Category Archives: Tdf trip planning

Information on seeing the Tour de France in person, including the process I go through myself each year- figuring out the TdF route, finding places to stay, rental cars, trains & more.

Shake down cruise for the Bike Fridays; leaving Thursday for France

Personal stuff, Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Tdf trip planning

[caption id="attachment_13816" align="alignright" width="150"] Kevin in Pescadero
You meet the nicest people on a bike ride! This is the Rodonis, at the top of Tunitas (since we’d climbed from the coast, this is the top of Tunitas; otherwise it would have “only” been the top of Kings). It’s time Tony upgrades that bike we sold him quite a few years ago![/caption]In the early years, we would have taken the Bike Fridays out on multiple rides, but this time, they sat in their cases until pretty much the last possible moment. And when that moment came, we discovered the damage done by their last ride, two years ago, when we got caught in that torrential rainstorm descending the Lauteret, the same storm that shortened the course that day, the same storm that, just 15 minutes after we rode through, saw a massive pair of landslides that isolated about 300 cyclists behind us, closing the road for several days. Whew. So maybe not so bad that we got away with just a trashed wheel (pretty much worn through by the brake pads) and drivetrains in need of a bit of TLC.

Broken derailleur pully
That plus a broken derailleur pully on my bike, which I didn’t discover until after the check-out ride. But a nice check-out ride it was; we took it pretty easy so Kevin’s legs weren’t too much of a problem, with me pulling us out to the coast (normally Kevin’s job). That part was ok, maybe even fun. Getting up Old LaHonda before that… not so much. Slow. It took quite a while to get into “Bike Friday” mode. Oh, also, Kevin’s seatpost kept slipping. Yet another reason for a shake-down ride (later fixed with a replacement seat collar).

My bike packed up and ready to go to France!
Tough climb up Stage Road to Highway 1, but stunning views of the ocean with no fog in sight. Tunitas? Took it pretty easy and stopped first at the Bike Hut for reasons I don’t quite remember now. Maybe to try and tighten Kevin’s seatpost again. I had no issues on the steep stuff; the BikeFriday was performing quite well. Had to hold up a bit to make sure Kevin didn’t overdo it, but that’s not a big deal for me these days. When you’re slow, you generally have more patience. I have lots of patience on a bike these days.

Just a few days left, with much still to do. The bikes are packed, but that’s about it. Finally getting some long-nagging loose ends tied up at the shop. Cameras and chargers and clothes still to pack, plus making sure we have all the Covid-19 requirements documented correctly. But I think it’s going well. Time will tell.

I’ve got to get back to this!

Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Tdf trip planning, Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Wow, what happened, all the time that’s gone by. Sunday was supposed to be a Santa Cruz run via Soquel San Jose road, and I’m trying to remember why it went south. Oh, right, I discovered I had a broken saddle rail (carbon rails; sometimes they do that, and this one had a zillion miles on it). And Kevin’s leg was acting up a bit, so we ended up doing a bit of a contorted ride, heading over Old LaHonda, up West Alpine, then south on skyline, descending 9 to Mt. Eden and the back across the valley.

Tuesday morning’s ride was a slog for me, better for Kevin and Colin. And then Thursday. Oh my Thursday. Because Kevin’s leg was still an issue, he rode his ebike, which would be fine, but Todd showed up. Fast Todd. Always in shape Todd. It wasn’t long before the two of them were riding on up ahead, with me several minutes behind. I’d like to blame some of it on having dressed too warmly; it was upper-50s on the way up Kings! And then everything fell apart. I mean, even more so. We’re all heading south on Skyline and it’s getting colder, and then wetter, with Todd at the front, holding a pretty good pace just above 28mph. Which I figured was why I didn’t see Kevin on my wheel, since his ebike tops out at 28mph. But as the road tilted upward slightly, I should have seen him catching up. Finally, at Bear Gulch, I tell Todd we should pull over and wait a bit for Kevin… but after a minute or two, he’s still not there, so time to head back up the road to search for him. Just me; Todd’s got to get to work.

I ride, and keep riding, and like, where is he? What happened? Did he have a seizure and ride off the road? Not likely, but all sorts of things go through your head. Finally I’m all the way back to Skegg’s and there he is, with a flat tire. OK, normally that shouldn’t be a big deal, except he neglected to bring a spare tube. I had a patch kit, but… the CO2 inflater wouldn’t work because the pin that punctures the cartridge had broken off. Which mean, first time in maybe, well, way over 10 years anyway, we had to call Becky (Kevin’s sister) to drive up and bail us out. Ouch. I would normally have considered riding home by bike instead of the sag, but the combination of cold and wet and standing around for a while didn’t make descending a very appealing option.

It’s a bit of a let-down, the way my cycling has gone the past two weeks. The prior 5 weeks, things were going great, multiple rides to Santa Cruz, faster times up Kings. And then it all fell apart. Maybe I’m in recovery mode? Taking a breather before the tough stuff coming up in France starting… well, first ride will be a week from tomorrow!

And lots to do in the meantime, which has also kept me from updating things here. Just found out that, to get back into the US after being overseas, you have to have a negative Covid test 72 hours prior to departure. Or is it prior to landing in the US? There’s a kit you can purchase where you essentially test yourself, in the presence of a medical person in a remote location (a zoom sort of thing). Hopefully it will arrive in time; otherwise, we need to waste some time during our final days in France, looking for a test lab. At a time when we won’t have much free time.

Film at 11.