The Tour de France

Day
4

Yesterday
went beyond my expectations!  We
met at 8:30 this morning to drive 1 hour to meet up with a couple other tours
so they can ride to the finish together.   They rode the last 75K of yesterday’s Tour course.  The big climb was called Col-de-Madeline, 25K straight uphill. The ride down was scary!  They had to finish ahead of the tour,
and they were closing the road behind us so a few had to ride in the van till
the end so they could cross the finish with the rest of the group.

 

The
energy in the air is unreal!  Some
people have camped out for over a week to get the perfect spot.  It was the most crazy drive I have ever
been on.   People are riding up and down the
mountain that had up to a 9.5 percent grade as an average in some areas.  I rode in the front with Katie the
driver to help her see if cyclists or cars were coming down.  The turns are extremely sharp and you
do not see people till the last seconds. 
People on the side are walking along the road as well and there is at
times only room for one car to be on at a time.  We were on it after it was closed to the public.  Our tour has a special pass to be on
the road. 

You
see all kinds of people making the ride up.

Look
at how steep this is!

Some
people camp out for many days. 
They set off fireworks in the evening.

We
saw many people painting the road. 

Here
is Michael riding with campers on one side and a vehicle selling Tour items
passing on the side.  I can see how
some people die in this whole process. 
We hit a guy’s elbow yesterday with the van mirror on my side of the
van.  It was quite disturbing!

This
van made a little bar on the way up. 
Chris from our group is enjoying a drink.

Look
at the cars and campers lined all the way up.

People
decorate all different ways!

These
markers were along the way telling what percent the grade was, and how far to
the top.

If
you are a tour fan, you have seen this guy on TV.

It
became quite stressful getting through at the top of the mountain.  It was chaos!

When
we got to the finish line we parked by all the team busses.

Michael
switched jerseys to ride across the finish line with the whole group.  They had to be in their new Custom
Getaway Jerseys.

Not
too long before the riders came through they have a parade that comes
through.  The excitement is
building.

Here
are the first 3 riders!

Can
you tell we are Lance Fans?

 


 

We
were right under the finish line.

Andy
Schleck took the yellow jersey today. 
We were in the press area the whole time so we could get some great
pictures.  I took 444 pictures!

This
was an amazing and exhausting day. 
We got back from dinner at 11:00 pm and we are repeating it all
today.  I love it!