New Brighton Cycling Club - Tour de France Trip 2009

Gary writes: We hit France full of enthusiasm on July 2nd, driving down to Cannes (Monaco was full!!!) for the Grand Depart!!! A few cold beers helped cool us down in the 37 degree heat, and by Saturday we were all set to watch Wiggo take yellow in the flesh. Then reality kicked in!!!! After driving the 25 or so miles to Monaco on Saturday morning, we found that it was closed for the day! Couldn''''t get anywhere near close with the car, and after 2hrs of trying to sneak in the back way (satnav does have it''''s uses) without beating the crafty Gendarmes, we gave up and headed back the the air conditioned bar of the hotel for more ice cold beers!!!!

Headed off to Montpellier, and looked forward to the TTT (more prospects of a Brit / Yellow day) only to hit the same problem......too far to walk and too hot. Hmmmmmm, something told me that the fantastic weather was conspiring against us and that we''''d need to wait until the Alps.

So, 2 weeks in the beautiful Lot valley and up at dawn every day to get out on the bike and get those miles in....(yeah right!). OK, truth time.....approx 150 miles in two weeks....but there were quite a few more ice cold beers in between!!!

Time to head to the Alps! One week in Morzine, which is a fantastic base for the Tour alpine stages. Managed to grab a glimpse of Thor Hushovd on his "great escape" just before the last big descent into Cluses, AND we got back to the house in time to watch the last 2 climbs ....Come On Wiggo!!!!

Over to Annecy. Fantastic day. Grabbed over 350 photos (get a life!) of all the main players (plus a couple of me having more cold beers).

This was the best day at the Tour for me. We got back to the house in Morzine after the stage and I immediately got out the bike and headed off into the Alps. I was motivated! I was inspired! I was driven!..... Bad Move!! Time for a serious reality check!! Those hills are for real. Anyhow, after crawling back to the house I decided to put the bike away until we got home to Britain (sensible option).

Almost at Paris. Whilst the riders were making their way up the Ventoux, we were making our way up France to Paris for the Grand Finale (Come on Cav). We had a great day in Paris (more cold beers) and Cav did the biz. Almost becoming a British institution!

Monday 27th July, headed up tp Zeebrugge for the ferry back to Scotland, and the 4 weeks were just memory.

What a fantastic time, and what a fantastic sport. As someone once said..."Vive le Tour".....we''''ll be back next year. Come on Wiggo and Cav!!!!!

GM