Biken to the Tour de France

Everything is well it was 230 km just to the Charleville – Mèziéres and I did not make it to the Finish in Sedan. I arrived in Charleville – Mèziéres just as Bradley MeGee the Yellow Jersey was walking into his hotel. I snapped a few shots of him drinking a beer and then explored the town. They were already setting up for the next morning. I found a quiet place to sleep for the night since all the hotels were taken up by the race.
Sundays race also went smoothly, it was a good course. I felt strong the whole time I raced. I completed one hour of racing because that was my small goal and it also started to rain a little and I did not want to risk crashing. The race was fast just like all races here and I was able to sit in with no problem I even tried a few jumps and turns at the front. The only problem had was standing up to sprint up hill my collarbone just did not feel solid enough. I was pleased with my performance and look forward to improving into some good results for the end of the season.
I awoke at 5:30 in Charlevill – Mèziéres and started to watch the start of the stage unfold. Already the town was quite buisy. By 10:30 the streets were packed for the 1:30 start. The Tour de France is serious business. The amount of work that goes into a stage start is amazing. a small city was built in the center of the towns main square just to feed the staff that was to work the race. Companies that sponsor the Tour us ever possible promotional scheme giving away free product, newspapers about their product, floats blaring music and flashy dancers. The riders are protected from the fans by barriers so they can prepare for the race in some kind of peace. When the riders roll up to sign in the crowd screams for autographs and there favorite riders. The Yellow Jersey gets the biggest cheer and then Lance and Jan Ulrich. A whisper goes through the crowd “it’s Richard, it’s Richard” and then a big cheer when it is Richard Virenque. The 1:30 start came quickly and before I knew it the riders were off. At 2:00 I started my ride back to Gent Belgium. the trip was worth while just to see the tour and the long rides were excellent training. I now have some great base miles I just have to get my race speed and confidence back and I will be ready to go.