Day 6 - Tour finish on Chamrousse

OK, this is the day we have been waiting for, our first TDF viewing option. While the morning started in a somber fashion with the terrible news of the Malaysian Airline disaster and the consequences that may unfold it would not dampen our spirits for the day.

After packing the bikes on the roof and calming Hammo down sufficiently that he would sit in the car and not fidget, we headed for the supermarket to fill our backpacks with enough loaves and fishes. and vino, to feed the crowds that would gather on the mount to Chamrouse to watch their religion unfold.

Barney's French lessons certainly were paying off as evidenced by his fluent 'Bon Jovi' as we exited the carpark to arrive at Remaulin. Fortunatley Sim had found a short-cut to Chamrouse so we headed off mule like for the leisurely ride up the mountain. After a casual 9k climb ascending 850m up the Col de Lutivel, with the majority of the crew later saying it was the toughest climb they had done...ever, Barney realised that his French expertise should have been able to interpret 'shortcut'for HC! Destination reached we dropped the bags, put SGC in the naughty corner and proceeded to ride the climb to within 800m of the summit finish. To say the atmosphere was electric would be an understatement, as brimming with anticipation we settled in for the afternoon to wait....and wait....and paint the road red with the 'Wagga''...and wait...for the Tour to pass.

The caravan provided some excitement with vehicles of all shapes and sizes providing trinkets to the crowds. Finally the Tour arrived, unfortuantely missing our Aussie hope, on what would prove to be a definitive stage of the race. It was remarkable to see the apparent ease of the GC contenders in contrast with that of the peleton, or its remnants. The brutal stage provided some longer viewing with over half an hour between the GC's and the Grupeto.

The descent down Lutivel would have been better suited to a mountain bike and the subsequent flat tire was a small price to pay considering the nature of the road. After the descent the 10k back to the cars felt like a breeze and a slow trip home to Venosc ensured empty bellies on a long but memorable day.