Early start, breakfast and check out for the 29 mile drive to Montelimar, the ancestral seat of a relative of mine. Disappointingly word hadn't got through that I was coming and I was forced to park on the verge like everyone else! Montelimar is a proper sized town and is significantly bigger than anywhere round it,
so it had the space to put on the Tour.
Today was the last chance to use my cyclings version of the back stage pass. Despite the fact that I was only really interested in the rider area, I thought I should wander round the start village hospitality area again and boy was I rewarded. A free slice of lemon meringue pie :).
Due to the strong headwinds the start of the race had been brought forward 15 minutes so the team buses started arriving a little bit earlier than expected. As they did one area of the crowd started to get very excited, horns, drums and chants. This group of about 30 were all Colombian and amongst others were here to support Nairo Quintana, probably the only realistic challenger to Froome (sorry Richie Porte) but for there to be any challenge, he needs the race to hit the mountains as soon as possible.
Colombians make great climbers and have a proud tradition of producing great cyclists. After some barren years they are back to producing talent again. One of the group, who was wearing nothing but Colombian coloured pants and paint had got over the fence and was jumping up and down and blowing his horn. The media loved it and he was quickly interviewed, though as every other word was 'Colombia', I'm not sure how insightful it was.
The pattern of the morning was as before with riders coming and going to sign on and I was doing my best to stay out of the way but be as close as possible. I did have in the back of my mind that I should think about another selfie with a pro before the trip is done. I did have one in mind, I wouldn't call him a hero but the way he rides his bike, not just with his head but with his heart means I always enjoy watching John Degenkolb ride. He rides for the Giant-Alpecin team, a German on a German team and isn't a pure sprinter but not really a Puncheur either he gets involved in the 'odd' stages. Last year he had two fantastic wins in the Spring classics demonstrating exactly what I meant by a racing head but a massive racing heart. This year he was caught up in a training accident with six other members of the team (a British tourist driving on the wrong side of the road) leaving them hospitalised and wiping out the first half of their seasons.
I found myself loitering near the Giant team bus with really not many people around when John appeared. I didn't wait for the internal discussions to take place and I found myself patiently waiting for him to stop talking to a soigneur. When it felt polite to and in a pathetically begging voice, I said 'John can I have a photo...he wanders over and the phone camera goes up and I'm thinking that I've only gone and got Degenkolb...wait a minute, where are you going? He has been called to the bus and is already walking away. I'm not proud to say I actually called out 'come back John, I haven't taken it yet'. To which he replied 'I will come back'. Now I'm pretty sure in the world of the instant selfie moment, standing by a bus waiting for a cyclist to reappear, pretty sure that he will ignore me and I can't say 'but John you promised', is not how it is supposed to work.
I prepared for ultimate disappointment by getting normal pics of his teammates and one of Chris Froome going past but these were mere extras to the prize. The curtain moved three times with
various support staff leaving the bus, when finally John, race ready appeared again. With me still standing there, he went to pick up his bike, at which point he turned to the soigneur and complained
his bike was too heavy (it's a bike gag). And then he put his bike down and he walked over as if it was always his intention and gave me the 10 seconds I needed. I wished him well for the day (he got fourth which was his best finish so far) and off I skipped.
The morning was definitely the hit of a hit and miss day. The plan was to use the Hors Course to nip to the finish and though it was mostly motorway the traffic was terrible and there was a nasty accident. The drive wasn't without interest as we hugged the Rhone for a while and eventfully hit the outskirts of Lyon, a proper big City. Signs started appearing for places that sounded a long way away, Geneva, Strasbourg but of course they weren't now, I had come to them.
A mistake at an exit where I went into the services to get fuel only to find I was forced back on to the motorway rather than the exit I wanted, added more time, so by the time I arrived at the finish and met up with the others it was packed and this was even the bit after finish. As the riders arrived it didn't get any better and in truth it was difficult to move about to see anyone.
I had ridden the last couple of miles so after riding back I joined the throng of those trying to get away. The transfer to my next hotel was 8O miles as I was heading to my second 'Bains' in succession at Aix les Bains. The journey took me East, away from Lyon and I soon picked up signs for Milan, Turin and Geneva, this was definitely heading towards Alps country. The landscape started to change from the flat vineyards we had seen for most of the day and started to ripple with the odd lumpy bit
but nothing intimidating. Soon I was amongst the 'massif's' these at first glance are big foreboding mountains but in truth they are the kids who used to sit outside the pub while the big mountains did big mountain things inside. However, tunnels took you from one late evening sunshine view to another, eventually arriving in Aix. This is a proper town and possibly the biggest I've been in since Andorra La Vella.
Again it's a spa town like Vals yesterday but Aix is bigger and grander and still vibrant with tourists and locals. It is famous for a very big lake but sadly in the middle of town they have blocked any view with a railway line. Hopefully I will get to see it on my ride to the stage tomorrow.
The evening went relatively smoothly, despite no views of the lake and once again having to deal with booking.com after receiving an email asking when I'm arriving from a hotel that had supposedly cancelled me.
I must give special mention to this evenings dinner. Another place with just one person serving, I had to make eating gestures with my hands to point out I had no cutlery, my drink arrived wth my dinner, he took a used fag out of the ashtray on my table and lit it, smoking for about 20 second and throwing it across the floor. He was in the kebab shop next door chatting most of the time. But he was very French and he didn't care what anyone thought.
Stat Attack
Miles driven - 2505
miles cycled - 166 no new mountains
Selfie with 'hero' - 1
Slices of lemon meringue pie taken - 1
Cheese of the day - still the Tomme de savoie
Peage Update
5 peage trips today all fairly well completed.
Finally a quick pronunciation for you. Nice and short, the word is Bains. I'm going with Ba(n) and it seems to be holding up so far.
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