July 22 - A tough climb and the finish line

After a lavish breakfast consisting of lots of good bread, cheeses, and strange muesli mixes, we set off at 8:30 for the long descent from Mont D'Arbois, back through Megeve, and down to Sallanches and Cluses, along the same road that the Tour would be taking later in the day. The first part of the ride was all downhill, on a fairly busy road, but we were going as fast as the traffic, and coursed smoothly down around big sweeping curves until we reached the bottom and then rode several miles along a flat stretch.

Because of the difficulty of the climbs today, some of our riders branched off at Cluses to ride only the Col de la Colombiere, and others (including me), turned off to the Cote de Romme first, which was to be followed by Colimbiere, both Category 1 climbs. The Cote de Romme began almost immediately after a gentle curve to the right that revealed a vertical wall of asphalt rising into the trees. All conversation ceased, there was a cacophony of downshifing gears, and the ordeal began. And on it went for 8 brutal kilometers, an hour and 20 minutes of pain, at a fairly steady 10-12% grade all the way up except for a brief respite about halfway up of only 6-7% for perhaps 1/2 km, which felt almost flat in comparison. I looked down at the GPS on one switchback and read a 17% grade.

A couple of km from the top, I heard thunder, and then the skies opened up and a steady cold rain began. Just over the crest, there was a short downhill stretch and then another slight uphill, at which point one of our vans pulled up alongside me and they all sang "Happy Birthday," which was a great encouragement at that point.

The descent began, cold, wet, on slippery roads, with brakes that barely slowed the bike's progress. By the time I reached the bottom of the descent, soaking wet and shivering, I looked up at the rain still coming down and decided that it was time to pack it in. One of the vans was parked in the village at the base of the climb to Colombiere, and I took the opportunity to stow my bike, and squeeze in the back to try to warm up. We drove up the Col de la Colombiere, passing some of the others in our group on the way. We later learned that some of them had even encountered hail during the climb. The map and charts of today's ride include the Cote de Romme, but at mile 30 it looks funny because that's where I got into the van and rode to the top of the Col de la Colombiere.

Our next stop was about 10 km from the finish in Le Grand-Bornand, where we all ducked into a bar and had some lunch and watched the coverage of the tour on TV. Finally, about 10 of us set off on our bikes for the final descent to the finish, by now in nothing more than a light rain. The roads were slick, though, so it was still a pretty nervous descent.

About 2 km before the finish line, we were met by an official who escorted our group (and only our group) along the final stretch, finally crossing the finish line after quite an adventuresome day. We learned that because the President of France had announced a surprise visit to the finish (we saw him arrive, very discreetly in a black Citroen with no fanfare whatsoever, at the finish line as we were waiting there later), we would not be allowed to have our photos taken on the official podium, but we took some photos in front of it instead, and then walked back to the vans to get out of our sodden clothes. On the way, we passed the Versus booth right at the finish line and Phil Liggett waved at us.

Next, another Tour official came to show us the media area, and we spent a long time at the Versus booth watching the live coverage in glorious English. At that point, we were free to walk around and eventually take our places at the finish line in the press area. I found (and held onto) a spot on the barricade about 20 feet short of the finish, right next to the official french broadcast booth. In fact, only a handful of people were closer to the finish line than I. The excitement built, and then finally we saw, way up on the switchbacks coming down the mountain on the opposite side of the valley, the three tiny leading riders and their cars. Down and down they came, helicopters buzzing overhead, the French announcer's voice becoming more and more frenetic. The following video, which was taken as the Schleck's and Contador approached and then crossed the finish line gives a good idea of just how close I was, and of the excitement of the finish.

A couple of minutes later, Lance Armstrong finished, and then the riders arrived in two and threes for a long time. After the finish, we walked about a half mile to a big field, where two helicopters arrived to ferry us out of the valley, over the Alps in spectacular fashion, and back to our hotel in about 10 minutes flying time. At dinner just a while ago, we heard that others who had been driving back from Le Grand-Bornand were still barely on their way due to the traffic. As if this all wasn't enough of a celebration, a big fuss was made over my birthday at dinner (which I thoroughly enjoyed), so all in all it was a very successful July 22.