The first stage is done. 6 hours on the saddle reminded me that this is no relaxing vacation. It is going to be tough. However, if I stand a chance of making it through, it is with Destination Cycling.

This tour company is unique. I do not know of anyone else that does this to the point where they make you feel like a pro rider the whole time. And it makes a difference, because this is not going to be easy.

The day began with breakfast at 7AM. The hotel had a decent breakfast with cereals, hard boiled eggs, plenty of breads and juices and the wonderful French coffee.

Then we get organized to go ride. There are two vans, one if front and one in the back. The one in front has a GPS setup hooked up to the computer. They have mapped the whole route and they are following those directions. They have a few variations with some streets as when the tour rolls, some of the streets are in the wrong way of traffic. So we need to take parallel streets, etc. But Destination Cycling has all that figured out.




The van in the back is the support van, with wheels, meals, drinks and energy drinks. And for 9 riders they bring 140 bottles! Some with water, some with energy drink and a few with recovery drinks. I thought it was overkill, but I found out we drank 130 today! The 3 riding staff is constantly monitoring the 5 riders doing this event. They check on you if you are drinking enough, etc. Then, get this, if you need water or energy drink, they take your empty bottles and bring you new ones from the van.




The three riding staff, Josh, Patrick and Jimmy are super strong. So from that regard, the 6 hours were very doable. They spent a good part at the front or helping riders bridge or getting bottles.



The ride was a slower pace than I would have probably done it, but I am leaving it to them to take us through this. They have done this last year and learned a lot.

The riders that signed up for this all have come prepared. I was glad to see that we all have spent the better part of the year preparing for this. The group easily stayed as a pack the whole way.





The stops were minimal. About 15 minutes for lunch and a couple of nature breaks but that was about it. And Joe Tonon, the President of Destination Cycling, says that the rest stops will always be minimal.



Once back, the schedule was in place for massages. Just got back from massage which was awesome. Again, it is these arrangements the ones that will make a huge difference as we get further into this tour.

Anyway, almost time for dinner.

Got my bicycle this evening, during dinner, which is awesome. I will need it. We start tomorrow. I did not realize that today was going to be the day we would ride the prologue. But since four of us did not make it until late, we will ride it tomorrow, in combination with Stage 1.

Dinner was great. I can tell I am in France, when the waiter announces each dish, mentioning the peculiarities of it. I can pick up a few words here and there, and he always finishes with "c'est tres bon" and so far he has not disapointed. The desserts were awesome.



We had our welcome talks and now I know for sure I am in for a cycling treat. These guys have done this for professional teams, so they know their stuff. The soigneurs go over the color coded waterbottles, the snacks, the meals and when we will have them.





The mechanic is there explaining the routine of when to mention to him about mechanicals (as soon as you arrive to the new town, or during dinner; never in the morning when it is time to ride). So as soon as dinner was done, I was with him making sure the bycicle was all dialed in.



Also, Joe Tonon the organizer goes over the route and itinerary. It all seems so casual I keep taking it in stride. Finally, as I get ready for bed I realize tomorrow is 190km, 120 miles almost.

Hopefully I can sleep. I am getting my second wind, being that it is only 5:15PM in Washington.

Flying into France brought its expected challenges. From the start I had to stand in several lines to get my bike checked in. Apparently I had to call them in advance and tell them the dimensions of the bike box. So I had to pay the overage of $25. I would have gladly paid, had I known that was the only issue. Instead, I had to stand in several lines to get that straightened out.

So off I go to the plane now. Well the weather in Virginia was fine, it seemed, but for some reason they were not letting the planes leave because of "bad weather". I am not sure where this bad weather was, but an hour and a half later, sitting on the runway with the engines out, finally the engines are back on and the pilot leaves like a madman.

Arriving in Paris, brought the expected missed flight lines, however, getting into a new flight to Strasbourg was easier than I thought. Instead of leaving at 8:30AM, I was now to leave at noon. But, to add insult to injury, the flight into Strasbourg was delayed! We sat in the transport bus, not able to get into the plane for about an hour.

Anyway, finally in Strasbourg, I get to rub elbows with Tour de France celebrities. I got to talk to Bob Roll who was on the same flight as me. So I had a few chuckles while waiting for the bikes. This guy is funny.

The time went by, Bob finally gets his bags, leaves, and I am still waiting for my bike. When I was the only guy left, I realize that no bike had arrived, only my suitcase. And I had paid the excess baggage fee and all but no bike.

So now, I get picked up by Destination Cycling group and off the Hotel. My bike will hopefully arrive on the 7PM flight; it is 6PM now, waiting patiently to call. At least we will be three days in Strasbourg, so I have to get a bike by then.

The few lucky ones that got here on time, got to go for a quick spin around Strasbourg. These guys look fit. So I am going to sit on wheels for a while until I figure out the pecking order.

This is going to be awesome!

I leave for France today. Trying to get used to the new timezone, I have been waking up at 4AM-5AM for the past week. Today was easy, the excitement is hard to contain.

Finished packing last night, and that was a more involved job than I had anticipated.

Usually when I travel, it is one destination or two. So you pack, get where you are going and unpack. All the stuff goes all over the hotel furniture. Then you do not have to worry about this until it is time to leave. You deal with how to fit all the stuff back in the suitcase at the end of the trip.

In this case, I will have to handle this suitcase every single day. Every night will be in a different hotel pretty much. For 23 days, I will have to open the suitcase, take the things I need and repack it again in the morning.

And because it is riding in any weather, the amount of clothing adds up (gloves, long finger gloves, arm warmers, leg warmers, shorts, rain jacket, etc). Then there is the casual clothing, although that is at the absolute minimum. I do not even have the whole team clothing yet, the jerseys, vests and jackets are not given to us until we arrive; so I will need to fit that in the suitcase too.

Anyway, I think I have a system going now. I have ziplock bagged everything. Gloves, headbands in one zip lock bag, arm warmers, leg warmers in another, then shorts in another and so on. I am not sure it will work, but it is a plan.

I tried packing and unpacking and it seems easier. I will hopefully only have to handle the zip lock bags I need for that night and morning. As to having to haul this to the hotel room every night, after being on the bike for 8 hours, that is another thing.

But enough about packing. I will be glad if that is my main concern once I start riding.

Almost everything is ready for the trip. Finished packing the bike over the weekend (decided to take the Scott) and now going over the checklist of clothing to take.

A more interesting checklist is to go through the preparation leading up to the event. Hills ... check, intervals .... check, rest ... check, time on the saddle .... check. When I look back at the training, adjustments in schedule and daily routine, it is a bit overwhelming. I can see I was definitely motivated for this one.

But the planning and training is done; it is time to concentrate on the event itself. I feel prepared and luckily, injury free. I was very concerned about overuse injuries. But other than the usual soreness aches and pains, I am pretty sure I am fine.

I watched "Hell on Wheels" one more time yesterday to get into the spirit of the event. I love that documentary. It gives one a behind the scenes perpspective of Tour de France and what the riders go through. Granted I will not be racing the event, I think the suffering in the mountains will be similar.

Anyway, I leave for France on Wednesday, so expect some live posts soon. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I will have wi-fi at most hotels I will be staying at. So, assuming I have enough energy to type, I should be able to post updates often.

My team bike arrived today. It is a Scott CR1 machine. Yes, as part of this tour, we are going to be given brand new team bikes, team uniforms, the whole bit. We are not messing around here, this is top quality stuff, and the bike is no different. From those of you into cycling, you know this Scott CR1 is a sweet ride, and very light. My worry right now is the fit and time to get adjusted to a new bike. We are only two weeks from the trip. So this is a bit stressful, take this brand new bike, or take my own. On the one hand, my bike fits like a dream, but what if I have issues out there, would they have replacement parts for it. With the Scott, they will have spare stuff, etc. So from a logistics perspective, the Scott is the way to go.

So, right after the UPS guy left, I quickly set it up on the stand and started assembling it to get it out for a spin.

Ahh riding a new bike. Nothing creaks, no noise, it was great. The Scott is a much more conventional geometry compared to the Specialized Tarmac that I own. The Scott is closer to the Eddy Merckx road bike I used before, and still use for winter commuting. So it was OK as the fit goes. I took it for a quick spin to test it out and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to ride it OK for a couple of hours.

Tomorrow I will take it for a longer ride, and this weekend I will put even more serious miles on it. Hopefully by Sunday I should be able to make a decision; take the new Scott the tour company sent me, or take my own bike.

The route for this event consists of 20 stages with 2 rest days.


I arrive in the morning, and after setup of the bikes that afternoon, we plan to go for a short ride. Then the following day the tour starts. No time for jetlag adjustment, we are going for it.

The good thing is that the initial stages are flat. There are three stages in Strasbourg, then off to Belgium and Germany, then back into France north through Brittany and Rennes.

Then a long trip to Bordeaux. At this point the stages start getting more serious. We are getting close to the Pyrenees. There is a couple of killer stages that will resemble Mountains of Misery.

If we survive the Pyrenees, we have the longest stage (close to 150 miles) from Beziers to Montelimar. Then we start getting into the Alps for another few more killer mountain stages.

Just narrating this route is tiring. I can not imagine riding all these.

By the time we are done with the Alps, we will have just a few more stages to bring us back to Paris.

This adventure is definitely going to test my tenacity and desire to do this. It is getting close. Very close ...

Training for this event has been a project all in itself. Since the beginning of the year, I have logged 5,000+ miles on the bike.

The training started in the Fall with weights, swimming, spinning, and riding my bike commuting to work mainly. Starting in January I continued with the weights and swimming and increased the intensity with the spinning.

I was fortunate that January was a mild month and I was able to ride outside most weekends. It was not until February that riding outside became a bit more challenging, but with a bike light and winter clothing, it was doable.



I started moving to longer rides in late February and March, combining both distance and climbing. I was going to Skyline Drive to ride there in late February and most of March. During the week, commuting added to the time on the bike.

The weights and swimming stopped by March. I just did not have time to fit them in. I did keep the spinning though. At least once a week, one hour of spinning keeps the intensity and anaerobic engine in check.

In April and May, it has been mainly time on the bike. Reaching some 300+ mile weeks. However, individually, each of my rides has not been more than 90 miles. The only 100+ mile ride was Mountains of Misery, which was 128 miles. And that one hurt at the end. In retrospect, I should have done more of those. But I am pretty much out of time. I have two weeks left before resting the body. Maybe one more long ride will fit this weekend, but that is about it.



I hope what I have done will be enough for France. I will know soon.