Author: marniesteve

Village Depart

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Gembloux, Belgium

Today’s highlight was VIP access to the start village of the Tour de France. We traveled back to Brussels, received our special wrist bands and were escorted into the controlled area where the riders and teams warm up and sign in. Of course we focused on the Radioshack team, hoping to score an autograph or at least a glimpse of Lance Armstrong. We did even better than that! Lance signed my Livestrong hat, and Steve patted him on the back as he was heading for the start line.

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Lance and the media before the day’s race

It’s hard to describe what it is like at the start–chaos is probably the most accurate term. We were fighting with hordes of press to get close to the riders for a photo. Dignitaries from all walks of life are wandering around, some with body guards, all making contact with their favorites. Today we saw the US Ambassador to Belgium. Eddy Mercxx, the legendary cyclist, also greeted Lance and we got their picture together. Others in our group saw Ben Stiller, the actor, and got the autograph of a few other famous cyclists including Bernard Hinault.

The start was staged in front of the Grand Palais, which is where the King of Belgium lives. I guess it’s the equivalent to the White House in the US. It’s a massive old building, which you can see in the photos.

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Steve at the Belgian palace

Brussels is also filled with other historic buildings and monuments. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see much. Today was all about the race and that was fine with us!

This afternoon most of the group did a 55km ride but I decided to take the day off and watch the end of the race on TV. It’s been raining off and on since noon, and the ride today is going over pave, which is old cobblestones. When those suckers get wet, it’s even harder to ride. Steve is all over it!!

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Steve getting ready to ride

Tomorrow’s ride will also has pave and it’s expected to be a REALLY challenging day for both our group and the Tour de France peloton.

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Crossing the Finish Line

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Gembloux, Belgium

Well, we had another awesome day on the Tour de France. The actual race got underway for real today with stage one: Rotterdam to Brussels. We left Antwerp on bike, wearing our Custom Getaways “kits.” For you non-cyclists, a kit is the outfit bikers wear. We have jerseys and shorts that show our group name, as well as other sponsors. You’ll see the outfits in the pictures below.

Our group of twelve riders wove through the streets of Antwerp until we eventually arrived on the actual closed part of the course. The actual Tour peloton was behind us by about two hours but the tailgate-like parties were well underway all along the course. It was an amazing feeling to ride along cobbled roads, through cities like Mechelen and Edegem, with the old churches and landmarks all around us.

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The bikers

We were scheduled to cross the actual finish line in Brussels at 2:30, and because we had some detours in Antwerp, we were running behind schedule. Those of us who are slower riders were going to have a hard time making it on time, so three of us jumped into our van and were shuttled along the closed course via car while following the fastest riders. With 1km to go, we all joined together again on bike and crossed the finish line with crowds cheering all along the way. After podium photos we changed out of our cycling garb and into street clothes.

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On the podium

Today we had access and a tour of the “technical” area of the Tour de France. This means that we went behind the scenes and saw where the crews who produce the event work and live during the three week race. We also got up close and personal with the media area and we were able to walk right up to the sets and equipment that bring the Tour to over 100 countries across the globe. Broadcasters from China to Columbia and from the USA to Serbia were set up in this area.

From there we were escorted to the rail of the course, right at the finish line. Today’s race was a sprint finish because it was flat and straight for the last kilometer.

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Final sprint

After 223.5km the race came down to a sprint. And, because the final approach had some tricky turns coming into the final stretch, there were several crashes that took some riders down. Because of that, the entire peloton received the same time, which means the overall results (called the General Classification or GC) remained the same. Fabian Cancellara, my favorite, is still in yellow and Lance Armstrong is still in 4th place.

Because we had such special access we were able to take some very close up photos of the winners while they were giving press interviews following the race. See just how close in the photos of the yellow jersey, Fabian Cancellara, below.

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Fabian in yellow!

From there we had just a short walk to our bus and a 45 minute drive to our new hotel in Gembloux, which is just south of Brussels. Tomorrow should be another fun day, with access to the Start Village and another ride. Today Steve rode about 38 miles, while I did about 28 before jumping in the van. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!

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The Grand Depart – Rotterdam

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Rotterdam, Netherlands

Wow! Today was the kickoff to this year’s Tour de France and we had a beyond-full, exciting day. After breakfast at the hotel, we rode our bikes through the city of Antwerp to where our tour bus was parked. We are traveling in a group of 16 people with four guides. Today, eleven of us chose to ride a portion of the Tour de France course, which will be covered by the peloton tomorrow. We drove about half of the way to Rotterdam and then biked about 39 miles of the course. The ride was on bike paths which are parallel to the roads where the race will be run.

Everybody successfully completed the ride today and I won the prize for the most injuries. After two separate falls (damn those clip-in pedals), I had raspberries on both knees and on one elbow.

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Ouch!

At least my legs are a matched set! Besides my pride, nothing else was really damaged. And, the ride was spectacular! We rode up the western coast of Holland, across massive dams and bridges that control the water flow from the North Sea. It is often very windy and cold, but we had great weather during the entire ride.

After we met our customized tour bus, which holds our group and our bikes, we drove the rest of the route into Rotterdam for the Tour prologue. With VIP access, we were able to park the bike right up next to the action. Today’s stage, the start of the 21 day race, was a time trial. That means that each of the 197 riders rode an 8.9km course around the city. They took off one minute apart and arrived at the finish roughly one minute apart. The entire area of downtown Rotterdam was a huge party and we took it all in.

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Crowds near the finish line

Below you’ll see pictures of us exploring the area, including the media area and the festival area. We found something called the “vertical bike” in the festival area where they strap you in a climbing harness and put you on top of a bike. The faster you pedal the faster you rise up a tall pole. The goal is to reach the top as fast as you can. The record so far today, we were told, was 25 seconds. I did it in 56.5 seconds, but enjoyed the view as I was “climbing.”

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Vertical bike

The race itself was exciting with the crowd (and my) favorite, Fabian Cancellara finishing 10 seconds ahead of Tony Martin. Lance Armstrong finished a respectable fourth place and his American teammate, Levi Leipheimer, also finished in the top ten. The boys made us proud.

You can read all you want about the actual race on the Internet. Tomorrow we get to ride on the closed course, ahead of the peloton, and cross the finish line in Brussels. Then we will get our photos taken on the podium and gain access to the media area.

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