Kevin and I didn’t make it to the 2025 TdF, but instead did a shorter-than-planned trip to Italy to watch the first four stages of the Tour of Spain… which were in Italy! Things actually went very well, getting to all four of the stages as planned, a little excitement with the second stage returning in the rain, but sadly we had to leave early and didn’t get to ride the Stelvio.

But next year… can it be done? With the TdF make it difficult to see several stages in a row? Will we get back to the Pyrenees (my favorite part of France) again?

The Pyrenees appear to be out. Once again, they’ve shortened the epic Pyrenees stages to just two days, near the start of the ‘Tour. Just like last year. So we’re back to the Alps again, but can we get back to the basics, the option where we stay entirely in one city (typically either Lourdes for the Pyrenees or Grenoble for the Alps) and then pack up on the last evening and head to Paris by train the next morning for the finale?

Survey says… yes!

It appears possible to do the impossible… see all 7 of the final stages. Don’t think we’ve ever done more than six in the past. Normally we’d skip the usually included flat stage the ‘Tour tosses into the final week, a gift for the sprinters, but this year, if we stay in Grenoble, we’ll be close enough to that boring flat stage it will be worth the ride to see it, maybe viewing it from a feed stop, or perhaps scouting things out well enough to get that ultimate and still-elusive shot of the riders with sunflowers in the background.

The basics- Leave Thursday July 16th and, depending upon pricing, fly into either Paris (CDG) and take the train to Grenoble, or Lyon (LYS) and take a shorter train to Grenoble.
Arrive Grenoble July 17th probably around 4pm, hopefully stay at our favorite apartment just two blocks from the train station, build the bikes, find dinner, set up shop for 9 days (Friday 17th night through Sunday 26th), then Sunday morning train to Paris for one night, see the finale, and leave next day (Monday 27th).

Saturday (the 18th) will be a day for a local ride, maybe into the Vercors.
Sunday (19th) will be a challenging day, seeing the finish at Plateau de Solaison. This will test the limits of following the TdF without a rental car! This will be a new climb for us; details can be found here. Getting there… not so easy from Grenoble. 7:32-9:15am from Grenoble to Annecy, and then a 50 kilometer (32 mile) ride with about 7000ft of climbing to the summit finish. There’s a choice of either going up the backside of the climb, watching it from the top, and then returning the way the riders came up, or a different route that would take us up the race route and then back down the same way. Details here. But getting back…unfortunately, about 2500ft of climbing on the return, either way. Looking into staying overnight “on the road” and returning the next day. Not a huge deal since that’s a rest day for the ‘Tour, but don’t want to make it an impossibly-tough day for us!

More to come. Close to 1am so got to shut things down and restart tomorrow (or, later today!).

Sunday Kevin (younger Kevin, not ex-pilot) and I did a loop through the upper-foothills to Los Altos and back. Less challenging than what we’d planned for, which was our old classic Pescadero/Tunitas loop. We bailed on that because, well, the coast wasn’t clear, and we wanted to stay warm. Tuesday we did a shorter version of the regular morning ride, lopping off West Old LaHonda because Kevin had to get back early for a haircut.

And this morning? Just me and ex-pilot Kevin, doing a pretty easy Thursday-morning ride. I expected to be in some trouble, since I forgot to use my inhaler prior to the ride, so lung function would be even worse than normal. Fortunately it wasn’t as issue as ex-pilot was particularly fast today, and there were multiple stops as he took off and put back on clothing as the weather changed. At the start it was a bit cool and foggy, but got pretty nice as we climbed towards Skyline, then cooled off again descending west 84 towards West Old LaHonda. We finished very late, the final delay pictured above (they’re working on clearing vegetation along the sides of 84).

It’s tough knowing I’m not going to France this year for the ‘Tour. I’m so used to watching the morning coverage and getting a feel for what Kevin and I would literally be flying into, in just over a week. I watch as the race goes through small towns and mountains and it’s not a “you are there” feeling but rather “I’ll be there soon!” I’m thinking about the final preparations for the Bike Friday travel bikes we use, which I actually built up well ahead of time, a few weeks ago, when the trip still seemed likely. The first stage we would have ridden would have been Ventoux, which unfortunately falls on a Tuesday… I’d love to be able to watch it live.

Yes, it’s tough. That trip to France is something I look forward to, starting no more than two months after coming back from the last one. It helps get me through the tougher times at the shop, and at 69, I’m willing to admit that working 6 days/week is a bit much. But there is a plan B; if things work out, Kevin and I will head to Italy on August 21st and catch up with the first four stages of the Vuelta. That’s right, the first four stages of the Tour of Spain will be in Italy. And then, head a bit further east and kick the Stelvio off the bucket list.

Rest assured I am not done with the ‘Tour. I’ll be back next year. How many more, tough to say. This year I seem to have stopped and even reversed slightly the declining average power I can deliver to the pedals. It’s unlikely I can keep that decline at bay for very long though!