Here I am about 6.5km to the Summit of the Tourmalet just a few km after Voeckler had successfully dropped the current Polka-Dot jersey. I didn't have to wait long until one of my heros mashed the pedals by me telling his legs to Shut Up!
The shot of Darcy is a little less clear, but who else would keep their helmet on? So that is proof enough.
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| Darcy beside Voeckler and Feillu |
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| What are they doing looking left? I am on the right ?!?! |
1 comment:
Ah yes, a tale of missed connections. The goal was to ride to the top, then come down and find a good stop to watch the race action. However, the plans went very, very sideways...
1. Following the Boy Scout motto of "Be Prepared", I packed far too much stuff in my backpack. Trev switched packs with me, which was kind and generous, but this would lead to problems later on.
2. We quickly discovered that we were running out of time to get up the climb before the police closed the road. Thus, me and Trev picked up the pace and unfortunately got separated from Harley and Sarah.
3. About 8 km from the top we came to a police officer who told us we would need to run up a dirt path for a few kms before remounting. So, we changed into shoes and started running up the path. Trev and me got separated, and I thought and one point he had veered left and hooked back up to the main road (which I did), but he continued up the path. So, I thought he was ahead of me and kept riding toward the top. Trev thought I was behind him and waited at a switchback for me to catch up.
4. So, I'm doing a mix of riding and walking up the hill (depending on the whim of each individual police officer). Finally, an officer who spoke English told me "you can walk to the top once the publicity caravan goes by". Excellent. I keep hoofing to the top, taking much abuse from fans for walking/jogging instead of riding. (Hey, I didn't want to wind up in the back of a police van, so I followed instructions.)
5. I get to the top, but can't find Trev (because, well, he wasn't there). So, we have a problem. I have Trev's stuff and he has mine (including camera, ID, wallet, water, food,and cycling shoes). Thankfully, I found a stream to fill bottles, and I had Trev's camera and sandwich.
6. The race comes by, and I see Vockler come over the top. The whole group comes by, and now I have to descend this entire thing in hikers, so my slow descending gets even slower. Besides, I didn't want to crash or anything like that. I had no ID on me...
7. I finally get to the van 30 minutes after Trev. I was a great day, but didn't go quite as planned....
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