Our flight leaves at 11 and we’ve been told that the trip to the airport by cab, bus or train takes at least 45 minutes – longer if traffic is bad. With this in mind we got up early and headed out to catch an 18 Euro shuttle at 7am. With three of us all headed to the airport together we decided to take a cab – should be faster than the shuttle and likely save us a few bucks. Wrong. We asked the bellman to call us a taxi van to accommodate our bikes. He said, “Oui monsieur. Quinze minutes.” Great – 15 minutes and we’ll be on our way.

On the flight back to Toronto Steve continued his spilling ways by toppling over his Grand Marnier. Again he blamed the table. I think we can all safely say that the issue is Steve, not the tables.

Up and on the bus by 7:30 we headed north to Chartres for the finish of the Time Trial. Seven hours of bus time was not pleasant. But we all survived and stumbled into the finish zone to watch Bradley Wiggins take the victory and secure the overall Tour win. The Time Trial is a strange combination of exciting and boring all at once. It’s exciting as this is the final stage for anyone to make a move and effect their position in the General Classification. Boring because a rider comes by roughly once every three minutes at approximately 50 km/h. Like every other stage of Le Tour this one is much better on TV.

Back on the bus for the final drive into Paris. Saturday evening traffic, during Le Tour, is hell.

We eventually arrived at our hotel, checked in and headed out for a great dinner at Chez Georges. With our tummies full we’re turning in for the night. It’s 1:27am and I’m spent. I’ll add photos to the last few posts tomorrow. It’s been fun but we’re both ready to be home.

We got up late for a change, but were immediately on our bikes to ride towards the finish of todays stage in Le Tour. The finish was atop Col Peyregudes which meant we had to ride over a mountain and then up a second mountain to get to it. Or we could take the van… But what fun would that be?!?

We opted to take a different climb to the event – rather than ride back over Aspin we went with Hourquette Ancizan. This route was touted as being beautiful ad quiet so we were looking forward to it.

Mother Nature looked to be against us as we headed out; dense fog and a bit of rain in the air. We set a steady pace out of town and worked our draught line as best we could with five riders with significantly varied abilities. At the turn of Hourquette we thought about calling the support van to pick up Steve – it looked like he was having a bad day, and the weather was turning more threatening – but Steve wanted to soldier on. So we did and it was incredible. Dense fog through a dense forest with a challenging incline the whole way. Just after we crested the climb the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the towns below… While we cooked along at upwards of 60km/h. The road on the uphill side was nicely paved and wide enough for a car to safely pass a cyclist, and room to run off the road on both sides if needed.

The descent into Ancizan was the opposite. Narrow road, rough surface, steep drop-offs plummeting hundreds of feet to the valley floor below. This meant we had to take the descent slower than wanted but it was definitely the correct choice from a safety point-of-view.

Once into Arreau – a quick 5km down the road from Ancizan – we found a great café that served Nesquik Chocolate milk, burgers and fries. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

At this point three of the five who started the day decided to get into the van for a drive up to the top of the climb where we would watch Le Tour from. Chris and I (Chris) decided to ride. It was an awesome climb with the second half of the climb closed to vehicle traffic. At the top we surprised the folks in the van by getting there so quickly. The burger and Nesquik should be packaged as a superfuel for climbing!!

After the stage we hopped on our bikes for the descent back into Arreau. I think I was the first guy on the road heading down as the road was deserted except for the two motorcycles who couldn’t keep up with me until we hit the flat section at the bottom. It was very exhilarating to ride that fast with two motorcycles essentially chasing me. I continued to hammer it all the way to Arreau passing everything and everyone I saw. The Nesquik and burger superfuel was still keeping me going.

In Arreau after an hour or more of waiting for the slower descenders six of us headed out to ride the “40k or so” rolling route back to Bigorre.

The GPS plotted it at 46k with 500 metres of climbing!

And it was electrifying. Literally. I accidentally touched an unmarked cow fence and got jolted. As the guys joked if this were in America I’d be the proud owner of a farm in 30 days… but here in France things are a bit different. When the zap happened the guys were standing by the road sign and I was across the road setting my camera up to take a timed shot. Here’s the shot:

We rode roads just wide enough for a golf cart, along ridges with postcard views, through a town that looked deserted, and as if it had been frozen in 1600.

Awesome.

Late in the ride about a quarter of the way up a 5km climb the tour vans caught us – with a look of shock in their eyes that we’d made it so far so quickly. We continued to ride into the fading light of the day eventually arriving back at our hotel in Bigorre at 8:30pm.

Day 3: Monday

The day did not start out the way we wanted. With a planned 160km of riding we were looking forward to a hearty breakfast. Instead we were presented with a basket of pastries, and some coffee or juice. No protein. Nada. I know it’s France and the French way but the half of our group that stayed in the other hotel had a full buffet breakfast with bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes, deli meats, cheeses, cereals, etc.

There was also a lot of confusion and chaos surrounding what to do with the bags and bike boxes. Maybe it’s just the French way… Eventually things got worked out but we stood around for more than an hour.

Once we got that sorted I checked the route guide book for the day only to find that the turn-by-turn directions were based on starting at a different hotel – not the hotel we were staying at but the one that the other group were in! Very disappointing as I wanted to pre-program my Garmin with the directions so I could ride the route at my own pace instead of sitting behind the tour guide.

Further compounding the issue was that the destination for the day in my guide was not actually where we were going! Chaos!! Oh well the people on the trip are great, the weather is great, and I’m riding my bike.

Lunch was at a shady restaurant and not very good. Location was excellent – right at start line. Sadly we missed the majority of the ceremony around the start and most of the sign ins, etc. Also didn’t get to take in town festival present at all start towns. This was because we stood around for more than an hour while we waited for the guides to arrive. Yes we were early – getting to town at 11:00, but the guides didn’t show up until 12:15. Our meeting time was 11:30.

Samatan was the destination as it was the start of Stage 15 of Le Tour. The start city of a Tour de France stage is completely transformed into a carnival. Media trucks, team trucks, buses, tour groups and thousands of fans and cyclists. The start provides a great opportunity to get up close to the riders and grab a photo or an autograph.

After Le Tour departed we got back on our bikes to ride to the town of St Gaudens. In St. Gaudens we could choose to get on the van and be shuttled to the hotel for the evening, or ride the additional 50k or so. I chose the van (Part A & Part B). Steve chose to ride (Part A & Part B).

Day 4: Tuesday

Col de Peyrasourde & Col d’Aspin. Oh yea!

Route was great (Strava Chris & Steve). Climbs were great. Picnic at the top of Aspin was excellent. Great location, great food selection. Some umbrellas and blankets are needed – no shade from burning sun, and the area is an open cattle grazing field… so there were lots of cow patties to avoid. But thankfully the van was there with food, water and snacks for everyone. A great way to spend a few hours while waiting for the rest of the group to make their way to the top.

Post-lunch we hit the road for a wicked fast ride down the mountain to the town of Bagnères-de-Bigorre, complete with a stop to put our feet in a mountain river. We were hoping for icy cold mountain water but it was more like refreshing and cool pool water. Regardless of the temperature it felt nice and was a good break after the climbing and descending.

Late that evening we went to dinner at a cool restaurant with a patio in the backyard surrounded by a lush vegetable garden. Dinner was fish and mushroom soup to start, with duck as main course. Not good for a guy like me that doesn’t like duck or mushrooms. But for the rest of the group they seemed to enjoy it.

Day 5: Wednesday

100k loop to do Tourmalet. Van support was terrific. Route was excellent. Ride was a challenge but with a 50,000 or so fans lining the 18km route it was easy to feel like a pro.

After the riders passed us and flew down the back-side of the climb we hopped on our bikes and gave chase. It’s a thrill to ride downhill at 70km/h and not have to fear oncoming traffic or obstacles. The roads had been immaculately prepared for Le Tour.

At the bottom of the pass we found a bar and settled in to watch the finish of the stage on TV. It’s a cool feeling to ride into a bar with 50 other cyclists, grab a round of beer for the table (2.50 Euros each!) and watch the finale. The international make-up of the tourist riders here is astounding – but we are all here because of our love of cycling, and Le Tour.

The bar was in a town called Campan, about 5km from our hotel. This meant we had a furiously fast downhill 5km ride with a couple beers in our bellies. FUN! I think I should start drinking a couple beers before every ride as I finished the 5km stretch with an average speed of 48.6km/h!! (Strava segment link)

Late in the evening we boarded the bus to head out into the country for dinner. We made a few wrong turns along the way but eventually arrived and were met with a wonderful evening of music and food. If you like caribou.