TdF 2005 - Stage 19, Three To Go...

July 24, 2005
Bonjour from the French countryside,

Following Thursday's stage we continued our drive out of the mountains and today finds us just past the village of Usson-en-Forez between two category 4 climbs (essentially hills I would try to avoid if possible but nothing like the category 1s and HCs (beyond category climbs) earlier this week. Angel tried her hand at some road art. Of course, all of the stores in the area have sold out of the large kiddie chalk so she's seeing how many letters are possible to write with regular size pieces. Not many... "Allez Lance" has been cut to "Go Lance" and we're not sure about "I Love Bob Roll and OLN TV." Unfortunately, every time a car rolls by she has to go back and touch it up. The way it's going it probably won't last through the caravan. I guess it's the thought that counts and is certainly giving the other people picnicking around us something to talk about.

We found our spot and parked a good five hours to go before the riders roll through (most of the good spots had already been claimed by that point--these people start early) so we ambled down into town to kill some time. Yet another quaint little French village in the middle of nowhere that offered some tasty pain au chocolat and café.

After several days of hot, sunny days in the mountains (and a bit of a sunburn) we're glad to have a few clouds and a light breeze for today's stage. We've learned that the French are incredibly fond of spray water in a can so we bought some to fit in. Hoping it doesn't rain for tomorrow's time trial stage though as we'll be sitting on the road watching each of the 170 or so riders bike by individually over 4-5 hours--it's going to be awesome!

Hope you're all well and staying cool back in the states.