Laura and I have been to the Tour de France a couple of times over the years. The first time was challenging to say the least- we had no idea what we were doing and ended up standing around for about 5 hours drinking wine followed by the entire race going past us at about 40mph and then nothing. We still had a blast- we have lots of stories from that trip to the Tour, but overall we had no idea what we were doing when we actually tried to watch the race.
By the next trip to the Tour, we had figured some things out. Things that made out race viewing more pleasurable. And we decided to try something new. Let's take in a time-trial stage! The time-trial was scheduled to hit Annecy and we were staying a few miles away in Chambery. The day before the time-trial, we did a test run, to make sure we knew exactly where we were going, where to park and of course the location of a nearby pub where we might be able to get a drink during the race.
On race-day we got up early and headed out to Annecy. It was one big party- the race itself started and ended in Annecy and the start line and the finish line were right around the corner from each other, with a big beautiful park in between. The park is where the team busses were all parked and where all the riders and Phil Ligget were hanging out before and after the race, so you had great access to everything and all within a couple block region.
After taking a stroll through the park and looking at the team busses and watching the riders warm up we grabbed a beer and staked out our place about 100 yards from the starting ramp (on the time-trial the riders start by going down a ramp). When the rain started, we decided to head into that earlier mentioned pub and watch the race on TV- that in itself was interesting- the rider would go down the ramp on TV and then we would turn around and watch him ride past the pub seconds later.
By the time the rain stopped we had, of course, lost our spot so we went looking for a new location.
UNBELIEVABLE! A perfect spot, right on a curve so we'll watch the riders coming straight at us and then curve away and head out of town for a loop around lake Annecy! We grabbed the spot, I pulled out my camera and leaned out over the fence to get a good shot.
If you've been watching the Tour at all this year, you know what's coming. If you've been watching the tour at all this year, you have seen cars hit the riders and almost as stupidly (is that a word)- spectators interfear with the race- causing even more crashes. I think at last check the race was down 22 riders- mostly because of crashes. Several of those crashes caused by either cars or spectators.
So, I leaned out over the fence with my camera- ready to get the greatest shot of the race EVER! and it was at that moment that I felt the rider buzz by me. He couldn't have missed me by any more than an inch. I calmly wet my pants (no I didn't do that), packed up my gear and moved. As I left that spot a couple of American guys asked if they could take the spot- I told them that they didn't want it- but they took it anyway. And as soon as the next rider came down the ramp and around that curve, they packed up their stuff and headed out to find a new spot.
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Happy birthday to the Cute Beatle, SIr Paul McCartney! He turns 71 today.
One of the rules for Beatles fans is that you must memorize tidbits of Beatle trivia to try and impress other Beatle fans. This is not that easy to do....as things like...
In 1968, Jeannie C. Riley topped both the pop and country charts with "Harper Valley PTA". She was the first female singer to accomplish that feat and it wasn't repeated until Dolly Parton did it in 1981 with the song "9 to 5". The song was...
This week we're doing story songs on the World's Worst iPod. We start with the story of Billy who really wanted to be a hero. He was a hero, but didn't live to see it and his girlfriend was pretty angry. The song was originally done by...
This week' s Gabby's Pick is another track from emerging artist ZZ Ward's debut album , called "365 Days."
In addition to all the radio airplay " Put The Gun Down" has received, you may also have heard her music on several television...
Apparently Oreo flavored Oreos are not sufficient.
Nabisco is continuing its trend of introducing special limited edition flavors for its Oreo cookies. Last year, the internet was all abuzz about candy corn Oreos, which supposedly didn't really...
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