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