Well the routine is usually a flight back to Johburg, stay for a day or two to catch up with contractors and then head back home. This time my trip coincides with a little bike race in France, the 100th year of the tour de France! I had decided to head up to France to catch some of the racing before heading to Johburg. I was meeting up with some friends (Lyndon and Kate) from the UK who were heading to Toulouse. Toulouse was the perfect spot to catch 3 days of racing. The start and end of two stages, and the individual time trial (about an hour out of town).
Toulouse is the capital of the Midi-Pyrenees and the largest city in the southwest of France. It is also the summer home to Stuart o’Grady one of Australia best cyclists. Toulouse is renowned for it’s high-tech industries, including some of Europe’s most advanced aerospace facilities and birthplace of the Concorde. It is close to the Pyrenees (Spanish border) so there is a big Spanish influence. Toulouse is historically known as la ville rose (the pink city) after the colour of the local brick.
It’s funny no matter how much you prepare yourself for another country the language is the first thing that hits you. In most popular tourist destinations ie. Paris you can get by with English. Now that I am in Toulouse I have only met one person that could speak a little English, it was now sink or swim. I have been just getting by with a few numbers, a pleasant greeting (bonjour/bonsoir) and the odd thankyou (merci) seems to go down a treat.
I arrived at the hotel the long way. I caught a shuttle from the airport to a spot (which I thought was) near the hotel. It was in the end not too far away but I headed off the in the wrong direction with all my gear. I took a taxi to the hotel which was by then about 7 blocks away. I also discovered that taxis in Toulouse (France?) charge extra for bags, dogs, flagfall and witty comments (?). To say I was fleeced was an understatement but hey I was at the hotel and looking forward to a shower (or was I). I had arrived on Bastille day (French national holiday) and there was a notice on the hotel that it was closed for the day! Luckily someone let me in (the English speaking lady owner), showed me my room and told me of the fireworks by the river that evening (they were great).
The room was typical by European standards but it was still small. About the width of a double bed and three bed lengths long. It had it’s own bathroom, a small televsion and a desk. The biggest advantage was the small balcony that looked over the courtyard. I was on the the third floor so the open doors managed to catch any breeze that was around. The average temperature of my stay in Toulouse was 32 degrees with a very high humidity. It was unexpectedly sticky but a darn site better than Perth at the moment (or so I hear). Another great thing about the European summer are the long days, sunrise ~5am sunset around ~10pm, perfect.
I wondered around the first day taking in a few of the sites. I managed to find a bike (velo) hire place that had a good selection of mountain bikes. I hired a “Gitane” that had both front and rear suspension. I had never ridden a bike with both so I thought it would be good fun. The suspension took a while to get used to as the faster you wanted to go the more the suspension gave way. Not as responsive as the road bike but I was now mobile and could see alot more. Toulouse is set up for cyclists but riding on the wrong side of the road without a helmet was a bit daunting at first but drivers here are aware of cyclists so after a while the going was easy.
The arrival of stage 11 of the tour was a little out of town so I rode to the finsh line. It was about a 40 minute ride along a cycle path that followed a canal (too easy). The start of stage 13 (Cite de L’Espace) was also in the area so I checked that out as well. Having scoped out the plan of attack for the next few days it was time to ride along the road where the pelleton would ride. Yes, it would be a great couple of days.
That afternoon I decided it was time for a swim. There was an indoor pool about 100m from the hotel that was unfortunatly closed but they gave me a map of all the pools or “plongers”in Toulouse so I went to the one that seemed the easiest to get to. It was about a half an hour away. I found my way there fairly easily but then had to negotiate my way in. “Bonnet obligatoire” and you must wear sluggos (my interpretation) was the cry from the pool dude. It took me a little while to work out that I had to wear a swimming cap (dispenser machine), speedos and give them whatever valuables/clothes I wanted to on a numbered plastic rack (good system). They gave me a tag in exchange and I went in. The first thing that hit me was it is OK to be topless at a public swimming pool! Certainly not the norm in Oz but I’m sure it could catch on.
Well the next few days of racing were great. I took photos of what I could when I could (at least 4 rolls). They varied from individual finishes to shots of time trial bikes. The time trial at “Cap Decouverte” (Cape Discovery-an old coal mine turned into Europes top leisure park!) was excellent. Ullrich pulled back 1:40 minutes on Armstrong to make it very interesting. The next day Ullrich managed a place and to reduce the overall time gap to 15 sec. This tour will be one that goes down in history I’m sure. It was hard not to get caught up in the atmosphere, I even bought a “Jaune en maillot” (yellow jersey). I thought if I get a few good photos then I could get it framed with the photos. Would I be game enough to wear it on a group ride at home? Hell I got some of the guys official programs so I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. Another great aspect of the tour was the “caravane publicitaire” or publicity caravan. It consists of an hours worth of advertising floats that leave/arrive about 45 minutes before the riders. They advertise just about everything and throw samples/gimics (hats, food, key rings etc) to the crowd along the whole route, it is alot of fun. My most prized piece is a yellow riders cap (Mavic) with the the tour de France 1903-2003 written on the side. The key rings will make good (?) gifts.
Well I’m back on the plane to Johburg tommorrow. I migt have to go for a run before then. Only a week left of malaria tablets to take. Just under a week until the journey ends.
Baz