cuene.typepad.com > TDF 2004 1

Deuxalpes1

This was the first view of the Alps I got, the view from my balcony in the ski villiage of Les Deux Alpes. The field in the foreground is the bottom of a ski run, but in the summer they have these little go carts that skid down the mountain on a crazy, non-safe ride. For 3 Euros you get a tow up the hill and then get to zoom down again. It was run by two guys in flip flops who didn't speak english and gave us the very basics of a driving lesson before hooking us onto the tow rope for our ride. The lawyers would never allow a ride like this back in the US. Yet another reason why it's good to vacation in France, but live in the US.

Alphuez2

This is at the top of the Alp d'Huez after we all found each other. We rode up the day before the time trial in the morning and the race apparatus (the finish line, basically) hadn't been set up yet. No one knew where the finish line was, so we just kept riding up until we couldn't ride any more. Luckily I ran into my riding buddies and we got this shot.

The good news is that I beat Sheryl Crow's time. I heard that she rode up in 1 hour 40 minutes. I did it in about 1 hour 15 minutes. But, (ha ha) I'd argue that I really rode it faster than that because I had to stop a couple times for traffic and to take some pictures.

Alphuez0

Alphuez1

Alphuez4

Alphuez2a

Alhuez4

Alphuez5

Alphuez6

This is a well earned beer. We rode down from Alp d'Huez and right into the parking lot of this little pub outside of Borg D'Oisan for some celebratory beers. I'm a lot happier here than Robin (the guy in the blue shirt) is.

Alphuez7

Ignore the overly happy lawyer on the left, the one who's glad to be out of the courtroom and up on the mountain. Cast your gaze to the tall guy leaning against the beam. Notice the press pass around his neck. That's Frankie Andreau! You can't see it, but he's talking to Axel Merckx's wife and kid. Cycle-geek celebrity heaven!

Alphuez8

Ullrich never left his aero bars the whole way up the mountain. He should have. He was sweating something fierce, grinding away at the big ring.

Alphuez9

Armstrong about to win the TT up the Alp d'Huez. He was looking off to his left, it appeared, at some folks lining the race. He gave them a glare and then kept jamming up through the city, through the crowd and off to his sixth win.

Lance_1

Lance Armstrong. Heard of him? This is on the second last of the laps around Paris on the last day. We were watching from the balcony of the Presidential Suite, drinking $10 Euro beers, in the perfect sunshine of a July Sunday. Good stuff.

1161626_img

You know, the Eiffal tower was missing something after all. Who knew, after all these years, that what one of the most beautiful structures in the world, genius in its simple lines, really needed about a gajillion blinking lights to draw attention. Uhgh.

Alphuez3_1

This is about 2/3rds up the climb of Alp d'Huez the day before the time trial. The crowds were thick at the bottom and most of the way up, but started thinning out when the barriers started. If you look up along the ridge of the hill, you can see the hotels of the village at the top. When I turned this corner, I was thinking I was going to make it fine, but then I saw how much further I had to go and I started to really wonder.

Alphuez_start

That's me looking satisfied after the ride down Alp d'Huez. It was easier going down, than going up.

Lastgroupride

This was taken the last group ride of the tour, and was taken in the city of Gex, just after the race went through. We rode up the Col de la Faucille, a longish (11.5 K) climb that was about 6.2% incline.