Watching the Tour with Friends

This morning I spent about two hours with 50 of my closest friends. OK. These other 49 people and I had four things in common...

We like cycling.
We watch the Tour de France as much as we can.
We like breakfast.
We were willing to jet into Somerville, MA at 9AM on a Tuesday to eat breakfast with strangers while watching the Tour.

I’ve been blogging the race for the past 15 stages (today is stage 16) and I’ve been doing it practically solo.

This blog entry will run both at TDF08.com and here on Bowl of Cheese. But that’s because while I was watching the Tour I met some riders and took some photos.

In order for them to find the photos, they’re going to look at my Tour de France blog and not here.

The interesting thing was that so many people were up, coherent and willing to spend social time with other people while watching TV.

Social and community norms were followed. No serious topics, no seriously blatant cheering, and a generous respect for ‘morning’ moods.

As an article, the slant would be going after a bunch of cyclists and finding out how far they rode to be with other like-minded riders.

I’d find out what types of bikes were in the complimentary bike parking lot (bike valets took bikes at the door and stored them in the basement while people ate).

And I’d find out who had been to a stage of the Tour in person.

With this group, I found that many had ridden long distances and had nice bikes. They also harbor a healthy respect for the skills of the riders, are angered by the repeated doping, and hope that each stage is as exciting as this one.

From a rider almost flinging himself 2800 meters down a mountain, to a breakaway that lasted all the way to the finish, to the very real possibility that yellow would change hands again - this was a really great morning.

By next year I’ll have another road bike - or more likely a cross bike - and will make an effort to attend on the proper two wheels.

Today I scooted to the city to be with my brethren and I realized what I’ve been missing by being off the bike.

I guess I’ll have to find a way to fit the dirt, pavement and scooter into my recreational life.

As I type this I’m still grinning about the colorful kits (these are biking uniforms), the fun stories people shared (the worst muscle cramps anyone has had), and the tasty buffet-style breakfast provided by Redbones (eggs, sausage, home fries and pulled pork hash).

What a ride!

Updates and standings to come. Also, maybe a change in the format of how things are presented here at TDF08.com.

Two Riders lead 58 miles to go

With nearly 60 miles to go, two riders lead stage 12.

These two are ahead by more than two minutes. They are both Frenchmen.

Gerard and Dumoulin are the two cyclists in the breakaway.

The rest of today's updates will be spoilers and will be posted after 9PM EST.

In future Tours de France, I might just podcast this event live.

Saab Fly to the finish code word coming up.

Nantasket Beach

What? Are you asking why a post that has Nantasket Beach in the title is here on TDF08?

Well, it's here because overheard some people in line at an ice cream stand discussing the Tour. I was wearing my 2007 TDF shirt and figured I was qualified to pitch in.

They wanted to know who to root for and what was occurring in this year's race.

I filled them in a little and then urged them to come here for more details. SO, if you guys are here, leave a comment and let me know how you're enjoying the updates.

61 Posts so far

OK. We're six stages into the 2008 Tour de France and I've put up 61 posts (62 counting this one) regarding the race.

At this clip there will be nearly 210 posts for you to read by the time the Tour ends in Paris in about two and a half weeks. Get your eyes rested.

By the way, I didn't cover it completely in yesterday's posts, but Stefan Schumacher retained the Yellow Jersey and is still in first by 0:12 at the start of stage 6.

Many posts to come. Today's stage was significant, but not completely as promised.

Promises, promises

As promised, there will be no spoilers before 9PM EST. So I guess no more posts today until then. But I will tell you to go watch the last five miles of today's stage 5. It's worth it!

More coming...

So much of it is luck

If you look at Denis Menchov and the stuff written about him before this year's Tour de France, you would think he'd be in the catbird seat for a podium finish.

Well, we're three stages into the 2008 event and Menchov has hit a bump in the road that has put him pretty far back in the overall standings.

Think about it. Had Menchov not been caught up in a crash in yesterday's stage 3, he'd be right up front with Valverde and Evans and the other big names that are less than two minutes behind the leader.

What's going to happen in today's time trial is a likely fall from the front by Romain Feillu of France. Even with his 1:45 lead, I'm guessing that Valverde, Hincapie and even Menchov will leap over this little Frenchman.

After looking at the stats, Menchov is at 2:30 to the leader which means he's at :45 to Valverde and that's going to be tough to make up. Even though we're only a few stages in.

Well, I'm about to watch today's time trial stage and will be back after I find out what happens.

*By the way, cycling is on the minds of people everywhere. I wrote about it on my regular blog and Bella English wrote about it in the Boston Globe this past weekend.

New approach

I've had a bunch of readers tell me that it's too difficult to insulate themselves from Tour de France results during the day of a stage. And my SPOILER notes don't assist them in remaining free from spoilers.

So, in the interest of keeping readers happy I'm changing the approach I use when covering the Tour.

Going forward - including today's already finalized Time Trial - I'm going to give a more introspective and commentary-based blog posting for each stage.

I'll give the results and standings at the end of the day so you can still revel in the statistics without hopping all over the Internet. But my notes and comments will be more forward-looking.

You might even say that I'll be making some predictions and evaluating the cycling prowess of certain athletes.

Let me know how this works for you.

**In the event that something major happens and I can't help myself from writing about it, I'll put SPOILER in the title and will not lead with the pertinent details - I'll instead softly lead up to the events of the day.

Thanks for your feedback!

Jeff