acid. I committed to myself to ride with the slow group today, small ring only, spin the legs to flush them of all the crud from the last 12 days. My plan was in place for the first 25 km. The ride around the gorge had it's ups and downs; we made the summit view point at kilometer 20. We had two options: 1) go back the way we came or 2) go around the full canyon for a little extra climbing and miles. I selected option 2; legs were feeling better and wanted the view from the other side. We descended to the valley below.

At the base of the valley, we began climbing again. I was still in the small ring. Doug and Dave were on the front setting tempo up the hill. I found the going was a little quicker than I wanted; but kept pressing. The tempo increased and I noticed we had dropped the group. At that point, I decided, if its on, then let's be on. I pulled around Dave and Doug, selected a bigger gear, but still in the small ring, and pressed the tempo, hard. It was a nice grade of 4-5%, legs flying at 110-120 rpm; perfect. After 1 km or so, we were screaming up the gorge, Dave and Doug trying to hold the wheel; I was smiling a bit. At the summit, the three of us smiled a bit at each other, no need for words - it was a good feeling. The view on the other side was awesome; well worth the effort. We snapped a few photos then started the descent.

Doug took first position on the descent. He was jamming it in the big ring. I was still committed to the small ring for the day, but was spinning out my 34/11. The pavement was like a wash bard all along the straight sections and even worse in the corners. The bikes were bouncing all over and I was spinning so fast, 130 rpm, to stay on Doug's wheel the rear wheel was dancing all over and I felt really unstable in the corners. Doug began to drop me, on the descent. I couldn't allow that. I jumped to the big ring, sprinted as hard as I could and rode 4-6 feet off his rear wheel. Doug rides a great line on descents and in the corners - I trust his wheel. We screamed down the gorge on narrow roads, wind blowing us around. It was way too much fun; but also taking way to much risk. I came around for a pull. I was setting up a right hand turn, which appeared extremely tight. I gave a look ahead and no cars were coming. I set up the corner, starting from the oncoming traffic side of the road, big speed. I was on the right line, then the winds hit, sweeping me from the correct line back to the left hand side of the road. On the left side (the oncoming traffic side) the road ended abruptly with a shear rock wall less than two feet off the edge of the road. Bike and body were headed that way. I was thinking cheese grater shredding my legs, arm and bike (or worse). I dug in, leaned Ms BA hard on her side and once I knew I'd make the corner, jumped on her pedals and sprinted out of the corner.

Did I mention Doug and I were taking too much risk? At the end of the descent, Doug and I were rolling along the flats. He looked, smiled and said, "That was pretty close." Without mentioning the segment, we both knew it was the cheese grater turn. We rolled at a cruisy pace back to the vineyard, put the bikes away. We were done riding for the trip. Great trip. We spent the day sampling wine, cheese and watching the race. We shared stories, laughed and told lies of our adventures with our Aussie mates we met on this trip. The pros zipped by, we resumed drinking our recovery drinks: Cote du Ventoux, I think it was a 2005 vintage. Nothing better than some mountain juice to help your legs recover and enhance your recollection of what you accomplished. In the last 12 days, we climbed 46 thousand feet and covered 550 miles on the bike. It was a good trip. Did I mention I love this stuff and the Tour, ((THIS MUCH)).

Day 11 TdF - 2009

Mt Ventoux is a beast. Today, we transferred from just outside Grenoble to Bedoin, the town at the foot of Ventoux. The temperature at the base of the mountain was hot, wicked hot. The local bank indicated 39 degrees centigrade; this is around 100 degrees fahrenheit. This is also my kind of weather. Beastly hot, or horrible wind, rain, cold. On the bus transfer to Bedoin, I was mentally preparing for this climb. I really wanted to smash my time from last year and approach the mental prep much like a race.

Today, for the first day on the trip, I wore the iPod for the climb. Today, I'd be in my world. A world of pain, but something on which I focused; a goal. I created a special mix for this day, consisting of 311, Red, Metallica, Godsmack, Satriani, and a few others. From the town to the top we're looking at 25 km. It is about a 5 km roll out to the left hand turn onto the road to the summit. The roll out has a small 2-3% uphill grade. I spun a big cadence to get the heart rate up in preparation for the climb. On the roll our, Mt Ventoux is off to your left, taunting you, almost laughing at you. I made the left hander and saw the sign, 19 km to the summit. It's on.

The first few km of the climb have a nice 4-6% gradient. I was slamming it at better than 20 kph; feeling great. I passed so many people. I am sure they were thinking this guy's gonna pop. Not today! After the first 3-4 km, the road really kicks up. My next goal was the Chateau Reynard. The chateau marks the 6 km to go point and the point where you exit the forest landscape and enter the barren landscape of the top of Ventoux. From the 4 km point to the chateau, the mountain feeds you 6-9% average grades with a few pitches over 10%. Ms BA and I gave it right back. I was watching my metrics; heart rate, spin cadence and time. I was on the number to have a good day.

Ventoux is located in Provence in southern France. The area seems a bit arid, but is known for great wine, awesome food, and its beautifully scenic rolling terrain of vineyards, lavender fields and olive orchards; gorgeous. Probably my most favorite spot to which I've traveled. The lower slopes of Ventoux have a fairly typical Colorado landscape; aromatic pines, rocky sandy soil, and sparse ground cover suitable for this rocky, arid climate. But, it has enough shade to keep you reasonably sheltered from the wind and sun. At the chateau, the landscape transitions dramatically. The trees vanish and the ground cover quickly fades way to a limestone rock and boulder terrain devoid of anything resembling plant life. Some refer to it as the moonscape section of the mountain. No shelter, at all, from the sun and the winds. Regardless of the direction of the road, you feel you're always riding direct into a headwind. On this day, the headwinds were about 15-20 kph.

The mountain was packed with people, cars and cyclists. Folks were already lining the roads, parking their campers and partying on the mountain. As you rolled past, most would cheer for you, scream "Allez, Allez" to encourage you up the hill. I passed one group of younger men drinking beer and having a great time. I rode near them and held out my hand for a hand up of beer. They all laughed, one fella jogged behind to deliver on the offer. I waived him off and said: "just kidding". Finally, I hit the chateau, 6 km to go. At that point, I knew I was well ahead of last year's time. So, time to press to see by how much I could beat myself; Jamie would be proud of the effort on this day.

With 2 km to go, I was near the area where the tour set the barriers for the final segment to keep the crazies off the road. The last 4 km of the climb are an absolute kick in the teeth. It averages 9%+ grades and just keeps kicking you. We kicked back. You look up the road to see the summit and you view the incline of the coming segments of road. Your legs want to quit, but your heart and lungs win the battle and you press, even harder. I made the final turn had less than 150 meters to the finishing point. I beat last year's time by more than 10 minutes. Didn't achieve my goal of a beat by 15 minutes or better; but, I'll take it. The legs were smoked and really felt I had nothing more to give. But, pleased with the results.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) had a presence at the tour. They distributed package which contained three thick sticks of yellow chalk. The wanted folks to scratch messages on the road. On the second day of the trip, a LAF working gave me a package. I saved it for this day. On the descent, I scratched my mark on the final turn on Ventoux. I think it actually made the TV coverage. It was on the left hand side of the road, on the flatter part of the last right hander leading to the summit. It was on a flatter part of the road, the line I thought the riders would take. This mark was for me, and the Tour. If you saw it, you’d know. Otherwise, you'll need to climb the mountain to see it. Hope you get to do it some day. The climb and the view are well worth it.

Day 10 TdF - 2009

Today was the decisive time trial day for the pros. It is decisive in that Lance is fourth and needs a great day to move up. The brothers sitting 2nd and 3rd aren't particularaly good time trial riders. Lance's mate Kloden is 5th and does ride a good TT. But I feared the brothers Schleck put too much time into Kloden to permit him to claw back into 3rd and perhaps enough time into Lance to permit Lance to climb back higher than 3rd. Contador did not need to attack yesterday to solidify his lead and his attack only hurt Lance and Kloden. Lance had an oK TT and moved to 3rd in the overall classification, but just barely. The Mt Ventoux stage on Sat will be an exciting watch. I look for the brothers Schleck to attack Lance. The last couple of climbs, Lance did not have the engine to go with them. We shall see.

Our planned ride for the day was a cruisy ride around Lake Annecy on the bike path. We got 20 km out and found ourselves at the base of a climb folks thought we should do. In the end, only 3 riders and two guides rode the climb. I was coerced into it. Not really, one of the guides, Dave, said "Comm'on mate, let's give it a go." So, I did. Didn't really need to twist my arm. It was a 5.5 mile climb, with an average grade of 8%. That's not the half of it. Some segments touch greater than 20%. This was a real ball buster of a climb. But, well worth it. At the summit, you viewed a grand vista of Lake Annacy and the town.

The lake is 20 km by 5 km, generally. The source of the water is snow and glacial melt. The water from that vantage point look a gorgeous color of blue, almost azure. The lake and region are surrounded by sharp peaks and shear cliffs. I got GREAT photos. The descent was awesome. The first 2 km were 13%, straight down with only a few turns, all of them sweepers - so, no brakes. It was time to let me BA fly and fly we did; touching over 53 mph. The next 5 km were a lot more technical. Lots more twists and turns, banked corners and road as narrow to accommodate only 1.5 vehicles; or a vehicle and a bike. I was still on the gas, but braking hard in the corners. The corners were steep enough you needed to brake hard before the corner and let it fly through the corner, otherwise, you lock your tires and off you go. Fun stuff.

Tomorrow, Mt Ventoux, the mammoth of Provence. So, for dinner tonight, I prepared by drinking a little mountain juice. A wine of the region named for the mountain. It is 22 km of average 8% grade. Gonna be a killer. Just thinking about it, the hammys are starting to quiver.

Tidbit B

Hoo Ha... Baguettes, Love 'em! Pineapple yogurt, love it. Can't get enough of either. Haven't seen pineapple yogurt in the States, but it is delish. As for baguettes, well, I eat six or more whole loaves a day. Hence the conclusion of consuming more calories than burned. On most days, I slice a whole baguette loaf in quarters. With two quarters, I make ham & cheese sandwiches, pack them in my shirt pocket and much them on the rides. The other two quarters I consume for breakfast, more like I inhale them. Typically also with ham and cheese or with butter and preserves. The yogurt I eat to keep the digestive track in line. Thank Heaven for the eleven... … and for the twenty-seven, and for Capt Insaneo (Jamie). On this trip, I am riding a 10 speed rear cassette with and 11-27 gearing. Also on this trip I am using a compact crank front chain ring; a 50-34. The gearing, as a result is smaller than a typical set up. But, I also race this set up and feel good with it. When the front chain ring cable broke, I had to spin the entire route in the small ring. So, thank heaven for the eleven to carry a decent pace. Otherwise a 34/12 would have me spinning out the legs and not being able to carry the pace. The climbs are another story. Last year, I rode the compact crank, but a 12-25. The bigger gear, 34/25, put the legs under significant pressure on the steep grades. The 34/27 helped a TON! I can keep a higher cadence and save the legs. This is where Jamie comes in. I refer to him as Capt Insaneo for his extremely difficult training rides and when the ride or race gets tough, he makes it harder. Jamie has helped me immeasurably with training techniques, suggestions to improve performance and overall riding. He pushes me, hard, to up the cadence and put significant stress on the legs and lungs for extended training intervals. When you approach a climb with 45-75 minutes of intense effort, his training and voice inside my head help me conquer the climbs with far more confidence. He is a an excellent trainer and great friend. Taking care of the undercarriage... This is an expression my friend and team mate Dick uses. I loved it, so I stole it. Like any engine, you need to maintain it to keep it running smoothly. The engine, in this case, is the rider. The most critical part of the engine, apart from the legs and lungs, is that part which connects the rider to the chassis (the bike). If you're not sure where this is going, I'll be more clear. So, let me say it another way - your ass and the area making contact and generating friction with the seat - sometimes referred to as taint. First, on long rides, you need to keep it lubed. For this, many folks us chamois butter. I am a little more simple. I use Bag Balm; purchased from the local Tractor Supply Company. Bag Balm is meant for keeping milk cow udders and nipples from drying and cracking. Its secondary indication is to keep the under carriage lubed and limit friction wear, or saddle sores. On rainy days, you need it more than ever as a soggy saddle (soggy bottom) and chamois pad can produce saddle sores faster than rabbits produce offspring. When we're finished with the ride for the day, often we do not have immediate access to showers. This is where baby wipes come in. You need to keep the undercarriage lubed and CLEAN. Only way to press 300 miles per week for two weeks straight. Sorry for the graphic mental images, but several folks have messaged to me about riding so much and long and asking whether the the ass gets tired or simply worn out. This is my helpful tip to keep you on your bike and riding. It works for me. Doing laundry... Lots of riding, living out of a suitcase, wearing clothes immediately after riding with no opportunity for a shower and long bus rides in that same condition lead to extremely stanky clothes. See the bit on taking care of the undercarriage. I have a plastic, zip closed bag for my spent rounds. After for days of riding, most of it in the rain and with the climbs, this bag get significantly over ripe. Kind of funny to see professionals hanging out at the laundry mat, washing clothes. Reminds me of college; at least that's what I hear. As most may know, I went to a college where they pampered us and a service did our laundry for us. So I am bringing the college experience back to life. Dump all the clothes, colors, whites, darks, whatever, into a huge machine; pour in a much soap as you see fit, then en extra squirt to convince yourself you'll kill the stank; set it to go; then head out to fetch a beer and pizza. Damn, this does sound like college; wished I experienced it. Google it... … I do. From time to time I mention cities, places, regions. When I am not sure of the name, spelling or particular characteristics of the topic, I google it. Hell, I even use the heck out of dictionary.com to get the proper spelling of things. Well, sometimes. Other times, I use the improper spelling to add character and flavor to my blog (really, I just get lazy and Word does not catch it). Show me your discount card... Fred Molini is a prince of a guy. He is a former tour pro; rode with Gerolsteiner. He is a great leader and has a quick wit. The French police have been particularly difficult on this trip. They seldom permit you on the roads. On one day, the police were particularly bad. They stopped us every kilometer or so. It looked like we would be stuck on the mountain for some time. Fred made up some story about us being VIPs of the Tour and how this is not right, we have the Tour's permission to be here. The police challenged him for his credentials to support his claim. The French did not speak English and we did not speak French. Fred is an Italian who is fluent in both. Fred prompted a ride in our group to give him a discount card. With our package, we did get an 'official' Tour discount card. It has the official logo and some other information. It is a plastic card, like a credit card. Fred offered it to the police, covering the portion indicating it was a discount card. The police 'bought' the story and the 'credentials'. So much so, that he radioed ahead, then road his motorcycle to clear the way down the mountain to the next town. So, Fred is also great at sales. And the police, not so bright. We used this tactic for several kilometers. Then a more senior policeman challenged us, realized Fred had been snowing them all, and booted us off the course. It worked well enough, that we made it to a more convenient town from which to ride back to the hotel. It became a pretty funny story for all on the trip.

Day 9 TdF - 2009

Today was a great day on the bike. We had a 90 km day, with two significant climbs. The first climb was a 4.5 mile climb at an average grade of 5.1%. There were segments where the pitch was a bit stiff, but in general a great climb. I nailed my metrics to make this a very comfy climb and to save the legs for the next climb and Mt Ventoux in two days. On the 4.5 miles, I maintained an average 90 rpm spin cadence and an average heart rate of 156, carrying an average 10 mph pace. It was hard, but felt great.

The second climb offered a bit more. It was billed as a 9 km climb averaging 9% average grade. So not much longer than the first, but the pitch would be much harder. It was. The first bit offered an average grade near 11-12%, with a few bits in the 15-17% range. It was HARD. All in all, I averaged 7.3 mph on this ascent, carrying an average hear rate of 160 and a 75 rpm spin cadence. Felt great and still had legs at the end of the climb. These past few days have been a great warm up and prep for Mt Ventoux on Friday.

Unfortunately, the weather was not so cooperative. It was cloudy and threatening to rain all morning. With 2 km left in the climb, the skies opened. But, I was having such a great day on the bike, I was actually smiling a bit; at least until the descent. The descent was sketchy and the corners were slick. I managed to stay on Freddy's wheel the entire way. He wasn't pressing it too much, but I felt good about the bike handling skills and negotiating the corners.

We hitched a ride in the support van back to the hotel, showered, changed and went into the town of Chamonix for lunch. An omelet, salad, fries, coke and a couple of beers later, I was feeling GREAT. We watched the rest of the race on the TV in the restaurant bar, asking Freddy tons of questions from racing to training. Freddy is a great guy and offered a ton a great advice.

This was the last night in Chamonix. We did not make the cable car ride to Mont Blanc. The weather was simply no cooperative. We wondered into town for dinner. I ate with my biking mates; Doug, Dave and Donna. The food, once again, is awesome. I did not go after the cheese too much, but the prosciutto, parmesan salad and French onion soup hit the spot; along with about 5 baguettes. After dinner, we strolled through the center of town, an extremely quaint ski village. There, I grabbed an ice cream, couldn't pass it up. I can say, for sure, I am eating more calories than I am burning.

Day 8 TdF - 2009

Today was a relatively short day. We rode, by bus, from Chamonix, Fr through the tunnel in the Alps to Italy. In Italy we climbed the last Cat 1 climb of today's stage. At the top of the climb, you re-enter France. The scenery was magnificent. This is one of the most remarkable places in the world I've visited. Majestic snow capped, glacier covered mountains. The mountains have sharp spires and jagged peaks. The crevasses between the peaks are marked by fast moving streams of snow and glacial melt. The Water has a distinctive, lime green hue. It looks and likely is extremely cold.

The climb today was no snoozer. For the uninitiated and for those who follow the sport, a Category 1 climb is 14 miles of an average of 5.4%. OUCH! I steamed up this hill at an average pace of 10 mph. I felt pretty good about my day, until I saw the pros make this look like a Saturday morning training ride with the fellas. What took me 1:15:00, took the leading group of pros only 0:55:00; 20 minutes faster! I guess in hind sight, that's really not that bad. But, they had nearly 120km in their legs for just today and about 2,000 km in their legs from the past 2 weeks. And the look on their faces look far more comfortable than the difficulty I am sure my face indicated. Oh well, this is why I'm here and consider this a fun, relaxing vacation. In all candor, I am extremely grateful for the chance and the health to attempt this activity. Having a great time.

Once finished riding for the day, Doug and I visited a local restaurant with two other folks with whom we've been riding, Donna and Dave. We split a huge mix of food, including: a capprizi salad, lasagna, prosciutto & cheese pizza, and a 5-cheese sampler platter. Good stuff. We then walked through the town and waited for the tour to roll through. Can't recall the name of the town, but the small Alpine village was extremely cute, a picture postcard, and the people were extremely friendly and helpful. Tomorrow is a big day in the Tour; 4 major climbs. Our plan is to tackle 120 km and three climbs, including the final Hors Category (beyond classification) climb. This is a wee bit harder than today's climb. It purports to offer 9 km of 9.5% average grades and 1 km of 12.5% average grade. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 7 TdF - 2009

Today we rode from Lutry, Switzerland, near Lausanne to Chamonix, France. It is approximately a 120km ride. The first 60km are around Lake Limon - flat. Lake Limon is a huge lake, high in the Alps; beautiful scenery, snow capped mountains surrounding the lake, bright sunshine. On one side is Switzerland, on the other France. As we rode around the lake, the mountains get larger as we approach the first climb.

Our tour pro guide and me took turns on the front setting a solid pace to the base of the first climb. We averaged 34 kph for the first 60 km to the base of the climb; a pretty quick pace. Only nine riders were in the fast group today and not many others are attempting today's ride. The first climb is an eight mile effort, with an average grade of nearly 8%. The climb was good for me. I did not stay attached to Freddy and the other two good climbers in our group. They ascended pretty fast and I did a bit of work on the front for the first 60 km. Overall though, a good climb. I averaged just under 10 mph on the ascent, but worked extremely hard doing it. At the top, I rewarded myself with a HUGE slice of strawberry tart, a coffee and a coke at the mountain top restaurant. Oh, and I also ate one of my two ham sandwiches I made at breakfast. Got to eat lots while working this hard.

The second climb was a bit more to my liking. A four mile climb, 5% grade. We were riding into a head wind. Freddy flicked his elbow indicating he wanted me to come to the front to take a pull and block the wind for a while. I pulled for about 1 km, setting a 10 mph (16 km) pace into a head wind, and was looking for one of the other mates to take a pull. From the back, I heard one of my mates say, "Good work Jim, keep the pace going." At that point, I realized I would be on the front until we hit the summit. So, onwards we climbed. It was good. This is my kind of climb, hammered away. Felt GREAT.

We hammered our way towards Chamonix; Freddy was setting a fast tempo, Doug on his wheel, I was on Doug's. We took strong pulls with a fast tempo. Near the town sign, I pulled out and took the sprint; not that Freddy or Doug contested it too much.

Chamonix is a beautiful Alpine town, right at the foot of Mont Blanc. The town has a cable car to the top of Mont Blanc. We are hopeful to find some time to take the trip to the summit for a look around. Our hotel isn't much to speak of. It appears designed to cater to the mountain bikers and snowboarding crowd. Even the hotel managers sport the underwear showing saggy pants look. It's cool, tho. All we're here to do is eat, sleep and ride. Compared to the prior hotels, tho, this is pretty low budget. The room, however, is pretty awesome. Open the doors to the small balcony and you view the glacier covered Mont Blanc. Great sunrise and sunset views.

Day 6 TdF - 2009

Today's ride was planned to be a small climb out of the village on the lake near Lausanne, Switzerland to Moulon, a town 40km away. The stage passes through Moulon and a Cat 3 climb starts there. We planned to do the Cat 3 climb as well. However, a woman along the race route was struck and killed by a police vehicle during yesterday's stage. The police will be even more restrictive than before, so no hope of doing the climb on the race route.

The accident with the woman was entirely preventable. The French police leading the caravan of cars and official vehicles speed along the course as if they are in some kind of race. It almost appears to me they are showing off. Ironically, I mentioned to one of my French guides that it amazes me they haven't killed anyone. He said, "Eh, it happens at least once per year. A person watching the tour is killed by a caravan vehicle." Later that day, sure enough. The Tour is great, the race is incredible; but the support and caravan folks act as though it is about them and seemingly have little regard that kids and other folks are on and about the roads.

Today's ride started with an 8km roll out and then a steady 12km climb. It was a pretty tough climb and for once in the past several days, the guides permitted the climb to separate the folks who should and should not be in the 'fast' group. The fast group started with twenty five, again. Mid way up the climb, we were twelve. Great climb. The pace stayed steady for the remaining 40km and it was a much safer and far more relaxed ride than the previous days. Although we did not do the Cat 3 climb on the race course, we did complete another climb on the way back. So, all in all, a good day. Nearly 50 miles, two good climbs, great pace, comfortable group size and returned in time to watch the exciting stage on Sunday. I'll write more about the region later. This place is beautiful.

Day 5 TdF - 2009

Today is a transfer day from the Alsace region to the Alps. Prior to transferring, we did a short 60km ride on the race route. We intercepted the race route at our hotel in the Alsace. The route today passes directly in front of our hotel. We departed the hotel at 8:30 AM, the destination was the city near today's feed zone for the pro riders. The plan was to arrive well ahead of the pros, put the bikes in the trailer, change clothes and watch the caravan and then the riders.

The tour directors divided us in to several groups, a fast, a medium and a slow group. They asked who wanted to ride in the fast group; Doug and I, of course, rolled up. About twenty four or so others rolled forward, of which only 12-15 belonged in the fast group. At about 5k into the ride, we were heading into a stiff head wind, with steady rain. Not sure how our ride director, Craig, knew this was my kind of weather, but sitting second wheel, he looked back and said, "Get up here." I rolled to the front, he said: "Keep it around 30." He meant 30km/hr, this is about 18.5 mph. So, we hovered around 32, which is right about 20 mph.

The route was full of little rollers. If you haven't ridden tempo in a group before, rollers can really begin to separate a group. Rollers are not climbs. Think of a roller as the small uphill/downhill section of a highway overpass, but longer, say a half mile to a mile long in duration. The undulating route, when you hit about twelve in 30km can really begin to break a group ride, particularly if you interpret 'keep it around 30' as do 30 even on the uphill side of the rollers.

After about 6km on the front, I motioned the next two behind me to roll through for a pull. In this way, I was trying to allow some others on the front, let them feel like they were in charge of the pace, and to get a change of view. Doug was second wheel to me. I circulated back around five riders. Doug kept the pace warm, at the 30-32 kph rate. On a particularly long roller, several guys sucking second wheel, who shouldn't have been in the fast group, indicated that they 'got stuck' in their big ring and needed to pull off. I rolled to Doug's wheel and we pressed the small riser. This was the first point where the 'fast' group weeded out the 12-15 who belonged and those who did not.

We mashed along like this for another 40 km into a stiff headwind. Doing 20 mph into a stiff headwind and rain was no fun. When Doug or me rolled off and others took a pull, it did not last long. Soon enough Doug and I were back on the front. At the 40km point, it became the "D & J" show. He and I set a 32kph (20 mph) tempo for nearly 6 miles (10 km). At the 50km point, we rolled off, filtered back to about 6th position. I commented to Doug, "Let's let the others take us the rest of the way in." All in all, for the first 50km, Doug and I spent nearly 45km with one of us on the front.

The end point for today's ride was the town near the feed zone. We had no idea whether it was before or after the feed zone. So, we did the only thing we knew to do. When the others were speculating on what to do, Doug and I rode to the front and kept pedaling. You're on your bike, the weather is awful, no bus in sight; keep pedaling. We rolled through the feed zone and a climb started soon thereafter. We kept climbing the climb figuring the bus cannot collect us in the feed zone, so it must be after. This roller was different, it felt more like a climb. After 2 miles, or so, of riding, I looked around. It was Doug, two others and me. Oops, we dropped a few. Two or so miles later I saw a banner hovering across the road, so I picked up the pace to investigate. We just completed a category 3 climb. Oops, the group would not like this because this morning, I was told and several others heard, if you want some extra riding, you can do the Cat 3 climb after our collection point.

Did I mention it was a wet rainy day? Spirits were already none to high. Extra riding is seldom on your agenda when feeling as miserable as the weather. Knowing we went a we bit too far, we pulled off, out of the rain at the town following the Cat 3 climb. We had several riders expressing their discomfort at likely riding too far. I look at Doug and said, "That was the Cat 3 climb." Doug responded with, "I big ringed it." We both grinned a bit (because he did 'big ring' the climb), not too much though, for fear of mutiny. Doug then called our tour director and received the instructions for where to find the bus. Back down the hill we rolled, found the bus and changed into warmer clothes. Our travel mates, while none too happy at the top of the climb, felt better now that we found the bus, they were dry, warmer and felt they accomplished a little more than they had planned.

I spent the entire day in the small ring. I had a big day yesterday with the climb and the hard tempo work after. The legs needed a some high cadence spinning before we hit the mountains tomorrow. So, while we carried a decent pace, I spent the entire day in the little ring, spinning between 100-120 rpm. Doug asked why I was in the small ring all the time. I said "I'm not looking to mash it today. Just need a bit of a high cadence recovery ride."

It may seem the blogs this year indicate much stronger riding and are more about the rides. You'd be correct. So far, I'd have to say Doug and I are doing well. And, two of a very few Americans, we tend to stand out amongst a bunch of Aussies.

Day 4 TdF - 2009

Today was the first real day of climbing. With the weight well down, arriving more fit than last year and no injuries, I was hoping for a better performance in the mountains. Well, we have a data point of at least one. On today's 20km climb to the Grand Ballon, the performance seemed much better than the first day of climbing last year. The Gr Ballon is not a hard climb, but it is steady. Toward the end, there was a fairly long section (2-3 km) of 9%+ grade. The weather conditions did not help. At the summit, it was foggy, windy and cold. Climbing toward the summit, you had either a hellacious head wind or a nice tail wind. Believe me, the tail wind sections did not last nearly long enough. The temperature was cold enough to see your breath as it hit the air and steam rising from your body.

While I was feeling good, I tried to be sensible; still many days left to climb. I set my targets at a heart rate of 160-165 beats per minute and kept the cadence around 80 rpm. This kept me motoring at a decent pace which saw many others dropping back. The descent was pretty chilly. I wore arm warmers, a vest and a rain jacket, along with long fingered gloves and I was not overheating on the way down. In fact, I was shivering a bit. On the descent, we intercepted the race course for today's stage. The French police are being more stringent than last year. Last year, we rode a good bit of the course without their interference. Today, we had to plead with them relentlessly. We only got so far (10 km), then had to abandon the hope of finishing the course today.

We rode back to the hotel with only 85km on our bikes. This did not seem like enough. I used the Garmin 705 (Ms Garmin) to find the finishing town. I believed it to be only 24 km from the hotel. So, Doug and I recruited some folks to ride with us to Colmar. Turns out, it was more like 35km, oops. The small group asked about the pace, I said we'd take it easy (giving the typical answer Capt Insaneo would give). Once out of town and on the flats to false flats, I sat on the front, dialed the pace up to 23-24 mph, rested my forearms on the bars and pedaled away. Doug took several pulls and several times indicated I should back it off a bit as our crew was not thinking this to be an easy pace. We back it down a bit, but then attacked every town sign for a sprint. After a few with Doug and me battling it out, our Aussie friends got the picture and mixed it up as well. The great thing about sprint signs is that it permits you to dial the pace up a notch or two, so we did. Fun stuff, at least for Doug and me. Our Aussie friends also thought it was a great ride, when it was over.

We arrived in Calmar around mid-day, just as the rain came. We quickly found a café, parked ourselves inside, order beers, salads and sausages - a first rate recovery meal. Dripping from sweat and a bit of rain, we quickly cooled. I dropped most of my cool weather gear at the hotel. I was FREEZING at 67 degrees. I was shivering all over. After an hour or so, the rain let up a bit. We decided to search for the finish line and our bus. We wanted to park our bikes, get a fresh, warm set of clothes and watch the race finish. TWO hours later in a relatively small town after the skies opened up again with rain, we found the bus. We rolled in like stanky, smelly wet rats. I was never more glad to see the bus than on this day.

The end of the race was dramatic, for us at least. Heinrich Haussler from team Cervelo attacked with a Frenchman early in the race. The two stayed away on the three climbs of the day. On the second climb Haussler dropped the Frenchman and stayed away the entire day, winning his first stage. His victory salute was very modest. He raised his hands, then cupped his face with his hands. When he dropped his hands to his bars, you could see he was sobbing tears of joy. All that work paid off for a great stage win on an extremely hard day in the mountains. When you saw him embrace his coach at the end, you could see his shoulders shaking he was so overwhelmed with emotion. OK, so what made it special. His SISTER is on the trip with us! Sitting at 1km to go, she had no idea other than at one point he was in a break. He finished more than 3 minutes ahead of the next rider. It had to be something special for her as well to see her brother finishing a stage, solo, with the entire cycling world watching and no one else around. We all were on the bus when she arrived. Understandably, she stayed, in the rain, to watch the awards ceremony activity. When she rejoined us on the bus, we all applauded. Pretty special to be a part of this big day for her and her brother. I was extremely impressed with the humility of his celebration and in his interview comments afterwards. Pretty touching event.

We leave the Alsace region tomorrow for the Alps, proper. If you are not familiar with the Alsace region, I'll try to help you out. It is the region in the corner of France, Germany, Switzerland and Luxemburg. It is gorgeous. It borders the Alps and begins the foothills to the Alps. The region is rich with agriculture and wine, of course. Great food, fantastic wine. The hills are full with lush forest floors nestling up to towering pine trees. A few other deciduous trees manage to make their way amongst the pines. The roads are sometimes under the full canopy of the forest trees and from time to time you can see hiking paths through the forests. Don't linger with your look too long as the roads twist and turn and you'll find yourself in the forest instead of on the road admiring the forest, particularly on the descents. Talk to you all from the Alps.

Tidbit A

So, last year, I had a TidBits section to the blog. These items are even more stream of consciousness writing than the blog itself, which I admit drifts a bit. As a result, I try to frame the bits, a bit, with headings. These are notes on things I found funny and some stuff I thought you'd find interesting; hope you enjoy… Grammar... Blogging can be an art form. For me, it is a form of note taking. As my elementary, junior high school, high school teachers, mom, brothers, sisters (I think you get the point) will attest, I was a horrible speller and not much better with grammar, nor proof reading. So, much of the blog is raw and may be hard to read/plow through. As my disclaimer at the top of the blog indicates, I am using this tool to help me improve as well. So, when you see the mistakes, LAUGH. Microsoft can only do so much with their Office tools to help me look reasonably smart. All the other short comings I own. And when you laugh, please know that I know you are laughing AT me and not with me. Trust me, it's ok. Jens Voigt... I remarked in my Day 3 post that I like to ride like Jens. Well, here is a sample of why. The following are Jens -isms, copied from the web. I strive to emulate these characteristics in our local riding scene... Jens Voigt counted to infinity - twice. Scientists used to believe that diamond was the world’s hardest substance. But then they met Jens Voigt Jens Voigt doesn’t read books. He simply attacks until the books relent and tell him everything he wants to know. Wally can’t be found because Jens dropped him on a hill training ride… on K2. Jens doesn’t spin or mash the pedals… he kicks them into submission. Jens Voigt climbs so well for a big guy because he doesn’t actually climb hills; the hills slink into the earth in fear as they see him approach. Jens’ testicles are bald because hair does not grow on a mixture of titanium, brass, steel, and cold, hard granite. Jens once had a heart attack on the Tourmalet. Jens counterattacked repeatedly until he kicked its ass. If Jens Voigt was a country, his principle exports would be Pain, Suffering, and Agony. If Jens Voigt was a planet, he’d be the World of Hurt. Jens Voigt doesn’t know where you live, but he knows exactly where you will die. Jens Voigt doesn’t have a shadow because he dropped it repeatedly until it retired, climbing into the CSC team car and claiming a stomach ailment. Jens Voigt once challenged Lance Armstrong to a “who has more testicles” contest. Jens won… by five. When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jens Voigt jumps out and attacks. You are what you eat. Jens Voigt eats spring steel for breakfast, fire for lunch, and a mixture of titanium and carbon fiber for dinner. For between-meal snacks he eats men’s souls, and downs it with a tall cool glass of The Milk of Human Suffering. Jens Voigt can eat just one. The first time man split the atom was when the atom tried to hold Jens Voigt’s wheel, but cracked. Jens Voigt doesn’t complain about what suffering does to him… but suffering constantly complains about getting picked on by Jens Voigt. Jens Voigt can start a fire by rubbing two mud puddles together. Jens' tears are so tough they could be the world heavyweight mixed-martial arts champion. Too bad Jens never cries. Jens Voigt rides so fast during attacks, that he could circle the globe, hold his own wheel, and ride in his own draft. At least as long as he didn’t try to drop himself. Jens Voigt nullified the periodic table because he doesn’t believe in any element, other than the element of surprise. The grass is always greener on the other side. Unless Jens Voigt has been riding on the other side in which case it’s white with the salty, dried tears of all the riders whose souls he has crushed Jens Voigt puts the “laughter” in “Manslaughter.” If you are a UCI ProTour rider and you Google “Jens Voigt,” the only result you get is “it’s not to late to take up kickball, Fred.” Jens was a math prodigy in elementary school, putting “Attack!” in every blank space on all his tests. It would be the wrong answer for everybody else, but Jens is able to solve any problem by attacking. Jack was nimble, Jack was quick… and Jens still drove him to quit racing bikes and become an ice dancing commentator on Lifetime.

Day 3 TdF - 2009

Day 3 is another transfer day. We rode only 50 km, from the hotel to the start of today's stage. At the stage starting town, we lingered around the carnival like atmosphere waiting for the individual rider call ups and sign in. Saw many of the tour favorites and rider favorites. I like Lance a ton and am a big fan. The rider I most like to emulate while riding is Jens Voight. He can hammer on the front, works for his mates and can hang with the best on any stage with the strength to pressure the field or break to take the win or make it really hard for the guy who does win. I took many pictures, some are ok, most are too far away for anything worth keeping.

After the ride and watching the stage start, we boarded the bus for a six hour ride to the Alsace region, getting into the hills. We'll be here for the next two days. A six hour bus ride is not a lot fun, but gives me time to blog, sleep a bit, and yes, do some work.

The bike ride was easy, but a bit adventurous. Before the ride, Doug and I, well let's face it, it was really me as the instigator, tried to find some fellas who wanted to go longer and faster than the planned ride and route. The organizers know me a bit from last year and I did a bit of this last year as well. So, they were pretty OK about me going off on my own with a group and getting to the end point on time. The organizers were pretty helpful with mapping a route and giving direction. In the end, Doug and the others seemed a little concerned about vectoring away from the group. So, I backed off a bit to give them some comfort. We'll vector off the plan on some other day.

On the ride, Doug took position on front for about 10k and kept a pretty good pace. I then took a turn for about 10k and pressed the pace as well. While shifting from small ring to the big ring following a decent little climb, I snapped my shifter cable from its coupling on Ms BA. As a result, I only had my small ring for the remainder of the ride. Several folks noticed it and wanted to stop due to my mechanical incident. I said, "We're good;" and while rolling, took up the slack in the cable, wrapped it around the frame and tucked it in. Several folks were still a bit concerned. I pulled over, showed the ride leader all is good, and we rolled on. Having the small ring only slowed the pace a bit, but thanks to my man Jamie (Capt Insaneo) and his coaching, I can spin a good cadence at 120 rpm or so for a good long time. So hovering in the 34-11, terribly cross chained, we kept pressed the pace reasonably hard.

When we got to the bus, I clipped the frayed piece of cable and pieced it all back together. I only show less than .5 cm of cable on the front derailleur. Not great, but functional. The support crew for the group indicated they have shifter and break cables. I'm planning to acquire two of each as an insurance policy. Since I'll not be breaking down the bike for the next 13 days, I may just cable up the entire bike tonight and eliminate all concerns about cable snafus for the remainder of the trip. [Amazing, Microsoft spell check recognized the word 'snafu'. No spell check error.] Not much more for today, take care.

Day 2 TdF - 2009

Day 2 is a transfer day from the hotel near the airport outside of Paris to the Burgundy area of France. Here, we'll pick up the Tour and begin the riding of the routes the pros will race. On the transfer day, we're on the bus for a nearly 4.5 hour trip, which should only be a 3 hour trip. Paris traffic and a few accidents helped make this a longer ride.

The bike arrived in good shape yesterday and assembled with no problems. We relaxed a little and did a short 40k ride at a fairly slow pace. Most of the statistics I provide on riding will be in metric units. The rides are all based on that and the information on the rides are based on metric units. Upon returning, even though the ride was not hard, Doug and I were still pretty hungry. We finished the ride around 4 PM local time, watched the end of the race which Cav (Mark Cavendish) won with ease, then headed to the bar. Dinner was scheduled for 8 PM and we were hungry. Probably more bored than hungry, so we ate. We each had a beer, pint sized, and split a plate of fries. As any nutritionist would tell you, beer and fries are the best post ride recovery meal you can eat, particularly if it was an easy ride. The price however, was a real pinch. So two beers and a plate of fries = 23 Euros. At a rate of 1.52 dollars per euro, this was a $35 snack. We'll need to do better. And ya'll better be pleased we live where we live. Not sure the hotels in NY would ream you as bad as this beating on the wallet. If you recall from last year's blog, the prices in and around Paris are ridiculous. I'll update as we go, but I am damn glad I live where I do. Wouldn't change it for any place the world; I bet the French feel the same.

This year's ride is the Ritchey BreakAway. I had to leave Ms Veritas at home, last year's ride. Ms Veritas was the Ti bike Bob made. It has an aluminum seat post. Through the Spring races in the wet and with time, the aluminum and titanium decided to fuse together into a new metal. It also meant I could not remove the seat post from the frame. This makes it impossible to ship. So, the shop provisioned me with a Ritchey BreakAway. The BreakAway is a 'folding' bike. It breaks near the seat tube collar and bottom bracket. You pull the seat tube out and remove the clamp on the bottom bracket union and the frame pulls apart into two triangles, the front and rear. The shifter cables and rear brake cable are separated by cable splitters which screw together, and hence pretty easy to separate front from rear cable connectivity. You remove your handle bars where the stem connects to the front fork and all the pieces, along with your wheels pack tidily into a suitcase sized container. The weight is surprisingly light and the size is just right to avoid an excess baggage fee, which to ship a bike to Europe would have been $250, each way. So, thanks again to the best bike shop in the world, Wheelie Fun, for their assist again this year. So on this trip, I'll refer to the ride as Ms BA (you can associate BA with BreakAway or BadAss, your call). Ms BA, is a bad ass ride. Very smooth and stiff enough for a responsive, yet comfortable ride. Doug has the same bike. During assembly time, the others, including the pros supporting the trip, had significant bike envy. Either that, or they were all impressed with the bike knowledge, mechanical skill and intimidating biker legs Doug and I exhibit. Unfortunately for us, I think the envy was for the bikes.

Today's ride was a cruisy 75k ride. The first 20k was incredibly slow and not a whole lot of fun; a lot of touching of the brakes and skittish riders in this group. So, Ms BA and I decided we needed to up the tempo a bit. I rode to the front, started chatting with Dave, the ride director, who was the same ride director from last year. As we rode, I kept inching the pace a bit. Soon enough, we're rolling at 20 mph or so. The ride director commented a few times, "Ease it up a bit, mate." If you recall, the tour company (bikestyletours.com) is an Australian owned company. With about 20k to go, I got back on the front, this time with my mate Doug. Soon enough we were cruising along at 23-24 mph, on small uphill grades. Doug's power meter was registering about 300 watts, so we were working a bit. Doug commented, "Well, these guys are either gonna love us, or hate us." With about 5k to go, Doug peeled off the front to third wheel or so. I stayed on the front kept the pace at 23 mph or so and rolled into town. Most of the riders commented on the nice pace, but glad they were not doing the work on the front. We had a bit of a head wind and cross wind most of the way. All-in-all, a decent day and good timing.

We arrived in the town to meet our bus which was along the race route. Small town, not a lot of folks, so viewing the race was pretty open. The point at which we viewed the race was 55k from the finishing town. The riders were not pressing too hard, so we had a good view of George Hincappie, Lance, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, and the rest of the pros. Pretty good viewing. Hard to get good photos. I took some, but still a bit blurry. That's all for now. Time for some food. By the way, did I mention I love the Tour ((THIS MUCH)). Grateful to have this chance, again.

Day 1 TdF - 2009

Well, it's July and that means two things: my son Matt's birthday and the Tour de France. Matt was born the day Greg LeMond won the Tour in 1989. In the Summer of 2000, I was in Paris on business. I had the opportunity to stay in Paris over the weekend to watch the final stage of the 2000 edition of the Tour. On Thursday, I phoned my son Matt, whose birthday was on the final Sunday. I asked him if he would prefer I come home to celebrate his birthday on the 23rd, or would he mind if I stayed to watch Lance win his second TdF. I explained that I would come home on Monday and we'd celebrate then. Matt asked me to come home. So, I did. This year, he said he did not mind. Last year he came to France along with the rest of the fam (fam = family) and we celebrated his birthday on Alpe d'Huez, watching the Tour (I did not ride that day; I conquered the Alpe the day before). I was a good day for me, I hope he enjoyed it.

Last year I described the Tour adventure as the Epic Summer, perhaps a bit melodramatic. Riding the Tour routes had always been a goal of mine and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to do it. It was an experience I'll never forget. Last year's ride included so many of the most famous climbs I had on my list of wanting to attempt. I spent a lot of time preparing both mentally and physically for the trip. I had many doubts about how I would manage the difficult ascents. Then, twenty days prior to leaving for the trip I broke my collar bone during a race. As I sat in the road following the crash, I never gave a thought to not going. My thoughts were much training I'd miss prior to going and how much weight I'd likely gain prior to attempting the climbs. I think I managed the experience fairly well. My 2008 blog posts chronicles the 2008 experience. If you're interested, check my 2008 blog archives.

I received a good deal of positive feedback on the 2008 blog. Many folks who know I am riding the Tour routes again in 2009 asked that I blog about this experience as well. When I review the 2008 entries, some of it was actually pretty good. I'll try to be equally entertaining and interesting this time as well. In the blogs, I try to cryptically message to teammates, friends, family and others things they will understand and you, perhaps, may not. You may even find the word choice or description odd. It makes it fun for me and makes the readers curious and entertained, I hope.

So, why do it again? Easy answer I LOVE IT. The challenge, the training, testing yourself, and the entire experience. For all the effort during the next fourteen days, the experience last year was actually incredibly relaxing. You ate, you rode, you slept. Oh, and blogged a bit. Oh, and took a couple of 4-6 hour conference calls. Mixing a little work with vaca (vaca = vacation) is just the way I roll. It reduces the anxiety of being out of touch and helps manage the mountain of work which grows from taking fourteen days off. And, Lance is riding.

I am a huge Lance fan. Regardless of the doping allegations, personality, ego, I value his focus and competitiveness. I try to gather virtues from the folks I meet or who inspire me. I have met Lance and his achievements do inspire me, along with many others. I am wise enough to know that each person has flaws. Its easy to pick at the flaws in another person. For the people who do that, it says a lot more about them than it does about the person whom they criticize. It is far more positive and rewarding to find the virtuous attributes and value them. And like my friend Da Light (RG) says, let's keep the energy positive.

This year will be different in several respects. First, my collar bone is not broken. I feel healthy and more fit and prepared than last year. Secondly, I am traveling, rooming, and riding with a good friend, Doug McConaha. Doug welcomed me to the team a few years ago. We trained a lot through the winter my first year on the team; riding with Dick Chartier in some of the worst conditions. But, we rode. He and I hit it off. Doug moved to Columbus and joined a competing team. I was fortunate to move up a category at the end of last year and now race/compete with and against Doug. He is a great competitor. We have managed to get in a few breaks during this past racing season, worked well together to keep away, but he beat me in the sprint for the wins. Quality guy, quality rider. It will be good traveling and riding with someone I know this year. For all the nice folks I met last year, it still got a little lonely not being around folks you know.

One thing will be the same, my passion for this sport and in particular, the Tour. I absolutely love this sport and the Tour. How much? (( THIS MUCH )) As you cross the line, imagine sitting up, hands off the bars, your arms spread as wide as you possibly can, and like a kid, with a huge smile, cup the air with your hands and yell "THIS MUCH." Each rider has their unique victory salute. Robbie McEwen speeds across the line in a field sprint, sitting up, pointing to his chest with both index fingers; Contador points his right hand in the shape of a gun and fires off an imaginary round with his index finger; Lance has his arms raised, elbows bent, fists clenched and pumps the air once with both fists; Em is a lot more subtle, both hands on the bars, takes her right hand and with a small fist and subtle fist pump says 'Yes'; Jamie is rolling across the line, waaaay off the front, sitting up, both hands raised, elbows straight yelling a big ole Texas "Yee Haw."

Hard to explain why I love this sport so much. Kind of irrational, but I love it so. You train not to make the races easier; but to put yourself and the competition in the pain box during the race. To win, it hurts, it really hurts. But the pain soon ends and you're left with accomplishment. To achieve, you gotta love to practice and you have to be willing to suffer, to sacrifice more than the next guy. Tune into Versus and watch this race, get out to an amateur event and watch us race. Hopefully, you'll have the chance to see me crossing the line to yell (( THIS MUCH )); I may not be first, but the passion and celebration will be there. Hopefully you'll pick that up in my blog posts and be entertained.