Day 4 - Abandons

Tuesday 10 July 2007

I have to start back at breakfast at the château, because this place was so great. It’s on a huge piece of property, and it is so nice in the forest here. Thierry & Sylvie prepared breakfast for the 10 of us staying there (haha other crew had to go elsewhere!), which was fantastic. Unfortunately, like every other stage in the Tour, we only spend the night and are quickly on our way. Good find by our logistics crew.

So it’s only stage 3 today, and two of our crew have already abandoned! Even the Tour hasn't lost this many riders yet! Dirk, one of the tech managers took off yesterday; which apparently was pre-planned. Dirk is an awesome guy, who really knows what he’s doing in the truck. Also, Goss ran off today, apparently the stress was getting to him. But I don’t understand, he was here all of last year. Who knows. You know what I say? They’re all soft. And screw you Bellotti. I’m tough man.

Today’s stage – REDICULOUSLY LONG. It was the longest stage of the Tour, and the riders just decided to ride at the leisurely pace of 33kph! That’s so f**king slow! They were over an hour behind schedule! WASTE OF TAPE! Everyone in the truck, and I mean everyone, was starting to fall asleep after so long, including me.

We got to the hotel in good form and fashion tonight here in Joigny; on a road which took us right next to Paris; so I saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up, it was very nice. We’ve finally had the time and location now to sit and relax with other crew members and have a drink. A drink naturally turned into three, and 11:30pm into 1:30am. But that’s all to be expected. All I really want to do right now is watch the All-Star Game, but naturally it’s nowhere to be found. Yes I know it doesn’t start until 9pm ET. Yes I know that means it’s 3am here.

Plus I can’t get over how late the sun goes down here. 11pm and there’s still the slightest bit of light in the sky. European summer DST is ridiculous.