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.
6:23 am and we’re already on a train? But that’s what you need to do to catch the Tour de France when it’s some miles away. I’ve been part of tour groups heading off a hour earlier than this, for a four hour trip on a bus. Four hours that would become five and a half in traffic. Much nicer on a train.
From Foix we ride up the course to the steepest climb, wait for the ‘tour and then ride 35 miles down the other side to a different train station for our return. We’ll see how the timing works out!
From some place high above Gavernie. Would be scenic if not for the clouds.
(And would be more wordy if I hadn’t uploaded that from my iPhone while on the ride, and I wasn’t carrying my regular glasses so to say I’m blind when it comes to using the tiny screen and keyboard is an understatement!)
Today was our first day out on the Bike Fridays in France; a supposed-to-be-easy ride that turned into 72 miles and quite a bit of climbing. See, I’d read about this national park at the end of a road that was supposed to have awe-inspiring views of waterfalls and glaciers and all sorts of stuff we might have been able to see where it not for the clouds that had moved in on us. But it was a good ride, we both rode pretty strongly (and for once, I think I was the better climber overall, or at least towards the end) and Strava says we did really well despite riding pretty heavy bikes and, in my case, loaded down with all sorts of gear.
Tomorrow is our first day to intercept the ‘Tour, in the mountains above Foix. Film at 11. But for now you can see the Strava details and another French encounter with sheep.
6:23 am and we’re already on a train? But that’s what you need to do to catch the Tour de France when it’s some miles away. I’ve been part of tour groups heading off a hour earlier than this, for a four hour trip on a bus. Four hours that would become five and a half in traffic. Much nicer on a train. 