Etape

The Etape du Tour riders could not possibly have asked for a more beautiful day to ride 181 kilometers from Pau to La Mongie. We got up before dawn to get on the bus from our hotels to get to the early morning start. The 3:30 a.m. wake-up call was brutal, I’m sure! And the reward was getting to most of the stage that the Tour de France riders will cover tomorrow. That means pedaling over the Col de Marie-Blanque, 9.5 kilometers averaging 7.5%, the Col du Soulor, 22k averaging just under 5%, and finishing up the Tourmalet, 19k averaging 7.5%. It was a long day in the saddle, but what an accomplishment! The first riders came in around in 6 hours… Lots were still coming in around 10 hours and more. Then, after crossing the finish line and getting their medals, the riders had to climb up one more hill to get their lunch!

Our self-guided Pyrenees riders got their first day on the bikes today, too. We set them off on a gorgeous, blue-sky day (a nice change from yesterday’s fog and cold!). Most pedaled away from the Etape ride, but they still got to climb the Tourmalet to get home to the hotel. All in all, a great day on the mountain! More photos posted on Facebook fan page

VIP Day Les Rousses

VIP Day #1
"Allez! Allez!" Can't tell you how many times we heard that today, since we got to ride the last 50k of today's Tour de France route that ended in La Rousses. Most of the group climbed Col de la Croix de la Serra and the Col de l'Amoura, . It was hot, hot, hot; in fact the bike computers were showing 99 degrees F, but everybody rode strong. When we got into La Rousses, our Discover France VIP group got to ride across the finish line AND stand on the winners' podium. They got a behind-the-scenes tour and got to watch Sylvain Chavanel take another stage win just a few yards from the finish line.
It was a pretty cool day, made even cooler by the television interviews we did for SBS Television in Australia. The news team was doing a story on fans at the Tour. They shot video of us taking pictures of each other on the podium, and interviewed two of our 4 Aussies. And another of our guests did an interview for National Public Radio. Discover France making news on two continents. Ha!
Getting out of the stage finish area was no easy feat though... Negotiating barricaded roads and tens out thousands of people made our exit.. challenging.. but we did get to experience a HUGE French storm complete with hurricane winds and hail. Tomorrow: Another VIP day at the Morzine finish, and we'll probably tackle a Category One climb.
Hoping to get some rest tonight for another big Tour de France Day.

See More Images and daily updates: http://www.discoverfrance.com/blog/

I'm on twitter: cyclefrance

Annecy Starts VIP Alpes

And the Alpes adventure begins! Michel and I drove from Lunel to Annecy this afternoon and met our 16 VIP guests at the Imperial Palace Hotel (which is just as palatial as you might think). We got everybody set up on bikes and briefed them on the rides and Tour de France experiences they're about to enjoy. This group has folks from all over the world; lots of Americans, from Portland to Florida, a South African, and four Aussies (although one lives in Singapore)! We got to know each other a little better over a 3-hour (!) dinner at the Imperial Palace terrace, which overlooks the lake and the mountains. Absolutely gorgeous.

Tomorrow, we'll be up bright and early to get on the bikes, take a spin around most of last year's Tour de France time trial course and climb Col de la Forclaz, about 9 kilometers of steep that reaches a grade of about 13 percent at the top. From the top, you can see Mont Blanc off in the distance. Then, of course, the descent will be the pay-off, always is. Everyone is very excited about getting on bike in France.
More to follow!

The Adventure Begins - Off to the Alpes

It’s Go Time at the Discover France operation in Lunel! Last night, the Discover France team got together at the bike shop for a gigantic bon voyage dinner of paella (appropriate, as Spain won its quarter final game in the World Cup!) We’ve spent days, weeks, MONTHS (years!!) getting the framework done so the next 18 days at the Tour de France are fantastique for our guests! The adventure of a bike tour following an event as huge as the Tour de France is that even the surest plans can and do change! To borrow a cliche, expect the unexpected and you won’t be disappointed.
By now, Michel and I are on the way to Annecy to meet our first group, our VIP Alpes crew, which is mostly American. You’ll get to live their adventures vicariously through the blog, so check back here every day for updates and photos. We’ve put together some amazing and unforgettable rides for them.
Ciao for now,
Wendy

TDF July 6

Wow! Take a look at the vans we'll be using for some of our Tour de France tours! We just got them back from the automotive detailing company, and they look fantastic, don't you think? Our Discover France guests will be riding in style, when they're not riding their bikes!
The Tour de France riders left Belgium and crossed into France this afternoon. The cobbles wreaked havoc, just as everybody expected.
In sympathy, I rode my the Verargues-to-St. Christol version of pave early this morning, before the sun started searing the earth (93F today!). These photos were taken around 6:30 a.m.... The sun seems to come up way before 6 here, and doesn't set til after ten at night. I don't think I've fallen asleep in the dark for weeks.
We are getting really excited for our first Discover France trip to start, our Alpes VIP group meets on Thursday in Annecy. Lots to do before then, but we're on it!

Ciao for now
Wendy

p.s. follow our adventures with a shortcut, on twitter, i'm cyclefrance

Tour de France Day 2 - Monday

Day 2 of the Tour brought slippery roads, more crashes. and a new yellow jersey rider! Hopefully Tuesday's stage won't bring more rain for the riders, as it's already promising to be a pretty treacherous day on the pave. Also, hopefully, there won't be a lot of abandon's after so many hard falls the last couple of days. We want there to be some riders left when we get to the raceW I've been watching the Tour de France on my MAC! It's pretty good, and I've been able to find a couple of pages where there are announcers who speak English. The announcers on the French sites talk too quickly for me to understand everything (Yesterday, all I needed to know was "tomber," which means 'to fall!)
Here are a few more things that make me love being in France:
- Camargue horses, from this region of Southern France. They are born dark brown or black, and turn white around age four. Really. I didn't believe it either, so I googled it. It's true.
-A couple next to me at breakfast at the hotel brought their little bird in a cage and sat it right on the table.
-Navigating on French roads is hard. We'll have Garmin GPS systems on our tours, but before then, I'm improvising with my Tom Tom for my car and hair bands. Laugh, but it works

Eating & Le Tour Start

Le Tour commence! The Tour de France begins! And what a great beginning it was. Lance looked strong, and I don't think I'm the only one who got pleasure from him beating Alberto Contador either! Right now, we're still watching the Tour on television, which is interesting, as, of course, it's in french. It's still exciting, and i still watch every second, but I'd be lying if I said I don't miss Phil, Paul, and all the Bob Rollisms. Riders on our VIP tours get to hang out with media covering the Tour one afternoon; I'm hoping we'll get to say 'hello' to the VS TV gang.

What's also begun is the return of getting to eat amazing French food.
I don't know what it is, but the French can take a few simple ingredients and make them into food that is really special. Who am I kidding? I think they just use a lot of BEURRE (butter. everything is, and should be, a butter delivery system). Of course, it's more than
that: Even at my little traditional family hotel in Lunel-Viel, I see the owners bringing in fresh bread and vegetables and meats every day.
I certainly do my part, by cleaning my plate every night! And one more
thing: Why don't restauants in America bring you hot milk for your hot coffee like they do here? I'd been looking forward to that for weeks before I got on the plane. Not disappointed.

Follow me on twitter for 140 letter updates at cyclefrance.

Ciao for now.
W

p.s. GO LANCE!

Riding to warm up for the Tour!

How does riding on narrow country roads through beautiful small towns on a beautiful misty morning sound? That's how my day started. The riding in France is really good, as (most) drivers are considerate of cyclists (good thing, because when I say the roads are narrow, they are NARROW!). Even when the ride is described as 'flat,' don't expect Florida flat. It's more like Maryland flat, with nice-sized rollers. I will say that for the somewhat directionally-challenged, like me, a GPS is a necessity, not an option. There's a little bit of trial and
error, to get from here to there sometimes, but it's all part of the
adventure.

Heading to Cyrpeo-Discover France, bike shop home base, to put the last of the bike racks on the van and work on bike route for our VIP Alpes guests.
Little cooler today, maybe? Nah.

Ciao,
W

p.s. follow me on twitter, i'm cyclefrance!

Eve of the Tour

The Tour de France starts tomorrow in Rotterdam! Here in Lunel, the Discover France team is getting everything ready for our guests to follow the Tour, beginning in Annecy in just a few short days. The racks are on the vans, the bikes that many of our guests have rented are tuned up and ready to go, and, as you can see, we're putting together some Powerbar goodies, to help our riders get started on fueling up for big days on the road.

It's going to be a scorcher for the Tour riders AND ours: It's been over 90 F every day this week! I took the bike out on the road before 7 am this morning, and it was getting hot within an hour. Note to self: sun screen, light-colored kits, and very dark sunglasses.

Follow me on twitter at cyclefrance for quicker reading!

Ciao,
Wendy

Last preparations under way for TDF2010

Bonjour from Lunel, Southern France headquarters for Discover France Adventures and Cycling Classics! It's 2 days til the Tour de France, and the team here is working hard to get ready for our tours. I'm Wendy, and I'll be keeping you up-to-date with all the cool adventures we'll be having along this year's Tour de France route. Lance Armstrong (Team Radioshack, of course) just announced this will be his last TdF, so it's bound to be a memorable, exciting, AND historic Tour. You may know that we usually will have three simultaneous TdF tours running: Self-guided, Domestique, and VIP. Thomas, Michel, and I will be on the VIP Alpes trip, which begins in exactly one week in the beautiful town of Annecy. Wait til you see photos of Lac d'Annecy; it's one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen (especially from the top of the Col when you're done climbing and are drinking a Coca Light!). But for now, we are getting everything ready for the trips: preparing bikes and gift bags and vans, etc, to make this the best Tour de France experience ever! You can check back here for daily reports and photos, or for quicker reading, follow me on twitter; I'm cyclefrance.
Ciao for now!

Wendy Chioji

Tour Updates Starting NOW

Bonjour from Lunel, Southern France headquarters for Discover France Adventures and Cycling Classics! It's four days til the Tour de France, and the team here is working hard to get ready for our tours. I'm Wendy, and I'll be keeping you up-to-date with all the cool adventures we'll be having along this year's Tour de France route. Lance Armstrong (Team Radioshack, of course) just announced this will be his last TdF, so it's bound to be a memorable, exciting, AND historic Tour. You can check back here for daily reports once we put the rubber to the road, or for quicker reading, follow me on twitter; I'm cyclefrance.
Ciao for now!
w