Membership has its privileges

As part of our Tour package we got certain perks.  Our bikers rode across the finish line yesterday:

We were allowed into the "technical area" where the podium and media reside.  Tony and I passed the NBC truck and saw Bob Roll up on the production deck.  We asked him for a photo and he climbed down to join us.  He couldn't have been nicer.

And being in the French Alps is pretty spectacular.

Confessions of a Tour de France junkie

I first became interested in the Tour de France during the Greg LeMond era.  My interest, okay obsession, evolved during the Lance Armstrong years.  Lance played only a small part of this escalation, however.  I had started road biking by then, but more importantly I had become best friends with a fellow rider and TDF devotee, Tony McShane.  Nothing stirs the pot of fandom more than having a bromance with someone similarly obsessed.

Here comes the confession part.  For at least the seven Armstrong Tours, three midsummer weeks for me would go like this:   I would arrive at my office in the morning, immediately power up my computer, and log on to www.letour.fr.  Given the seven hour time difference, the riders were already on the course.  I would check the website in between patient appointments, pretty much every appointment. With any significant race developments I was in touch with Tony, either by phone or text, often as many as a half dozen times a day.  Thankfully, the stage would finish late morning (5 PM French time) and so, finally, some work could get done.

Being here is a spectacle.  Today's Herald Tribune headline says it pretty well.

Last night I learned that Tony and I are amateurs in the TDF-geek world. At dinner I started talking to two guys in our group who put us to shame. They are both physicians. One of them has two small kids. They are seemingly normal appearing guys. They do not get drunk or rowdy. This is their third TDF. And here is a picture of them;

Chewbacca and The Naked Cowboy.
They haul these costumes here from home. The Chewy costume weighs 30lbs. They don these outfits, wait by the side of the road and then run alongside the riders when they arrive. They have been on European TV. Der Spiegel interviewed them this week. Apparently they brought along other costumes.

Clearly Tony and I have our work cut out for us.

Costa wins.

More content to follow but we staked out front row seats and got a great view of the winner. Unfortunately, when the yellow jersey came by, I got blocked by a motorcycle.

L'Alpe d'Huez

We took a coach from Lyon to the top of L'Alpe d'Huez today.  We are at the top of the Alps.  It was a long, hard ride in a bus.  And we took the easy way up.  We got a glimpse of the lower part of the legendary climb the riders will do tomorrow.  Holy crap.  Riding up the intense grade, including 21 switchbacks, on a bike seems preposterous to me.  The fact that tomorrow's stage will require them to do it twice, for the first time in history, is inconceivable to me.  I can't wait to watch it.

The photos

Views of Lyon --- the city at night from on high, Notre Dame, and my meal: chicken and mushroom terrine followed by a PERFECTLY prepared duck in a mango sauce, both were other-worldly. Tony's fois gras wasn't too shabby either.

The kindness of the French.......

This trip is a gift from our wives. An amazing chance to follow the Tour de France for four days. This is the 100th anniversary of Le Tour. My bro Tony McShane and I have been ardent fans for years and now have a chance to experience the spectacle, up close and personal.

I have heard some say "yeah, it's great but too bad it's in France", a reference to the common belief that the French are, at best, inhospitable, and, at worst, down right rude. On several previous trips I have never found that to be true, particularly outside of Paris. After being one the ground in Lyon for less than 12 hours, we have been smothered with kindness.

We travelled all night, waited at Charles DeGaulle for four hours and then flew on to Lyon. Once checked in to a very comfortable airport hotel (our Tour pick up point) at about 3 pm, the urge to crash and rest up for tomorrow was strong. But then I pulled out the iPad and started reading about Lyon, in particular the food. I quickly learned that Lyon is considered by many to be the epicenter of French cooking. No less than Daniel Boulud says so.

So I shifted into high hear and started researching. I looked at blogs, zagat, Michellin and, of course Trip Advisor. I selected Archange. During this process Andre' at the hotel front desk could not have been more helpful. He embraced my mission and made it his own! He arranged for a "special cab" to take us there. Sure enough a young friendly Algerian named "Mous" (pronounced Moose) picked us up in his BMW 5-series. On the half-hour ride into Lyon city center we learned many things. First we learned that Mous had two boys with another on the way, he had been driving a cab for twelve years, that he plays poker and wants to play in Vegas and that he likes Americans, even disgraced Lance Armstrong. He found our restaurant even though he had never heard of the street - a good sign, it was a hidden gem. Mous told us to explore the Old City after dinner and stop for ice cream and coffee at a famous cafe. We obeyed. I had a banana sundae with an espresso with whipped cream. All I can say is: Damn! He then picked us up and offered to take us, off meter, to the gem of Lyon, the Basilique Notre Dame de foirviere'. Beautifully lit at night and perched high above the city with great panoramic views of all if Lyon. We had a great, free mini tour of Lyon from a cabbie that was proud of his city and liked Americans.

The French are great.

In Lyon

Arrived today in Lyon. I have heard it called The Food Capital of the World so I am scouting restaurants for tonight.

Cathy goes big!

Alaskan mammals

Bucket List

 

If you have a bucket list, you would be well served to meet Jim Heck (Explorers World Travel).  I am now on my third adventure with Jim.  In 2003, Jim guided our family with friends on an safari to East Africa, and then in 2010 Alex and I went on a Primate Safari to Uganda and Rwanda.   On each trip he commented that the only rival to Africa's beauty, vastness and sense of adventure is Alaska.  Hook firmly set.

We spent two days in Fairbanks where we learned about the history of Alaska and how these folks survive 40 below zero temps in Winter with 5 hours of "sunlight" that is barely dusk-like.  We also birded and visited a large mammal research facility (see moskox and caribou pics).

We took the Alaskan railroad to the eastern edge of Denali Naional Park.

Once off the train we boarded a bus to take us to the west side of the park - a 90 mile trip that takes about six hours.  We had been warned that we might see wildlife, but given millions of acres of land and large mammal populations numbering in the hundreds, we might see nothing.  Fifteen minutes into the bus ride we ran into this girl.

 

And the luck held out as a few hours later we saw several grizzly bears.

We had also been warned that Mt. McKinley was frequently hidden in the clouds and a clear view was rare.  Yesterday there was not a cloud in the sky.  We hiked to a ridge above our lodge and saw this:

Stunning.  Just shy of 21,000 feet.  

Our luck held today for "flight-seeing".  Three five-seat Planes flew us around the mountain in perfect weather.

We go fishing for King Salmon tomorrow.  Hope the luck holds out.

Landed in Anchorage

OView from plane window

Off to Alaska

Today we leave for two weeks in Alaska, leaving Hazel in Drew's capable hands.