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Heading back to Paris for the finaleIt's with some sadness that we leave Lourdes; we were shorted three days of solid good rides in the mountains, due to the combination of missed connections trying to get here, followed by me breaking a couple of ribs at the end of our first day of intercepting the 'Tour. Add to that the missing luggage and yes, there were a few minor glitches that kept us from our full agenda of activity! But overall? It's been a successful trip, with some really strong high points, particularly for Kevin. He "got the shot(s)" on his big day on Luz Ardiden. He got to do a big ride all on his own (when I was not able to climb due to the broken ribs). He got more great shots at the Time Trial and, while the "Village" pass really wasn't worth the effort (no interaction with the riders anymore, due to Covid 19), we still got a really good spot for photos. Today is a combined travel/event day-
But somehow I've kept my spirits up, kept finding ways to work around the odd stuff that's been thrown at us this year. And very, very thankful that my broken ribs aren't as bad as most experience. Right now it's 1:12pm and we're about 25 minutes out of Bordeaux, finally on high speed track, and arriving in Paris at 2:16pm, 5 minutes behind schedule. The Montparnasse station is on the same (very long) block as our hotel in Paris, so maybe a 10 minute walk. Uphill, of course! We'll quickly settle in, and then head out to see the Tour de France finish on the Champs Elysees. We have no idea what that will be like this year; in the mountains, I'd say crowds were only about 2/3rds of normal. And for the past 4 or 5 years, we've been spoiled by using Trek Travel services, which has a viewing party on a closed-to-the-public part of the course, where you can be literally inches away from the riders, with nobody obstructing your view. But today we'll be with the masses, fighting for position and hopefully not wondering why we're just not watching it from the hotel on TV. More soon! --Mike-- - |
Post date: 2021-07-18 04:37:45 Post date GMT: 2021-07-18 11:37:45 Post modified date: 2021-07-18 04:42:17 Post modified date GMT: 2021-07-18 11:42:17 |
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