Day 66 July 18th

Got up early to catch the metro and the the train to to Geneva to catch up with Craig. What a difference a fast train makes. This trip was only 140k but still took 2 hours, the same time it took to do 500k on the TGV. No problems meeting Craig at the airport and then another queue to get the hire car.

It was raining on and off as we then headed north above Lake Geneva, past Lausanne, did some grocery shopping and stopped for lunch just before Martigny, making our own baguettes, at a nice cascade. We then drove into Martingny to check out the campsite but it was really busy, so we went back to the cascade where we had lunch and checked into a small campsite. The weather had fined up by then so we set up our 2 man tent and got the bikes ready and headed just down the road for something to eat.

DISTANCE TODAY 0km TOTAL DISTANCE 1604km

Day 67 July 19th

It was again raining lightly when we woke so we packed the tent up a bit wet and went dowm the road again for a coffee. By the time we finished, the sun had come out and if had left the tent up it would have been dry - Oh well. We then drove into Martingny which was the last town before the final climb to Vernier. We parked the car and rode around town for a look, had some lunch and the started to follow the tour route toward Vernier. It was a pretty mild climb up the valley until 8.7k to go and then it started to go up. It wasn't a bad ride at the pace we were going and we got just past the 5k to go banner when we found a good spot to stop and watch.

We were there about 1:15 when we got there and had to sit and wait until 3:30 for the caravan giving stuff away to go thru. It was then another hour before we saw helicopters way down the valley, signalling the riders were coming. We could see them directly below us on the valley floor and then on some of the lower switchbacks. When they were one switchback below it was Contador in front followed by Andy Schleck. Armstrong was in the next group but a way back and it looked as though Contador had made the race his own.

It took quite a while for all the riders to go thru and we then started to ride down amongst all the other riders and walkers. We got to the valley floor and then discovered there was one rider still heading up. After that it was full on riding back to the car, packed and headed toward Chamonix to camp for the night. We got to Argentiere, found a nice campground with a big glacier behind it and stopped for the night.

DISTANCE TODAY 47km TOTAL DISTANCE 1651km

Day 68 July 20th

It was a rest day today in the tour, so we decided to to some mountainbiking around Chamonix. We drove there in the morning, only about 7k and had a look around town. We got a map of the MTB trails from the info centre and was going to take the gondola lift to the top of the mountain on the opposite side of Mt Blanc. It would have been a great day to do it as Mt Blanc was visible nearly all day. Unfortunately they didn't have ha single trip ticket and it was going to cost us 20 euros each for one ride.

Instead we followed the river on more XC trails that took us back toward Argentiere which were a bit disappointing early on as they were just fire roads. After a few k's it changed into some really sweet singletrack with lots of really hard technical climbs, but nice downhills with big drops off the edge. We went past Argentiere to La Tour before the track headed back and we were then in Argentiere for lunch. The rest of the track home pretty tame but still a nice ride.

We left there late afternoon to head to Bourg Saint Maurice where the tour finishes tomorrow. We decided to drive through the Mt Blanc tunnel which is 11.6k's going right under the mountain. We then popped out in Italy and headed for Col de petit Saint Bernard where the tour will go tomorrow. There were bikes and campers everywhere getting their spots for tomorrow and then a huge down hill into Bourg Saint Maurice and headed to Craig's mates place just out of town ready for the next stage.

DISTANCE TODAY 37km TOTAL DISTANCE 1688km

Day 69 July 21st

We wanted to watch the finish in Bourg today and it was easier to leave the bikes and just walk around. We didn't head into town until around midday and just walked around with the other 1 million people there to soak up the atmosphere. It was interesting to say the least and eventually we headed to the 1km to go banner as there were very few people there.

It was pretty hot in the sun and we stayed there for about 3 hours waiting for the riders to arrive. The caravan that throws out gimmicky things came through about an hour beforehand and we manager to accumulate a few souvenirs.

When the riders did come past they were really travelling as it was downhill and when the groups went by you couldn't see who was who. Mikel Astarloza was just in front as they went past us and he held on for the win.

Dinner in town amongst the masses wasn't as bad as we thought and then it was back to the house for a good nights sleep.

DISTANCE TODAY 0km TOTAL DISTANCE 1688km

Day 70 July 22nd

first up this morning, Rob (Craigs mate) took me just down the road to see a British couple who run bike tours to see if I could get on one of their tours for next week. The gut wasn't there but his wife said the were reasonably full but would ring to let us know.

We were in town early to get a spot to watch the riders sign on. Once again it was a long wait standing in one position for 2.5 hrs waiting to see them. The start was further down the road so we didn't even get close to seeing that.

We then went for a ride from Les Arc but took the easy way up by catching the Funicular which is a tram car on rails that takes you to the top. We got off at the top and of all the trails marked on the map, to had signs and when we tried to find one of them there were no other signs. We asked a guy in a bike shop up there and he sort of knew so we set off along the bitumen and asked another couple of riders. We eventually found the trail we wanted and decided to to a bit more traversing before heading down the hill.

There was a lack of signposts for these trails and every time we found one, we would lose it at the next intersection. After riding around another resort for a while we eventually found the one we wanted to go down and it was all bitumen and fire road to start for quite a way which didn't impress us much. Eventually it turned into some decent singletrack so we had some pretty good riding at that point. We hadn't heard from the bike tour guy so I booked a flight with Craig and am heading back to Edinburgh for some more riding around there.

It was then on the road to Lake Annecy for the time trial tomorrow and we found a spot on the side of the road to pitch out tent just before dark.

DISTANCE TODAY 25km TOTAL DISTANCE 1713km

Day 71 July 23rd

The traffic going past about 2 feet from the tent made it feel like we were going to get blown away each time a car went past. By about 1am the traffic had quietened down and we got some sleep but it started up again about 5am until they closed the road. We got up and decided a copy of the newspaper L'Equipe was necessary to see the order of the riders for the time trial. We headed away from the lake to a town about 10k away and found a paper and bought some pastries as well. It was back to the car and sit on the side of the road until they started.

The caravan came through with their freebies and because we were pretty much by ourselves we got a bit of stash. The riders eventually started coming thru but with 160 odd starting at 2 min intervals, it took ages to see them all. The paper was a godsend though as we at least knew when someone we knew was coming. We couldn't see the lake from where we were parked but it was only about 200m to where you could see it. To break the boredom, we went for a walk and took some pictures with the lake in the background to give a much nicer view than the trees where we were.

As soon as the last rider came thru, we headed in the opposite direction toward Le Grand Bornand where we were staying for the night. The Gendarme sent us down some little road that then took us back to the main road but we had to give way to all the other traffic and we just weren't moving. After 15mins of not moving some others went thru the paddock next to us and got out on the road that way. Eventually we had to do the same and we were on our way. This was the end of our tour watching as it heads more toward central France, so we are going to try to get some more mountain biking in we can find some decent trails.

DISTANCE TODAY 19km TOTAL DISTANCE 1732km

Day 72 July 24th

Craig's cousin Kenneth and his wife Rona stayed with us last night as they are on a road trip thru France and down to Italy. They had their bikes with them so we all went for a leisurely ride up the valley, trying to follow the typical French signage for the trails which is hit and miss. We were back by 11:30 and packed up the campsite before the noon deadline.

Kenneth and Rona headed off on their travels, so we had some lunch and decided to have another go at finding the trails marked on the map. When we eventually came to a village that was on the map, we were way past where we wanted to be so we just continued up the bitumen for an hour of solid climbing to get to the top. There still weren't any MTB signs but other signs to villages meant we were going in basically the right direction. After a bit more climbing we descended to a chair lift top station and after a lot of looking found another MTB sign. We took that and finally we were on some good trail that was worth the big climb. We came out on a bitumen road but once again there were no more signs, so it was a lottery as to which way to go. After a backtrack, we still had to take bitumen down, but found a little track going out from a village that we were able to follow for about 1km before it ended at the bitumen again.

We were still only about two thirds of the way down and were looking for other trails to take but all to no avail as we rolled the rest of the way to the village. The one consolation was that the tour was on TV so we had a couple of beers and watched the last 40km.

DISTANCE TODAY 35km TOTAL DISTANCE 1767km

Day 73 July 25th

Our last day of riding before we headed back to Edinburgh, so we decided to try our luck on a bit of a journey of discovery. We had seen some signs yesterday for a loop that looked as though it circumnavigated the mountain, so we caught the gondola up to where we had climbed yesterday to give us a headstart. The traverse wasn't too bad until we got around the other side and then it was uphill so much we had to walk. A couple of French guys with a better map told us where to go so we followed them for a while until we had walked for 10min uphill and were heading for the highest peak on the mountain.

We turned around and took a trail off to the side that was so steep and loose rocky the we both slid out and to walk for a while. The bonus was that there were 2 marmots at the bottom and I was able to get to within 5 metres of one to take a picture. It was then another half hour of climbing before a downhill that was so steep the we were on both brakes and skidding the back. Luckily a singletrack went off this so we took that and came out close to where we were yesterday. It was then the same route to the gondola and we hoped to find some more good trails back to the village.

We had seen what looked like a promising trail under the gondola so we headed across a paddock to the spot. It turned out to be a cow track and was so rough it was only just ridable. The was a ski sign further down so we continued across the fields thru the long grass and the holes left from the cows. After 6-7 electric fences we saw a chalet with a car parked and headed that way and found a MTB sign on the road. We took this in the hope that it would be half decent and luck was with us as not too far down it turned into good singletrack very similar to the stuff around Samoens. It was about 2pm by this stage so we went back to the camp for lunch and a shower and then into town to watch the tour on TV while having a couple of beers.

DISTANCE TODAY 27km TOTAL DISTANCE 1794km

Day 74 July 26th

No riding today as it was just a travel day. Up early and packed up the tent and drove to Geneva Airport. Dropped off the hire car and then had to kill time until our flight. A flight is a flight and we were on time and got back to Craig's place about 2pm, just giving us time to have something to eat and then watch the last stage of the tour live on TV.

DISTANCE TODAY 0km TOTAL DISTANCE 1794km