So I am on the plane coming home from the Tour...

and I can’t believe how awesome the last couple weeks have been. I was invited to attend the Tour de France as a part of the T-Mobile hospitality team. I have always wanted to see the tour in person. After 15 years of bike racing, watching it on TV and imagining what it would be like, it did not disappoint. I can’t help but rambling on, but it was an awesome experience and I want to share it all!

I went over to France on the rest day of the tour. It was about a week after the start, and I met up with one of my sponsors in Bordeaux. The sponsor was SRM, a company that I have been with since “94. They had some extra passes and hotel rooms so I went a couple days before I needed to meet up with T-Mobile. The thing about working in hospitality is that once you start, you don’t really get to move around freely. With SRM, I had no agenda. They just wanted me to experience the Tour. See the starts, the village, the team bus, etc. I had free range, and I loved it. I was offered a ride in the caravan, I watched the race from the team bus, I had beautiful relaxing dinners in the French countryside and I loved every minute of it. I told Uli from SRM that I wanted to see the non-tourist side of France, and he really showed me. The best night was when we were in a little town in Pau. We found a tiny restaurant on a town square and decided that it would be a beautiful spot for dinner. We had a couple glasses of wine and started chatting with the owner of the restaurant. He knew that we were in town for the Tour and when I told him my name he remembered that I had beat Jeannie Longo in the World Championships in Plouay. It was amazing and we had an incredible night. Being recognized for sporting accomplishments in cycling in the US just about never happens as a woman. But, in a little town in France, this wonderful little restaurant owner remembered one of the best days in my sporting career. We laughed, drank some local wine, and had a memorable evening.

Shortly thereafter, I met up with the hospitality group from T-Mobile. My first assignment was to go to an area called Mazan which is in the Provence region of France. Right now the lavender is blooming and the apricots are amazing. I was staying with staff, and we were in a one star hotel that got demoted to a no star. I hade no toilet in my room and it was about 100 degrees. The guests were in a 4 star chateau. The funny thing is that it didn’t even really matter to me. My trip was authentic. I had an amazing view of Mont Ventoux from my room. How many people can say that they could wake up in the morning and look out on one of the most famous mountains in the Tour? I laughed at the fact that I could hardly shave my legs in my tiny shower and looked at it as part of the adventure.

I worked hard to entertain the guests and dreamed of my afternoon free time. The first afternoon, I had decided that I was going to go ride Mont Ventoux. My last memory of Ventoux was back in ’99 when we were riding for the yellow jersey and our leader got a flat at the base of the climb. We had to chase on Ventoux and it was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Chasing on 10% grade, lovely. This time my plan was to just enjoy the ride. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. As I neared the base of the climb, the sky turned a weird shade of black and the rain started falling. At first I thought no problem, but it quickly deteriorated to a torrential downpour. I hid in a farmhouse and thought that it would pass quickly. No such luck, it got worse… The farmer came out and felt bad for me. Eventually they loaded me up in a farm truck and hauled me back to town. The funny thing was, I had my iPod going and it was playing that Natasha Bedingfield song about feeling the rain on your face, and it really struck through with me. Here I was, in France living life and experiencing whatever it might throw my way. Maybe people would have been bummed about not getting up Ventoux that day, but I felt a happiness, and felt like cycling just gave me another wonderful experience that I would have otherwise never had. How many people can say that they took refuge in a farmer’s home on their way to Mont Ventoux? I felt alive that day and it didn’t matter about the rain or the ride. I felt free and that I was living the life I wanted. I got back to my no star hotel, and the family that owned it told me what an honor it was to them to have me staying there. They had found out that I had been world champion and told me that I brought honor to their hotel. It was a moment that I’ll never forget, and suddenly this no star hotel felt like home. It sounds cheesy but I truly felt the “rain on my face “ and no one else could ever experience it the same way….

After the event near Ventoux, I met up with the CFO and manager of the T-Mobile Team. This was fun for me because these guys wanted to really ride, and I wanted to just ride and not really have to entertain (plus now we were in 4 star hotels). The best part was riding up Alp d’ Huez. The last time I rode up Alp d’ Huez was in ’93. It was my first time in the Women’s Tour and was a momentous mountain stage before finishing in Paris. I felt like my career was coming full circle. What a feeling! I had no idea of where my career was going the last time I rode up that mountain…. Riding it this time, I knew where my career had gone. I enjoyed every minute of it. I have watched the Tour on TV ever since I had my first bike in ‘84 and LeMond was making life exciting for us young bike racers. I have always dreamed of what it would be like to ride up the mountains and feel the crowds parting as we came through. Well, I got to climb the mountain in the morning before the race came through. I have had some absolutely amazing experiences on the bike, but this had to be up there with the best. People were going crazy. I was going super slow to enjoy the whole experience, it was amazing to have on a T-Mobile jersey. There were so many Germans on the mountain. They all camp out to get their spots. There were also a ton of Dutch people. There was even a section where the Dutch people had DJ’s. It was almost impossible to pass through there. They were going crazy. I just waved and smiled and took in the atmosphere. After getting to the village, we rode back down to where T-Mobile had a barbecue set up. The rest of the day we spent watching the race on TV, and waiting for the riders, After the race passed us, we tried to head down the mountain. What an experience. It was the biggest bike traffic jam that I have ever experienced! I think there must have been several thousand people trying to get down mountain at once. Luckily the gendarmes (police) are a special cycling crew, and know how to handle the crowds.

My last group that I was entertaining was the best! They were from the US and wanted to kick my butt every day. It was awesome! We got to see France in the best possible way. We were riding hard, doing parts of the courses, but at the same time it was part training camp; I have to say that the US riders are pretty competitive. They like to play hard and ride hard. Guess I’ve been training my whole life to keep up with these people. Nothing relaxed about them on the bike, but an awful lot of fun. I stayed with the US group through Paris. No complaints from me. Jerome Bliovlens was also a part of my group. He had won 4 stages in the Tour and was as modest can be. He would always laugh at me, and make me go with the guys who wanted to hammer and go hard. He would always say that they wanted to ride with a girl, and I fell for it. He was a little smarter and stayed with the more social people.

The finale on the Champs Elysees was awesome. Watching another American win the Tour, and in such a way that couldn’t ever been imagined… It was just so exciting! For my team it was also great. T-Mobile ended up with three stage wins and third place overall.

Now I am home and it all feels like a dream…

Regards,
Mari