by Garrett Lau
In July 2001, Jeff Tse and I went on a three-week VeloSport Vacations bicycle tour that followed the Tour de France. My report is in three parts:
25 July 2001: Today’s ride takes us
through some beautiful countryside, including a field of sunflowers perfectly
lit by the morning sun. The whole group stops to take pictures. This stop, on
top of our general leisurely pace, puts us behind schedule. As we pass through
a hilltop town on the race course, we are informed that the roads will be
closing soon. This is a good excuse for me to ride off the front, and I have an
exhilarating descent into the valley where our picnic is waiting.
Shortly
after lunch, the publicity caravan comes through. Since we’re not on a hill,
the road is not very crowded, and I get a ton of swag, including several little
rounds of cheese. Even though I’m full, I devour the cheese, since I consider
it a prize that shouldn’t be wasted.
I
try to take pictures of the racers, but I keep misjudging the shutter delay of
my camera, and all my pictures are extreme closeups of riders’ legs. In another
example of my being too busy taking pictures to notice what else is going on,
Jan Ullrich coasts up to me waving his water bottle. By the time I realize that
he wants me to take the bottle, he moves on and gives it to the next spectator.
26 July: We begin the day with a bus
ride to Brive-la-Gaillarde. We watch all the riders sign in and start Stage 17,
and then we get onto our bikes to ride to our next hotel. Our route includes
gravel roads, which are not fun, especially on the descents. Fortunately, I
have an excuse to skip the last few miles, as one of my Speedplay cleats
breaks. I get a ride in the sag car to the hotel.
27 July: Today’s agenda includes a
short bus transfer out of the hotel, cycling to Montluçon to see the start of
the Stage 18 Time Trial, and then a long bus transfer to Paris. When we arrive
in Montluçon, we can’t find the bus, and the bus driver’s directions over the
radio lead us in circles. We then wait for the bus driver to walk to us outside
the train station. This is across the street from the hotel where the Bonjour
team is staying, so we watch the riders warming up. Scott Barth is also staying
at that hotel, and he spots my LGBRC jersey. We chat for awhile before our
guide yells at me to follow the group to the bus. We then spend the next hour
waiting by the bus, far from the race start or any other human beings. I don’t
know why we’re not allowed to watch the race. The bus leaves before all the
racers have started, purportedly so that we could make it into Paris before
dark, but then we stop at a bar along the way to watch the race on TV. We get
into Paris around 10pm. Fortunately, that’s dinner time in Paris.
After
dinner, some of the guys decide to look for a bike shop near the Arc
de Triomphe. I don’t expect the bike shop to be open at midnight, but I go
with them just to see the Champs-Elysées and the Arc. It’s a two-mile walk each
way, which is more tiring than any of the recent bike rides.
28 July: Today, we get to
participate in a local group ride. The road around the horse track forms a
three-mile circuit that the locals use for a fast ride every Saturday. It’s
like a criterium, but with no official start or finish. You just jump in and
ride for as long as you want. It is here that I learn how fast our guides are.
I can only hang with them for a few laps. Of course, Frankie
Andreu is the strongest.
After
the ride, we’re supposed to take the bus to Evry to watch the stage finish, but
we all decide to skip it in order to see Paris. However, everyone else’s idea
of seeing Paris is to shop at all the bike shops in the city. After the second
bike shop, I go off on my own to see the more famous sights, such as the Eiffel
Tower and the cathedral of Notre
Dame.
29 July: Today is the final stage,
finishing at the Arc de Triomphe. The Champs-Elysées is closed to automobile
traffic, even early in the morning, but we ride our bikes around the barricades
onto the famous cobblestone road. As we approach the Arc de Triomphe, I snap a picture
of Jeff (which would eventually be published in the San Jose Mercury News). After that, we ride to all the landmarks
that I saw yesterday.
When
we get back to the hotel, we pack our bikes into their travel cases. My total
mileage over the past 17 days is 526 miles.
Jeff
and I walk to a nearby café for lunch. The American family at the next table
tells us that they had no idea that there would be a bike race in Paris during
their vacation!
After
lunch, all three VeloSport tour groups gather in a suite at the Hotel de
Crillon. There’s a TV in the suite and a view of the Place
de la Concorde from the balcony. It’s great to be able to watch the race on
TV and go out to the balcony only when the racers are in sight. The U.S. Postal
team leads the pack the first few times that they pass below us. Then the
sprinters’ teams take over. Zabel wins the stage to take the green jersey from
O’Grady, and, of course, Armstrong finishes in yellow. After the race, I join
the crowd in front of the U.S. Postal bus. Armstrong rides up surrounded by a
large entourage and boards the bus without pausing to acknowledge the crowd. I
barely have time to take a picture.
In
the evening, Scott meets Jeff and me for dinner, and then the three of us go to
the carnival at the Jardin
des Tuileries. The highlight is the ride on the big ferris wheel that marks
the entrance to the Champs-Elysées.
30 July: I’m supposed to return home
today, but my flight is overbooked. I volunteer to give up my seat in exchange
for a $300 travel voucher, an overnight stay and three meals in a hotel near
the airport, and a seat in business class on tomorrow’s flight. I expect to
have an extra day to see Paris, but I waste the whole morning in the airport
waiting for my luggage. After a late lunch, I take the RER into Paris and hang
out with Scott, his friend Barbara, and Jeff. Scott and Jeff invite me to join
them for dinner, but I decide to go back to the hotel for my free dinner. This
dinner is excellent, and it includes three different alcoholic beverages: an
aperitif, a 500 ml bottle of red wine, and a glass of a dessert wine. I’ve had
more wine on this trip than I’ve had the entire rest of my life.
31 July: Today’s flight is also
overbooked, but since I’m already in business class, I board the plane. The
flight home is very enjoyable.
Finis.
Pictures:
Paris (album of all the photos hyperlinked in this story)
All pictures from this trip: