Saturday 21 July 2012

Random scences from the stage 19 time trial course we visited, as it passed through the village of Goindreville.

Saturday 21 July 2012

Sitting on complex of corners coming out of Goindreville. #TdF TT riders coming thick & fast. Just caught 1st as setup our camp. Love it! smile

Saturday 21 July 2012

In Blois for lunch supplies. Pretty standard aside from bizarre animatronic dragons coming out of one building!

Friday 20 July 2012

The very pleasant garden of our gîte in the Loire Valley. Great place just to relax, especially here at dusk.

Friday 20 July 2012

This week in the Loire did 155km/456m ascent. Would take 2½ months to get the same vertical I was doing weekly in the Pyrenees! It sucks! sad

Friday 20 July 2012

French president is #TdF VIP today. But the Brits dominate again! France TV trying to ignore with a segment on Pinot, Voeckler & Fedrigo wink

Friday 20 July 2012

Amazon says I can't have some 'out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books' as they have 'copyright restrictions'. WTF?! Isn't that an oxymoron? sad

Thursday 19 July 2012

Visit château, 40km smash fest on the bike, lunch, relax with a beer & TdF coverage of final mountain stage. Can't ask for a better day smile

Thursday 19 July 2012

Château de Cheverny. Not as big as it looks, but quality lawn & veggie patch. Nice furniture too which is a bonus wink

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Easy to kill time by a pond if one has a macro lens. Or if you're a Mayfly it seems. Who's having most fun though? wink

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Pancake flat here in the Loire. No climbs = no DH to rest on, just a constant slog to keep the HR up. Boring & more pain than you'd think!

Monday 16 July 2012

Château de Chambord. Staggering given the cool bits are 500 years old. Furnishings (lack thereof) needs work mind! wink

Saturday 14 July 2012

Messing about in a field of wheat. With a camera. Without any girls this time... sorry wink

Saturday 14 July 2012

View from our hotel room in Montmelard. Seems like a beautiful area, shame we were only passing through.

Saturday 14 July 2012

At breakfast trying to remember what we are doing today. Ah... Drive to the Loire. There for a week. Phew! This travel stuff is hard wink

Friday 13 July 2012

Dinner at Montmelard. Lobster & quail & snails & the like. Best chocolate desert ever. Nice view of sunset too! grin

Friday 13 July 2012

A look at some discarded goodies. Pro's tip for those handing out gels: fix the tab in the bottle cap as shown.

Friday 13 July 2012

Most of the field came by in 2 bunches. But having done some climbing there were a few alone or in small groups.

Friday 13 July 2012

Here come's the break. It would be a good day for these guys with David Millar taking the stage. Nicely done!

Friday 13 July 2012

As usual, plenty of waiting. Time for banter between fans. Or if you're a news crew, to collect a last minute report?

Friday 13 July 2012

Calm before the storm & everyone is grabbing a bite, teams & spectators alike. Well, this is the feed zone, right? wink

Friday 13 July 2012

First time seeing the caravan on the open road. Watch out - stuff thrown from a vehicle moving at 40-50km/h can hurt!

Friday 13 July 2012

Did I say we were just past the feed zone? Oops, must have misread the signs... we are IN the feed zone! wink This should be interesting! #TdF

Friday 13 July 2012

Sitting just past feed zone on today's #TdF stage, beside some crazy (in a good way) Aussies. Their van covered in flags & roos. Top job! smile

Thursday 12 July 2012

Top day at La Toussuire #TdF finish. Lucky we prepared to take hours getting home. Eating picnic sat in 10km of stationary traffic. #WorthIt

Thursday 12 July 2012

Heading home. We expected to take a long time to get down the hill, but with these views who cares?

Thursday 12 July 2012

Other random moments from the finishing straight (and the sky above it).

Thursday 12 July 2012

Riders trundling back down the finish straight. Pretty much the entire GreenEdge team & one very tired world champ!

Thursday 12 July 2012

Van Hummel the last to make the time cut, arriving alone 36 mins down. Krivtsov & Petacchi were even later. Ouch! sad

Thursday 12 July 2012

O'Grady leads in the main pack looking cool as. Take a look at the faces behind him though - it's been a tough day!

Thursday 12 July 2012

Eisel tows Cav (and a few others) in... 33 minutes behind Rolland.

Thursday 12 July 2012

Mountain finishes are great: plenty of chance to see everyone. Note the poor gear choice by Gianpaolo. Tut, tut wink

Thursday 12 July 2012

Valverde comes home as Brajkovic & Kiserlovski trundle back down the course in search of the team bus no doubt.

Thursday 12 July 2012

Laurens Ten Dam, bane of @Strava users everywhere wink He's looking a bit tired now though... is there any wonder?!

Thursday 12 July 2012

Smiling winner Pierre Rolland rounds the final turn. Plus some other front runners not looking that bad considering.

Thursday 12 July 2012

Stage 11 finish: lots of waiting, but also lots to see, lots of goodies to collect & of course lots to eat & drink tongue

Thursday 12 July 2012

Driving the final climb to La Toussuire. Early in the day, but fans everywhere. Atmosphere is great & still building!

Thursday 12 July 2012

Passing Albertville en route to stage finish so stopped by Départ. Crazy busy given riders not due for 4 hours or so!

Thursday 12 July 2012

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Views from today's double assault on Col de la Madeleine. Only one small patch of rain which was welcome to cool off!

Wednesday 11 July 2012

@mattgoss1986 wait til you get to the Madeleine mate... Aussie support everywhere! Hope it makes up for the killer day you have coming! wink

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Two choices top of Col de la Madeleine today. Neither was that appealing so chose less stupid one wink ... ended up with 3200m of vertical! grin

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Lots of beautiful scenery driving to Alps camp site today. Bit of traffic too. Oh well, start of Col de la Madeleine climb only 4km away smile

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Lake Annecy. Very beautiful, but such a traffic snarl up & busy in town! Would like to stay a bit longer next time.

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Wait a second... this isn't France! Passing through Geneva on the way to the Alps. smile

Monday 9 July 2012

Another quick look at the centre of Dole this eve. Don't know what all this water is about but it looks nice, non?

Monday 9 July 2012

Amazing day out at #TdF TT. Now eating kebab in pretty park in Dole. Tired but so happy. Saw start/climb/finish. Thank you @Orica_GreenEDGE!

Monday 9 July 2012

Stage 9 Arrivé, the pointy end: Monfort, Froome, Menchov, Nibali, Evans, Wiggins

Monday 9 July 2012

Stage 9 Arrivée: Van Garderen, Brajkovic, Schleck, Gallopin, Roche, Van Den Broeck

Monday 9 July 2012

Stage 9 Arrivée: Sagan, Kashechkin, Cancellara, Sörensen, Velits, Rogers, Izaguirre Insausti, Coppel, Leipheimer