A few post-race photos (and a couple during) in Paris, after the TdF concluded. While Kevin and I planned and rode this trip on our own, we did utilize Trek Travel’s awesome final-day option at the Auto Club, which allowed us to literally get onto the course, nobody in front of you, rather than 6-deep somewhere along the Champ Elysees. Great food, drink, but mostly fantastic positioning to see the race itself. And afterward, we got to spend quite a bit of time with the Trek Factory Riders themselves.

This was a long but not too stressful day for Kevin and I; we arrived yesterday in Bergerac, unpacked and built our bikes, got to get up at a reasonable hour (8am) and still able to make it out to see the Caravan (the long line of vehicles that throws out trinkets to people along the way) leave town. Then it was a bit of a convoluted ride out to the course, convoluted because many of the roads are blocked, but we found a decent place to set up for the 5 hours we were on-site, watch the race unfold and take lots of photos.

Tomorrow morning we take a train from Bergerac to Bordeaux and then another from Bordeaux to Paris, arriving with just barely enough time to drop everything off at the hotel and get to the viewing area for the race. The final stage itself isn’t all that fun to watch, but after following the race for three weeks (10 days or so in France) and seeing the incredible effort put in by those racing, we feel we owe it to them to watch their celebratory lap around the Champ Elysees after it’s all over. It’s one of those goose-bump moments that wouldn’t likely be felt if you hadn’t done a bunch of the climbs yourself and marveled at how they do it day after day, climb after climb.

And then Monday morning we bid farewell to France and head back to… well, work! There are people to put onto bikes, dreams we can help fulfill. That’s my job. Time to let Becky take a breath and relax for a bit. Time for me to get back to working 6 days a week. –Mike–