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Monday, July 18, 2011

Close to Him and a super cool ride.


Standing in the throng of fans I could feel his presence before I saw Him.

I could only stammer "J... J...." to try to get His attention.

I think this shot is cool since it shows several cycling superstars in one go. The Man, Eisel, Hushovd, Gilbert, Greipel, Farrar, Ciolek, and Roelandts.

The riding here has been absolutely amazing. Almost zero cars, perfect roads, endless vistas. Yesterday we started in Limoux where we are based and rode 105km to the Mediterranean Sea where we laid on the beach for an hour or so.

Here Marilyn and I are on the Tourmalet watching Him pull Andy, Contador, Cadel and the others up the crazy climb. When we rode up the mountain it was sunny and warm and we chose that spot to watch since you could see all the way down the valley at the switchbacks. about 3 hours before the racers came through, the temperature dropped to about 5 degrees, the wind was crazy, and the fog packed in. We had to huddle inside the car of some nice Norwegians to stay warm. The descent off the mountain was a bit chilly but we were still pumped from the excitement of the race so it wasn't too bad.













I was flying down a long descent when my camera snapped and captured a cool sequence of shots. It ended up I filmed myself in Europe all artsy-like.


Just before it happened, I was keeping up with a van on the twisty roads!














Two frames of video after the camera snapped.














Strategically placed camera up over my shoulder as I rode by. The camera had already hit the road by now. I was lucky the camera bounced to the left and into a ditch as the right side of the road was a drop off!














As we started getting closer and closer to the beach the pace kept going up and up. Here is Marilyn making the final sprint to the sea !!














Here we are having just pulled up in Lecate. It was amazing riding from Victoria-like forests of Limoux, through central BC-type Pine forests, then through desert-like cactus regions like Tucson, and arriving in a sandy paradise all in one ride!



I have been really trying to not get on the internet much while I am here, since I can watch the Tour live on TV and it is great to actually be on vacation! Hope everyone is doing well in Calgary. I read about the Wed. Night Race Series Tornado?!?! That sounded crazy.

Trev

1 comment:

Dennis said...

Europe is a total blast - glad you're having a good time. Roads never seem to have gravel and cars treat you like a valid form of transportation. Watch those tight unmarked corners though. Of course, it helps that for any bicycle-car accident, French law automatically assigns guilt to the car, with the driver having the burden to prove their innocence.

Riding in Europe is like scuba diving the great barrier reef. Suddenly you don't feel like diving in a cold murky Alberta lake filled with rocks and mud at the bottom anymore.

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