Riders and teams race through beautiful scenic landscapes, up and around beautiful mountain passes and get squeezed down to just a lane that one motorcycle can fit through.

However, the stage setup crew, the VIP and Tour de France Village crew, and many of us press folk get to ride the “hors course”, which means “off course” in French. This is the route that is meant to get you to the end city faster, via motorways rather than over windy mountain passes. Some days it is a side jaunt off the route. Other days, like today, the hors course is a cruel 460 km (286 mile) side trip all the way around the mountains and is a hell of its own. It’s mountain-top stages like this that can result in a multi-hour start-stop adventure, trying to file tens of thousands of fans, buses, and Tour Team members alike down a single lane windy road. At least the view was beautiful!

I’m tired from all the go-go-go. Today about two-thirds of the way through my hors course trek I fell asleep while waiting in line to get gas (“petrol”), and woke up to a group of people staring at me, including several people from the Tour Team. This was definitely not one of the most shining moments in my life. I writhed through my embarrassment, trying to decide if I should pretend I did it on purpose (“Oh! I was just listening to the song, without moving, for over 10 minutes, that’s why I didn’t pull forward to the pump!”) or if I should just own up to it (“Yeah, I fell asleep. What of it??”). What resulted was total awkwardness as I fluctuated between the two. Hide my face! Stand straight and act like nothing happened! Slump down and run away! No, don’t run, walk and act calm! Act like I feel confident!

One warming quality of French people are that they are actually quite calm. Yes, I was stared at like a freak, but no one honked, no one banged on my window, no one yelled at me. I come from Los Angeles, where lapsing a mere second between the light turning Red and Green and you have at least 4 people honking at you. In France, I’ve seen a motorcycle hold onto a car, the two drivers engaged in casual conversation at 20km per hour on a narrow country road while cars pooled behind. No one honked – they simply waited for a clearing in traffic and for the road to wind in the correct direction for visibility and took action to drive around the conversationalists.

Here is a photo of today’s course.
The Yellow highlighted black line is the race course.
The Orange highlighted line is the round-about way we have to drive to get to the finish. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to stop at the beach in Montpellier, just to see it, maybe dip my feet in, then continue on my drive, a nice reward and a way to break up the drive….” Yes, it would be nice, if I didn’t miss the exit, and drive far off into oblivion.

Here’s a shot from Stage 10, Chambery to Gap. You’ll see that the hors course is quite aligned with the race. I’ve even seen some hors courses that are FAR shorter than the race length.

On the plus side, I’ve been able to enjoy some fantastic French Intermarche (supermarket) and gas station treats. I know, gas station sounds ghetto, but it’s not the soggy-bread sandwiches we find in the U.S.

Some of my favorite treats:
- Mini sausages. As in, REAL sausage, but in miniature form! This is so much more delicious than American beef jerkey!
- Ham and cheese baguette with a few slices of tomato. It sounds anemic and like carb-loaded fluff – and it is – but it is so delicious!
- San Pellegrino and Perrier.
- Fresh nectarines. It’s nectarine season, and they are so delicious out of the fridge on a sticky hot afternoon.

I’ve also downloaded some audiobooks to keep me company. I miss listening to audiobooks on long, winter, multi-hour training rides so it’s nice to enjoy “cycling” and “audiobooks” again, just in a slightly different form.

Here are a few of the beautiful, rain-cleaned landscapes of the day.