Stage 24: Le Perreux to Paris (last stage)

Cool, so do I get some kind of finisher's medal? Probably not, but it's nice to be done. Arrival at the Arc de Triomphe, which is at the end of the road known as the Av des Champs Elysees.


The completed route. I didn't have a cycling computer but I am guessing the total length was about 3,500 to 4,000km long, but I really don't know. Who cares really?


Every year of the Tour de France ends on the Av des Champs Elysees, so that was my destination as I rode thru the city.


Notre Dame in the background and the Siene River down below. There was a blissful bike path along most of the river which made for safe riding thru the city.


A full room of soccer fans watching the match between France and Spain(3-1) in the youth hostel in Paris.


Time to pack up and head home. Back to sweet, beautiful California.

Much thanks to everyone who checked out the blog and for those who took the time to leave messages. This will be my last entry. Au revoir.

Stage 23: Auxerre to Nogent-sur-Marne

Fontainebleau! A true dream come true. I hauled my climbing shoes the entire trip just so I could climb at this spot.


Fontainebleau is a town about 80km south of Paris and is a huge area of old growth forest that was orginally protected to serve as royal hunting grounds. The forest also contains hundreds of sandstone boulders that have become a world class climbing destination.

I intentionally schedualed in about 4 days to spend in this beautiful area, but mostly to serve as a time cushion. In case I was behind on my schedual it would only take time away from Fontainebleau instead of potentially missing my flight home.


Luckily for me I arrived a full day early which meant I had a full four days to climb before heading up to Paris. I didn't have a chalk bag or crash pad, but I didn't mind. There was also amazing trail running and I ran each day I was there. At night I would head to the local bars to watch the latest World Cup match. It was incredibly relaxing to not ride the bicycle much and to just hang out under the canopy of the forest.


A camping spot in the forest.


Not all my self timered climbing shots were sucessful. On this one I fell off just before the photo went off. Let's try it again....


Much better.

Stage 22: Dijon to Auxerre

I am getting skinny with lack of food and I think my tires are flat. Actually that's not me...a statue of Jacques Anquetil who won the tour five times back in the late 1950's and early 1960's.


Another lonely night of stealth camping just outside Dijon.


That's the largest heron I have ever seen! It was common to see public infrastructure painted with murals.


Arrival in Auxerre. The night I arrived there was a music festival in town with dozens of bands setting up all around the streets of downtown. People could walk around and check out all the bands for free. I only saw two bands before I decided I should leave town to find a camping spot but one of the bands I did see was a French reggie band. Wierd.

Stage 21: Dijon to Dijon (time trial)

As I entered into each stage town I always took a photo of the sign as I arrived in town just so I could prove that I hit all the stage towns of this tour. This stage was another time trail stage, which for me meant that it was a freebe stage. Once again I got all flustered being in such a huge city and left as soon as I could. Fontainebleau was calling and I was getting impatient.


"Do you know what they call a quarter pounder in France? A royal with cheese." This is a paraphrased quote from the movie Pulp Fiction. But it is true, they are called a royal cheese, because of the metric system, and thankfully I didn't actually go inside to get this photo.

Stage 20: Saint-Priest to Dijon

Can you please draw me a sheep?


Images from the book 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint Exupery on the walls of a school just south of Dijon. If you haven't ever read this book I recommend going down to the nearest public library and checking it out.


I am sorry my dear bicycle but there is no room for you in the tent.


Not the best photo, but how often do you see a white stork on the top of a telephone pole? I happened to hit this amazing birding area where I got seven life birds in the matter of 20 minutes including the night heron, purple heron, white stork, turtle dove, little grebe, poachard and the black-winged stilt.

Stage 19: Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Priest

Grenoble is surrounded by three mountain ranges.
So, my riding thru the Alps was over, so I guess it is mostly downhill to Paris from here. Grenoble was beautiful and I really wish I could have hung around a bit more and checked out the town.


Here is another view of Grenoble. The hostel in town sounded enticing, however I decided to save the funds and stealth camp instead. Before leaving town I was able to get catch part of the Italy versus United States (1-1) match. It's pretty amazing that the US was able to tie such a good team.


Zen and the Art of Roadside Maintenance. Oh no, what is wrong with my poor bicycle. Check out how the chain line is a little curved and out of wack.

The town of Saint Priest was a subburb of Lyon and I wasn't very impressed. I left after only spending 20 minutes in town.

Stage 18: L'-Alpe-d'Huez to L'-Alpe-d'Huez

The Alpe d'Huez is probably the most famous the climbs of the Tour de France. It was first climbed in the 1952 tour when Fausto Coppi (from Italy) went on to claim victory at the top as well as victory in the race. Coppi claimed, "It is by winning at Alpe d'Huez that a rider knows he has become the campionissimo of the world." The climb averages 8.5% in rise over the 13.8km and an elevation gain of over 1,100M. Lucky for me the only year that the Alpe d'Huez has ever been climbed twice by the Tour de France was in 1979. So, of course, I had no choice but to go up twice.


Wow is that the French flag? No, it is only my cycling shorts tan line. Thankfully it has been nice and sunny lately.


Each turn of the Alpe d'Huez is numbered starting at 21. Also, the names of riders who have won the stage are on each of the signs. It is kind of nice to be able to count them down as you go up. There are literally hundreds of cyclists that make the climb daily. It's very popular. When the real tour is in town over 500,000 fans line the route to watch the riders go up.


The second time up. See stage 17 for the first time up. I did the two climbs up on consecutive days and I raced myself on the second time up. My best time was 1 hour 26 minutes which was 22 minutes faster than my first time, but on the first time up I was taking photos and even bird watching. The course record time was set by the Italian named Marco Pantani with a time of 37 minutes and 35 seconds.

So, that is my last big climb in the Alps, from here it is a long, hill ride back to Paris via Dijon and several other towns. I am on schedual to get back on time but I can't linger too long in any towns.


Bouldering near Bourg d' Oisans. I finally found some boulders to climb on. There were only two boulders you could climb on and they were chalked up so people have been climbing them. It was the first time I have climbed so far in Europe, but I hope to stop by Fontenbleau on the way back to Paris for more bouldering.

Stage 17: Moutiers to L'-Alpe-d'-Huez

Looking at the map this stage made me sweat. There was no easy way to get from Moutiers to the town of Bourg d' Oisans, which is at the base of the climb known as the Alpe d' Huez. I'll talk about the Alpe d' Huez more on the next stage blog.

So, I looked at the map and I had to choose between going over one of several difficult cols (aka passes) or ride about 150 km around a small range within the Alps thru Grenoble and then back up. Going around the mountain range would take over a full day longer than it would be to just painfully ride up one of the cols. I decided it would be cool to at least try one high alpine col in the alps on this trip, because how often do I get to ride around in the Alps? The problem was that my trailer would have to come with me and the thought of hauling the trailer over the pass made my knees scream bloody murder at me, but I decided to "nut it up," and go for what seemed to be the 'easiest' col which was the Col de Glandon.


The steep road up the Col d' Glandon. Check out those steep switch backs. For this climb I would ride for thirty minute intervals then rest. Half way up the climb I switched to 20 minute intervals. I sang the Tom Petty song "No, I won't back down, no I won't back down." Finally after a grueling 4 hours and 22 minutes I hit the top. This was by far my toughest climb of the whole trip due to the fact that I had the trailer. For me, it was way more difficult than the Alpe d' Huez.


Ah yes, the joy of reaching the top of a pass. From here I raced down other side to try and catch the England versus Trinidad de Togo match of the World Cup (2-0) which I was able to catch the second half.


England versus Trinidad de Togo in the World Cup. It is so nice to just sit in a chair and not be on a bike and just watch a soccer match.


The top of the Alpe d' Huez after going up the first time. I treated myself to a campground down in the town of Bourg-d-Oisans down below the climb where I was able to leave the trailer.

Stage 16: Morzine to Les Menuires

Climbers painted on a wall near Morzine. Les Menuires was a town that I didn't know the exact location of when I started the trip. When I had a better map I found out exactly where it was. Up a steep, steep road high above the town of Moutiers.


On the climb up to Les Menuires. It took me three tries with the self timer on my camera to get this shot. Note that the trailer isn't trailing behind me. Where is the trailer?


The trailer stashed in the woods. There is no way I was going to haul the trailer up that hill if I was just going to turn around and ride down again.


I am not sure the exact elevation of this town, but I am guessing around 1,900 m. I was expecting a quiet alpine village, but as you can see there is a high rise hotel in the background. This is a popular ski resort in the winter and during the 1992 Alberville Winter Olympics this resort was host to several ski events.

Stage 15: Evian to Morzine-Avoriaz

It was a nice, little steep climb up into the Alps. Thankfully this was a short stage. In the 1979 tour it was a time trial stage which means that the racers were sent off in intervals of about 10 minutes. So, there is no riding with the group, just you and the bicycle. For me, it was a short stage of only 50 km.

The peaks just north of the town of Morzine. Note the beautiful blue sky in the background. I have been blessed with a week or so of good weather.


Hey buddy watch out for traffic! Not sure what kind of snake this is, but I rerouted him off the road and back into the grass.


More cool peaks to look at as I ride up the hills and shoot down the other side.


Exhausted from a full day of riding in the Alps. Morzine was a cool little town but I arrived on a Monday and most of the town was closed. This town is also a stage town for the 2006 Tour de France. Like most ski resort towns, in the summer things slow down and most shops close for the season.

Stage 14: Belfort to Evian

This was the longest stage of the tour for me in terms of distance and time. It travels through the back roads of the Jura region and ends at the base of the Alps.


The first match of the 2006 World Cup between Germany and Costa Rica (4-2).I have been able to catch some world cup games live from some of the bars throughout the Jura and Alps. Any bar with a TV has the games on from 3pm till about 11pm. It's really cool to see the games live and to get my mind off the road.


Crossing the Switzerland border near Lac Leman (aka Lake Geneva). I was only in Switwerland for 2 and a half hours. I would have spent more time but I didn't have any Swiss curancy and I was itching to get into the Alps.


In Switzerland I saw the most impressive recycling center ever. As you can see the compost on the right and used clothing on the left. There was also a bin for batteries and another for coffee grounds.


Sunset on Lac Leman from the town of Evian, which is the same Evian that bares the name on water bottles. This town ended Stage 14. From this town it is up into the Alps for me.

Stage 13: Metz to Ballon-d'-Alsace

This stage was pretty mellow, thankfully. The weather has also improved. Lots of sunshine. I am five entries behind, so I am going to write quickly and try to catch up.

Strange fruit on this tree. You pass by bizarre things sometimes.

This stage road through flat country of northern France and ended on the top of the top of the Ballon d' Alsace. I wasn't exactly sure what the Ballon was until I had a good map. It's a burly little climb up to a mountain range known as the Ballons.


Lance has been here. Allez means "GO!" Not all the road graffiti was good for Lance. About 500 meters uphill from this it said "Lance du Pussy!" The road isn't as steep as this photo would suggest. I tilted the camera to get the words in.


This ends Stage 13 for me. But, since I like to bag peaks I decided to walk up the last 200 meters to the true summit of the ballon.


This is my first ever European peak.