Day 20 - The Race of Truth

23 July 2009

I’m starting to realize (just now, on Stage 18) how immense Lance’s following is. Each day, more and more Americans huddle around our truck (somehow they’re credentialed) or just outside the fences near our truck to catch a glimpse of, well, a number of things. Some just want to find a TV to watch the race, some want to see our wall-to-wall Lance coverage, some just want to watch American television, which they’ve been without for some time, no doubt.

The race of truth is today. And we’ve got 10 feeds separate feeds to showcase it. Clean, Dirty, Heli 1, Heli 2, Moto, In-Car, Start Line, Mid-Check, Finish Line, & Loop (super-mo). Ask the ASO – does anyone else get this much special treatment? Nope. Just us. You’re welcome.

Another feature of mine has aired! At this rate, you may just get to see all of them.

Since no one in the car has an acceptable mp3 player (notice I didn’t say iPod, Novak…) from which to play music, nor the means to do so; we have been forced to listen to French Radio for the most part. Joel and I have come upon Radio Fun, a mostly disco/electronic station, filled with tunes to which we like to dance in place. Maria is quick to judge and calls us gay. I snapped back with:

“…if by gay you mean we love to dance to awesome music?” Well, yeah!

And speaking of awesome music, I wish I could put into words a description of what I saw in the downtown square of Bourg Saint Andeol, our hometown for the next two evenings. It might go something like this: Awesome Country Line Dancing party. That will suffice. I’m not kidding, there was line dancing to an American [-sounding] Country band. In the middle of nowhere, France. Unreal. And the Frenchies loved it. So too did Double D, who helped us out with the lyrics. We pulled up a table at an outdoor bar, and the whole gang sat, drank, and watched the show.

Tonight, we’re in this kind of bed and breakfast place, but it’s much, much weirder. While this ‘hotel’ only has a few rooms, it is most eccentrically decorated. I’m in a room entitled, ‘J’embarque sur le Marco Polo’; and it basically stems from a journey someone once took on a boat, as my room pretty much looks like I’m living in a cabin on a boat. Many, many pictures of this place are sure to follow.

Day 19 - The Queen Stage

22 July 2009

Le Grand Bornand. What’s funny is, I don’t remember ever being here, though everyone argues we have been. On this very spot, no less. I guess after your 4th year, it all starts to blend together.

It’s day 19 of Le Tour and the first of the 4 features I cut back home has finally aired. Two of them probably won’t ever see daylight.

French snob—I mean President Sarkozy is here today. Of course, the French are going crazy. I’ve never seen someone get so much television face time. They pissed the hell out of the British off, too. Right when top Brit contender Bradley Wiggins was crossing the line, French international switched to an interview of Sarkozy. What’s worse, is that while Wiggins’ finish was on ISO camera, THE FRENCH DIDN’T RECORD IT. Guess who were the only ones to record it? Us. But it was so quick a shot, it was practically useless. Bigtime France TV f**kup. “Epic Fail”, as some of you kids might say.

While the British went on with their disgruntled day, we ended ours with a light party thrown by the ASO, right on the compound. Beer, wine, appetizers, 9-yards. The purpose being the last week of the Tour, plus nobody had too far a drive tonight because of tomorrow’s time trial. It was kind of a crowded mess by the time we got there, so we didn’t stay long.

After noticing where we were staying very close to Geneva, I suggested to the party-people part of the crew that we go there tonight. Especially since it’s Leslie’s birthday. Big 2-8. Party on. I even convinced Joel and Maria to come out. We found a nice spot right in the middle of downtown action, had some dinner, then walked around and joined the party. This city is great. It’s typical Switzerland, but filled with people from all over. You’ve got every nationality here. A couple of Frenchies pulled me aside and started asking me questions about the Tour. I had a little bit of communication trouble, as we’re 3 weeks in to this race and my broken French has not improved much.

OK, although this has little to do with the Tour, I HAVE to get this out there. I don’t know if anyone’s seen this in the states, but back in my hotel room flipping channels this evening, I saw probably one of the funniest short videos of my life on Canal Plus Cinema. It wasn’t funny like haha I’m cracking up through the whole thing; it was funny like, wow, they went through all that trouble for the punchline.

Anyway, I missed the beginning of it, but from what I gather it starts off with people going about everyday life as they would, except, suddenly, they’re all missing their clothes. A guy driving – naked. A softball team playing – naked. Everyone seems confused. Cut to different cities around the world; same story. Cut to the White House. For some reason, Gerald Ford is President. He doesn’t have clothes on. A secretary runs into a briefing session in the buff. The token scientist is there, sans clothing, trying to explain the phenomenon, and has developed a sort of time machine to communicate with who they believe to be the culprit. The President and scientist place a phone call to the modern day, to a man (very much clothed) playing video games in his living room of a small apartment. Eyes glazed over from the trance of his game, he seems to not be phased by the immediacy in the voice of President Ford at the other end. Eventually, he hangs up, thinking nothing of it.

In walks his roommate, dressed up and ready to go out the door to a club. His outfit is somewhat unusual and throwback. The roommate goes to leave; and just when you think the man was not going to even mention the phone call (because his eyes are glued to his video game), snaps out of it at the last minute, and delivers this comedic gem:

“Oh I nearly forgot…dude, the 70’s called. They want their clothes back.”

I was on the floor.

Day 18 - Are You Enjoying Your Tour?

21 July 2009

Long day today, 8AM start, on air for the entire race. The hours at work are lengthening. The hours of sleep at night are dwindling.

Someone pointed out to me, and it wasn’t until they mentioned did I notice...but where are ze Germans? The compound is not as crammed, because their 500 trucks aren’t here. Well, I exaggerate. But seriously, there’s room to walk around now. Stupid Germans...

Nice short drive (relatively) over to La Clusaz tonight. A couple of switchbacks, but it was mostly valley driving through the mountains, which created some fantastic scenics.

Again I had to abandon ship for dinner tonight, the reason being two-fold. First, I wanted to eat with another group of people, rather than the same ones I’ve been seeing all Tour long. Second, I wanted to give Joel & Maria their space, so they could have their quick bite to eat and off to bed. They really do a lot of work, and once the day over, it’s not really over for them, unlike the rest of us.

We found ourselves slightly off the beaten path at an Italian restaurant, called Che Augusto. The food was really quite excellent, and the service was better than average. (Average = 1.5 hours to deliver your meal.) Unfortunately, the crew I was with couldn’t keep their eyes open either; so on the way back to the hotel, I thankfully found Novak, Matt, and Ian taking in some vino at another restaurant, if only to extend the party a little bit longer.

Day 17 - Rest Day 2

20 July 2009

Well, I nearly blew it. After preaching to you last week about not sleeping in too late because you’ll miss the world go by, what did I do? Sleep until 11:45AM. I strolled downstairs to find out I didn’t have much time before I was supposed to head out to my hydrospeed experience.

And that’s exactly what it was. An experience. I donned the wetsuit and flippers, grabbed my hydrospeed float, and hit the frigid Alpine river; but not before a lengthy instructional session in both French & English. Fortunately there are no serious injuries to report, though I did get tossed around, banged up on rocks, and flipped 360° a couple of times. It was actually a lot of fun. I think everyone enjoyed it, with perhaps the exception of Brett, who had multiple difficulties in trying to stop himself from flying down the river…

That evening, after a couple rounds of ping pong to work up the appetite, I found myself dining with Leslie, Peter, Erik, and Ian in the restaurant next door. Once again, in typical French fashion, 3 hours had gone by, and we were just getting our after-dinner coffees. The drawn out dinner led to midnight Pétanque, where Erik and I made mince meat out of Brett and Polk. Overall, it was a refreshing rest day, despite the location, and despite the hydrospeed injuries.

Day 16 - It's Go Time.

19 July 2009

I woke up to probably the most awesome scenic view out my window this morning.

We’re near the Col du Grand Saint-Bernard, which is where the dogs of the same namesake are from. On the podium after today’s stage, stage winner Alberto Contador could be seen with a full-size Saint Bernard dog next to him. So many dogs in France, and Maria the dog lover (who misses her little Alaskan Klee Kai, Fiona) is quick to point them all out.

And speaking of Alberto Contador, well, he sure looked solid today going up Verbier. He dropped Lance pretty bad. I don’t believe for a second though that Lance doesn’t want to make that time back.

We celebrated Mel's birthday today, which was for the first time, not a secret. I guess because it was a big one (30), she had no problem keeping it a secret from anyone.

Coming off the mountain was not fun today; but thankfully, halfway down, we found a back road that took us STRAIGHT down. Through someone’s farm. Cut probably 45 minutes off the drive. Fantastic. I find it humorous that we had to sign some kind of waiver that promised safer driving this year, back on day one, yet we still drive around like maniacs. IT’S OK, we’re media.

Oh hey, what’s up, we’re in Italy. Kind of didn’t realize we would be just passing through, but occasionally that’s the case when trying to avoid certain mountain passes. I have to say, the Italians have it figured out though. See, they had the foresight to build tunnels through the mountains, so you don’t have to switchback over them. It's also funny to hear the GPS try to pronounce the Italian roads, as well. It was nonetheless a very tough drive tonight, 5 hours through, over, and around mountains, just to get to the top of another set, called Les Arcs. It was a competition just to get there, as it turns out many took a wrong turn and went to Torino, some missed the tunnel, and others decided to stay on the mountain in Switzerland for dinner (which turned out to be a bad idea, because they didn’t save any time waiting out the traffic; plus, Joel had the BRILLIANT insight to order pizzas to go). By some wild miracle, and with our GPS staying true, we were the 2nd group to arrive at the final destination tonight. 12:45AM.

And that’s why the ASO created the rest day.

Day 15 - Switzerland (The French Part)

18 July 2009

VERY interesting race today. Battle between the Americans. You’ve probably read all about it in the news, so I won’t go into detail here. George Hincapie missed taking over the race lead by just a few seconds, and the blame has been thrown around amongst the American teams. Joel tried to get as much information as he could, including even texting David Zabriskie of Garmin-Slipstream team, but to no avail. One thing is for sure – there will be a lot of explaining to do tomorrow from each team and manager.

Apparently, the Swiss have been lobbying the ASO for the Tour to finish on Verbier for 19 years now, and they’ve finally gotten their wish. Although it was getting dark, the drive into Switzerland tonight was still beautiful. You could tell where you were, once across the non-descript border, from the beautiful rolling countryside. And thousands of Swiss flags.

Driving up the climb to Verbier tonight was reminiscent of Alpe d’Huez, what with the multiple switchbacks and partying schloogs at every turn. It’s about time this Tour kicked it up a notch. Arcalis was pretty weak, as far as schloog-hood goes. Opting to stay away from the crowds for the night, we descended upon the bar in the lobby for a little bit of the region’s local vino. Since we were split among at least 4 different hotels tonight, I found myself mixed with some people I don’t normally interact with during the course of the day, including our British uplink guys, Brian & John. (We almost never see them, because their hours are so different.) Don’t take it as a sign that I’m getting wary of my car, because I’m far from that. I still get a kick out of entertaining them with my multiple impressions (who knew?). It gets us through the car rides.

Day 14 - It Happens in Threes.

17 July 2009

Levi Leipheimer.

Pope Benedict XVI.

Hector Venegas.

All broke their wrists this week. In each instance however, it seems accidental. Or so we think.

Just two more days until we rest again. There are a slew of activities planned this time around. I think, for the first time ever, I’m going to forego playing golf. Joel has been convincing me to try ‘Hydrospeed’.

Wikipedia.org defines ‘Hydrospeed’ (Riverboarding): “Riverboarding is the North American name for a boardsport in which the participant is prone on the board with fins on his/her feet for propulsion and steering. This sport is also known as hydrospeed in Europe and white-water sledging in New Zealand.”

Sure, I’ll do it; just so long as I don’t freeze my ass off in the cold Alpine water.

Tonight, we got in to Besançon at a decent hour, so many of us converged on the hotel bar (as is generally the norm). Failing to find any place to eat, we noticed a casino next door. It quickly became apparent that there would be gambling to come. Leslie, Brett, Polk, Hector and I strolled next door, and after clearing some heavy security, hit the bar, and later, the tables.

I was afraid gambling in French would put me at a disadvantage, but once I found that the Roulette table was opening, I thought to myself, the only French I need to speak there is numbers, if at all. And for a first-time-in-a-foreign-country gambler, I did alright, ending the night up 50 Euro. I could’ve kept going, too, but I had to get to sleep at some point…

Day 13 - This Is Too Easy.

16 July 2009

Today started off fantastic (relatively speaking). The route we put into the GPS was direct. The roads were well marked. We parked close to the entrance to the compound and close to our trucks. Catering was a stone’s throw away. With all of these things going right, something was sure to go wrong.

Fortunately, nothing ever did. Today was the first complete day I didn’t hear either producer have a complaint about a single element of the show.

Today was even the first day in some time that we were able to eat lunch at its normally scheduled hour. Which simply means we got our pre-race segments done on time. Which is usually only one person’s fault if we don’t. But I’m not going to say who. Because I think you know. I’ll give you a hint. His name rhymes with Mob Toll.

Today was also the day the elusive Podium Girl feature aired. Many years in the making, and after numerous ditched storylines, our ENG crew found a podium girl originally from St. Louis, MO who spoke perfect English. Since the first week of the Tour, Dave Novak has been working tirelessly (is that even the right word? Because he could never get tired of watching her) on editing the piece together. It aired to much enthusiasm and praise, and even made it on to YouTube the same night. Check it out here.

On the drive tonight, we took advantage of our first opportunity to visit the sunflower fields of northeastern France. The sun sets around 9:30pm here, so we only had a little sunlight left to do the photoshoot. I got some GREAT pictures in; trying to get used to my new camera. It’s quite powerful and can do a lot of stuff…but I was just happy enough to get the macro function working. You can check them out in the new Tour de France – Part 2 photo album on Facebook.

Day 12 - Accommodations

15 July 2009

Pretty uneventful day today. Mark Cavendish won yet another stage, and all the Brits in the truck are excited. Rightfully so, I guess. He’s like their new hero. He’ll undoubtedly break records with his super fast speed. Hope he makes it through the next round of mountain climbs.

Congratulations go out to Hector, who has managed to score the first injury on the Tour this year. Depending on who you listen to, the story on how he managed to do so varies.

I have this running joke with Audrey, one of our location managers, about staying in Best Westerns. As you and I have come to know them, they are nothing special. However in France, they can be quite nice. So I always say to her, every day, when she brings in the hotel rooming list, “Audrey, merci, mais pas des Best Western’s, s’il vous plait.” The one we’re at tonight is more of a business hotel. Which is funny, because you wouldn’t think the French did any business. It feels out of place. Especially in the middle of farm country here. But the bathroom had a shower curtain, thank goodness. Don’t even get me started on the French bathrooms. Don’t EVEN get me STARTED! Haha.

Looking back at my pictures, I noticed today I did not take any. What a buzz kill. Not much in the way to photograph, I suppose; as there’s kind of a lull in scenery on the race route here.

Day 11 - Quatorzième Juillet

14 July 2009

Happy Bastille Day! (Joyeux le quatorzième juillet!)

I got an odd text message this morning. I first thought it was some kind of sex advertisement, because it gave certain, ‘measurements’. It wasn’t until I went to the babelfish and realized it was someone telling me about their brand new baby. How easily my French can be way off. Congratulations to the family that texted me on the birth of ‘Héloise’.

Dude, check this out! Go to
http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/video_gallery/video_gallery.html
and click on Inside the VERSUS Production Truck video. Although I’m not personally featured (because I’m back in videotape, and I don’t know who shot this), you can see many others I work with during the live show. Now you can stop asking me what I do.

After yet another lengthy drive, we arrived in Auxerre around 10:30pm. It’s a scenic and typical French city, with statues and cathedrals and a river running through it. In search of some decent Bastille Day partying, I met up with Leslie, Polk, and Brett, and we hit the town.

I've got to say, for Bastille Day, this town was soft. No fireworks, no crazy street parties. Maybe we were in the wrong spot, but I don’t think so. All we found were a couple of open air bars outside, and the most peculiar of Irish – French bands. Irish music, French lyrics. Weird to listen to, but it didn’t matter. Took a lot of pictures of the local architecture, and as usual got lost trying to find our way back to the hotel. “I swear you guys, this is the same cathedral we were at before…"

Day 10 - Rest Day 1

13 July 2009

Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep much longer than 10:30am, plus if I did, I’d miss breakfast. That’s no way to start off a rest day. So I got up.

Matt had the low-down on a sporting goods store he had passed the night before, so we loaded up in search of balls, tees, etc. Much to our dismay, the mega-size sporting goods store had none of these things. They apparently don’t play much golf here in France; which is funny, because every time I come here, that’s what I do on my rest days. We wandered around town for half an hour only to come up empty handed.

At the same time, Matt was trying to find a decent fishing rod to take down to the local river. He was coming up equally as empty handed. Our fourth, Hagen’s son, Jack, was yet to awake from his slumber, so I took the opportunity to grab a quick shower and get some decent golfing clothes on. After taking some time to figure out which course to go, (and, after confirming they had not only clubs for rent but a cart as well), we finally hit the road. Except, Matt still needed his fishing pole.

Around the corner from our hotel was the one of the oldest and most eccentric hardware stores I’d ever been in. If you could think of it, this guy had it. Matt found his fishing pole. Hagen could’ve spent an entire day in there. But we had golf to get to.

Finally teeing off at 3:10pm, we played pretty decent. It was another hot day out, much akin to the conditions I usually come upon playing when I’m in France. Not only did I remember to bring my sunscreen, I remembered to put it on as well. We got 9 holes in before dehydration and fatigue set in, and by then it was time to get back to the Pétanque tournament.

I’m not sure if I can properly set the scene for you here, so please refer to the pictures as a visual guideline. In the middle of the town square of Bonnat, the Pétanque field was setup for a grand tournament, fitting of a mayor. Actually, the mayor was there. And he played a tough game. My team lost in the first round, so I was forced to watch everyone else play. It’s quite the competitive game.

That’s when, during the middle of our somewhat private town party, some interesting characters approached. A woman, our age, dressed up far too much for an outdoor party, walked up and said, in the thickest of New Jersey accents, “you guys are American??” I did a double take. Long story short, the former Bayonne resident somehow got tipped off that the Americans were staying here (in Bonnat), and she was desperate to hear the familiar language. She lives with her extended family in Dijon (which, is nowhere even CLOSE to Bonnat), who she also dragged along with her. I got to talking to the uncle for some time, a hybrid Italian/French/American, who insisted I speak in English. Among the highlights of the conversation was pointing out his Dodge Durango with New Jersey license plates he shipped over in a container because he “didn’t like all these small European cars.”

After Phil, Paul, and Matt defeated the mayor and his squad, an impromptu awards ceremony commenced in the town square, where I took multiple paparazzi-style pictures. We retreated to an included dinner back at the hotel, drank the wine I got earlier in the day at the Carrefour (French WalMart), and made it a relatively early night. I know, boring. Whatever, this entry was dragging on.

Day 9 - Just One More Day.

12 July 2009

It took a little while to get our trucks up and running this morning. I had a fear of that, when, while walking into the compound, some of the French were pointing at the power bay of their truck in confusion, and none of their lines were connected. Sure enough, our trucks had no power. When this happens, it’s off to catering with you, to see what Philippe has cooking up for breakfast. At least, for a cup of some of that FABULOUS European coffee.

I wish I had a tripod. Or at least a monopod. I’ve been taking some pictures in an effort to stitch them together to create grand landscapes. Some of them have come out great, others, not so much.

Tonight was the second-longest drive in this year’s Tour. 5 ½ hours. What’s worse, I had to stay a little later in the truck to feed some footage back to Stamford, so it was getting pretty late already. I let my carmates go on ahead, and invited myself in Leslie, Brett, and Polk’s car. Riding in their car was a nice change of pace, and it gave me a new audience for my multiple impressions. Of which I have a couple good ones in my arsenal.

Arrival in the small town of Bonnat was around 1:30am. Not horrible considering, and not the last ones to arrive, despite being the last ones to leave. Although I’m sure my mother doesn’t want to hear about it, Polk took the C5 up to 199KPH, a new record. I’ll let you do the math as to how that translates into MPH.

When will the French learn?? Never leave your bar unattended when Americans come to town! I walked downstairs to find Eric and Mel drinking a bottle of port they just so happened to find behind the bar. We borrowed some glassware and headed out to the pool, bottles in hand.

Day 8 - The Price of Convenience

11 July 2009

Riding in the car with the producer of the show does have its benefits. One of them is having priority (usually) at the best/most convenient hotels. So while most people drove from an hour away to get here this morning (here being Saint-Girons), we walked a half mile down the street to get to the compound.

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as it could’ve been. Because we followed the talent to the finish line, and not the map. We saw some back roads of Saint-Girons we would for no other reason see because we were trying to find our way. It actually led to an interesting street market where locals were selling anything from handmade purses to scraps of metal.

Absolutely cannot wait for a day off on Monday. I need all the hours possible to catch back up on sleep. No word on whether there will be an opportunity to golf or not, but what we do know is that there is a 6+ hour drive ahead of us tomorrow night. Got this text message tonight (from Ben):

“Get ready for the Versus Pétanque Tournament 2009…The Tournament is free and organized in partnership with the mayor of Bonnat (city of the rest day) and the International Jury! So be ready!”

‘Pétanque’, by Wikipedia.org’s definition, is “a form of boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet.” So it’s bocce, essentially. I recall hearing about the crew playing it last year as well.

Tonight, we are fortunate enough to be graced with the presence of Team Astana in the same [small] hotel as us. Which means Lance is here. Somewhere. I came down to meet the fortunate few of the crew for dinner, for what should’ve been a nice outdoor dinner on the terrace. Unfortunately, because Astana and their posse (what’s the cyclists’ equivalent?) had cordoned off the entire area, we were forced to eat indoors. Which had no air conditioning. Screw you, Astana. Nahhh, I’m just kidding. You guys are still cool. I guess I came down too early, as I only saw Alberto Contador and Yaroslav Popovych. I later found out Lance was sitting maybe 20 yards away for dinner, on the other side of the wall. One day, he and I will be buddies. One day.

I haven’t had internet in the hotel for 2 days. So, sleep now; an unfortunate 1-hour drive tomorrow morning to get to Tarbes awaits.

Day 7 - The Road Turns Up.

10 July 2009

What a beautiful morning. The weather is cool, maybe 50°. The climb up to the finish line today was a nice drive, and pretty easy with very little stoppage. The Andorran police have things very well under control, unlike the useless French.

One thing I realized I haven’t really talked much about is the race itself. I must first say that it’s quite nice not having CBS around, and not having to deal with someone in person. The flipside of that is, the show still goes on, but it goes on back home. So while before I was staying late to make their dubs, I’m staying late to feed their footage down the line. Instead of harassing me in person, they harass me via email. However, there have been few complaints as of yet.

Today’s stage was a good one, as it separated obvious contenders from everyday riders. Alberto Contador got himself a nice attack in, and distance from his own teammate Lance Armstrong, which apparently was unwarranted and uninstructed. He did that on his own. I’m curious to find out what Astana’s team coach, Johan Bruyneel has to say about what I think is the apparent oversight of one Italian rider, Rinaldo Nocentini sneaking away with the Yellow Jersey.

Tonight was a very long drive, probably the longest yet. Out of the Pyrenees we drove, at dangerous, breakneck speeds, to catch as many extra minutes on the night’s sleep as possible. We got the early tip from Craig Hummer that there was an unmapped turn ahead by just a few KM that would take us around the caravan and avoid up to an hour in traffic. It turned out it really didn’t save us any time at all, as we all seemed to meet up at the American Embassy around the same time.

For those who are unaware, the American Embassy is code for McDonald’s. My general rule is, since we’re in a country of such culinary greatness, you should only be allowed one trip to the Embassy the entire time you’re there. I call it the ‘mulligan’. So far I’ve followed the rule. But sometimes, you have no other option when you’re driving very late at night, and the French generally do not understand the concept of take-out.

And speaking of the French, they must really love their ‘Sex and the City’, because it’s the only thing on their 5 channels at night. I just want Eurosport, and I can’t always get that. Is that too much to ask?

Day 6 - Barcelone

09 July 2009

You win, Barcelona, you win.

I’m not even going to discuss what went down last night in this epic city. Just know that it involved wee hours, clubbing, fending off street women, and getting pick pocketed. But all they got out of me was 10 dollars. American dollars. So really, the joke’s on them. I’m not mad at all. I actually find it funny. Had they taken something else however, I’d be royally pissed.

Probably the most fun I’ve had on a non-rest day all-night-out TDF bender. One for the ages.

It’s pouring rain like nobody’s business today. Which is too bad, because from our location on a hill, we can see much of the city. And I wanted to take awesome pictures. But no such luck. I got very drenched today, and kicked off the shoes and socks while working in the truck today (which, by the way, is gross, and I don’t recommend.).

The drive tonight took us into Andorra, the second principality on this Tour’s stop. It’s our first foray into the mountains this year, and I have to say it couldn’t be nicer. The air is so much cooler, and the scenery pretty. One of our runners/assistants, David, brought up an interesting and comical point – with all the tax- and duty-free locations we are going to on this Tour (Monaco, Andorra, Switzerland), the Tour organizers may have money issues in their sights…

This blog is apparently gaining interest. After posting the first round of pictures (here), a coworker in Philly (with whom I’m facebook friends) asked if she could use my pictures on our website. So you may see some of my photography work in a ‘behind the scenes’ section of versus.com soon. Get excited. Get real excited.

Day 5 - Purple Rain. I Mean--Perpignan.

08 July 2009

Nice little town we’re in today, setup in a quiet little street right next to the finish. It’s like our own little private block down here. And it’s right next to a little river. And for some reason or another, the Tour organizers have decided to setup the lunch area 2 miles away from our current location. I don’t know how this makes any sense; but because we have such fantastic people working for us, they were able to pack 60+ lunches in plastic trays and bring them to us here; where we sat on makeshift picnic tables and celebrated the birthday of one of our audio tech guys, Paul.

Ben came into the truck today and gave everyone a Livestrong bracelet. They’ve been selling them here at the Tour. I realized, I hadn’t worn mine since Lance retired in 2005. It was only fitting that since he’s returned, I don another one. So for pictures here on out, I’ll be rockin’ the yellow.

Let’s go to Barcelona! It’s Thibault’s last day, so it’s going to be a party. I actually didn’t realize it was already tonight that we’re riding into Spain. I’ve never been to Spain properly (I’ve been before, but only in the mountains), so I have no idea what to expect. I do know that the language barrier is going to go WAY back up tonight; but since it’s a big tourist-y city, I trust there will be some English spoken. And understood.

Day 4 - Form & Grace

07 July 2009

Kind of upset about not being able to spend any time in Montpellier. But oh well, such is the course of the Tour. I saw plenty of nice scenics and aerials of the city in which I wanted to hang out, but nothing more. I will say, being in HD for the first time is very, very nice. It’s really night and day compared to SD; plus I wonder how good it looks back home, and how much compression the signal has.

Great to see: the Team Time Trial return to the Tour. There are two things that I haven’t experienced yet in my years of July’s in France. I started in 2006, and neither Mr. Armstrong nor the Team Time Trial have been present since the year prior.

Great to see: Astana cleaning up shop in the Team Time Trial. That team has reassembled and proclaimed its dominance of speed in this special event. Not quite enough to put Lance in yellow, but that will likely change in the coming days.

Great to see: one of our reporters, Frankie, get snubbed by Fabian Cancellara because he abandoned him during an interview when Lance walked over. Serves him right. If you’re going to start to interview someone then just walk away when Lance shows up, how do you think that person feels then? Frankie went back to try to make amends with Fabian, but he wanted no part of it. The sad thing is, that very morning they had an ENG shoot together and got along as well as brothers. Snuffing the Yellow Jersey to get a sniff of Lance? Bad move in my book.

Great to see: the celebrity status back at the Tour. Today featured Ben Stiller and his wife, Christine Taylor (whose name we had to look up – she’s been in a lot of movies with him). Where Lance goes, so too do his celebrity friends.

Great to see: a couple of teams staying at the same hotel as us. That's a first for me, as I've never stayed the same place as a pro cycling team. Saxo Bank, Bouygues Telecom, and Liquigas are hanging with us. What's interesting about that is, because of all the doping controls in the Tour, the rooming list must be posted in a visible place so random screenings can be made possible. So posted to the wall is each rider and which room they're in. If you're a pro rider, you can be tested at any point; even in the middle of the night.

Great to see: my bed.

Day 3 - Let's Party...Already?

06 July 2009

A little bummed out however, with our location. Two nights in Montpellier apparently didn’t mean in Montpellier. It meant somewhere on the outskirts. So while thinking about how to plan a fun night out in one of my favorite cities I’ve ever come upon in France, my plans were foiled after Anne and Audrey arranged for a party on the beach.

We’re moving pretty slow today. The riders are an hour behind schedule, and we’ve got a party to get to! That’s right! Since we’re staying not too far away from today’s stage (in preparation for tomorrow’s), the folks in charge have decided to throw us a party. On the beach, no less. Which is very nice of them to do!

After finishing up at the trucks, we all strolled down about 100 yards to the beach where awaiting us were picnic tables full of food and beer and wine. Quite unexpected, I must say. Many pictures were taken, and it was also a good opportunity to meet some of the newer people we’ve been working with the past couple of days. And yes, an impromptu limbo contest did break out.

Before long, it was time to leave the beach, so we made our way back to the hotel lobby bar. Unfortunately for us, it was closing. Fortunately for us, the French are so mindless that they left all the taps on in an unsupervised bar. I know what you’re thinking – you think we went crazy and raided the bar. That’s what you think, isn’t it? That’s so messed up, you make us sound like crazy alcoholics.

Well, you’d be right.

Day 2 - Turns Out the Truck is Fine, After All.

05 July 2009

Turns out we had a pretty big issue with some audio cards in the router. In order to reset the problem, they’d have to pull everything, and the crew wasn’t about to do that in the middle of a live show. Once they found their error, it never happened again. At first I wasn’t sure if this new Belgian crew was as good as the last, but it turns out these guys are alright, and will always have a solution to the problem.

With their fixes, I had a much easier show today. No time trialing, no 30-odd ENG tapes thrown at me, no live interview rolls made for a MUCH smoother show in tape.

That Mark Cavendish sure is fast. I wonder if he’s doping. He is the self-proclaimed fastest man on two wheels apparently. I like how people self-proclaim things. I think I’m the fastest man on four wheels. You can’t beat me when I’m behind the wheel. Well, you probably can. But I can still proclaim it.

Well, I’m ashamed to say it unfortunately, but today I made a serious navigational error. After emerging from a toll booth, our GPS showed a 3-way split in the road. Paying more attention to her and less my surroundings, I mistakenly directed Joel in the exact reverse direction. What made it worse was the fact that another car in our group was behind us, and followed suit. Long story short, it resulted in a 30-minute detour, of which my carmates were not pleased. I promised to buy dinner.

All was forgiven when we finally arrived however. I am excited, as we will be staying here (in Montpellier) for two nights. It’s just a short drive over to La Grande Motte for tomorrow, then back here for the Montpellier time trial.

Day 1 - The Truck is Falling Apart

04 July 2009

Happy 4th! (I’m not sure how that goes anymore, since I’ve missed it the last four straight years.) A grand start today. Lots of celebration and such. The prince is here. Blah, blah, blah. We don’t get to see any of it sitting in a truck all day.

Instead our focus is on getting ourselves in a mode to operate. Everything seemed to be fine before lunch. But that was before lunch. When we weren’t on air. After lunch, our routers pretty much kicked it. Couldn’t get the right audio to our sources. On top of all that, the ENG crews came in the truck every 10 minutes to throw a tape in front of me. Since my audio was all screwy, I had to play interviews off disk, straight to air. Normally I would be comfortable with this, but because we use a new format called XDCAM (disc-based format), and I’m not 100% acquainted with it. I haven’t quite learned all there is to know about the format just yet; but with everyday usage, by the end of this Tour, I’ll be proficient. Don’t get me wrong, there were no mistakes on air from me, but it was nerve-racking to say the least.

It was a rough day, to say the least. And no better for Joel, who, while driving away from Monaco tonight, could not for the life of him find his eyeglasses. That’s probably the worst feeling ever, as I would never want to depend on wearing contact lenses at all times.

It’s too bad we have to leave Monaco; I was just getting to know my way around. Such is the Tour, however. So we packed up the Citroen C8 (ugly minivan-type ride) and headed west. I assumed my usual position as navigator on the hour and a half drive tonight, and we got to Brignoles with ease.

Already on a later schedule in the day, a “cold dinner” was waiting for us when we arrived late, as promised. But cold dinner was 3 courses. That’s just how the French do it. This, plus how nice the hotel was, thoroughly impressed Dave Novak. So much so, that he’d offer to do the show for free next year. Nice.

Day iv - Eve

03 July 2009

Monaco truly is beautiful. Unfortunately at this time of year it’s also extremely hot and humid. It’s hard to step outside for more than 5 minutes at a time; as I would perspire faster than I’ve ever noticed. Usually we don’t have this problem, because we often start le Tour in the north. It’s hot down here! And I don’t know if this weather will break anytime, as we stay on the Mediterranean for quite a few days.

Really don’t have much to discuss today, all of it was spent in the truck getting the show ready. I’ve kind of become Brett’s aid / Double D’s AD for now, just so Brett can wrap his head around everything. It was tough, especially since today was a LONG 13 hour day. But we did get to meet up with Phillipe for the first time today. I’m happy to report, nothing has changed on that front; despite hearing a rumor his budget has been cut down. (I guess he’s doing the same work for less money…)

Brett and I walked up parts of the racecourse in search of dinner. We found a little pizza joint, which was good enough for us. They sure do love their F1 here; memorabilia can be found lining every shop and restaurant. And might I add the same thing goes for women. You can’t walk for more than 2 seconds without spotting a very attractive European woman here. And don’t get me started on the boats…

Day iii - The waiting is the hardest part.

02 July 2009

Ahhhhhhh sleep. Back on schedule.

Joined up with the crew at breakfast, where we had a quick meeting about pre-race responsibilities. I found myself without much of a job, until the trucks were powered up and available to work in over at the compound. Estimated time of availability: 1PM.

So I went out for a walk around town. Saw plenty of neat little places, took a lot of great pictures, and found a museum/store of historical Formula 1 stuff. This guy had quite the setup of old helmets, tires, and model cars. I snapped a couple of pictures.

Then, the text messages started coming in.

ALLY DICKIE:
1:18:22PM
Trucks haven’t parked yet. At least another hour and half.

MARIA HARUTUNIAN
3:13:17PM
Looks like we can head over at about 4. Will update.

MARIA HARUTUNIAN
3:55:58PM
Looks like another 40 minutes or so.

DAVID POLK
5:05:37PM
Is the truck still having problems?

Arrival at truck: 5:45PM

So we got about 4 hours of work in before they had no choice but to cut the power at the end of the night. Not a whole lot was accomplished. Which just means that tomorrow will be a FULL-on day of working. I can’t wait.

A large group of us went out in search of dinner, only to be split up when the restaurant could not accommodate us. Little did Brett and I know, that Maria and Leslie had arranged for a private table for the four of us for dinner. While Brett felt bad about ditching everyone we were with, he learned a valuable lesson in Tour de France lore regarding dinner: you can’t have a 30-person sit down every night, and you won’t be offending anyone after ditching them for dinner.

Day ii - Elite Status

1 July 2009

So, I’ve read flying through London was supposed to be a nice experience; so many people do it every day. There’s apparently a lounge that, because I’m so awesome (well, because I have so much American status, but partly because I’m so awesome), I can take a shower in after I deplane, and relax, unwind, and grab a free bite to eat. And that’s all I wanted. Yeah I never found the place. I was also an hour late getting in. My connection was now down to under two hours. I still had to get across to the new Terminal 5, by way of a crammed bus, through passport control, and back through security again. The entire ordeal left me with about 30 minutes to spare. NEVER AGAIN AM I CONNECTING THROUGH HEATHROW.

The connecting flight was rather uneventful, and as horrendous as the rest of Heathrow is, Terminal 5 is very nice. I even found the British Airways Club, to which I easily gained access. For about 10 minutes. But I must say, what a step up (3 steps up, honestly) in class and service. I’ve never seen so much free food, alcohol, and newspaper in my life (in one room).

Fearing as usual I wouldn’t be able to find my immediate carmates, Ola thankfully spotted me from a mile away, and before long (well, semi-long), we were on our way out of Nice and into Cap d’Ail, our staging point.

“Can I give you my Marriott number?” I said, in my embarrassingly broken French while checking in. Though it didn’t give me much better of a room, I do have quite the unbeatable view of the Mediterranean from the 9th floor. But having my clock all messed up and not getting too much sleep on the short flight, I took a well-deserved nap.

Wednesday evening brought the opening meeting, and we were all happy and reacquainted again. Even the new boss had kind words about our camaraderie. A lot of good people here this year, and plenty of fresh new faces – because we are in HD for the first time, that means a new truck plus a new truck crew. Which is too bad, because the Belgians are awesome, and we’ve made a lot of good friends with them over the years.

After all of the formalities, a large group of us found our way to a large dinner, in a restaurant called il Capitano, which had excellent seafood. In typical Cote d’Azur (French Riviera) fashion, the meal took all night.

With our clocks all out of whack, it wasn’t really time to quit, so I followed Erik P. on a 20 minute walk to the heart of Monaco to party with some of the locals. Docks were full of multi-million dollar yachts. Bars full of young and beautiful people were spilling out onto the streets. It’s only customary that the first night we arrive at Le Tour, we produce a show of the shit variety.