1320PNY
07-30-2009, 05:49 PM
Well, some of you knew I went to France to watch my Brother-In-Law (Danny Pate) compete in the Tour de France. Others of you didn't know or don't care, but some have asked that I post my experience.
First of all, it's 6 1/2 hours from NJ to Geneva with the jet stream. Getting there we were 8 hours ahead, so we started our day, again, once we landed. Got a VW Passat TDI wagon w/5-spd. Bought a Garmin GPS (1390T) before we left with the Euro maps and it saved our ass twice. The FM transmitter picks up traffic (U.S. and Euro) and guides you around the BS, which came in handy one day. Most of the driving over there is similar, but stop lights are jacked (no right on red) and we only sat at three lights all week because there is a round about everywhere.
As for following the race. We got up every morning at 6AM. Had our O.J. and our croissant with butter and then headed out to the race. We got to the race finish every morning by 9:30 AM and then sat there until 5PM when the riders came through. There was a jumbo-tron at each race and we sat in the grass and watch the race from there most of the day. Water and Coke is high dollar ($5 a bottle) so we spent more on fluids than fuel over the 9 days. Fuel is .64 euro per liter and a gallon is 3.8L with a Euro being about $1.46. So with the TDI we were in for about $75 Euro ($110) for fuel for the week.
My Brother-In-Law is a "Domestique" which means he's the sprint star bitch. He rides from the front of the pack (breaking the wind for all the riders) for about the first 60 miles. He then falls back to the team car and gets water and food (gel pack worth 2K calories) for each rider. He then goes back and forth with water and rain gear as needed. He pulls them to within 2 miles of the finish and then falls back to do it again the next day. He rode a total of 2400 miles in 3 weeks with 2 rest days, so well over 100 miles per day average. He burns about 5400 calories a day on average and he can keep a constant speed of 28MPH on the road for 3 hours.
France would be great if it were not for the French. Service sucks. You get one ice cube. What they pass for meat is shit. They all take a bath once a week. They bring dogs everywhere and dogs wash less than humans. The cheeses were spectacular. Some of the salads were damn good (ate salads instead of "mystery meats"). The local beer 1664 "Kronenburg" was awesome off the tap. (They have this at Cafe Hollander on Downer).
Outside of that, we rented bikes and road around this kick-ass little town called Annecy. We saw several castles, the Eiffel Tower (which is friggin amazing) and did a bunch of other touristy stuff along the way. Some of our hotels were decent, but mostly just little dives with shitty beds.
I did a ton of walking. I ate a bunch and drank some beers, but ultimlately I lost 2 lbs on this trip.
All in all it was an eye-opening experience. I can't say if I had the money again I would go to France, but since it was a family thing, can't complain.
If you have the money, buy a roots blower or go to Hawaii (Maui).
First of all, it's 6 1/2 hours from NJ to Geneva with the jet stream. Getting there we were 8 hours ahead, so we started our day, again, once we landed. Got a VW Passat TDI wagon w/5-spd. Bought a Garmin GPS (1390T) before we left with the Euro maps and it saved our ass twice. The FM transmitter picks up traffic (U.S. and Euro) and guides you around the BS, which came in handy one day. Most of the driving over there is similar, but stop lights are jacked (no right on red) and we only sat at three lights all week because there is a round about everywhere.
As for following the race. We got up every morning at 6AM. Had our O.J. and our croissant with butter and then headed out to the race. We got to the race finish every morning by 9:30 AM and then sat there until 5PM when the riders came through. There was a jumbo-tron at each race and we sat in the grass and watch the race from there most of the day. Water and Coke is high dollar ($5 a bottle) so we spent more on fluids than fuel over the 9 days. Fuel is .64 euro per liter and a gallon is 3.8L with a Euro being about $1.46. So with the TDI we were in for about $75 Euro ($110) for fuel for the week.
My Brother-In-Law is a "Domestique" which means he's the sprint star bitch. He rides from the front of the pack (breaking the wind for all the riders) for about the first 60 miles. He then falls back to the team car and gets water and food (gel pack worth 2K calories) for each rider. He then goes back and forth with water and rain gear as needed. He pulls them to within 2 miles of the finish and then falls back to do it again the next day. He rode a total of 2400 miles in 3 weeks with 2 rest days, so well over 100 miles per day average. He burns about 5400 calories a day on average and he can keep a constant speed of 28MPH on the road for 3 hours.
France would be great if it were not for the French. Service sucks. You get one ice cube. What they pass for meat is shit. They all take a bath once a week. They bring dogs everywhere and dogs wash less than humans. The cheeses were spectacular. Some of the salads were damn good (ate salads instead of "mystery meats"). The local beer 1664 "Kronenburg" was awesome off the tap. (They have this at Cafe Hollander on Downer).
Outside of that, we rented bikes and road around this kick-ass little town called Annecy. We saw several castles, the Eiffel Tower (which is friggin amazing) and did a bunch of other touristy stuff along the way. Some of our hotels were decent, but mostly just little dives with shitty beds.
I did a ton of walking. I ate a bunch and drank some beers, but ultimlately I lost 2 lbs on this trip.
All in all it was an eye-opening experience. I can't say if I had the money again I would go to France, but since it was a family thing, can't complain.
If you have the money, buy a roots blower or go to Hawaii (Maui).