Le Tour 2007 Live !

Stage 20, Paris - Paris, 65km, 20th July 2007

2007-07-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

So that's it, we've finished. We didn't try to complete the exact route of the final stage, the route-finding would become incredibly difficult with one way systems etc, so we approximated a loop round southern Paris suburbs and then began our triumphant procession down the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysees.

The Pros don't really treat most of the final stage as a race either, rather they ride slowly and pass champagne around the bunch and toast the winner. So we stopped at bar near the tower and bought a bottle of champagne for a proper celebration.

Bizarrely, as soon as we stopped underneath the Eiffel Tower we became the centre of attention and random tourists wanted to take photos of us in our yellow jerseys etc.

Emma was waiting at the Arc de Triomphe, so we circled the Place de Concorde and started on our one lap of the finishing straight. The traffic was a little heavy, but we finally, after 3500 km's of riding in all weather conditions, arrived at the finish.

We attracted another small crowd taking photos as we popped the champagne, hung a Tour de France flag off some barriers and took some publicity shots of ourselves for our sponsors.

It felt awesome to have finished....London to Paris the long way round. Handshakes and congratulations all round as we thought about what we had achieved.

The two young Gendarmes who then turned around up around 15 minutes later weren't quite in the same celebratory mood, they tersely advised us that bikes weren't allowed in the middle of the Arc de Triomphe and then enquired as to whether I was drinking alcohol ! Protestations that we we had just ridden the 'Grand Boucle' and deserved some slack got nowhere... essentially we got 'moved on' in a rather ignominous style.

So here endeth letour2007.com. Well almost....we are now going to sample lots of Parisien beer and not wonder about the route profile tomorrow, for a change.

Before we go, another huge thank-you to the many, many people who have supported us along the way, through donations, offers of services, words of encouragement, blog comments and guestbook entries. It has been fantastic knowing that we have the support that we have had, it has made a huge difference and I doubt that I will personally experience it again. Credits will be posted when we return, and our most valued fan announced.

So it is all over.....a crazy adventure that most people quite wisely doubted could be achieved. Everything has gone as smoothly as we could have wished and we are all now fit(ter), slim(mer) and tanned and not looking forward to getting on a bike for a while.

It has been fantastic....soon it will all seem like a dream and we'll be back in the real world. But it was good while it lasted.

Au revoir (for now) from everyone at letour2007.com

Cheers

Stage 19, Cognac - Angouleme, 50km TT, 19th July 2007

2007-07-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

We are on the journey to Paris !

We knocked out the Cognac - Angouleme Timne Trial this morning after Emma dropped us off. The route was pretty standard, a couple of small rises, but otherwise it will be one of the quickest time trials in the Tour ever we think.

We cycled past a couple of chaps (one wearing full Phonak gear) on the way, it took some explaining that we weren't just doing the the one stage, we had done them all. We were also all in our team jerseys...the full Red Train....and we got a couple of comments from passing vehicles and some cheering from one chap by the side of the road. However the bloke Matt almost hit in a village wasn't cheering quite so loudly...

A quick change and shower at one of those super cheap French hotels and we are about to jump in the van for the drive to near Paris for the last stage tomorrow.

Bikes are making all sorts of weird clicking and crunching noises, but there is so little left I think we'll leave serious bike maintenance for England/the US. The aromas wafting from the

coffee shops on the Champs Elysees are getting stronger......it all

sounds very romantic.....obviously in the real world we have the

Perepherique to deal with and I don't think we'll be doing eight laps of the Champs Elysees....might have to cut it down a bit for our safety.

Stage 18, Cahors - Angoulême, 210 km, 18th July 2007

2007-07-18T03:37:00.000-07:00

Stage 18......almost there. This was a long one at 210 km's and motivation is starting to become an issue....luckily it won't matter for much longer.

We scheduled three stops today, and at every one the desire to just go to eat, drink and then go to sleep became increasingly persuassive. Then the giggles set in and getting back on the bike became very tough. This is the problem with thinking we have finished when we haven't.....there are no more mountains to focus on, no more thrilling descents to look forward to....just get the miles in and get this finished.

But...we did go through some fantastic scenery today. It may be swamped with Brits (and Belgians), but the Dordogne region is always impressive and we cycled right bang through it today. La Roque-Gageac, St, Cyprien etc....we enviously looked at the canoeists as they paddled down the river...I would like to swap my bike for something else soon. The perched medieval villages looked like they could be very interesting to look round, but we had no time, we were on a schedule to avoid another 12 hour day.

The climbs have stopped and the weather was cooler today, so there were no major challenges, but it's just the kms refuse to go past as quick as we would like, it requires alot of focus to keep pedalling.

Kyle decided to go for a last ditch King of the Mountains attempt and rode up some Cat 4 climbs very quickly indeed, earlier both I and Matt had been chased by rabid dogs and we barely cycled away fast enough to avoid their gnashing teeth.

The latter half of the ride involved less exciting scenery and a bit of a main road that had very large trucks thundering by (the main Perigeux to Angaloume road), so we decided to freestyle some navigation on a quieter parallel road to limit the chances of getting mashed.

This route seemed to involve some sneaky little climbs and it was after one too many of these that Matt amusingly toppled off his bike in the middle of the road.....picture here. He quickly remounted. I then lost concentration somewhat and rode into a ditch, luckily it wasn't too deep and I also remounted. It's not over 'till it's over.

So, the last major stage completed, the TT tomorrow. End of term feeling is strong, we have already begun reflecting on the epic rides of the last few weeks.

Stage 17, Pau - Castelsarrasin, 188 km, 17th July 2007

2007-07-17T03:36:00.000-07:00

This morning started late for a couple of reasons : the complacency that has somewhat set in that now that we think we are on the way home (as the Pyrenees are recede across the horizon), and also the fact we had an hours drive to Pau for the start.

The route was actually very pretty through beautiful and rolling rural areas….problem is that the rolling aspect meant hills and we had to drag ourselves over a number of Cat 4 and 3 climbs that the legs complained about….especially after yesterdays epic.

The sun was back out with intent too, and as the day wore on the heat rose until about 3pm we must have hit a peak of about 35 degrees. Fluid replacement once again became a primary concern and the parked camper-van and Emma became a lovely sight as we rounded corners at the agreed meeting spots. Food was consumed and lots of Coke drunk.

We should have been sponsored by Coca Cola on this trip, a verging-on-ice cold can after 50 miles of hot cycling is nectar indeed. All that cold liquid, sugar and caffeine seems to do the trick (and Accelerade can get a bit hard to take after the 50 millionth litre).

There were lots of sunflower fields on the route today and the pictures here give some impression of what those golden hillsides look like, always impressive.

All completed the stage, a fairly pleasant ride in pretty hot conditions. So we have one more ‘proper’ stage of the tour left tomorrow, then the time trial. The smell of the fine cuisine from the bistros on the Champs Elysees becomes stronger by the day. The end is in sight.

Stage 16, Orthez - Col d'Aubisque, 218 km, 16th July 2007

2007-07-16T03:35:00.000-07:00

Not much time to write tonight as the stage took us 10 hours of cycling (almost 13 elapsed). It was long, 222 km's, and involved lots of climbing, estimated at over 5000 metres.

Amy, Mark and Kyle completed all, Matt completed the Col de Larrau and the Col de Marie Blanque.....the two hardest.

The HC (and somewhat underestimated) Col de Larrau was first up this morning and was a real pig. Definitely harder that than yesterday's Port du Bales was our conclusion....very steep and rose to 1500 metres from under 200m as it too us over to Spain.

The loop through Spain was interesting and less severe, but another Col at 1750 metres put more stress on the legs (pic on left). We also replaced two tyres today, Matt's rear tyre looked like it had been attacked by Freddie Krueger. We think the melting tarmac that sticks the wheels to the road accelerates tyre wear (lots more melting tarmac today, despite it being much cooler).

The next climb back in France was the Marie Blanque and was described in Cyclosport as being "the most violently sustained steep section of the entire tour". I think we would agree.

With no respite we then tackled the mythical Col d'Aubisque as a summit finish. As we rose through the thickening clouds the landscape took on an ethereal state and eventually after the longest day so far on the tour, we finished with riders emerging from the mists..Stephen Roche style.

This is a major milestone we have reached, as we have climbed our last major climb and descended our last serious descent. The Pyrenees hae thrown their worst at us and we have come through. With less challenging stages to come, barring major problems (injuries, crashes etc) we should be able to complete the 2007 tour de France...it feels like now have a genuine and realistic chance of making Paris with some team members having ridden every single kilometre. We still have major rides to come and in normal circumstances would be serious challenges, but is hard to escape the feeling that the worst is now over.

Kyle took the opportunity to get the paint and roller out on the Aubisque and big up his college or something...not entirely sure what it means but I gather there a bunch of people back in the US who will appreciate the image below. Let's hope it stays intact before the Tour rolls in.

So...must sign off, everybody asleep recovering from another 10/10 difficulty day. A new elevation gain record today, 5755 metres. Believe me, that is a huge amount.

Tomorrow we ride from Pau to Castelsarrasin, a relatively easy 188kms. It is strange to think that in four days time we will be in Paris.......if all goes well.

2nd Rest Day, Olorons, 15th July 2007

2007-07-15T03:31:00.000-07:00

Think this picture sums today up. Might get up to watch the Tour's first summit finish at Tignes in a bit.

Stage 15, Foix - Loudenvielle - Le Louron, 196 km, Sat 14th July

2007-07-15T02:49:00.000-07:00

Ok...this is getting pretty serious now. It is hot....damn hot, the temperature as I write this in Oloron St Marie (near Pau) is approaching 40 degrees.

Firstly I am pleased to report that the full-tour contenders completed the stage, Kyle also completed (still with injuries) and Matt completed the Hor Categorie Port du Bales - considered the hardest climb in this years Tour. Guest rider Micheal Barry also completed what is easily the hardest days cycling he's ever done.

I can also report that it took us a rather astonishing 12 hours (10 hours riding), leaving Foix at 7.30am and finishing just over the Col de Peyresourde at 7.30 pm. And did I say it was hot ? Wow......the Col de Portet d'Aspet was like a furnace which came as a little bit of a shock to Michael who had just flown over from Ireland for the stage. From rainy Ireland to a 35 degree Pyrenean climb isn't good for the health. But he made it.

Cyclosport gave this stage 10/10 for difficulty and it basically meant that it involved climb after climb. The extra dimension was that the climbs gradually got harder, the Col de Port, followed by the Port D'Aspet, followed by the Col de Mente, followed by the new and fearsom HC Port de Bales followed by the Cold de Peyresourde.

The glaring midday sun meant that fluid intake quadrupled, but Emma did a stirling job of meeting us in remote locations with the van so we could re-fuel. I think Amy actually sat in the water trough on the Portet d'Aspet.....the cooling effect considerable.

We bumped into a bunch of chaps who had been on the Tour of Ireland with Amy and I. Back then we discussed the fact they were doing the Etape and we were doing the Tour...and lo and behold we meet again in the Pyrenees. Hope you read this, best of luck to you all.

Talking of the etape (organised race/ride across the blue riband stage of the tour de France each year), there will be some suffering on Monday, that's for sure. I have trained all year for letour2007 and am not unfit and still found it hard. I think that route will become a serious challenge for many riders out there...let's hope it cools down. Seriously, I hope all you guys make it...."COURAGE !"

The grind up Peyresourde signalled the end of another 200km's of cycling and over 4500 metres of 'up'. We piled in the van and headed for the Autoroute to take us to Oloron, near Pau, for a well deserved official rest day (same as Pros will have). I am not sure that we could take another successive mountain day...we need to recover physically and mentally. Stage 16 still looms over this challenge like an Ogre...ready to bite us hard if we aren't careful. Difficulty rating getting up to 'Brutal'.

Great comments ........keep them coming. Particularly strong on the last post, lightening strike Ipods and Jaeger bombs !

Stage 14, Mazamet - Plateau-de-Beille, 197 km, Fri 13th July

2007-07-13T03:17:00.000-07:00

The red train thundered south today as we tackled a stage deep into the Pyrenees.....finishing on the 'famous because of Lance' Plateau de Beille.

The sun was out with a vengeance as we climbed out of Mazamet and onto the walled city of Carcassone. The route then became pretty spectacular along a wild gorge where a river (suitable for rafting, which looked inviting) tumbled below. The cliffs encroached quite considerably onto the road forcing Emma to take great care with the campervan...otherwise we would have lost half of our sleeping space in the section above the cab.

By the time we hit the lower slopes of the HC Port de Pailheres (1500 metres of up) we had by far the hottest temperatures on the tour...the campervan reading over 35 degrees at one point. This caused some suffering on the exposed slopes and by the time we reached the top..we fairly well sprawled out on the grass next to the animals milling arounf.

Managing to compose ourselves for a photo beneath the Col sign, we then descended to the last climb.... a feared summit finish.

One of the wagons on the red train came off at this point due to the excessive heat...but Matt turned into a directeur sportive extrordinaire by supplying us with the athletes choice of Cokes, Haribo and my ipod to listen to from the cab of the van as we crawled up the last slopes of the Plateau de Beille up to 1750 metres. It was a grind.

Music helps when the traffic is very light as it is something to listen to and take your mind off the pain. In my case it proved inspirational as during my 'Euro 2004' mix, the mighty David Hasselhoff came on. Suddenly it was like I had eaten three energy gels.....as the opening chords to Looking for Freedom came on I found extra reserves of power and fairly sprinted to the top.

The Hoff's powers don't stop at single handidly tearing down the Berlin Wall......he virtually carried me to the finish today.

Matt and Emma had meanwhile broken the Campervan up Plateu de Beille record and got busy with the paint and roller that we had prepared earlier. Some of the handiwork can be seen below...but basically we left our presence on the road so that hopefully we can see it on TV in 10 days time. A strong effort I am sure you will agree (me riding past in victory mode). More of that to come I think.

Final piece, the animals roaming around the Pyrenees continued today, a picture here of the lovely horses that greeted us on the Pailheres. Lovely, until their fly ridden heads appear inches from your face and they start rutting the campervan. Anyway, it's their terrain I suppose.

Several litres of fluid each later..we are in a campsite near Foix full of Brits and others preparing for the etape du tour on Monday. We are doing the stage tomorrow and will be long gone by the time they finish, but we wish all the etappers the best of luck.

Stage 13, Albi - Albi, 54 km TT, Thursday 12th July

2007-07-12T03:16:00.000-07:00

For those looking for a holiday desitination in France, perhaps somewhere to stay for a few days, then we recommend the village of Ambialet on the river Tarn near Albi. We cycled through it halfway through our straightforward 54km time trial today, and for once had an opportunity to really appreciate our surroundings. It is a beautiful place.

Today's ride was a joy, there was no pressure, we got up late, eat croissants and drank coffee, donned our celebratory jerseys (Yellow, Green (Points), White (young rider) and Polka Dot) and cruised the course.

The weather was beautiful...about 22 degrees and sunny and compared to other days where we've basically had to grit teeth and endure...this was a pure pleasure ride.

We larked about....got lots of beeps from lorry drivers for wearing the quintet of the hallowed jerseys all at once (in France the yellow jersey is NEVER worn by anyone other than the leader of the Tour) and took alot of action photos, some of the results you can see here.

The actual course was very interesting, a fast straight out and back, apart from a massive twisty descent and then a 350 metre climb, so the boys in the actual race on their time trial machines will not be pleased when they see the more techincal stuff. For the record, I'd go road bike with aero bars probably.

We returned to Albi, took a leisurely shower and then headed over the Mazamet, where the next stage...THE FIRST PYRENEAN STAGE !!!!...starts tomorrow. Have I told you about how we are very worried about the Pyrenees ? Well, we are.

We set up residence in a bar all afternoon and watched the real TdF, Chablis to Autun on the TV. It's really interesting to watch them race over roads we got quite familiar with, and little distressing to see them do it twice as fast. But we are a guaranteed 'clean' tour.....unless continental strength beers count as doping.

Talking of the Pyrenees.....we haven't seen any bears yet, and we might in the mountains. 'The Bear' was last seen heading towards an airport to maybe join us...but alas it was not to be.

Right then, the riders are early to bed this evening in an attempt to beat the heat tomorrow. It was properly hot today...and we feel we may get roasted tomorrow. Wish us luck.

Stage 12, Montpellier - Castres, 179 km, Wed 11th July

2007-07-11T03:15:00.000-07:00

Before I describe Stage 12....just a little reminder about who will be benefiting from the charity money raised from this epic bike ride. Education for the Children exists to help some of the poorest children in Guatemala and finances raised will help build a safehouse.

One safehouse costs £10,000, so we are over halfway there. If you are reading this and enjoying the updates and haven't donated......have a look at the sponsorship page on letour2007.com and see if you can help.

Thanks !

Stage 12, Montpellier to Albi. It started off fairly nice, but then we had to ride the cycle tracks 'belgium style' for a while to avoid getting loudly beeped by the large trucks that came past.

We met Matt (helping with logisitics today as change of support driver) and Emma after about 40 miles and we gourged on the standard of pain au chocolates etc.

The route then stayed on the same D908 road for many miles as we entered the Haut Languedoc region and the road started to rise as we started a Cat 2 climb that took us over 900 metres, but not before we had been through an interesting tunnel at the top of another little col near a village.

The weather then turned and the rain started. If you remember a previous post about us not being in Belgium anymore, well I take that back. You would never know we were in the south of France as we cycled the last 50 miles, it was about 15 degrees, the lush forests were made up of trees that looked northern European and the drizzly rain cam down. The picture below depicts it quite well.

The freaky European weather continues....this must be the coldest and wettest Tour de France attempt on record (cool for cycling though).

The descent to the town of Castres we very long, very wet and a little dodgy round corners, but we eventually popped out and found the van waiting for us.

We are now at a campsite just outside Albi where we have the 50km time trial tomorrow. This is now obviously small beer for us and so are treating it as a semi-official rest day....which basically means we have fired up the DVD player in the van for the first time on this trip. We are doing something other than cycling and eating !

Last up this evening is the first in our series of 'haunting post-ride portraits'....and I'm (Mark) up first. Technically it wan't post ride as we hadn't finished the stage when it was taken...but you get the gist. We are supposed to look gaunt and haggard and like we've cycled thousands of miles - art style. Don't worry mum...I am maintaining weight I think.

PS -A big thank you for the many kind comments and guestbook posts, we read them out in the evening and everyone appreciates them. And Tim Perkin....don't spend that extra sponsorhip money (if I make it round the whole course) on beer...I am still on track !

Stage 11, Marseille - Montpellier, 180 km, Tuesday 10th July

2007-07-10T03:14:00.000-07:00

It's quite windy between Marseille and Montpellier.....we can confirm this after cycling for several hours across the Camargue with some seriously intense wind barelling across from the north. I am not sure it was officially the Mistral, but it was tough to cycle in.

We left early and the morning was a little chilly as the sun had barely risen above the Provencal countryside. A small climb proved no problem and we stopped at a boulengerie for some more of a diet that would probably kill an average person, but seems to get us through stages. Basically it is anything with lots custard, raisins and chocolate in it, x 2 please.

Meanwhile Brian dropped Laura off at one airport and picked Emma up from another - what a star. Emma is taking over as support driver. We passed under an impressive looking Roman aquaduct on route, the photo is below...looked lovely in the morning light.

Because of the early start we took our time on the re-fuelling stops, and grazed the ever more impressive smorgasbord of local supermarket delights that Brian had procured.

The second half of the ride was hot, but not too hot as we battlled the winds, and finally we arrived at the campsite near Lattes (near Montpellier) that Brian and Emma had already arrived at.

Checking in was fairly straightforward, apart from we were caught off-guard by the 'speedos only' rule that is strictly adhered to at the site pool. Shorts are certainly not allowed....speedos only.....this caused some astonishment amongst the American contingent who come from a land where it is always the other way round.

The tiny campsite snack bar serves moules-frites for 7 euros on a Thursday...can't imagine that in England.

For anyone who works in catering or food hygiene.....look away now. Below is a photo I took of one of my water bottles at a rest stop today. The lurid colours are caused by two different flavours of Accelerade (sports drink powder) that we are convincing ourselves actually makes us pedal faster for longer. The grey colour on the inside is old Accelerade that includes some sort of Protein amongst its ingredients.....it is really hard to get off. The dark grimy colour on the outside of the bottle is road-grime and general deitrus that seems to get pasted on...again doesn't come off very easily, especially when you don't even try after a long stage.

So we are a little surprised that none of us have gastroenteritis so far.

A lumpier stage tomorrow, in almost certain heat and wind. But in the knowledge that there are only six proper stages (TT's don't really count) of the the tour left...we feel we are on the way home. It's just those pesky little hills that exist between France and Spain that remain very concerning indeed.

Stage 10, Tallard - Marseille, 229 km, Monday 9th July

2007-07-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

We are not in Belgium anymore.
Another stage staged....this time we have arrived in deepest France, in Marseille. It is sunny, but not too hot and we read with interest the reports on the internet of the real TdF stage 2 in Belgium today...it was raining ! Good, we had lots of rain in Belgium and the pros should suffer like we did.

We left Tallard (in a brief rain shower ironically enough) and were soon whizzing down through the countryside, through a beautiful looking Sisteron, past Digne-les-Bagnes and into the department of Vars, holiday land. I can't believe we have cycled the length of France and gone over the alps in doing so.

Obviously the landscape is very different now.....dry shrubs and the very loud sounds of the cicadas (crickets) as we powered through rocky gorges. Chips and mayo land is a long way away.

The long distance and the hotter weather meant our fluid intake increased today, Brian was again excellent stopping the van in good spots so we could refuel. The route took us over a couple of climbs near the coast at the end, the cat 4 col de Gineste being particularly tough as we battled into a massive headwind that sapped strength, as if someone had attached a giant parachute to the backs of our bikes.

But we were rewarded with a fantastic views of the med and the port town of Marseille as we swung down to finish the stage.

The transfer 'au campervan' through Marseille city centre was predictably awkward with a seven berth campervan...indeed at one point we seemed to be trapped in the extreme centre, during rush hour with every exit involving bridges or tunnels that were too low for our 3.3 metre high vehicle. But we made it, and have plonked the van down at a campsite next to a boules pitch which is being enthusiastically used. Pizza delivery is on the way.

So we have ridden 10 stages of the Tour de France and crossed the alps and are now almost at our most southerly point (think the brief excursion into Spain on stage 16 goes further south).

I think that although we are pleased, even a cursory glance at the several dozen Tour de France magazine specials we have stockpiled reveals a horror show to come in the Pyrenees....stages 14, 15 and 16 could result in us becoming unstuck.

So there is no sense that we have done this yet, we need to wait for quite a few more stages yet before we can realistically see ourselves riding up the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Stage 9, Val-d'Isère - Briançon, 161 kms, Sun 8th July

2007-07-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

Tour founder Henri Desgrange said of the Hors Category Col due Galibier, the first year it was run in 1911, "O, col Bayard, O, Tourmalet... a côté du Galibier vous êtes de la pâle et vulgaire bibine." (Oh, Bayard, Oh, Tourmalet... next to the Galibier you are mediocre and common beer.) Indeed, there may be no more awe-inspiring ride in cycling.

Serious alpine action today, a 1st category climb immediately followed by the hors categorie Galibier (and the HC col de l'Iseran before it) and I am pleased to report that all members of letour2007 made it...we dominated basically. Even Kyle completed a full TdF mountain stage, despite injuries.

The Iseran was climbed straight from Val d'Isere, it is pretty much the highest point you can cycle in the alps, and the air is thinner up there. Then around a 40 mile descent through beatiful scenery before the climbing of the giants.

The weather was largely cloudy but the telegraphe is always hot at the bottom...and the Galibier was tough as always. A climb of almost 2000 metres from a hot valley up to the snows is pretty hard to find...and we had it on the route today.

The descent to Briancon was fun....another 30 km's or so of no pedalling (some reward for the aching knees), even if a rain shower basically forced my eyes shut such was the extent of the water streaming under and around my cycling glasses.

So success...the tour continues, we camped tonight near Tallard the start of stage 10 and it is now hot. The alps recede into the distance and Provence and the mediterranean beckons.

140 miles tomorrow.

Matt...third time up the Galibier in three years.

Tignes - Rest Day(s), Sat 7th July 2007

2007-07-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is going to take some explaining, but basically we are in Tignes having our official rest day, the same as the pros will have. The only thing is that due to various circumstances we have two days not riding much.

We had extremely ambitiously entered the extracurricular 'Marmotte' race for the Saturday, the day of the official rest day, and so added another to compensate and had bumped all the remaining stages down another day. But due to Kyle's shoulder and various medical forms that were required to enter, we decided not to.

I still had ambitions right up until the eleventh hour, but the 2.5 hours travel time kind of ruled it out. So we ended up with two days off the bike, but the original schedule stands and there will be no tinkering.

Right, explantions over, the sun is now out...with a vengeance.

The previous two days had seen high winds at altitude which had shut the lifts, but this morning the sun was out and I wolfed breakfast down to go and hire a snowboard. Not sure this is a standard rest day activity, but when in Rome.....

I didn't have any proper snowboarding kit, but it's amazing what you can achieve with some cycling leggings, gloves, hat and a pair of 'lads on tour' shorts. I looked a bit acceptable in the eighties, but it kept me warm at 3500 metres.

I have skied Tignes before, but there is always something novel about snowboarding in July. The super-fast funicular whisked me up to the top and I got a few runs in before heading over to the terrain park. I wanted to reprazent by hitting some kickers and rails, but a lack of helmet and the thought of crashing out of letour forced me to only make modest attempts. The other reason is I can't do any of the above tricks anyway.

Matt and Brian joined me for lunch and we gobbled some frites et saucission whilst various ski teams from around the world mingled around (most notably the Russian female team). Tignes still labels itself as the capital of summer skiing, but like everywhere else the glacier is melting fast and they don't reckon there will be skiing available outside of winter for more than a few years to come. Still, lots of snow at the moment and the recent bad weather has resulted in excellent conditions on the glacier. No ice at all, some video here.

As regards the others, Laura went for a spin on the bike, Amy and Kyle chilled in the chalet and we all ate fine meals and drunk beers and wine and generally relaxed, nice. We are now watching the fake (real) Tour de France prologue on TV.......looks like the riders are just beating our times round the London course, the absence of 70,000 barely moving cars and torrential rain obviously helps.

So, enough of this lounging around, we have the Tour de France to ride ! That fact seemed to get me a 30% discount in the snowboard shop which was good, they were very friendly.

Tomorrow we have the giants of the French alps, the 2700m col de l'Iseran, col du Telegraphe and the mighty col du Galibier which involves 1900 metres of climbing from the valley. All of this has to be gained pedal stroke by pedal stroke.

We are back to work tomorrow, everyone is keen and partially recovered and we are now hoping that the 35 degree heat in Marseille is not going to become as difficult as the recent cold. Wish us luck, we are breaking out the sunscreen.

Extra feature bonus material - some short video of Amy, Kyle and Laura riding past a cliche sunflower field on a previous stage here

Stage 8, Le-Grand-Bornand - Tignes, 165 kms, Thurs 5th July

2007-07-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

Mixed success today....no accelerated rest day, we went for it in the rain. Stage completed by Mark and Amy, but Matt called on the sag wagon on the slopes of the Cormet de Roseland. However, to put it into perspective, Matt carries 17st on his bike and he has just completed seven and half full (no time trials or rest days) back to back stages of the Tour de France. This is no mean achievement and I guess very few people have done it. Hats off.

The day began in the predicted heavy rain and cold. Fingers and feet were the issue and we descended from Le Grand Bornand in seriously hideous conditions with freight lorries zooming past in almost zero visibility spray.

The first stop at Faberges (or something) saw brighter conditions and Laura joined us for the next section to the Cat 1 Cormet de Roseland, after the Col de Tamie etc (Kyle sitting out due to understandable injury issues).

The 'Roseland' was tough, but not as tough as the Colombiere the evening before we concluded...it all depends on how many miles you have in your legs before you hit the slopes. Completely.

Fresh snow was lying at the summit height of 1950 metres or so, and the temperature was cold, but at least not raining.

The descent to Bourg St Maurice (on the route of many trips to Savoie ski resorts) saw almost sunny weather, but we knew we still had two more Cat 1 climbs to come...including the summit finish to Tignes at 2100 metres.

The first drag was acceptable, the second tougher as Mark and Amy arrived in very cold conditions at the finish at about 7.30pm, Mark riding to the finish with Amanda from the Axciom group, pictured at foot of page next to a Tour de France sign.

A hotel had been booked and we looked forward to rest days, 9 days now on the Tour de France route and the suffering was obvious, Matt has all sorts of issues and does Kyle, Amy got very cold on the finish this evening as legs tired and Mark's knees seem to be seizing up more easily. 12 stages to go ! So.......we are up to our chins I reckon, lets see if we sink or swim. Hot weather is now predicted (30 degrees), let's hope not too hot. Stats and Google Earth Link here (also now added to all the other pages).

For the stattos, here are some figures : There was over 5000 metres of climbing yesterday which is pretty extreme.

At the first rest day we have ridden over 1578 km's (980 miles) in 8 days. We have climbed 20,113 metres or almost 66,000 feet.

We have spent over 66 hours moving on the bike, and ignoring the prologue that is an everage of 8.5 hours a day of cycling and more time on top stopping for food etc.

Our average speed for all the stages including the prologue has been 14.5mph or 23.34kph. Last year the pro-riders averaged over 40kph for the whole thing. Time for a rest I think.

And Tone, thanks for you derriere advice...Matt has absorbed (maybe literally) and we will see what happens.

Image of route so far from Google Earth

Stage 7, Bourg-en-Bresse - Le-Grand-Bornand, 197 kms, Wed 4th July

2007-07-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

34 x 27...my favourite numbers. They represent the smallest gear I have on my bike and I spent most of my time riding up the Col de Colombiere in that gear, it was tough and harder than it's supposed 6.8 average gradient would suggest. It is steeper than that.

Stage completed, but it poured down and was freezing at the end, there is fresh snow on the peaks and we are wondering about the Col du Galibier for stage 9 which is apparently above the snowline.....

Everyone tired...Matt mumbling stuff about sores and not starting tomorrow.

Good meal tonight, but feels like a ski resort in February at the moment. This is supposed to be July and we have freakish weather a bit like the rest of Europe it seems.

Lets hope the weather improves.

Mark, 11pm, in dark, 4th July.

Stats and Google Earth link here

Stage 6, Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse, 200 km, Tues 3rd July

2007-07-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Rained all day, possibly the worst weather I have cycled in for an extended period, basically it didn't stop all day and was not a day for cycling unless you had to.

The day started badly by Matt's tyre punctured noisely whilst we taking a photo at the start, in fact in the photo below we are wincing as we hear it go go down.

The route took us across a double train track that had no road across it, so we were forced into a 'Stand By Me' style track crossing.....seconds a giant goods train carrying pallets and cars came thundering by.

The scenery was ok, not quite the Morvan region of yesterday and we couldn't see much in the spray anyway.

We also started too late at the time of 10am which meant we were behind schedule all day. We finally got into the Bourg-en-Bresse at about 8pm.

Matt and Amy got deluged on the road as a Dutchman passed them at pace...the water was overly warm that raised suspicions as to the origination.

The campsite last night gave me a Tour de France flag as a souvenir of the region which was nice, and the campsite tonight was just as friendly.

Even the roadside decorations in the shape of figures looked miserable, covered up in bin-liners.

Before after six stages and before we hit the alps, here is a quicky summary of the status of the three riders who are still on track for completing the full tour.

Matt : Feeling 7/10 at moment (tired and feels like he's been attacked with a cheese grater on his rear-end), confidence of finishing 2/10.

Amy : Feeling 8/10 (butt-cuts issues), confidence of finishing 9/10 (legs feel ok)

Mark : Feeling 9/10 (slightly sore knees), confidence of finishing 8/10 (mountains to come).

Right now it is 11.45pm, the rain is hammering the roof of the campervan and there is talk of bringing a rest day forward to cover the forecasted deluges tomorrow. We don't want to cheat and still intend to complete in 3 weeks, but maybe there are some logisitical juggling opportunities to avoid another 8 hours of riding in heavy rain.

Stats and Google Earth link here

Stage 5, Chablis - Autun, 184 kms, Mon 2nd July

2007-07-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

Stage 5, the officially the hardest one so far (6/10 in Cyclosport) completed. Getting into this now, basically getting up and out in the morning is the hardest part, the rest of the day is fairly straightforward : ride bike for 8-10 hours, eat ridiculous amounts of food at every opportunity and admire the scenery.

Today we rode through the Morvan region and it was very pretty. On most of the roads there was simply no traffic at all, and that makes cycling very enjoyable.

The climbs we had been talking up as monsters weren't too tough, the biggie to 900 metres was a fairly gradual ascent and we were greeted at the top by a big rain shower.

Matt's dad is being brilliant as usual, meeting us at strategic locations with freshly made sandwiches and drinks, and today he managed to get a load of laundry done too...pretty important when we don't have much time off the bike.

The weather is still cooler than I would expect for this time of year, but makes cycling easier.

We rode with some local kids and their teacher today, we thought we'd draft their wheels for a joke, and they ended up drafting us for a few km's, on mountain bikes with backpacks ! (see pics)

Feeling slightly more optimistic about making this now (kiss of death saying that before the mountains !) and as a result we foolishly treating the mostly flat 200kms tomorrow as a kind of unofficial rest day and will take half an hour lie in. Over confidence setting in no doubt.

Campervan life has settled into a routine, the campsites are not busy and we are all getting enough food and sleep...for now. Saddle sores may become an issue, but for now we are all in one piece (apart from Kyle, but he started like that).

The villages have a 'best decorated village on the tour de france route competition, which is nice. The standard decoration seems to be a giant bike on a roundabout.

Writing this in the dark, everyone else crashed out, as I ought too as well.

Keep the comments coming, we appreciate them, Mark (11pm, 2nd July)

Stats and Google Earth link here

Stage 4, Villers-Cotterêts - Joigny, 190 kms, Sunday 1st July

2007-07-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

125 or so miles today, completed fine. The weather has been kind for cycling, not too hot so water intake etc is not excessive and no threat of sunburn yet. The route was a little more rolling and there was a headwind for a large section, but otherwise we are holding up well.

Individual thoughts so far :

Mark

Legs feeling good, they were extremely good yesterday and I felt I could ride up anything all day and did my fair share of towing, but today they were back to normal. My appetite has at least doubled, basically I am hoovering up anything that I see before me, which in France includes a lot of pain-au-chocolat. Stage 5 tomorrow has a difficulty level of six which is a bit of a jump from the 1’s and 2’s we’ve had so far, so lets see what difference it makes. There are occasional sprints fr King of the Mountains points and intermediate sprints, but generally we are trying to save our legs. A friendly local chap rode with us today, pictured below.

No injuries and the punctures seem to have stopped now that we are on super-smooth and debris free French roads. I have also reluctantly concluded that although I love England, cycling anywhere in France is better than everywhere in the UK, maybe Scotland excepted. I have yet to find a non-nice area of France and I am running out of new places to look at. The traffic density difference is absolutely huge and that and the nice temperatures makes it very enjoyable…even several hundred miles in a few days. Loving it so far, exactly what I was expecting. Can't believe Kyle is riding with a collar bone broken less than week ago.

Amy

My favorite day so far! So nice to start out the day with a group of 9 i.e. the regulars- Kyle, Mark, Matt and me. Laura has now joined and will ride with us for over a week (thank goodness for fresh legs). 3 people from Acxiom will ride with us for 4 of the stages. We also had a random French guy cycle with us for the first 30 miles. Chatting amongst the group made the first 30 miles tick by quickly. We were greeted by the support car that happened to have peanut butter- woo-hoo! Finally. I have been craving it since we began and haven’t found any so far (the French obviously don’t know the secret to endurance cycling!). I thoroughly enjoyed an enormous French baguette filled with a banana and peanut butter. I couldn’t have been happier.

The other great part about today’s ride was the scenery. We passed many of the sunflower fields that are often captured as the background to the Tour pelaton. Today was the first day that I really felt like I was on the Tour route. It was also the first day that I wasn’t counting down the seconds to get off my bike. It took my legs ages to warm up ~85 miles, but started to feel really good (the peanut butter must have kicked in). My spirits are high now and I’m looking forward to stage 5. Andy, we made it past your stage 3 wager (!) and still going strong.

Kyle
Today was an outstanding day of riding – definitely what I had in mind when I pictured riding in France and a far cry from the stages in England and Belgium. Laura, Amy, Mark, and I worked well into a steady head and crosswind for the 125 mile stage, and the roads were remote, scenic, in excellent condition, and we passed more than a few sunflower seeds with the sunflowers in full bloom – an awesome sight! Other than stage 2 in Belgium, little is actually flat as both Stage 1 (122 miles) and today (125 miles) have had over 6000 feet of climbing. Certainly not bad, but not exactly pancake flat either. Tomorrow the real climbing starts with Stage 5. Although not a true mountain stage, tomorrow’s stage is considered the toughest outside of the mountains at 125 miles with four Cat 4 climbs, three Cat 3, and a Cat 2 climb which is a 3000 foot ascent over Haut Folin. This should be our first real sampling of just how bad the climbing will be. The little Cat 4’s we’ve encountered so far and which have only been thrown in to distribute some minor King of Mountain points and give someone the jersey for the early stages certainly have seemed like “proper climbs” to me. I fear the real mountains may be a bit more than I’ve anticipated.

For those wondering about my injuries and my crash. I decided on Wednesday that I could ride one-handed and at least manage the 5 mile prologue. The thought of missing this epic stage in London was too much for me. Well, this stubborn idea was a bad one, but luckily it worked out with no crashed or further damage done, but riding one handed in rush hour London traffic in a downpour navigating buses and taxis driving on the wrong side of the road was not on the agenda. So, like it or not I was forced to really test the back and broken collar bone on the bike, and surprisingly it wasn’t such a problem. I could hold the bars and brake and shift without pain, but my back was the biggest problem. I survived the prologue and figured I’d start the 127 mile stage out of London the next day and see how it felt. It was tough and I was in a good deal of pain and any bump or crack in the road was to be avoided or the impact absorbed with the legs, but I got through the day. I held up the group a bit and was in a world of hurt by the end, but I got through it. Stage 2, a 110 mile slog in Belgium was simply miserable. Cold, 30+ mph winds and a steady rain made for a miserable day as I had no booties or long-fingered gloves. And the roads chosen for the stage may have been fine when closed for the 200 person peloton, but for a group of 4 it was not fun as we were primarily on shoulders of major roads with trucks and cars flying past. One of our Tour magazines gave the stage a 2/10 scenic rating, but with a caveat: 0/10 if it’s raining. Well, it was cold, windy, and pouring. Not fun, and the day ended with my 2nd puncture of the ride. We’d more than covered the stage distance (having ridden from the campsite to the start) and just called the van to us to end the day. I decided it may be prudent to skip Stage 3 as my back gave me great difficulties on the first 2 stages and was preventing me from sleeping nights. I still needed assistance getting on and off the bike and out of bed and in/out of the campervan, etc… and the 148 mile stage looked to be on more heavily trafficked miserable roads and the thought of bumping and bouncing around for that duration seemed a poor means to help the back heal. And, as Laura was arriving that day and the campervan needed to be diverted to Brussels to pick her up, I jumped at the excuse to skip the unappealing day in the saddle. The choice turned out to be a prudent one as my back improved nicely with a day off the bike.

It’s been one week since my crash and Stage 5 is tomorrow. I am far from being back to my old self on the bike, but I’m far better off today than earlier in the week. The collar bone is giving me surprisingly little trouble and pain (aside from the occasional jolt of pain on some bumps), and the back seems now to be mending quickly. I still cannot generate much power and cannot get out of the saddle, but the improvements are noticeable by the day and I hope to be at full power by the mountains next week. Today was the first day where I felt like I was riding and not just somehow or other forcing the pedals around. Thanks for all the well wishes and I plan to keep the rubber side down from here on out! Wish me luck!

Stats and Google Earth Link here

Stage 3, Waregem - Compiègne, 236 kms, Sat 30th June

2007-06-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

Stage went fine, no pictures yet. 147 miles is still a long way though and took us all day. Lovely scenery, quiet roads and it's now warm ! Hurrah, we've had enough of rain.

Lovely campsite now, just heading for a beer.

Laura arrived safe and sound and we'll have an eight man peloton tomorrow when Axciom's gang join us.

Main learning so far is that with riding all day there is barely enough time to do anything else. Thankfully Matt's dad is being really helpful and feeding us etc.

Highlights : The longest stage of the tour completed and we are further south so it's warmer.

Lowlights : Two more punctures ! But I think that's was Belgiums dodgy roads and weather, feeling better about France.

Stats and Google Earth link here

Stage 2, Dunkirk - Ghent, 168.5kms, Friday 29th June

2007-06-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Flanders means rain and mud and we got the authentic experience…..in buckets. It was pretty miserable for most of the day and we were shivering by the lunch stop. But it cleared up later on, we made it and are now looking forwards towards (dreading) the longest stage of the tour tomorrow…into a headwind too.

Highlight – First continental stage completed

Lowlight – Flanders in the rain can be pretty miserable. Two more punctures and 1 crash (Matt, but he’s fine).

Stats and Google Earth link here

Stage 1, London - Canterbury, 203kms, Thursday 28th June

2007-06-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Much better weather, nice start in Greenwich but a little grim through East London suburbia. Rochester very nice, and scenic countryside for the second half. All finished and we still caught the ferry as a bonus.

Highlight – Finishing a proper stage, a pub in Bethersden getting into the tour spirit

Lowlight – Another puncture, this time when we arrived and unloaded in Dunkirk

Stats and Google Earth link here

The Prologue, London, 7.9km's, Wednesday 27th June 2007

2007-06-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

Rain, cold and almost dark, England in mid-summer and those were the conditions we had for the prologue. But we got the show on the road and we all completed, including Kyle !

Highlight – We’ve started, and friends and family coming to see us off

Lowlight – Rain, cold and one puncture already

All the stats and a link to Google Earth here