There is NO RESTING on Le Tour!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a rest day for the Tour.  Since you already read yesterday's blog post, you know that your intrepid Tour de France Reporters JnJ spent the day scouting the HC Port de Bales climb.  


Today the Tour is done resting.  Since we never actually did rest, we had an early wake up for an hour plus  shuttle to just another picture perfect Haute (pronounced "OAT") Pyrenees town.  We were up and out early   to be on the actual course the riders would be on, before the roads were closed down.

Legs balked at the warm up, but agreed to respond when we told them "YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FRICKIN' TOUR DE FRANCE, HOW AWESOME IS THAT".  OK, up we go.  Today's ride was the last 40 ish Kilometers of today's stage which included the Category 1 climb to the Col du Peyresourde.

Unlike yesterday's solitude on the little cattle path up the mountain, today was Tour Fever.  Fans everywhere shouting and running and walking.  Hordes of people headed up the mountain on all kinds of bikes.  We were a part of the mass, dodging pedestrians, children, dogs, mountain bikes, and people from all over the world proudly waving their flags.  Several kilometers of 8+ average grades later, John kicked it up a notch to summit the col.  "A few" minutes later, Jane joined him.  YAY WE DID IT!  Weary legs and all, we were a part of the craziness of the tour.

Back in Luchon, it was so cool to be riding the last few kilometers of the stage.  

The downhill was extraordinary.  We stopped to take photos with one of our riding buddies, Anne, before rolling back into Luchon where the barriers were up and crowds were waiting for the tour finish.  We relished our refreshing showers before heading out into the melee.

We were excited about our VIP seating passes.  As we walked over to the seating (which was in full sun) we got distracted by the area where the riders come in.  And then they came in!  LOOK WHO WE MET:

BRADLEE!

CHRIS FROOME!

CAV!

Cav was not feeling so well.

All this excitement was followed by beer garden with our riding buddies, wine tasting, and dinner until 10:30 PM.  Yup, there is no resting on the tour.  Bon Soir!

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