Back again...

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Hi everybody, Im back online again. By the time this entry is posted the TdF is over & I have wrapped up a totally amazing time on the bike. So here is the next brief instalment on how it all went....

On the next day we rode a bit over 100kms. A reasonably flat run from the hotel at Ensisheim for around 40 kms (with a bit of drizzly rain). Then the 1st climb of the day....known as the Grand Ballon, which was fairly short but still tough with a climb elevation of 1343m. At the summit, we pick up the race course by decending the mountain, another small climb & then up the Col du Firstplan (at 720m its about half the first climb of today). After the final decent (in the rain again) the weather cleared for a wind assisted cruise at 50 km/h along the flat roads to the race finish line in Colmar.

This is where riding the race course is brilliant.....high speed runs on closed roads & the crowds of people on the side of the road are a welcome distraction when the steep climbs get tough.

At Colmar, got changed out of wet gear in the tour bus & into dry clothes.....only to watch the finish of the TdF while having to stand in the rain!! All good fun though & bus back to the same hotel for the night.

Next day not so challenging on the road....about 80 kms in total. A 2hr "sprint" across the 1st 60km of the race course.....this time in the rain with the added extra of a blustering headwind. Riding in a tight pack & regularly rotating the lead positions gets everyone through. Then it into a 6km climb up the Cote de Lebitain. Decend into the town of Delle in time to change into dry clothes again & watch the race pass by (from the comfort of a pub with a couple of well earned beers over lunch). Needed to keep up the pace today to complete ride well before the race arrives plus we have a 5hr bus trip across into Switzerland this afternoon for the next stage.

Arrive at the hotel in the town of Lutry on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Usual routine of unloading bikes from the trailer, luggage from the bus & check in. Open the window to my hotel room....OMG!!! The view is absolutely spectacular, a real postcard moment. The hotel is right on the shore of Lake Geneva with my room looking across the lake to my first sighting of the snow covered Alps. Now things really get interesting out on the road....

Gotta go....

Next update very soon....

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