Lance TV Alert...

Check your TV schedules - He'll do Letterman and Charlie Rose on Monday night, Aug 1st. In my area, it's a time conflict for taping, but the same Charlie Rose show is on Tues, Aug 2nd at noon, too.

Lance and the Ride of a Lifetime on OLN - First showing on Aug 2nd. Check your local schedule. Details on the link below....

Been scrounging around for Team Discovery news... It takes a fair amount of time to surf around, but I do see that guys on our team are riding events in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. I’m trying to keep track and post races or results on the Discovery Team Fan Zone, www.discoveryproteamfans.com, but there’s really no list of all the races that the guys do. Yeah, I know there’s a 2005 racing schedule, but the riders add a lot of smaller races. Popo, Paolo and Max have raced, and a team did the HEW Classic in Germany. I think Roger had the best DC time with a 22nd place.

I see that Mike Creed may ride the SF Grand Prix in September, but also the Tour de L'Ain on August 7th and the Classica San Sebastian on Aug 13th. His website, www.mikecreed.com, has a lot of my pics up. Roger Hammond will be doing the SF Grand Prix, too, as well as the Benelux Tour and the Tour of Germany. Roger’s been having a few twinges of ankle and knee problems since he hit the post in Gent-Wevelgem, but he’s taking pretty good care... And, I think Tom D’s knee problem has been solved - he’s riding well. He’ll do the Clasica San Sebastian and then the Vuelta.

Looks like I’ll be doing the Course Marshall Coordinator gig at the San Francisco Grand Prix on September 4th, so as usual, we need lots of volunteers! We need your help to keep this great race alive and well! It’s your chance to see lots of great International racers, as well as our fine American teams. No, not everybody who volunteers can be on the Fillmore or Taylor climbs, but we need folks at busy intersections to protect those riders....Their safety, to a great extent, depends on having plenty of course marshals. Yep, you stand around all day and get lunch, water and a tee shirt, but you’ve also helped to keep International cycling coming back to the Bay Area. I love course marshaling, no matter where my post is, and I volunteer for local races as often as possible. It’s a great way to really be a part of an event. Go to the link and sign up - we need you!

The photo is Lance, with Grace and Isabella at the T-Mobile 2004 in SF.

So busy yesterday that the blog had to take second seat... But I did get a news bulletin that Lance is back in he US. Here is the news bit (courtesy Newswire):

“Bombardier Flexjet, the fractional ownership program of Bombardier Aerospace, paid tribute to the company's most celebrated aircraft owner, Lance Armstrong, by hosting his flight back to the United States, Friday, July 29, 2005 at Teterboro Airport in NJ, following his unprecedented seventh Tour de France victory. For this special occasion, Flexjet arranged a flight from Nice, France to New York on Bombardier's top-of-the-line business jet, the ultra long-range, high speed Bombardier Global Express.” Only way to fly, I guess. Sure beats how I got home....

Well, I suddenly realized that we had a really big deal event going on here in downtown SJ this weekend - a First-Ever. The Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San José (they are using the accent mark over the e). My TWS heart fluttered, but then I realized it’s a NASCAR thing.... But then I decided to go check it our last evening - Hey, it’s on wheels isn’t it? Yikes - how desperate am I? This is symptomatic of really bad TWS, huh?

The race organizers were still putting the course together - it’s right in downtown SJ and the place is barricaded off like a high-security prison. Grandstands everywhere, and tons of cement barricades and tires all along the streets and corners. Double security fencing and that damn green netting stuff so nobody can see the race unless you pay... And I mean PAY... The admission is not cheap!

I tried yesterday to get a press credential - a dozen unanswered phone calls. I finally got thru to some overwhelmed person at the Race Hotline. He told me that they had prepared 500 media credentials and have given out 600 and good luck - he didn’t know what to tell me to do (other than leave him alone with his dozens of calls on hold). Tough beans for me - No credential for sure....

So I took two cameras along, just to look official or something, and headed downtown - it was pretty late in the evening. I had a helluva time finding a parking place, but then I scored a couple of blocks north of San Pedro Square. Security was tight - you’da thought that Saddam was in there or somethin’. No, no - you can't come in here.... So I just walked along the perimeter until I found an opening and started walking the course - I didn’t have my cameras particularly set up for night or anything. I just shot some stuff trying to get something before dark.

The place was crawling with workers, heavy equipment and tons of folks tearing around on scooters, golf carts and shiny new trucks. Hard hats were the mode of the evening, but I forgot and left my white Red Cross hard hat at home. Nobody noticed anyway - they were all so frantic about getting stuff ready - and they were really off-schedule as far as I could tell. The population behind the barricades was divided into two groups: Hard-hat workers and non-hard hat bosses. Guess who did the standing-around thing?

So I pretty much wandered around wherever I wanted to go. I got invited to go up in the service elevator in the Convention Center and strolled in to some kind of Officials or Workers dinner party. Some guy came over being a bit huffy, but then he let me go and look around the terrace to see if it was a good place for shots during the race. It wasn’t: high barb-wire fencing and trees. I walked around until I found stairs to the exit - chatting with Security and SJ police guys - nobody ever asked to see my credentials.

Then I saw this huge, huge tent that was bigger than a football field - It was The Pit - where all the race cars were. I just walked in a side door. It was amazing - like a humongeous Overhaul set. Cars were in bits and pieces and there were guy’s legs sticking out from underneath cars, and guy’s behinds sticking out from engine cavities.

I took a bunch of shots and BS’d with a few wrenches. The guys working on the car in the photo told me it would be back together and runnning in two hours. Just needs a little oil, they said... One guy told me that the practice run for his class car was supposed to be a 8 am, and they all sat on their cars on the course until noon before it happened. Kinda confirmed my assessment that they were a tad behind schedule.

Anyway, I walked around the entire course - totally dark - and guys swearing and running around doing all those last minute chores. Like sponsor signage.... I heard squealing tires and got over to the edge of the barricades. A bunch of old guys in a dozen or so brand new official race convertibles came flying (they thought) around the course. I guess taking a practice run or somethin’ - maybe they all had a few beers too many. They were showing off like a bunch of adolescents. And a few of them nearly chain rear-ended as one cautious guy in front slowed down for a turn right near where I was standing - I was close enough to see the panic looks on the driver’s faces as they slammed on their shiny new brakes in the dark. I’m sure that visions of crumpled front ends on those Jag convertibles sobered them up.... It was really funny.

I’m not a NASCAR or race car fan at all, but maybe I’ll head over later this morning to see what’s going on... TWS..tws..tws...

So I’ll just put up the SJGP shots I took in a non-cycling gallery on smugmug. Follow the link if you’re interested.. I can’t say that they are particularly good shots - just a point-and-shoot Night-Before photo documentary.

TWS - I hear ya! You’re telling me, but I’ve got it too... My neighbor across the street came over before I had the ignition of my car turned off last night - TWS, he said. “Can we just talk about the Tour for a little bit?” “I don’t know what to do with myself in the mornings now.”

Tour Withdrawal Syndrome.... We are lost, without direction, just lost little lambs - without the sustenance of Phil, or Paul or Bobke - even Trautwig might be welcome. It’s not that we are just without the Tour, we are also without Lance! The owner of the bike shop, where I rent my little upstairs office space, came dragging up the stairs with a big ole six-foot tall cardboard poster of Lance and the Lucky Seven Trek promotion yesterday. He left it sitting in the middle of my office. I guess he thought I needed it pretty bad....

My landlady and I watched the Lance stuff about the Tour de Georgia last night. I was standing right beside Rob and Chris (the OLN camera guys) when they filmed most of it.... When College was hollering with the little boy, I was taking shots of the whole thing. I sent a couple of those pics to College, and he wrote me back to say those were the best pictures he’d ever seen. Well, that made me happy while I was watching it....

One of my friends told me that she is watching the OLN re-runs of Survivor because they have some funny Bob Roll commercials - I guess he’s naked or something - I don’t wanna see it! But it makes her feel closer to the Tour somehow. I taped all the Sirius Faction Lance Armstrong shows while I was away at the Tour, so I have this secret stash of Lance stuff. If it turns out to be a bunch re-runs again, I am throwing my cheap-o boys Nike tennies at the TV screen. Don’t know why, there’s nothing on there but a black screen and Sirius Faction scrolling and wobbling up and down... It’s a RADIO show, dammit....

I’m getting lots of forlorn emails - general theme is withdrawal.... Everybody is watching their tapes, and scrambling for DVDs. World Cycling Productions is probably having a boom in sales. If you’ve gone thru all your Tour resources, you can buy Tour de France for Dummies and highlight the editing mistakes... Ha - not mine.... Hey, how many times can you look at the Tour results on cyclingnews?

So, I guess maybe I better start some kind of Twelve-Spoke Program to deal with all of us being in the grip of addiction and withdrawal from the 2005 Tour - Lance’s Final Super Seven. We can start support groups all over the world to process our feelings about living in a Lance-less cycling world - they must be held in bike shops, tho...

So I’ve been kinda catching up on what’s been going on while I was at Le Tour. I started reading about Lance’s ESPY Award(s) and got sidetracked by what was in the gift bags that all the nominees received. Hell, who cares about winning, just give me the gift bag, dudes! The list of goodies is a mile long - they need a cart to haul off all the stuff. I notice that the gifts are pretty heavy on stuff to keep them looking young and beautiful.

Just suppose that I swept into the Award Nite gig in my $39 Shoe Outlet boy’s yellow and black Nike tennies, in my faded $4.99 jeans from the Salvation Army store, topped off by my Glitter Pink Nike tee shirt on sale for $10.99 from Mervyns. I might wear my Go Lance cap or even the Discovery Team cap. Or maybe I'd wear my $3.99 yellow, glitter polka-dot flip-flops, so I could show off my toenails. (I know, you saw the pic before).

But, since I am an Honored Guest, I’d leave my baggy, dirty photographer’s vest and cameras at home. I’d likely be seated on a folding chair by the Men’s Lounge. But hey, I’d get to see all the cute guys as they went in to pee. And I might be able to hear what was going on... No, I mean the awards, not the peeing....

But, maybe, just maybe, if the Cycling Gods smiled upon me, I could cop one of those Awesome Gift Bags. Somebody might throw theirs in the trash can, and I could dig it out.. Or maybe Lance would say, “Hey, Home Girl, would you hold this for me?” And then he’d forget that I have it, or maybe he’d even tell me to keep it. What does he need it for? Anyway, in the AGB, here is a short list - just a few of the items - of what I’d get:
Tee shirts and boxer shorts, running shorts and halters (expensive, not Mervyn’s)
Eye Surgery (no more bags and wrinkles for me!)
Teeth whitening (I would have an unreal, stark white, glittering smile)
A bottle of Crown Royal (in case the they screwed up my eyes and teeth, I could get drunk)
Endermologie to get rid of my cellulite (hope they mean a whole body job)
A Huffy bike (What no Trek? Well, I never....)
A full-length Cashmere robe (I once had a pair of cashmere half-sox in high school - they were from JC Penny’s)
A photo facial rejuvenation (Do they rejuvenate my photo or my face?)
An anti-aging kit (I’m getting some kind of message here, I think)
A Hot Towel Shave in a ritzy, private VIP room (Do they do legs and armpits?)
Tres expensive chocolates and cookies, and radios, and shopping services, and laundry service, and tres chic spa memberships, and gift subscriptions, and sunglasses, and.... eight hours from Mr. Handyman - Oh Yes, I do have some work for him to do. Umm.. Yes...

But, I guess I missed out on all of this by being at the Tour. Oh well... maybe someone saved a little something for me... Maybe I’ll call Mr. Handyman and see if he has any spare time that some celebrity didn’t use...

Home again - No, I mean me, not Lance.... Hauling my two carry-on bags of heavy camera equipment to return the car and on their shuttle, then up and down numerous stairs in De Gaulle, in and out of airport busses, and in and out of Customs and Immigration was like a marathon. Not to mention having to pick up all my checked-in baggage at O’Hare, haul everything thru Customs and then stand in huge, long lines to recheck the baggage again. It feels kinda like doing a double century ride.

I figure that I left Le Meridien Etoile in Paris at 1am Pacific time, and I arrived at 12:30 am Pacific time the next day. That adds up to almost 24 hours of traveling to me, any way you figure it. And, I must say that the Meridien Etoile is the snobbiest and rudest hotel that I ever stay in - I think their service depends on their estimate of how expensive your clothes and your luggage look. There’s one concierge who always gives you wrong directions (or should I say the longest, most confusing route) to Charles DeGaulle Airport - I test him every year. When all you have to do is get on the round-about beside the hotel and take the first major right turn onto A1. More motel workers revenge, I think....

I read a funny thing by Robbie McEwen in his BBC Sport column. He was talking about the same thing I did - getting flashed by ugly behinds. Robbie wrote, “As for my Tour low point, it's got to be the number of moonies. I have never seen so many bare arses in my life. Particularly on the mountain stages, blokes would just drop their trousers and moon us. After the comedy value of a couple it was like "oh, not again”. So for next year, lads, please keep your trousers up.” My sentiments exactly.

Still a lot of cycling left this year.... If you are in my neck of the woods, how about the Timpani Crit on Sunday, August 7th in Santa Clara? See the link for info. It’s a great, little local race... Come on out....

And the San Francisco Grand Prix on Sunday, September 4th - I’m hoping Eki might race there. I saw him Sunday morning at Le Meridien and he looked great! He told me he would be racing in September - I asked about the SF race and he doesn’t know yet what his schedule will be.... I told him to not forget that he is my Iron Man. He laughed and said, "I'm really your Iron Man now, with all the metal pins in my back".

The photo is Eki, along with another racer, and George cresting Fillmore St Hill in the 2004 T-Mobile San Francisco Grand Prix..

Au Revoir Le Tour – Howdy Austin!

I think this podium photo is symbolic of both the end and the beginning of another life for Lance. It’s all about the kids…

It’s been a great ride, Lance, and, yes, I know it’s not about the bike - but we’ll sure miss seeing you on it.

Bye, Lance – and thanks more than we can ever say. You’ll always be Numero Uno to me!

And thanks to all of my blog readers. It's been great hearing from you, and stay tuned for more cycling stuff....

Well, I knew this was gonna be a big day…. No doubt that Lance was going for the win – everybody knew it. When I went in for the petite dejeuner this morning at the hotel, I told Chris Brewer and the OLN guys that I put on clean sox and my Go Lance shirt just to guarantee the win for Lance.

It was absolutely amazing and delightful at the team bus today. Lance’s kids showed up with his Mom, Linda, and Sheryl’s parents, Bernice and Wendell. They put down a little blanket at the side of the bus and had a picnic. When Lance arrived, they jumped all over him (I have pics to put up in the gallery, but not sure I’ll have time tonight before they close the press center).

Then, while Lance was warming up for this most important TT – his last one, and his last chance to win a stage. But Lance totally paid attention to those kids while he was warming up. They played with his bike stuff, and I heard Luke ask his Dad, “Do you win lots of bike races?” Couldn’t hear Lance’s answer. Then he asked his Dad if he was going to ride the bike all the way to the finish line.

All three kids jumped all over Lance, and pestered him with questions. Lance gave his kids total attention right in the middle of his warm-up – it was very clear what his priority was. I thought about Jan warming up, probably being deadly serious, and also Ivan and the rest of the guys. Here was Lance, laughing and joking with his kids, family and staff.

Right before he left for the TT Start chute, he had a Power Gel – he wadded up the little container packet and tried to make a shot into the garbage bag. He missed by just a little bit. Well, he asked Ryszard to get the crumpled-up container and give it back to him so he could try again! This guy is leaving for the start of his TT and he is shooting baskets! Well, he tried a second time, and needless to say, the little crumpled foil ball sailed right into the garbage bag. That’s Lance…

It was just delightful to see Lance and Sheryl interact with those kids… It’s obvious that they all love each other so much… The kids adore Sheryl… She is so great with them. This evening, at Lance’s press conference, I saw Sheryl being a bit teary-eyed. I think we are all realizing this is the last dance….

I drove through fields of sunflowers today, with ancient castles standing guard, ever vigilant with their golden flocks. The giant sunflowers seemed almost alive: moving, rippling - gently twisting and turning in the wind. Serene and peaceful as eternity, they silently watched while the frantic race traffic tore by at breakneck speed. I wanted to stop and take some shots, but the truth is that no photograph does justice to those magnificent golden fields.

The fans around the team bus were just huge this morning – I didn’t go to the bus after the race finished. I knew it would be a zoo. Plus, I parked near the Arriveé, and walked to the Centre de Press… And walked, and walked, and walked. It must have been almost 2k away, slightly uphill. I was carrying three cameras with big lenses, plus my laptop and assorted batteries and an extra lens. It felt like about 50pounds, and guess what? As soon as I finish this, I have to walk back and drive to St. Etienne and find my motel… Yep, I have to carry all that crap back, too.

I’ve driven about 6,200k already, and I have two huge driving days ahead of me. The drive from Dijon to Paris is so far that I’m not going to the start in Corbeil-Essonnes for the last stage – I’ll drive directly into Paris and leave my car at the Meridian Etoile. Then walk down to the Champs Elysees.

So this is short and sweet tonight – I gotta get these feet walking….

Check out the link for a super fine editorial about Lance by Patrick Gavin in the Washington Examiner.

All is well after my parking faux pas yesterday – I did just fine with my Orange sticker on my car – nobody said a word to me. Except one of the Tour parking guys, and he told me it happens all the time… No Big Deal.

The photo is the cutest little guy who stood next to me at the DC bus this morning – he was very careful to not get in my camera’s way. When Sheryl came over to say Hi, he got a choice autograph! Too bad that Lance went out in the other direction, or he coulda scored twice…

In the Village Depart this morning, I saw Thomas Voeckler at the Coiffeur tent, getting his already short hair trimmed. The hairdresser fussed over him and used hairspray – too funny. This is right before Voeckler rode the stage! Helmets are mandatory… I got a couple of shots, but they didn’t turn out well with the harsh lighting and shadows – I didn’t have my Speedlight flash on the camera…

Three of my photographer friends were in a car accident yesterday during the stage. Not sure what happened, but the car rolled over, and one guy had to be hospitalized for hand surgery. I think he had his hand out the window and the car rolled on it. Yeow! To be a photographer and have your hand in jeopardy is a real bummer… They are all lucky to be alive. Driving the course at the speeds we do, with hundreds of media vehicles. Its just insanity.

I found out that Robin Williams is shooting a movie, and is not expected to be here at the Tour this year. Robin’s wife, Marsha, has been at the team bus. I just can’t imagine that Robin isn’t going to show up on the Champs Elysees!

This morning, I saw a very large woman in high heels struggle over the metal barricade - she worked really hard at getting over it, trying to sneak into the team bus area. She was very determined. However, a gendarme saw her and gave chase – it was about four steps. He made her climb back over and she couldn’t quite make it. He ended up sorta boosting her over, with the help of another spectator. People try sneaking in by the dozens - a few are successful.

How cool is it that Paolo wins Stage 17? I didn’t go to the finish (more on this later), so I was at the Ibis Hotel in Toulouse watching the race. I hope that OLN showed what I saw on France2/3, when Paolo went to the team bus. He was wildly hugging Erwin and Serge (Lance’s security guys), and Ryszard (one of the soigneurs) and Mark Higgins (Lance’s business agent). Now it was Paolo’s turn to look like a little kid who’d just got the best Christmas present in the world. He was just beaming…

Well, kiddies, I did get into deep doo-doo today, and it was totally because I was a space-case. No, not Customs again, but rather a more powerful entity in France! Yikes - I messed up with none other than ASO, Amaury Sports Organization – the Gods of the Tour de France! The people who hold my Tour Fate in their hands!

Ai, yi, yi and Mon Dieu! Somehow I was zee leetle Podium Girl Gone Bad this morning. Oui. C’est vrai! I parked my little Peugeot with the blue stickers just where they told me to park. I backed in and up on the sidewalk in the Avant area. That parking is for vehicles that are following the Caravane Publicitaire, and leaving before the race starts. Well, I didn’t quite realize that I was parking on the race course.

I boogied on over to the Village Depart and fueled up with Grand Mere leaded, ate way more little melon slices than is considered polite as a guest at the Village, topped it off with some yummy Brie, and wandered around visiting. Then the Discovery guys showed up, like the Lance Fan’s Pied Pipers of the Tour, so I followed right along in the mob. I ended up in the midst of a zillion folks, and caught the wheel of Serge, the Security guy. Well, I actually grabbed his sleeve, and he towed me, stumbling and tripping on feet, to the front of the autograph-hungry crowd.

I stood at the little opening where the riders went out and happily took photos of all the guys, Lance and Sheryl. I just had a great time, and suddenly the racers had gone and the bus was pulling out, I started walking down to my car. To my horror, I saw that metal barricades had sprung up all along the sides of the road, and there was the little grey Peugeot, parked right on the race course! Totally alone, helpless and embarrassed, AND minus the blue press stickers, there sat my car. Oh Boy – Motel Workers Heaven strikes again….

Yes, when you screw up, the Officials of the ASO rip your precious press stickers, swiftly and punitively, from your vehicle. (The photo above is a before photo) I was punished, relegated, sanctioned, penalized, chastised, reprimanded, defrocked and flogged. Naw – not the last two… But, you get the picture.

Bummer – there goes my first-class parking at the Departs and Arrivees. But, I also know if you beg, grovel and apologize profusely, the ASO may give you another sticker. Problem is, how to get to the headquarters (called the Permanence) to pay your penance, without the damn stickers on your car…

So this evening, I called a couple of photog friends of mine, who were at the Media Center, right beside the Permanence. They agreed to plead my case with the Lords of the Stickers, and, with their help, both curses and blessings were bestowed upon me. I do receive another sticker, but I have been relegated to Orange Sticker status, and have had my Blue Sticker status removed. My privilege of driving on the course has been lost. Oh, zat naughty leetle PGGB!

What they don’t know is that I didn’t plan to drive on the racecourse anymore, anyway! Besides, grey and orange go really well together….

The Depart in Mournex was in an area where there is an Eddie Merckx Velodrome. The Village Depart was set up in the center, grassy area of the velodrome. It’s nice to have a green carpet of grass to walk on, but in France, dogs go (and I do mean go) everywhere with their owners. So when the Village Depart is set up on paved areas, I can walk freely, with my head held high. But in the Village on grassy fields, I walk with lowered eyes - not because I’m shy, but because I am on the lookout for dog poop. I’ve seen some very elegantly dressed folks trying to clean their shoes and still look dignified and/or glamorous.

I hung out at the Discovery team bus this morning and got some shots of Sheryl, Odessa Gunn and Robin William’s wife (I was told). I’m not sure – I didn’t see Robin anywhere. Odessa had her two little peanut dogs, one dressed in a Gerolsteiner kit. I had told her that I’d give her zee naughty Podium Girl Gone Bad thong. She said she’d gone to the site and thought it was funny. I have totally neglected the site this Tour. I do have some podie gal pics to out up when I get back, tho…. Also, check out the Link for tour cartoons from Belgian newspapers, sent by my Belgian correspondent, Ann.

I got a hug and kiss from Sheryl – she was wearing a white Discovery Channel Team tank top. I hadn’t seen one before and it looked great on her. I told her that I was sharing the pics of her with her Fan Forum and she was happy to hear it – genuinely pleased that I was sharing my pics. She really loves her fans – they mean something to her – they are really important to her. She grabbed my hand and told me she was gonna do something nice for me. I’m putting some more pics up today in the Sheryl gallery.

Lance spent an extraordinary amount of time signing autographs this morning. One adolescent girl was so thrilled that she was literally shaking. She was immediately on the phone telling someone about it… Just totally stoked. Everybody here wears their cell phones on lanyards around their necks. Me, too…

It was really cool to see fans asking Pavel and Benjamin for autographs. These two guys are the quiet heroes – the workhorse domestiques who give their all, suffer in silence, and are given little attention from fans. Every day, they come quietly out of the bus while the fans are pushing and shoving and screaming for Lance, grab their bikes - they go out and do their job. Without them, Lance couldn’t win. I have seen them come in at the end of the stage: dirty, sweaty, bloody and depleted. The next day, there they are to quietly give their all again for Lance. The climbers get all the glory and attention, but my heart is always with Pavel and Benjamin. I love these two guys for their grit and guts…

Oh, Baby – the traffic jam coming down from the top last night was monumental! Every vehicle in the world was parked on top and everyone headed down at the same time… Well, it felt like that.. I stayed kinda late doing my blog and stuff. So I missed the last gendarme convoy at 8:30 pm… Oh, Man, I knew I was in for it – but that’s just how it is at the Tour if you wanna go to the top. The Tour organizers offered the Press the option of taking the ski lift up, but with all my cameras, lenses and laptop, I had to drive my car. I don’t know if it helped those folks who took the lift or not.

There were three separate camper or RV accidents, so we sat for hours. I ended up being in the middle of this big, yelling, vicious stand-off between two car drivers. As I said, everybody uses both lanes down. Well, it seems that this woman wanted to pull out into the passing lane, and the guy driving in that lane wouldn’t let her over. She kept trying to bang into his car with her bumper. They both stopped in the middle of this line of traffic, and were screaming insults at each other. Then the car in front of them moved to the middle of both lanes and stopped – not letting anybody go anywhere.

Now, picture miles and miles of tired, angry, hungry and drunk drivers behind us – nobody moving because these of three cars. We are talking almost an hour of sitting: all three of them stubbornly refusing to move forward. The old, beat-up white van right beside me was full of drunken guys, clasping their foreheads and swearing. Their solution was to honk their horn non-stop. Like it was going to do any good. Different drivers walked down the line to argue, plead, implore and threaten the three drivers to get going. Nada…Rien… Nothing.

I wasn’t about to get involved in this drunken insanity – nothing I could do or say would have done any good. So, I turned my CD player up loud and played an old Eagles CD (only one I have with me), plugged my IPAQ into the cigarette lighter and played a zillion games of Jawbreaker. Finally, a gendarme van came screaming down the mountain with flashing lights and sirens - made them all move over and move their arses. Then we encountered all the stoppages from the accidents and stupid drivers.

I got to my hotel outside of Pau at 3:15 in the morning. Opened the door, turned on the lights and was greeted by an indignant cockroach, who had claimed ownership of the dark room. Squished the cockroach - inspected under my bed, between the mattresses, inside my sheets, under my pillows and in the bathroom. Piled my stuff up on a kitchen chair in the middle of the room, hoping the chair legs were too slippery for cockroaches to climb and went to sleep. C’est Le Tour…

Oh – today was rest day. What did I do? Went for a drive.

The photo is the fireworks on Bastille Day - seems kinda appropriate for last night...

How cool is it that George Hincapie, not considered a climber at all, wins what has been called the most difficult stage of this Tour? It couldn’t happen to a more deserving, nicer guy. I was waving at him thru the door while he was waiting for the drug-testing, and he was just beaming… He is the nicest, sweetest guy, and has worked so hard for Lance for so many years. For George to win a stage of Lance’s last Tour is just so perfect.

I skipped the start and drove all the way to the top on Pla-d’Adet this morning. The road was just crawling with cyclists and hikers. And that meant the vehicles were just crawling along, too. Nobody seems to get the concept of sharing the road – if hikers and cyclists took one lane and left the other for Tour vehicles, it would make it easier and safer for everyone.

Last year, the gendarmes did a great job of keeping the two groups separated. But this morning, they just stood and watched the free-for-all happen. It was a mess – think of driving through Times Square at midnight on New Year’s Eve, only you have the width of a sidewalk to drive on…

The air was, and is, permeated with the smell of burning clutches. Last year, two media guys burned out the clutches in their vehicles. Believe me, it’s pretty tricky to stop and start every two minutes on those steep hairpin turns. The trick is to jump in behind other vehicles and caravan up. If somebody doesn’t know how to drive it (and there are always several folks every year who do not), then cyclists will pull out in front of you and slow you down even more. Cyclists are wobbling, weaving and swerving around, trying to keep their forward motion, and are scant inches from your bumper and fenders. One just has to keep going and tap-tap on the horn to warn them. I’m really surprised that folks don’t get run over.

The press is in a huge, auditorium-sized tent. The wind is howling and gusting so hard that I’m not sure the damn thing isn’t gonna come down. There are huge metal posts and bracing, but this big ole structure feels just like the big quake in ’89. We’re all looking at each other, trying to decide whether to stay in here or not. I feel like I may take a flier from Pla-d’Adet to Oz any minute now.

Last night took forever to get off the hill in the traffic, and I was able to grab into the back of a Gendarmerie escort down. They send ahead, down the hill, a huge fire truck or emergency truck with sirens and flashing lights, plus motorcycle cops blasting their sirens. The press and official cars follow them down the wrong side of the road at a break-neck speed

Upcoming cars have the bejeezus scared out of them - they have to instantly pull over and get the Hell out of the way. The cavalcade travels too fast, in my opinion. There are always near misses, and sudden slamming on brakes when a car just can’t get off the road. Then drivers have to pull over on both sides of the road, and the official cavalcade squeezes on through.

People get really PO’ed, as you can well imagine. Cars and campers sitting in hours of traffic are incensed about the press getting escorted on by. A couple of years ago, people in RV’s were opening their doors wide, trying to block us from coming through. I can’t blame them for resenting it – but those same camper folks follow the Tour every year, and they know the routine. C’est Le Tour!

But when the team busses and cars come through with the same escort kind of escort – well that’s a different story. People are waving and smiling and trying to get photos thru car windows. They cheer, applaud and beg for schwag: casquette, casquette! Getting a team cap makes you the envy of everyone around you.

I heard from one of Lance's guys that he didn't have a helicopter to take him off the mountain today, so he will be heading down in a team car with an Gendarme escort, I'm sure. Wonder how many pissed-off people will see Lance thru the window...

It was funny last night, when I was checking into the Hotel Hotan in Portet Sur Garonne, about 10 pm. The desk clerk (who spoke very little English) was talking to someone on the phone and trying to figure out whether he had some American names on the reservation list. He looked at my Discovery team cap, and asked if I would help him; handing me the telephone. On the other end of the line was Rob Davis, who is filming for Discovery Channel, along with four or five other DC staff guys, wanting to make sure that they hadn’t lost their reservation, being so late. So I grabbed the hotel room lists, and went thru it, checking off the names. Then I gave them directions to the hotel as best I could.

This was a first – now I can say that I was a hotel clerk in France during the Tour – and… small world, huh? These same six-degrees-of-separation things happen to me every year at the Tour. Love it – C’est Le Tour!

A couple of fans have asked about The Go Lance hat - yes - here it is...

The heat today was unbelievable and so was the climb to the finish – so steep and hairpin turns. My God, I don’t know how those guys can accelerate on those brutal climbs, especially after almost 200k of racing. And, it was just burning up the fans along the roads – they looked so fried and sunburned.

Well, same old stuff in the Pyrenees each year – the fans in the orange shirts for their Basque team are rowdy and mostly drunk. The adolescent boys (age 12 to 30) can always be counted on to throw stuff in your car windows: water in your face - sometimes hay or dirt. They always wear some kind of costume, whether it’s a nun, or policeman, or Sylvester the cat, or a woman. But only the top part – the bottom part is always a thong.

When you drive by, they always turn around and stick out their bare behinds at you. Almost all of them have hairy backsides with pimples – are they ever gross….

I noticed that in a couple of areas on the climbs, where there were dozens of orange shirts, there were several gendarmes standing in front of them. Overall, I notice that there are more security people than I have ever seen before at the Tour. For example, on the long descents down the back of the mountains, there are gendarmes stationed all along the way. It’s usually totally deserted all the way down, except for a few groups of folks on the sharp turns. This year, wherever there are people, there is a gendarme…

Receiving a lot of good feedback about The Tour de France for Dummies book that I co-authored. If you’d like to have a handy guide while you’re watching OLN, click on the icon to the right and order your copy ASAP!

And while I am talking about books – I was just gifted with an incredible book of Tour photography by Tino Pohlmann. I chatted with him a couple of days ago, and he gave me a copy of the book. It is a black and white photo essay about the people of the Tour – the riders and the fans. It has a very retro feel, and Tino captures the emotions of the Tour in expressive black and white… Click on the Link to go to his webpage.

I really, really like this book! It’s called “Rotation/Contraction/Inspiration”, by Tino Pohlmann. I’m not sure if it is available in the US, but here’s the ISBN: 3-9810349-0-2 published by tenus/verlag Ltd & Co KG. Tino says it is an art project and it appears to be sponsored by Skoda. This book is gonna be one of my prized possessions, for sure. I love B&W photography, and I love the Tour – what a great match for me…

I talked with the guys at the Discovery team bus this morning, and found out that Triki is OK, but that he didn’t want to stop riding yesterday after his crash. It’s a huge defeat for a rider to abandon the race. They feel like they are letting the team down, plus it’s a source of pride to finish the Tour, both as an individual, and as a team. Lance’s team has finished with all nine guys for several years now, so to be the first to abandon is a huge let down.

Triki got up and rode for a while, but he was totally on automatic – just guts, grit and training himself to never give up. When Johan and the staff realized that Triki was totally out of it, Johan gave the order to take him off the bike. The guys told me that Triki was riding with no memory of crashing at all, and altho he was several minutes back, he thought he was out in front, leading the peloton. Wow – just riding totally on cellular memory, I guess. I heard that one of his best friends, Oscar Sevilla, was the rider whose wheel accidentally touched Triki’s wheel and knocked him down. Triki spent the night in a hospital for observation, and is flying back to Spain today to recover.

Well, I had an interesting experience today when I arrived at the finish in Montpellier. The press parking area is huge and always spills over into some remote field, as it did today. I was following a car driven by Frankie Andreu, with Craig Hummer. We were directed to a dusty field where there were already lots of cars parked. I headed over to the far end of the field where there was a slight promise of shade for later afternoon. Frankie had parked in the line-up of press cars, so I was kinda isolated in the corner of the pasture.

I was getting my stuff out of my car when this guy walks up to me. He was a short, older man, wearing plaid Bermuda shorts, a faded tee shirt and a baseball cap. He was carrying a lavender and yellow little ditty bag backpack. “Madam,” he said, “ I am with Customs and I want to see your passport.”

I looked at this dude walking up to me in the middle of nowhere - Yeah, right – you’re Customs and I’m Sheryl Crowe. I thought, dude, I’m not gonna fall for this crap, how gullible do you think I am? Hand him my passport, and he’ll take off with it in flash. He showed me very authentic-looking identification. I looked at it, but how the Hell do I know what a Customs ID looks like? Plus anything can be easily faked.

“No,” I said. He again insisted, and showed me his ID again. “Non, M’sieu – non moleste pas.” Or something like that to tell him not to bother me. He spoke a little English, and I told him if he didn’t leave me alone, I’d call a Gendarme. This was ridiculous – he had to be a thief, thinking that a woman alone would be a gullible, easy target. He insisted and I told him that I would only show my passport if he went and got a Gendarme. He said for me to stay right here, and walked away. I thought, well, I’ll never see him again, but I’m moving my car so he doesn’t come back and steal everything. So I moved the Peugeot up by Frankie’s car.

I was getting my cameras out of the car, and what did I see but two Obviously Official Gendarmes and this old guy looking all around, and then they spotted me. Holy Shit, I thought, I am in deep doo-doo now. Well, he was Legit, but what he was doing out in a dusty cow pasture, and why he decided that I looked like a terrorist or something, I’ll never know. What I do know is that all three of them were pretty pissed. But I stood my ground, and told them (as best I could) that he didn’t have a uniform or anything, and how would I know he wasn’t part of a gang of thieves?

Well, they made me show my passport and identification papers that I had leased the car. They read every line of both documents in detail. They conferred at length, and decided not to throw me in a dungeon or stand me in front of a firing squad. They waggled their fingers at me and admonished me in rapid French – I assume for defying a French Customs Agent. Oh, well…. C’est Le Tour, I guess….

I know there are some Sheryl Crow fans that read my blog – so this photo is for them. I saw Sheryl twice today, and she looks fantastic. Saw her as I was driving out this morning, she was walking toward the Village Depart. We exchanged hugs and she asked me if I was coming to the Village, but I was heading out. Then, at the end of the stage, I saw her with all the folks behind the podium, where I took some shots. She was intently watching the TV, along with Mark Higgins and Jogi Mueller. I love the watch she was wearing – an oversize one, just like the kind I like to wear. I have to ask her if it’s a Nike or what. I want one!

I stayed in the most interesting and charming place last night, so I want to give you a heads up if you’re ever in the Briancon, Gap or Sisteron area. It’s in Mont-Dauphine Forte, which is an ancient fort. You drive across a moat and enter the walled city. It’s about 4k off from N94, so it’s totally quiet and serene there. The hotel is Auberge de L’Echaugette, and it is fabulous and affordable. The owners are nice people who speak English, and are very helpful. I was in a charming loft room, with a shuttered window that overlooked a garden and right out at the mountains. I was in the Lavande (lavender) room. There were heavy timber beams overhead – it was clean as a pin and newly redone. I highly recommend it.

I arrived late, but a local little restaurant/bar was open. I had a jambon and fromage omelette and frites (ham and cheese omelet with French fries), plus a beer. Chatted as best I could with the locals, who were on their way out to a field to celebrate their big holiday, umbrellas in hand.

Today is the National Holiday, Bastille Day – their Independence Day. Everything is closed, including stores and gas stations in the towns and villages. Last night, even tiny Mont-Dauphine had fireworks, unfortunately, in the rain. I leaned out my window and watched a great, first-class display of fireworks.

I sat down for Petite Dejeune there this morning, and was greeted by the large cat-in-charge. He was polite, but aloof, and declined to be petted. That is until I was served my café, jus de l’orange and croissant. Immediately, I had a cat snuggled up next to me, with his head a few inches from my plate and my croissant. I, of course, politely offered to share with him, and we became instant friends. He LOVED croissants! One bite for me - one bite for him. No thank you, he didn’t wish to have honey on his bites. We made short work of the croissant: he licked his lips and cleaned his face and waited for the next guest to arrive. My camera was already in the car, so I couldn’t get a photo of the Croissant Cat of Mont-Dauphine Forte.

FYI - I haven’t been putting photos up in the smugmug gallery because the wifi reception at the La Salle de Press has not been great in the mountains and there are constant disconnects when I am trying to upload. I’ll catch up soon…

For the photo, I thought I’d show you what my car looks like inside - the front seat. Everything has to be in reach while I’m driving. It’s pretty messy, I guess. It will be much worse by July 24th. One of the Tour Security guys looked in my window this morning and said “poubelle”, which I think means trashcan… He always teases me.

But last night, a gendarme hollered at me and I don’t think he was teasing. It was while I was in that traffic jam in Courcheval – he was driving up hill and I was coming down. He was bellowing something at me in French. His face was really red and his cheeks were puffed out. I guess there must be a law in France that you can’t use your laptop on your steering wheel, and talk on your cell phone while driving. HA – I was only going about two miles an hour and stopping about every three car lengths. I had everything under control – besides I knew he couldn’t turn around to get me…

It was really cool today in the Caravane – for a while, a Credit Lyonnais vehicle was behind me, and Raymond Poulidor was in it. I’d seen him earlier in the Village Depart, and took a couple of shots of him. He is greatly loved by the French, and they recognize him instantly. I could just hear shouts of “Pou-Pou, Pou-Pou” echoing up the side of the packed road.

Everyone was clapping and cheering, and running along beside his car. They were so excited, and the word spread instantly clear up to the top of the mountain. His driver had to keep stopping so folks could shake his hand. It started raining, and they rolled the windows up, but people still saw him and tried to talk with him or touch him. I wondered if that will happen to Lance several years from now, too.

This one French guy came up to my window and said something to me in French. I said my usual phrase that I only speak a little French – he said that he would speak English with me. I said, “What do you want? Do you know that Pou-Pou is in the car right behind me?” “I don’t want Pou-Pou,” he said, “ I want you!” “Au revoir,” I said, and stepped on the gas…

First of all, I want to say thanks to all of you who have emailed me, or commented in my blog. It’s just great hearing from you! And a big thanks to those of you who’ve sent along a few bucks. Everything helps with covering the costs – I pay for everything out of my own pocket.

And, just so you know, being lost once in a while is just a part of working the Tour. It happens to everyone, even those with GPS. They just don’t write about I like I do…

I’m sitting in a humongous traffic jam about 2kfrom the top of Courcheval – it’s taken almost two hours to get just this far another part of being in the Tour. The Centre de Press is only another 2kor so away, and so is my motel. I’m looking at my odometer, and it looks like I have 3696k since I picked it up new. So, for going to a new motel in a new city every night, and going to new Depart location every morning, and driving the race route or taking the off-course route - getting lost twice isn’t bad! And one always finds their way, sometimes later rather than sooner. C’est le Tour.

Driving on the racecourse the entire way today was an incredible experience, as it always is in the mountains. Television just does not even begin to portray how long and steep the climbs are, and how narrow and twisty the descents are. It is unbelievable that someone could ride a bike up this stuff, and then fly down those narrow, hairpin turns at 50 or 60 kph. Talk about death-defying extreme sports…. Baby – this is it…

It was a madhouse at the finish! The television crews are the worst – they run frantically after the riders, but the cameramen also have a guy carrying the sound equipment attached to them by cables. There’s usually a crew of three and they are rough and determined to get their interview no matter what. If you’re standing in their way, they give you a shove or push or run over you. I have to say that the OLN and Discovery crews are quite civilized, but the rest are not.

It’s now another hour later and we still have not made it the other 2k to Courcheval Center. People are quite amused, as they walk by, to see me typing on my laptop, propped against the steering wheel and my chest. I’ve received grins and comments in several languages about my voiture (auto) office.

Well, rest day is really driving day for most of us. The teams were put on busses and driven to the airport right after the race ended, and flew to Grenoble. But the wrenches and team support folks had to drive those hundreds of vehicles down here. Of course, all the ASO staff and crew, as well as the media vehicles were in for a long drive. I stayed in Besancon last night. And therein is a long story that I will call The Tale of Trois Ibis.

My schedule showed that I was staying in an Ibis Hotel in Besancon, so I went to their website and downloaded driving directions before I left home. The directions said to take Sortie (Exit) #4 off from the Autoroute, and then had about a paragraph containing directions in French that had a lot of suivre, puis, prendre and rondepoint. OK, cool, I can deal with that.

So I get closer to Besancon, and see Sortie #4 coming up - I was near Besancon - but it seemed a bit too far out from the city. But exit 4 is exit 4, right? So I rather doubtfully exited the freeway, and on the other side of the rondepoint (roundabout) was the familiar red and green logo, Ibis Hotel, with an arrow pointing the way. Hmm, I thought, maybe it’s in the old city and that’s why it seems too far away. So I drive way down this teeny road and come in the back side of an Ibis along the freeway.

This Ibis is really tacky – it has an L’Arche cafeteria and the reception desk for the hotel also cashiers the junk that tourists buy, like Pringles, Orangina and cigarettes. So I wait in line and when I get there, the desk clerk/cashier takes her time looking at the reservation page. She shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders. Sorry, but non…. I’m at the wrong Ibis! In my very best (altho exasperated) French I say that the directions say Sortie #4. Isn’t this Sortie #4? Non, non - turns out that there are two Sorties #4 on the same Autoroute near Besancon

Okay – C’est le Tour. I turn around and find my way back to the Autoroute and start looking for Le Deux Sortie #4. Several miles down the road, and in Besancon, I find another exit 4. Well, by now, I’m watching my puis and suivres pretty carefully. So I follow directions toward Centreville and Hopital St. Jacques, and then the directions get a little sparse and fuzzy, but suddenly there is that lovely green and red Ibis logo with the arrow that directs me around the corner. There it is at last! Of course, there is no parking anywhere, so on the second time around, I pull into this narrowest of narrow driveways into the gated parking. I push the button and talk to a tinny voice, “Lewis – reservation for tonight”… Long silence…

Non, Madam – this ees zee wrong Ibis. Are you kidding? Is this some kind of cosmic motel prank? I leave my car parked right in the driveway, blocking any entrances and exits and go marching in with my reservation clutched in my sweaty fist. OMG, it is another wrong Ibis!! How in the Hell many Hotel Ibis are there in Besancon?

I drove away, in somewhat of a panic, I must confess. And I started thinking that somewhere upstairs there is a Motel Worker’s Heaven, and those folks were wickedly laughing, and cackling, and slapping their knees in Heavenly Revenge. “Hot Damn”, they’d be saying, “This Besancon Ibis thing is a keeper. We’re sure getting this Velogal person. Wa-hoo, this is funnier than Hell.”

The second Hotel Ibis person gave me directions that only made sense to somebody who knew where they were going. After an unwelcome prolonged tour of Besancon, I saw a teeny sign that said La Citie. OK – that’s in the paragraph right after a suivre, so I turned downhill on a one-way street, and Voila! I was right beside the third Hotel Ibis. C’est une miracle! J’arrivee! Except there wasn’t any place to park….

To Hell with it - I drove right over the curb and parked on the sidewalk. I locked that puppy up and went in to register. Yes, I’m in the right place. Yes, we have wi-fi. “Where shall I park?” I ask. “Where are you parked?” She asked. “On your sidewalk, Madam” “Ooh, la, la”, she says, “You cannot park there.” “Where shall I park?” “There is underground parking back up the street.” “But, Madam, it is a one-way street – Did I miss the Parking sign?” “There is no sign – You must go down to the rondepoint and go back up another street and turn left at the lights and come back down again.” “Oui, Madam.” Through gritted teeth.

So I get back in my car and go around the RP and go up the other street. But when I get in the left turn lane at the light, there are three left turn choices! With no visual clues as to which one to take… OMG – they are pranking me and laughing up there again… So I choose the immediate left turn, and as soon as I’m across the intersection, it becomes clear that it is the wrong choice. Down this one-way street and hang a left and back to the good ole stoplight. I choose the middle left turn and it finally gets me on the Ibis street. I see a teeny space between two parked trucks, and that is the driveway into the unnamed, underground parking lot.

But wait – there’s more! There was a Lotto-Davitamon van ahead of me, with great graphics – a rolling billboard of happy, healthy families waving and showing how great life is – either on Davitamon or winning the Lotto, or both. Well, one had to stop at a gate on ground level and take a ticket. Then make a sharp right turn into a narrow ramp down. The Davitamon van was having a great deal of trouble making the turn – back and forth, back and forth – the driver was trying to get that long, ole van maneuvered around that corner. He finally gave it some gas, and – Crash! Scrape! Screech! The van went head to head with the concrete pillar and lost. Well, let’s just say there was no longer any “mon” in Davitamon on the passenger side. I heard Belgian swear words flying through the air like red-hot rocket flares.

Halfway down the ramp, one has to stop and put the ticket that they just got into a second machine to open another gate. The guy put his ticket in, but the gate didn’t open. He tried several times and then moved up, but no dice. I was parked at the second ticket machine, but I wasn’t gonna put in my ticket, or I’d lose my chance to get thru. So he walked back and crawled over my hood to the attendant speaker that I pointed out to him. A two-way French conversation ensued, and he walked back to his van and started the engine – but didn’t move. Back he came and talked to the speaker again – he was kinda pulling his hair and pounding on his head, shrugging his shoulders and throwing his hands up in the air – the I-give-up signal.
Meanwhile, I am sitting in my car in the middle of this narrow tunnel, unable to go forward or backward. And having to pee very badly. “M’sieu,” I said, “I think she told you to pull closer to the gate and it will open.” “Oh,” he said, and pulled up - the gate opened. I put my ticket in, pulled up to the gate – it opened and I parked my car. The Belgian man came up to me and said, “Well, I guess we took care of that, didn’t we?” “Oui, M’sieu,” I said, “We did."

The photo is a guy and his daughter, who are originally from Michigan, but have lived in Germany for five years. Showing support for Lance doesn’t exactly make him popular in town, he told me. So his daughter made their tee shirts, they painted the US flag on their faces, and they cheered with other Lance fans at the finish today. The guy told me that his LiveStrong band had just broken, and how difficult it is to get one when you don’t live in the US. Yeah – I gave him one of the bands that I was wearing….

Well, I kissed off going back up the mountain to Gerardmer for the start this morning – fighting the race traffic again on the same road just didn’t appeal to me. Getting down the mountain last night was pretty ugly. But the worst is yet to come…

I drove down to Mulhouse and found an Ibis not too far from the Arriveé. I sat in their lounge and hooked up to wifi – hotels here are totally cool with that. Kicked back and did a lot of emails and stuff that I hadn’t had time to do. I headed over to the finish at a leisurely pace and it just felt good to not rush.

I like watching the crews set up everything – It’s such a huge operation. Each person or crew has to do their job exactly right and on time – no excuses, no screwing up. So I was standing by the empty podium, when I saw two guys walk over to the stage carrying two boxes. They opened them and took out five round, thick, black cushions from each box. They carefully placed them on the two metal benches on each side of the podium, where the dignitaries sit during the short ceremonies. Five on each side. You can see the pic in the smugmug gallery. Now, I don’t think those folks sit there much longer than 15-20 minutes, but I guess they need to have their bums comfy-cozy so they can smile pretty for the TV cameras. Happy bums make happy smiles…

So, as usual, I got relegated out of the media mosh-pit at the finish line, and had to go to the back with other non-important photogs. The guys (mostly) who get to be right at the finish are the photogs with Konica numbered vests - they are the green-sticker vehicle people. VIP – Very Important Photographers. So, to heck with ‘em – I found a good spot - I stood right on the corner where the riders turned into the team bus area – Equipes.

I’m putting a lot of photos of their faces in the gallery – Most of them look like they are ready for Journée de Repos – Rest Day. But then they all had a long bus ride tonight from Mulhouse to Grenoble – I think its maybe 400 or so kilometers. Not the best way to recover from two days of heavy-duty climbing. And, I’ve said before, there’s not much rest on Rest Day for these guys.

The photo is of the last riders to arrive in Stage 8. Looks like Tom Boonen and Robbie McEwen get along fine when they’re not sprinting…

The word for this day’s stage is late… I left late for the start, then missed an exit to Pforzheim: had to backtrack, and got stuck in ugly traffic thru downtown to the Depart parking for cars with blue race course passes. The Caravane Publicitaire headed out about 10 minutes after I parked. I followed them again today – it was a long drive. And it was a long, hard ride for the teams.

The number of people along the route was mind-boggling – I have never seen so many people along the route in the towns and on the flats, as well as the mountains. It looked like the entire population of Germany was standing along the road. It was like a never-ending party. In Germany, the people hollered “Allo” as I drove by – I am used to hearing “Bon Jour” or “Salut”. I could tell when we entered back into France by how I was greeted.

I think I’ve talked before about the different colors and categories of accreditation for press vehicles. I have a blue sticker, which means that I follow the publicity caravan, which has an Official Vehicle (with flashing lights and loudspeaker) that follows behind the caravan and supervises all upcoming race traffic. As we learned with Lance’s attempt to not wear the yellow jersey, the Tour de France has rules for everything, and there rarely are exceptions. The rule for my blue sticker vehicle is that I do not - absolutely do not - pass that Official Caravan vehicle. When it stops, I stop, along with all the other blue sticker cars. So if the Official guy stops to talk to somebody, we all stop and wait. If he stops to water the sunflowers, well, we are supposed to wait for that, too.

A couple of stages ago, I was the only car behind him, and he pulled over to the side of the road. Well, I knew he was stopping to take a leak, but I had to stop right behind him. So I was thinking that I had better pretend to read a map or something… It was a rather funny, awkward situation. After a couple of minutes, the man walked back to my car and said, in his most Official Voice, “You may proceed, Madam”. Then we grinned at each other and I drove slowly on past. He caught up with me a few minutes later and took his Official Place ahead of me…

We knew it was gonna rain, but did it ever pour the last couple of hours of the stage. And the crowds in Germany were unbelievable. It looked like the Champs Elysees x 2 – miles and miles of shoulder-to-shoulder Tour fans, almost everyone cheering for Jan. And those folks stood right out in the downpour, waving, and grinning when I waved back. I could hardly see the road thru the drenching rain, but there they stood, loving their part of the Tour, rain or shine. All along the rainy route, whether in France or Germany, those die-hard fans didn’t budge from their spot. Many had umbrellas, but many did not – all were laughing and waving vigorously.

I glanced over at the crowd, while waiting for the caravane, and there was this guy with a huge beer belly, who lifted up his tee shirt and flashed me, with a big grin. He had Tour de France in big letters across his chest, and then a whole bunch of writing that I couldn’t read. I’m not sure what else was written there, but he had enough space to list all the winners since the Tour began. He was having a great time with his Belly Billboard…

One village had a huge witch riding a bicycle in the center of the ville, with orange and black balloons. Most villages and towns have all kinds of elaborate bicycle-theme decorations, usually with flowers, veggies or balloons. It’s a really big deal for them to have the Tour pass through – a real source of pride. I saw several guys dressed in Santa Claus outfits, and many orange and green-wigged clowns along the way. The photo of the two guys on that hay bailer was taken while I was stopped in the Caravane line – they were moving the rig into just the right spot for a great view of the peloton passing by.

At the team bus in Karlsruhe, I saw this guy with a Mohawk haircut, and “Lance” written with a marker pen on the shaved sides of his head. I asked him if I could take a photo, and much to my amazement, he had a bit of difficulty understanding me because he was German! In a sea (like tidal wave) of pink T-Mobile German fans, there stood a true-blue Lance fan. I said, “Not Jan?” Nope – he said he admired Lance’s courage on the bike and Lance’s sportsmanship. I'll put the pic up in smugmug.

I was real close to the T-Mobile team bus, and it was just swamped with fans, even more than Lance gets. Next thing I knew, I heard booing and whistling, and a bunch of people had their arms in the air with thumbs down. The bus was pulling out, and I think maybe they were mad about not getting autographs signed. I’m not sure. I heard today that the great, retired German champion, Rudi Altig, said something about being tired of Jan’s excuses.

But I can hardly believe that those fans were booing Jan – they all seem to love him so much. He was really nice and friendly to me the couple of times that I interacted with him – I think he’s a nice guy. I just don’t understand how some folks can turn cycling team loyalty into some kind of hate-fest or war. Every one of these guys works hard, trains hard and suffers more than we could ever, ever know. The riders respect and like each other, but some team fans just take rivalry way too far….

Today was not a photography day for me – the rain gets in my way big-time, since I’m not willing to risk my cameras getting soaked. I did buy one weatherproof camera cover and it worked pretty well at the end of the stage when it was not yet raining heavily. The finish was pretty dramatic. I arrived only a few minutes before the Peloton – I followed the Caravane Publicitaire, and we were so slow that we almost got in the way of the finish. I got some shots of the guys riding thru the mob of media right after the race, and will put them in the smugmug gallery.

I took a couple of shots of the new Skoda truck in the caravan. It is just absolutely humongous – a huge, hankin’ Kenworth, and quite deluxe. It towers over all the other floats, and you can hear the horn a mile away, I’m sure. They have gals dancing in the back, and they are all tethered down (as with all the floats) so they won’t fall off. I feel like a 3-foot tall kid when that monster truck goes by. It is all silver and shiny chrome – they must have had to sell 10,000 Skodas to buy that Baby! I keep wondering how it is going to do the high mountains, and how it is going to negotiate those tight, U-shaped corners. If it breaks down, I can’t image that there is a tow truck that could haul it on up. I would not want to be driving the vehicle behind, or in front of it in the mountains. Yikes! I’ll put some shots of The Big Skoda Machine up in the smugmug gallery.

I saw a news article that OLN is worrying about their Tour coverage next year without Lance. Actually worried about viewer numbers. One OLN person was quoted as saying they “were losing sleep over it”. OLN averages something like 99,000 viewers a day during the year, but during the Tour, it is 1.4 million. Guess they are wondering how many Tour fans will lose interest sans Lance in 2006… And I’m wondering what the infinitesimally small minority of my viewers will do with their snide comments sans Lance in 2006…

Lots of mixed feelings here at the Tour for us Americans: we’re happy for Lance and the guys being in yellow after the TTT, but so bummed for Dave Z. By now, you’ve probably heard that Lance refused to wear the yellow stage jersey at the start line of Stage 5, as a gesture of respect to Z, and good sportsmanship. Lance felt it was the right thing to do, and it was. I also heard that there was not the usual celebration by the team last night for the TTT win. And I heard it ws pretty quiet at the CSC team bus this morning.

After I posted my blog last night, the stage was shown on TV. The T-Mobile team was watching and Prodir Saunier Duval was staying at the Novotel. I think maybe Buoyages was there, too. There were lots of comments in languages that I didn’t understand, but when Dave Z fell, a dead silence fell, too, in the room. The group became very somber – I think they could all relate to how bad Z must have felt. Then the cameras showed close-ups of him slowly riding into the finish – bloody, tattered and torn, ugly road rash and black pavement stains. One side of his shorts was nearly ground off by the sliding on the pavement. At first, they thought he had broken ribs, but it turned out not.

The close shots of Z’s face told the story – my eyes teared up as I watched. I thought of his two past horrible crashes, of being in the hospital with him, and his thrilling yellow triumph the day before. Then the sudden, swift, heartless hand of fate struck again so close to the finish and victory. That’s cycling, they say… but when they do, they also hope to Hell it doesn’t happen to them.

Z will hang tough – he’s a fighter - he’s got guts, and a great future in the cycling world…

The photo is Z being interviewed by Frankie Andreu right after he crossed the finish line today.

Was today one for the history books or what? The team was just a precision machine on the TTT. When they came in, everyone was yelling and screaming and hugging. So we have Lance in yellow and the team on top. These guys are fantastic riders, and are so dedicated and committed to giving everything so Lance can retire with a win. It is really a shame, tho, that Z fell. Nobody wants to win that way, especially Lance. However, CSC didn’t wait for Dave, they just kept on going.

I was at the team bus from the time they arrived until they left. There was a tremendous crowd, as usual. Lance has been going up to the fences and signing more autographs than usual – he knows that it is the last chance for fans. It was so funny, I happened to look up above the crowds and what did I see, but an elderly lady sitting on her tiny balcony directly above where the bus was parked, totally oblivious, or totally not caring that the famous Lance Armstrong was right below her.

Just before the Start, I just happened to be standing right behind the podium (Hmm, is that familiar?) where an ASO staff guy was getting the signs ready for the team cars. I looked up and saw Robbie McEwen ride up to a couple of the officials, and start arguing about the decision yesterday to sanction him. I was the only photographer there and was snapping away like mad. It couldn’t have been 4 minutes until all the photogs just swarmed around. The news must just fly faster than lightening when something big happens – suddenly the press appears like magic with their cameras.

I have to tell you that Lance was so relaxed before the TTT, he was talking and joking with staff and fellow team members. He had been warming up for a long time, and was sweating profusely. Sweat was running off the end of his nose and just dripping off him. He was soaked. I was standing over on the side; he looked over at me and grinned a very mischievous grin, and waggled his fingers at me. He looked like a little boy getting ready to play a prank on somebody…

I have some good shots that should be up in the next hour, if I don’t have laptop problems. I was at an Ibis earlier, using their wifi, and my laptop suddenly just went blank and wouldn’t turn back on. I just about died, thinking it had crashed or had been fried by a power surge, since I wasn’t using my surge protector. I just packed up and went back to Amboise, thinking all the way about how to get a friend to buy a laptop in the US and “overnight” it to me. However, when I got back to my hotel room, I plugged it in and it worked.

So I started looking for an Ibis or Novotel or Mercure to hook up. I’m really out a ways from Tours, so I drove about 15k back toward Tours and found a Kyriad, which didn’t have wifi. Then, going back on D715, I saw a sign for a Novotel, heading toward a town that I can’t spell. So I drove about 15k or so, and found the side road to Novotel, and here I am. I was determined to get this damn blog written tonight. And guess what…. When I drove up, there was the T-Mobile team bus parked in the lot. I have my Discovery/Live Strong tee shirt on today. They for sure are gonna think that I am stalking them! They were in the dining room and I heard lots of rowdy noise and yelling. Maybe trying to psych themselves up...

OK - It's 8 pm and Orange wifi just disconnected just as I was going to post to the blog - so I lost everything. I have to find my way out of Tours to Amboise and find my motel, so I'm calling it for tonight. Maybe my motel will have wifi or high speed. If not, what you see is what you get tonight...

The crowds for today’s Stage 2 were just overwhelming – shoulder to shoulder almost the entire length of the course – 181.5K. Yeah, there were a few stretches that were sparse on people, but overall, it was a huge crowd for a first stage. It looked more like the crowds for a mountain stage, but not rowdy or drunk…

And how cool is it that Z (Dave Zabriskie) is gonna be in yellow tomorrow! I bet his girlfriend and his parents are sooo stoked right now… There’ll be a few tears of joy tomorrow when they see him riding in the yellow jersey. A dream come true, and lots more to come for Z.

So I was late getting to the start this morning, just because I didn’t want to rush around – so I didn’t. There’s plenty of that waiting for me at later stages. So I hung out at the Village Depart and took shots there. I knew it would be so packed the DC bus that I wouldn’t be able to get close. Then, with my blue sticker, I followed the Caravane Publicitaire all the way to the finish line. Problem was, they were so slow today that we arrived only minutes before the finish, and I had to park way out in the boondocks. So I didn’t even try to get over there in time – I knew that Lance wasn’t gonna go for the win today… So no race pics and no hat pic – Sorry ‘bout that!

It was sweltering hot today, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the fans. People were lined up along the course when I drove by at 9 this morning. RV’s were parked in neat rows, and card tables and chairs were set up. People were either eating or playing cards, most of them right out in the sun. The French people love to greet you with big, enthusiastic waves, and when you return the wave, they are just delighted. So I waved the whole way, and was greeted with Bisou, Bisou, which means Kisses, Kisses. Big waves, big smiles – the French do love their Tour de France…

What a day! How about that we almost had three Americans on the podium again? Zabriskie is really hot right now - he really flew, and Lance was two seconds back, then Vinikourov at 53 back and then George at 57 back. Great riding by all those guys.

I am so proud of Dave Z ( I call him just Z) for taking the TT – I told the story of being in the hospital with him after his crash in Redlands, and I know how badly he was injured and how much he suffered. For him to have the starting of a great year is just fantastic.. I wish him well and lots of wins…

Lance looked calm and focused, despite being harassed by the French Govt. again. He was just tested, and then they barged in again. I bet that testing is something that he won’t miss after he retires! And the mobs of people … today was probably the worst crowded day at the bus – It was mainly the European press guys – that Daniel guy who broadcasts for France 2/3 was so pushy. He and his crew just shoved and pushed their way right to the front, where I was standing – about 4 or 5 of them just pushed right in front of me. Made me so mad!! He just says, “I’m the directeur” and pushes you aside.

Chechu looked terrific and so did Pavel and George. Lance’s knees showed that he had crashed recently. I didn’t notice the black eye, if it still existed. He looks so fit and tough – finely tuned is the phrase that comes to mind…

Sheryl was there, looking just so fine – she warmly greeted everyone. I assume that she went in the team car when Lance rode. You can tell that the staff and riders really like her – those are genuine hugs that she gets, not just polite gestures.

Finally, things are set up and I’m back online. Of course, my first motel has no wifi connection, and only a primitive, iffy and expensive dial-up connection. My drive from De Gaulle to the Vendee was incredibly slow – I was told later that Thursday was the start of the French vacation season. I knew that it would be crowded on the Autoroute around Paris, but it was midday – I didn’t expect that kind of commute traffic.

Lance and Johan had a small press conference last night here at the Permanence (the headquarters of the ASO), where the Press Room is located here in Challans. I was in the next room, delayed getting my press credentials because mine (and many other press folk) forms were lost or misplaced. So when I finally got around the corner of the auditorium, the photographers were already stacked up. I slowly made my way to the center of the aisle, and kinda crept up to where I could get a couple of shots,

The first “rule of the road for photographers” is to not crowd into someone else’s space, not get in front of someone’s shot - so one always treads gingerly here. A subtle questioning glance usually brings an affirmative nod from a colleague and you are OK to move up, as long as you mind your position and professional manners.

Lance looked really good - relaxed and rested – and was mellow with the questions. Johan looked like he’d just arrived from a long trip – he looked kinda tired. He saw me and gave a quick smile of recognition. Lance did most of the talking – the press conference was short and to the point. Yes, he is really stoked about getting Number Seven – he is serious and means business about it. Yes, he thinks Jan is his biggest threat. Yes, he will miss Eki. Yes, the team is stronger this year than ever before. No, he does not know who will take his place as leader of DC next year.

The official presentation of the team is starting in a couple of hours, and I seriously doubt that I can drive anywhere near the area. It is an absolute traffic zoo out there right now – I just drove here from my hotel in Ste Gilles, and I could hardly get through the streets of Challans. I think the ceremonies are walking distance… I hope.

OK – Fast forward – it’s now almost 11 pm, and I am in the most ironic location, using my laptop. Here’s the story: the pressroom at the Tour closed at 10 pm. I had walked several blocks to the downtown area for the presentation, and didn’t get back until about 20 minutes before the pressroom closed. So I found out that the only Orange Hotspot was at the Mercure Hotel in St. Jean Monts, about 20-30 kilometers away. I drove over – it was hard to find, but I persevered. As I drove into the parking lot, what did I see but the T-Mobile team bus.

Yes – the entire T-Mobile team is here, and it looks like several of then are still in the bar, talking, .No, I don’t see Jan. But can you image how the heads turned and the undertone of German muttering grew stronger as I walked in with my Discovery Team hat on!!! I said, “Good evening, gentlemen”, in both English and French. But they just impassively stared. So, here I sit, writing my blog, with a bright yellow LiveStrong banner on my laptop lid, wearing my DC hat, right in the middle of T-Mobile Territory. Maybe they think I am not-too subtly spying for Lance.

The Go Lance Hat photo is one I took at the team bus while zillions of fans were milling around. These two guys are from Orange County, California (originally from Salvador and Guatemala). They’re obviously big Lance fans and were good sports to pose with the Go Lance hat. So Lance now has his hat and gloves and is ready to do Tour battle.