Once all the merchandise cars finally made their way past us at the top of the mountain, the race officials and police escorts ensured the road was ready for the arrival of the riders. This was what I had been waiting for. After years of watching the race on tv back home in the middle of the night and thinking "I wanna go there one day" I was there.
The first man up the mountain and also the first man I ever saw live riding the tour de France was the Frenchman Pierre Rolland. He ended up winning the stage up to Alpe d'Huez which was probably the single most pivotal and important day of the 2011 Tour de France. If Cadel was ahead of or atleast with the two Riders from Luxembourg who were currently in 1st and 2nd overall as they rode past me at the top, then there was a good chance that Australia would have its first ever tour de France winner!
Sure enough Cadel was leading the small group which meant there was a very good chance that Australia could secure their first ever Tour de France victory tomorrow!
The next half an hour or so was less exciting, with the position of the rest of the riders not having and great significance on the outcome of the tour, but nonetheless we stood there and cheered them all on towards the finish line. The actual spectating of the Aple d'Huez stage was really not anything that shocking, and the most memorable element of the stage was certainly the atmosphere and the build up, knowing that after several thousand kilometers of riding across France, up and down mountains for nearly three a winner could well be decided on this very day. And after the arrival of the riders, it was STILL not decided who would win the tour, Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck each had about a 50/50 chance of taking home their first tour and the only thing that was certain was that the winner would be decided on tomorrows stage!
After dinner myself, Jake and his aunt went for a walk around the village in an effort to walk off the feast we had just consumed and before we knew it Jake and I were racing each other on Go-Kart's on the ice rink! Seriously, at night they set up a small track and for quite a large fee you can race Karts on it for a while, a pretty nice way to cap off the epic experience of Alpe d'Huez. That wasnt quite the end though, how could I leave the mountain without a souvenir to remember some of the best days of the trip and my life? So we headed over to where the finish line for the race to find that the vinyl that they stuck to the road to form the finish line was still fully intact and just sitting there, so we each peeled off some of the finish line from the 2011 Tour de France stage of Alpe d'Huez, the stage where Cadel evans may well have set himself up to win Australia's first ever Tour deFrance.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Alpe d'Huez - Part 2
As i walked back from dinner to the hotel people were all over the streets with paint cans, brushes and rollers painting words in various languages and drawing picures of flags and phalluses among other things in preperation for the international television cameras and riders who were less than 20 hours away! Day 1 went out with a bang- as I was laying in bed I heard some explosions which turned out to be an impressive fireworks display out my window. Alpe d'Huez had certainly lived up to the high expectations I had of it so far.
The following morning I walked out the front of the hotel to find all preparations for the tour pretty much complete. Over 5kms of barriers had been put up overnight and covered with advertisements and the entire road was covered with paint. But most impressively of all was the number of people riding up the mountain. There was a constant stream of cyclists young, old, fat, skinny, male, female, you name it and they were riding up the mountain.
Between 10(when i got up) and 12(when they closed the road to everyone still 5 hours before the tour was due) atleast 20,000 cyclists must have ridden past. Sounds like a big number but considering estimates were that well over half a million were on the mountain for the tour for the day it's actually a pretty small percentage. And they weren't all riding expensive lightweight road bikes, there were mountain bikes, tandem bikes and even one guy with snow skis with wheels who was skiing up the mountain!
I went for a walk 3km down the mountain just taking it all in, people sleeping on deckchairs, drinking beer, playing cards-basically anything to kill time whilst reserving a prime viewing spot. The 3km back up the mountain was a lot harder. Despite being 3 degrees at night, when the sun was out it was just over 30 and sunny, actually a perfect day for watching the tour. The temperature differences are hard to get used to though, especially when you see people swimming and sun-baking at the public pool - right next to the outdoor ice rink with people skating on it, all with an amazing snow capped mountain backdrop.
But after over 24 hours on the mountain already, a late lunch and a couple of beers it was time to seriously get ready for the tour. So i got my camera out, got my Australian flag out and headed from the tv room at the hotel where we were watching the stage down about 15 steps and waited right there on the side of the road for the tour cars to arrive. For those of you who don't know jack about cycling, about 30-60 minutes before the riders arrive a huge entourage of merchandise and sponsor vehicles drive past playing music, beeping, waving and chucking free stuff out basically to get the crowd excited and to promote the sponsors. The cheap stuff they chuck into the crowds however are highly sought after 'tour de France souvenirs' and consequently it gets pretty hectic in the crowd trying to snag something cool to take home. It's safe to say my new Friend from Texas Jake and I got a little to into it when we were practically wrestling kids for a free hat.
To be continued...
The following morning I walked out the front of the hotel to find all preparations for the tour pretty much complete. Over 5kms of barriers had been put up overnight and covered with advertisements and the entire road was covered with paint. But most impressively of all was the number of people riding up the mountain. There was a constant stream of cyclists young, old, fat, skinny, male, female, you name it and they were riding up the mountain.
Between 10(when i got up) and 12(when they closed the road to everyone still 5 hours before the tour was due) atleast 20,000 cyclists must have ridden past. Sounds like a big number but considering estimates were that well over half a million were on the mountain for the tour for the day it's actually a pretty small percentage. And they weren't all riding expensive lightweight road bikes, there were mountain bikes, tandem bikes and even one guy with snow skis with wheels who was skiing up the mountain!
I went for a walk 3km down the mountain just taking it all in, people sleeping on deckchairs, drinking beer, playing cards-basically anything to kill time whilst reserving a prime viewing spot. The 3km back up the mountain was a lot harder. Despite being 3 degrees at night, when the sun was out it was just over 30 and sunny, actually a perfect day for watching the tour. The temperature differences are hard to get used to though, especially when you see people swimming and sun-baking at the public pool - right next to the outdoor ice rink with people skating on it, all with an amazing snow capped mountain backdrop.
But after over 24 hours on the mountain already, a late lunch and a couple of beers it was time to seriously get ready for the tour. So i got my camera out, got my Australian flag out and headed from the tv room at the hotel where we were watching the stage down about 15 steps and waited right there on the side of the road for the tour cars to arrive. For those of you who don't know jack about cycling, about 30-60 minutes before the riders arrive a huge entourage of merchandise and sponsor vehicles drive past playing music, beeping, waving and chucking free stuff out basically to get the crowd excited and to promote the sponsors. The cheap stuff they chuck into the crowds however are highly sought after 'tour de France souvenirs' and consequently it gets pretty hectic in the crowd trying to snag something cool to take home. It's safe to say my new Friend from Texas Jake and I got a little to into it when we were practically wrestling kids for a free hat.
To be continued...
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The tour part 1 - Alpe d'Huez
One of the most legendary mountains in Europe, filled with cyclists among other sports fanatics (hikers, mountain bikers and downhill bikers) in summer and skiers, snowboarders etc in winter. The road up to the village, which was the finishing point forthe tour de France stage is a couple hundred meters from the top still but there's no roads any higher, just ski fields. The bus trip up the 2Km high mountain was certainly interesting to say the least. 21 switchbacks, and over 11kms of spectators lining the roads to watch the tour, which wasn't even scheduled to arrive for over 30hours. But of course if you want a prime viewing location, be prepared to camp on the mountain for at least a few days. But these campers were prepared, I saw one group of young lads who had a keg to person ratio of at least 2:1.
The most impressive of the camps on the way up was the Dutch who as you may have noticed if you watched the stage on tv overrun turn turn 7. The day before the tour arrived they were all singing and dancing with music blaring from their highly elaborate temporary Dutch village. It was good to see the dutch so enthused about the tour despite having no riders with any chance of winning the tour. When we finally reached our primely positioned hotel I walked around the village a bit just soakin up the atmosphere and waiting for the next morning Which is what I'd been waiting for since early February when I booked the tour.
And that was just the first day on the tour!
The most impressive of the camps on the way up was the Dutch who as you may have noticed if you watched the stage on tv overrun turn turn 7. The day before the tour arrived they were all singing and dancing with music blaring from their highly elaborate temporary Dutch village. It was good to see the dutch so enthused about the tour despite having no riders with any chance of winning the tour. When we finally reached our primely positioned hotel I walked around the village a bit just soakin up the atmosphere and waiting for the next morning Which is what I'd been waiting for since early February when I booked the tour.
And that was just the first day on the tour!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
PHOTO TIME 5
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| Real original photo |
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| Milan - day |
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| Milan - Night |
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| Geneve |
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| Geneve |
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| Yee-haaa |
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| Meanwhile in $witzerland.... |
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| They love trains in Europe, so much |
$$witzerland
Switzerland - or as I think it should be more appropriately named '$witzerland' (more on this soon) is the most stereotypically correct country so far. Cheese and watches, thats what these people are about. We went down to the restaurant for breakfast in Brig and sure enough there was about 15 different kinds of cheese available, along with some crossaints, ham and cereals among other things. And, naturally, the cheese was amazing. Only in Switzerland would I consider cheese a breakfast food. Walking the streets of even the tiny town of Brig i noticed that the watch shop to normal shop ratio is absolutely ridiculous.
We headed off on the train around the north of the big lake in $witzerland (that I cant remember what its called) on what is meant to be one of the top 25 scenic train routes in Europe. Firstly ill say that the train from Austria to Venice last week was just as impressive scenery wise and secondly ill say that I dont really have any good photos from the train for two reasons; the train was going to fast, and I fell asleep. When we got to Geneve there were times when we would walk past 5 or so watch shops all next to each other with watches usually ranging from $500 to $10 000 displayed in the windows then there would be a clothes or a shoes shop before another 4 or 5 watch shops. It's really ridiculous to see how many watches are for sale in one street. What would a trip to $witzerland be without buying a watch though?? So naturally, Kelly Jamie and myself all bought a Swiss watch and spent a solid few hours looking at thousands of watches, most of which were well out of our price range, but then again, every thing in $witzerland is way out of line as far as prices go.
Before I left Dad warned me that Switzerland would be pretty expensive but I only planned on spending a day or 2 there so I wasnt too concerned on it affecting my budgeting. But still, I didnt expect it to be anywhere near as ridiculously expensive as it is. $3.80AUD for a McDonalds cheeseburger?? That's daylight robbery. In America they were 80c AUD! The first night we went out to an average Mexican restaurant for dinner, ordered 3 meals, 2 cokes and 1 water between us and spent just over $100AUD. So the second night we were more than happy to cook a microwave meal in our hotel room, just to even out the average dinner cost of $witzerland.
But nevertheless $witzerland and in particular Geneve is a beautiful place, even if it did rain on us most of the day and I had a pretty good day strolling the city. Tomorrow it's off to France with the other two then four solo days watching 3 stages of the Tour De France, which was actually one of the main reasons I went on this trip which is sadly well into its last 2 weeks. The other 2 are heading up to Belgium and we will meet again in Paris in the 24th, my birthday! :)
We headed off on the train around the north of the big lake in $witzerland (that I cant remember what its called) on what is meant to be one of the top 25 scenic train routes in Europe. Firstly ill say that the train from Austria to Venice last week was just as impressive scenery wise and secondly ill say that I dont really have any good photos from the train for two reasons; the train was going to fast, and I fell asleep. When we got to Geneve there were times when we would walk past 5 or so watch shops all next to each other with watches usually ranging from $500 to $10 000 displayed in the windows then there would be a clothes or a shoes shop before another 4 or 5 watch shops. It's really ridiculous to see how many watches are for sale in one street. What would a trip to $witzerland be without buying a watch though?? So naturally, Kelly Jamie and myself all bought a Swiss watch and spent a solid few hours looking at thousands of watches, most of which were well out of our price range, but then again, every thing in $witzerland is way out of line as far as prices go.
Before I left Dad warned me that Switzerland would be pretty expensive but I only planned on spending a day or 2 there so I wasnt too concerned on it affecting my budgeting. But still, I didnt expect it to be anywhere near as ridiculously expensive as it is. $3.80AUD for a McDonalds cheeseburger?? That's daylight robbery. In America they were 80c AUD! The first night we went out to an average Mexican restaurant for dinner, ordered 3 meals, 2 cokes and 1 water between us and spent just over $100AUD. So the second night we were more than happy to cook a microwave meal in our hotel room, just to even out the average dinner cost of $witzerland.
But nevertheless $witzerland and in particular Geneve is a beautiful place, even if it did rain on us most of the day and I had a pretty good day strolling the city. Tomorrow it's off to France with the other two then four solo days watching 3 stages of the Tour De France, which was actually one of the main reasons I went on this trip which is sadly well into its last 2 weeks. The other 2 are heading up to Belgium and we will meet again in Paris in the 24th, my birthday! :)
Monday, July 18, 2011
PHOTO TIME 4
Okay well I've found a computer so im posting what I've had ready on my USB to post for about a week now and hopefully I'll post a whole heap more photos in the next day or so. Also good news is if i leave the pictures small you can still see them and if you want to view them full screen like you probably have been then just click on them. ~I only just worked this out haha. Enjoy!
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| Vodka Museum in Amsterdam |
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| Bought one each of these for the whole family... |
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| They like bikes in Amsterdam |
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| Germany! |
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| Roman fountain which you can't see yet |
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| Bad panorama from the top of the Sistine Chapel |
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| :) |
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| Vatty square |
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| Holy light |
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| Roman Ruins |
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| Military museum among other things |
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| More ruins |
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| True |
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| Just before my epic gladiatorial battle |
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| wowzers |
Pisa-Milan-Geneve?
Pisa is a pretty small town actually and if it wasn't for the leaning tower It would certainly not be world renown. Luckily for us it was pretty much on the way anyway so we didnt really have anything to lose by spending the night there on our way up to Milan. To be honest the most interesting thing in Pisa that we saw besides the leaning tower was a dog poo that was stuck to a wall in the main street about 15cm off the ground. I have absolutely no idea how to explain that.
So we headed off early to to Milan and stopped in at Florence on the way and I showed the other two around quickly. Our few hours in Florence was he highlight of the trip for kelly so far because she managed to find the pizzeria that the Jersey shore cast worked in for the upcoming season to be aired and we had lunch there.
All that's really in Milan from what we saw of it is a lot of shops. There was only one cathedral worth seeing (got some real good photos) and it's right in the middle of the largest shopping plaza I've ever seen. Probably one of the highlight of Milan for me was a stupid street salesman (they're everywhere in big Italian cities, especially Milan) who was trying to sell a bubble gun to a lady:
Salesman: "2 Euro?"
Lady: "no"
Salesman: "1 Euro!?"
Lady: "NO."
Salesman: ".....3 Euros?"
As the title would indicate we were the. Meant to go from Milan to Geneve in Switzerland. After lining up for half an hour to find find out why the train seat reservation machine was letting me reserve seats to Geneve the lady told me the 12:30 train was cancelled and the 5:30 train is full. So she wrote Down a list of trains to catch successively that would eventually get me to Geneve, hopefully.
By the time we waited for connecting trains we only got as far as a little town called 'Brig-Glis' so we walked to the nearest hotel and got a room for the night. Pretty much from the moment we boarded the train in Milan the temperature began to fall and by the time we arrived in the alpine town the jumpers and jeans had returned from their long hiatus in Italy. There's snow capped mountains, white water rapids and mountains that disappear into the clouds surrounding this little place so naturally there's some amazing photos. Speaking of which I honestly haven't found a computer with a USB port in over a week! I even went to an Internet cafe and paid then found out the computers had no USB ports :(
So we headed off early to to Milan and stopped in at Florence on the way and I showed the other two around quickly. Our few hours in Florence was he highlight of the trip for kelly so far because she managed to find the pizzeria that the Jersey shore cast worked in for the upcoming season to be aired and we had lunch there.
All that's really in Milan from what we saw of it is a lot of shops. There was only one cathedral worth seeing (got some real good photos) and it's right in the middle of the largest shopping plaza I've ever seen. Probably one of the highlight of Milan for me was a stupid street salesman (they're everywhere in big Italian cities, especially Milan) who was trying to sell a bubble gun to a lady:
Salesman: "2 Euro?"
Lady: "no"
Salesman: "1 Euro!?"
Lady: "NO."
Salesman: ".....3 Euros?"
As the title would indicate we were the. Meant to go from Milan to Geneve in Switzerland. After lining up for half an hour to find find out why the train seat reservation machine was letting me reserve seats to Geneve the lady told me the 12:30 train was cancelled and the 5:30 train is full. So she wrote Down a list of trains to catch successively that would eventually get me to Geneve, hopefully.
By the time we waited for connecting trains we only got as far as a little town called 'Brig-Glis' so we walked to the nearest hotel and got a room for the night. Pretty much from the moment we boarded the train in Milan the temperature began to fall and by the time we arrived in the alpine town the jumpers and jeans had returned from their long hiatus in Italy. There's snow capped mountains, white water rapids and mountains that disappear into the clouds surrounding this little place so naturally there's some amazing photos. Speaking of which I honestly haven't found a computer with a USB port in over a week! I even went to an Internet cafe and paid then found out the computers had no USB ports :(
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