Stage Sixteen

 

It’s been a cold, rainy two days, more biting than Brittany.  It was actually 45 degrees when I began riding this morning and that is Fahrenheit.  If I were cycling in the western US I’d be enduring 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees).  I’ll take the cold any day, but combined with the intermittent rain, it has been cycling to endure rather than enjoy.  I’ve needed every layer I brought to stay warm—sweater, vest, wind-breaker, goretex jacket.

The rain forced me into a campground last night so I could sit in the common room and somewhat dry my dripping wet rain jacket and soaked shorts, but without heat other than my own.  I had to bundle up to stay warm.  I would have been warmer in my tent wrapped in my sleeping bag and the semi-cocoon warmth generated by my body heat.  But it was nice to be able to do some charging and downloading. After a night in a campground I don’t have to be concerned the next day finding WiFi or electricity.

There was a long enough end-of-the-day break in the rain today I could return to camping as I prefer, of my own devising, this time in a corn field ninety minutes after the completion of Stage Seventeen just before the rain resumed.  Corn fields are a rarity in France, but I’m certainly accustomed to camping in them back in the US.

I watched the final two hours of today’s stage in Pau, the Ville Départ for Stage Eighteen. Pau is such a frequent Ville Étape, it proclaims itself the Capital of The Tour.  It will host Stage Eighteen in two days for a dramatic stage that will take the peloton over the Tourmalet and to the second mountain top finish in two days at Luz Ardiden, both Beyond Category climbs.

Pau is so devoted to The Tour that it  has a permanent installation in a park across from the train station honoring every winner of The Tour, including Armstrong.  

Over one hundred Yellow planks are arranged in several circles, each with the winner of every Tour since the first in 1903.

Today was another holding pattern day for the GC, those vying for the podium, saving themselves for the next two summit-finish stages.  The Yellow Jersey group rode at a steady relaxed tempo while a dozen up the road battled for stage-win honors. Patrick Konrad of Austria took matters in his own hands twenty-two miles from the finish, leaving all behind and holding off a spirited chase by French hope Gurdu and Italian Green Jersey contender Colbrelli.  Unfortunately, none of the four vying for the Polka Dot Jersey were up the road contesting the four climbs, content to take the day off too, disappointing all who were anticipating a battle royale among them.

Van Aert, one of the four, couldn’t restrain himself later on and sprinted from the Yellow
Jersey group as it neared the finish twelve minutes after Konrad with his teammate Vingegaard in tow looking to see if he could help Vinegaard gain a few seconds on his rivals for first place after Pogacar. All the main contenders maintained contact and Carapaz surprisingly finished first among them, just ahead of Pogacar, though it was of no consequence as they all were given the same time.  Only Martin of France failed to maintain contact and lost four inconsequential seconds.  

Tomorrow, Bastille Day, ought to be full of fireworks with those  vying for the podium exploding on the final climb to the finish.  It could be a challenge for me to find an open bar as I will be riding the Stage Nineteen route starting in Mourenz mostly through smaller towns.

I rode the first third of tomorrow’s stage two days ago.  Two of the small towns were arrayed with fun and classic decorations.  Among those in Boussan was a painting hung on a wall.

 

Tour-themed flags were strung across the road and the hill in front of its cathedral was adorned with Tour-themed bikes.  

A more original Yellow bike resided by a shelter that housed the French version of a Little Free Library, not an uncommon site all over France.

Down the road, Latou featured stuffed figures masquerading as fans along the road. 

 

One group even had a baguette on a table a little soggy from the rain.

The stage passed through St. Gaudens, the finish for today’s stage.  I was able to ride down the small hill the peloton had to ride up to finish the stage on a road named for Dreyfus.  I headed west to Pau from St. Gaudens.  It took me through Tarbes, home of the famous Tour accordionist Yvette Horner. On a previous visit I sought out a plaza named for her. My route through the center of this large city took me past its monumental city hall, another of those glorious emblems of France.  It was adorned with flags in honor of its Independence Day tomorrow.

 

I hope the rain is done so there can be fireworks.  Wherever I end up camping I ought to be able to look to more than one corner of the sky to enjoy them in the distance.