Micks Big Day

Okay... so Wednesday 22nd July was seriously one of the best days ever!! It was in no way the perfect day and we actually had a few unexpected adventures, but even with the unexpected adventures it was just wonderful and I loved it. I loved spending the whole day with Mick, I loved hiking up the mountain in the fresh air (it has been so long since I have been on a proper hike and I miss it). I loved seeing Mick so excited, I loved the atmosphere and watching the people around us. I just loved that we were there, and at times couldn't really believe it! I am so thankful. Oh... and I loved Le Tour de France!!!

We decided to drive around to Le Grand-Bornand where the race would finish (not over the mountain the way we went the day before) and find somewhere to park the car there, and then walk up the Col de la Colombiere and down some of the other side to find a good spot where the riders would still be climbing. We set off on our 7km hike with the sun only just shining. I strongly advised Mick that we wouldn't need coats and umbrellas (although I took my small fold up one just in case) because we wanted to travel light and the day before was somewhere around the 30˚C mark! I think my exact words were 'If it rains... we will probably be glad to get a bit wet!'. Anyway, so we hadn't been hiking long and it starts spitting, we then turn around to see big black clouds coming over the mountains, we keep hiking, but it wasn't long and the rain was coming in quite hard. We then heard thunder and saw lightning! My small umbrella comes out at this point, and nearly gets blown away, but we huddle under it together!! The rain continued on and off like this for about an hour, which in some ways was quite nice, because it would have been a struggle hiking in the heat. Unfortunately we didn't even get any photos on our way up - or at the top because the camera was put away in its waterproof bag... it's also nice to just enjoy it sometimes without worrying about taking pictures.

We made it to the top in good time and were quite pleased with ourselves (it was about lunch time - and the bikes weren't due until about 5pm) I stood up at the barrier right under the banner at the top of the climb - PERFECT position - but only lasted about 5 minutes! It was crowded up there with people huddled under any bit of protection they could find (saw one guy laying under a truck!!!).

We were standing at the top of the French Alps in the middle of summer, and it was FREEZING.... I'm talking freezing - like on Mt Wellington in the middle of winter, and we were wet and it was really raining by now! We thought about heading down the other side, like in our original plan, but overheard people saying it was pretty packed down there, with not much shelter and if the weather turned worse there wouldn't really be anywhere to go (most of the road is on the cliff edge). I went and used the most disgusting porta-loo ever, sitting there knowing that if the door happened to fling open there would be about 100 people looking right at me, and then we made the big choice to head back down to the car!! It was rather funny because the whole way up - as we passed heaps of people all set up, we were saying 'why would you want to watch it on the down hill?' The bikes will wizz past in seconds!!' (On the steep climbs they are actually going a lot slower - so you get a better look!!)

However we felt it was the right thing to do, and we are really glad we did. We are also really glad we walked up there, wouldn't take it back for anything, it was fantastic.

By the time we reached the car, which happened to be in a pretty good spot, we were glad to sit down for a minute. At first thought we were going to keep going down to the finish, but it was about 2pm and they had decided to close the road. So we had to stay put, which worked out really well in the end anyway. We were surprised at how good a position we were actually in, we had the car, we were on a corner - looking up a straight and we had nice people around us. We were about 8km from the finish and we weren't crowded in - which was nice. We also had good entertainment for a few hours while we waited, watching a Gendarme (police officer) try and explain to many cyclists that the road was closed and they would have to wait here - lot's of funny stories to tell about this, but I had better show you some pictures!

{Here she is, the gendarme - she really did have a hard job this day. People refusing to listen to her, sneaking off when she wasn't watching and some just being plain old rude.}

{Some of the view}

{The "10km to go" mark}

{The start of 'the caravan' that comes through about 2 hours before the bikes, revving everyone up and throwing out goodies}

{Haribo make lollies, they are kind of like Allens, but no way near as good}

{Roadsign Australia - a proud moment! - Don't even have any photos showing us in our Aussie gear!!}

{Along with advertisers you get heaps of police cars, motorbikes and team cars flying down the empty road}

{You know the bikes aren't too far away when you see the helicopters}

{We could see them coming down the mountain, there are 2 helicopters in this photo - one following the leaders and the other following the second group}

{And here they come...}

{It's Alberto Contador in the yellow jersey (who won the Tour) and the Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank}

{Alberto Contador in The Yellow Jersey}

{The one and only Lance Armstrong, who was back after retiring 4 years ago}

{Lance finished the overall race in 3rd place, just 5 minutes behind Contador, his team mate. He didn't look all that happy standing in third place, but I guess if you had previously won the tour 7 times you wouldn't enjoy coming in third either!}

{A chasing group}

{Franco Pellizotti wearing the Polka Dot Jersey who became 'King of the Mountains'}

{I like these next 2 photos, they look so happy! I guess they have been riding for 155km and have under 10k to go - all downhill - so you would be feeling pretty good!}

{Thor Hushovd, who won The Green Jersey for the sprinter with the most points}

{And here comes Cadel Evens, who unfortunately didn't have a good year - unlike the last 4 years where he finished 8th, 4th, 2nd and 2nd - rest up Cadel and come back next year and get 'em!}

{Cadel is on the left in red, white and black (on the yellow bike) - he rides for Silence Lotto - and is Australian in case you didn't know!}

{Cadel finished 30th - which is still great out of 156 riders - but his year is still to come!}

{The third one here is Mark Cavendish, he is British and is the best sprinter in the world, but he lost some points on one of the stages and therefore missed out on the Green Jersey. But he won 6 stages overall and is a cycling legend!}

{A few more groups followed through, and then it was all over... for the day! Thousands of cyclists then came streaming down the mountain, it was a sight to see - we headed back up and over, because the road was still closed going down into Le Grand Bornand.}

{It was really interesting listening to the cows in the paddocks ringing their bells - I didn't know they even still used the cow bell!}

{Ski lifts}

A HUGE thanks to Mum and Dad again for taking the kids for the whole day and letting us enjoy it. We really did, and we will remember it forever.