Friday, July 9, 2010

Le Tour de France

It took me a while to understand bicycle racing.  At first glance, it looks like a massive swarm of bikes (the peloton) moving at uniform speed in a pack, with a few stronger riders way out in front who will clearly win the race.  I wondered why those in the peloton seemed okay with letting the break-away riders win so easily.  Shouldn't they challenge them, chase them down, at least try to win?  When I first voiced these criticisms to my husband, a longtime bicycle racing fan, he began the long process of explaining the strategies of the sport to me.

Now I understand the racers are actually on teams.  The strongest riders are supported by their team members, and each team member is called upon to do the hardest work on the days the course requires his personal strengths.

Some racers are sprinters; they excel on the flat courses and can attain high speeds for long distances.  Other racers are climbers; they have the power to race at fast speeds up steep mountain grades.  And some, the elite in the sport, are masters of both terrains.  They are the racers who win the Tour de France.  Lance Armstrong is one of the greatest of all time from that elite group.

The first time I saw Lance Armstrong race was the Tour de France 1999.  Hubby was excited a race stage was passing so close to our house that year.  He told me we had to find a place to watch early, because the police close the road at least two hours before the racers are due to pass.  We brought a picnic basket and found a quiet stretch of country road, and settled in for the afternoon.  Eventually, people lined the road to watch, but this pic was taken early, when we'd first arrived.

Before the racers come through, they are preceded by an hour long parade convoy of "floats," each decorated for a different sponsor of the race.  They blare rocking dance music and throw product samples and candy to onlookers.  The ambiance becomes very festive as the floats pass, getting everyone excited for the racers to come.  It helps lengthen the event, too.  Once the racers arrive, they pass in a blur, racing at 50 kph and out of view in a flash.  (How much fun would it be to man one of those floats?  Spending a month traveling around France, ending each leg of the race in a different village where parties invariably pop up for all the non-athletes on the Tour.  If I were younger...)


Interestingly, 1999 was the first Tour de France Lance Armstrong had raced in since beating testicular cancer (and he would eventually win), and this day he was wearing the yellow jersey, signifying that he had the highest accumulated racing points.  In other words, he was winning.  It was easy to pick him out of the peloton, since he was dressed in yellow.  Making it easier still to spot him, he was sitting up in the saddle, drinking from an official Tour water bottle.  As he passed, he finished off the drink and tossed it to the side of the road.  I kid you not: it landed in the middle of our blanket!  




This is a page from our vacation scrapbook 2003.

Lance Armstrong won an unprecedented seven straight Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005.  He retired from bicycle racing in July of 2005, but couldn't stay away from the sport.  He came out of retirement and competed in the 2009 Tour de France, finishing third -- an amazing feat for a man his age who hadn't been training during retirement.  And he's racing again this year.


I'd love to see him in the yellow jersey at the end of Tour de France 2010!


Me, (waiting for the 2000 Tour de France to pass) -- cheering on Lance!

Do you follow bicycle racing?  If you're interested in this year's 97th Tour de France, it begins on July 3rd and finishes on July 25th.  Information and routes of each stage are found HERE.  The best television station to watch the Tour is Versus.  Check them out HERE.


Leave me a comment and earn one entry in my Vive la France! Contest.


26 comments:

Amber at The Musings of ALMYBNENR said...

I don't follow bicycle racing but that is SO COOL! So that's his actual waterbottle in the picture?

Summer Frey said...

Awesome! The Tour de Georgia came through our town one year--talk about congestion! But it was pretty cool. And the Olympic torch in 96...

Unknown said...

That is so neat!!! I've never seen him race but oh how fun it would have been!!! I love the pictures, you were so cute!!!

sarahjayne smythe said...

I've really loved living your French experiences vicariously through you. :) Thanks so much for sharing them with us.

And yes, I will be watching at least some legs of the race. :)

Wendy Ramer, Author said...

I've never been a fan of cycling, but then again, I never cared for soccer either until Spain made it into the World Cup finals, baby! Yeah...Viva Espanya!!!!!!!!!

DL Hammons said...

I can ride a bike...and have taught my three children how to ride one...but that's the extent of my knowledge about anything bike related. This was an interesting read though.

Lola Sharp said...

Love your little roadside picnic.
I hope Lance meant to throw YOU his plastic waterbottle, and not just litter.
I love that you are holding our USA flag. :)

Thanks for sharing your photos and memories and all the tres interesting French posts with us. I really enjoyed them.

Love,
Lola

Hannah said...

I do not follow bicycle racing but I respect it and one of my good friends does them all the time.

Matthew MacNish said...

That's crazy awesome, you actually got his water bottle? Lance Armstrong is certainly an inspiring character and I for one don't believe a word of the doping accusations made by that other idiot cyclist.

Thanks for sharing this Nicole!

Today's guest blogger is Guinevere Rowell!

Vicki Rocho said...

You have just taught me more about bike racing in 5 minutes than I have acquired on my own in the last 30+ years.

I LOVE the idea of a parade first. I had no idea. I thought you sat waiting and the bikes whizzed by and then you got up and left. What a great way to make it an occasion!

Also very cool that you 'caught' Lance's water bottle.

Every year, there's a bike ride across the State of Iowa (RAGBRAI). One of these years I'm going to do it...just not this year.

Emily White said...

How cool! That's got to be so exciting!

Ellen Brickley said...

I don't follow bicycle racing at all, but I do have a Michelin keyring that my dad caught for me at the 1998 Tour when it passed through the town we lived in at the time (Arklow, County Wicklow, Ireland, fyi). I was 14 and too lazy to walk ten minues to see a world-famous sporting event.

I've changed a bit since then!

Anonymous said...

Vive le Tour! AAAHH!!! I can't believe you're lucky enough to be in France for le Tour! *iz jealous*

I confess, I'm kind of rooting for Lance, but I want it to be a good race. I'm not sure how he can beat Contador in the mountains, or even the Schlecks. We'll have to see.

Either way, it's shaping up to be an epic Tour!

*iz jealous again*

Laura S. said...

That's awesome you have Lance Armstrong's water bottle!!! Maybe some day you'll meet him and have him sign it!

I don't follow bicycle racing, but my father-in-law does. He and my husband used to bicycle race. They don't anymore, but it was fun watching their races! Cyclists sure do fly by, which is amazing considering some of the terrain they race on!

Pat Tillett said...

Thanks for the very interesting post. amazing things those riders do on the bikes. Pretty scary also!

Lisa_Gibson said...

I'm not a racing aficionado but think it sounds like a total blast to see them go by and cheer them on. Enjoy!

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss nicole! i love this post cause me and all my brothers are real sport fans and we been watching the bike racing a lot when were not watching world cup football and baseball. the wold cup final game is on sunday and im rooting for spain. i didnt know about the floats and that sounds like so much fun. getting that water bottle is sooooo cool.
...smiles from lenny

Liza said...

I hope you saved that water bottle!

Cherie Reich said...

That's awesome that you got to see it! I like watching those clips on tv they have once in a while, although I don't exactly follow it.

Jemi Fraser said...

I don't follow bike racing much, but we always catch bits and pieces of La Tour. It's such an incredible challenge! I find the steroid/doping aspects so frustrating, but the athleticism of these athletes is amazing!

Theresa Milstein said...

My husband is a big bicycle racing fan. I don't understand the team concept much. It never seams like a "team" win.

I encouraged my husband to get a Tour de France baseball cap when we visited in June, but he didn't want one!

Samantha Bennett said...

Thank you for demystifying this sport for me! So THAT'S the deal with the pack. :)

Anonymous said...

I've never really followed bicycle racing, but it's interesting for sure, and amazing what those guys can do! It makes my little 6 mile bike rides seem tame in comparison.

So you actually have/had the waterbottle lance Armstrong drank from?! Wow!

Deniz Bevan said...

Love the scrapbook page :-) I didn't know all that about the picnicking, the parade floats (I'd get my driver's license just to be able to drive one of those things!), or even the team racing. Great post Nicole!

Mara McBain said...

I've never seen it live but I usually watch the news during the event to see where Lance is. Wear my yellow bracelet if I can find it. lol Gotta love Lance. :)

Courtney Barr - The Southern Princess said...

Awesome! I have never followed it but definitely can see the excitement with it! Love the pics!

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