July 17 2003

After a day and a half of travel, we arrived in the city of Pau, in Southwest France, the starting point of the Etape du Tour, and also of the Pro’s Stage 16, one week later. We readily overcame our jet lag the next day, only to experience a major downpour and hailstorm beginning at dinner and lasting nearly all night. Thoughts of a miserable ride in the rain robbed me of anything resembling a decent sleep. Thankfully, the thunder and rain stopped by my "wake-up" time of 04:30, and we even had a full moon for the hour’s drive from our village back to Pau (with 8000 riders, rooms were full in Pau for many months prior. Jane dropped me off about a kilometer from the start zone so that she could reverse her path out of town before the roads closed for the race. I then biked the most perilous part of the ride – thousands of nervous bikers (did I mention that I was nervous?) trying to find their way in early dawn’s light to their starting zones. I was in the Purple Zone per my registration number, about as far back as the walkers and strollers in Bloomsday. It took forever to get the "Depart" arch, a good 15 minutes behind where Miguel Indurain and Abraham Olano, "guests of the stage", started at the front of the pack.

Soon the ride spread out to a moderate temp, at least until the first hill. At about 40 Km, it accordioned with huge congestion and slowed to an uncomfortable pace. Unfortunately, my only mishap occurred there, as I touched a wheel and took down a mice Brit en route to new road rash. With no scratches on the bike, I put the chain back on and rejoined the masses. Then came the climbs – the Col de Soudet started at 57 km with a "Revitalment" (feed zone). This proved to be another bottleneck where those who didn’t want to stop actually rode through an adjacent field to avoid the crowd! The climb ended some 14 Km later with spectacular scenery (and after many switchbacks.) Although it was moderately steep (8%) I was very caught up in the moment and passed more bikes than I could count. After another feed zone at the summit, the following descent was the fastest and longest that I’d ever done, along with frequent switchbacks to keep the speed in check. This was followed by a (very) short break before the start of the second Category 1 climb, this one the Col du Bagargui. It was only 8 Km, but much steeper, up to 15%, average of 10%, and fatigue was setting in. But the summit was lined with cheering crowds that definitely gave a spurt of energy. Another feed at the top and another huge fast descent into the last 60 Km of rolling terrain into Bayonne. The pace sped up with a large group tempo riding, and finally a fast paceline with only 6 or so in my group leading into a sprint to the arch in the heart of Bayonne. More fatigued than I’ve ever been, I came in at 7 hours and 50 minutes for the 205 Km. Pretty humbling considering that "the Big Boys" will probably do it the next week in less than 6 hours!

We had passed incredible scenery, through tiny villages, (one complete with townspeople dressed as the Musketeers, who had originated in this region), beautiful open spaces, mountain climbs and passes and dodged a road-crossing Charolais cow on one particularly hairy descent.

The experience was nearly indescribable, like that of playing tennis at Wimbledon, or a sailor in the Americas Cup. To have done the same route as the real Tour, with the closed roads, motorcycle escort, and crowds (albeit far fewer than for the pros) was so incredible that at several parts along the way, I literally laughed out loud at the thought of what I (and 8000 others!) were doing.