Tour de France

La Grande Boucle they call it, 'The Big Loop'. And that it certainly is.

Every day these cyclists are knocking over distances that I get tired driving. We saw Stage 19, their longest stage at 222km.

As good Aussies would, we packed heavy for the afternoon out, cheese, ham, bread, chips, 4 x beers, 1 x bottle of Rosé, water. Book, iPad, phones. Hats, sunscreen, picnic blanket.

We looked out of place. Most Frenchies turned up empty handed, some with a single bottle of water, some with a chair and not much else. Not bothered by the long wait, nor the sun, just waiting to cheer the cyclists as they ride past.

Thankfully we had Granny stay at home and mind Elliot. A good decision I think, a 4 hour outing, including travel time (40 mins) waiting time (199.5 mins) and race time (0.5 min). Not to mention the small patch of land, about a metre, between the road and the slip down the mountain.

The atmosphere was great and the time went quickly, not as quick as the bikes, but still quick. The highlight of the waiting time was the freebies, we'd read earlier that some of the sponsors drive through prior and throw merchandise to the crowds. We hoped to pick up a few bits, just for fun. What we didn't expect was competition as fierce as the time trials. The sponsor trucks lasted a good 30 minutes and I'm certain there would have been a few black eyes and twisted ankles by the end, it was brutal.

To the lady in the picture who took this too seriously - calm the F down. Don't take stuff from under our feet or on our picnic blanket, and do not try looking in our bag.

The cyclists, the reason we were there, were fantastic. Making the incline look easy, they pushed up the hill at around 40km/h, 170-odd km's into their 222km journey. Some of them looked like they had just started. What athletes.

Cudos to the French for planning a good spectator event in typical French fashion - by really not planning much at all. Lack of directions, no crowd control or instruction, no facilities, but I guess it worked.

Great day out, we'll have to do it again ;)

#teamŠKODA


Scott.