Grand Depart

Today was the official start of the Tour de France.  We got up early to walk from Richard's parents' house the 3.5 miles to one of the streets where the riders would past.  People going to the tour were encouraged to arrive for the "publicity caravan" which started two hours before race time of 11 AM.  We were fortunate to have left at 8 to get there, since you could see more and more people the closer you got to the course.  People were walking, cycling, children were on little scooters, all headed the same direction, which was a nice and unifying experience.  We found a spot just past a traffic light and settled in for a while.

There was incredible diversity and happiness in the crowd.  Those who cycled there and used the road as a means to get to their observation point had the crowds cheering as though they were actual TDF riders.

The police went by--people cheered even though the race hadn't even started.

French gendarmes went by people cheered:

Then, the weirdness started as several sponsors of the TDF came by as the "publicity caravan" in the oddest array of vehicles:

Several from Skoda, official vehicle of the tour:

And lots of food, bottled water, and miscellaneous vehicles throwing out all kinds of stuff:

The main reasons were first, to advertise those who were sponsoring the tour, and second, to keep the course clear by periodically sending down a vehicle or two.  

As the time drew nearer the police cars and motorcycles were more frequent, and more urgently keeping people off the roadway.  Then some of the team support vehicles started to come through:

Cofidis, one of Lance Armstrong's previous teams, but one which has been hit by doping scandals, and BMC, as well as a whole car loaded with Mavic parts:

There was tremendous anticipation as the riders approached--you could tell by watching the helicopters where they were on the route.  Then the whole group suddenly appeared:

It was incredible to see such a large group of elite riders within a few feet of you.  It was difficult to recognize teams or individuals since it was such a quick moment but it was fantastic to hear people cheering and to cheer alongside them.  The riders do say that, although people can sometimes be too close to the course, most of the time they feed off the energy of the people cheering them on this incredibly difficult ride.

Riders were followed by motorcycles from major networks, and support vehicles carrying extremely valuable bikes:

We had all stood there for hours to see the riders pass for a few seconds, but it was worth it.  Everyone went away happy and excited and hopeful for how the riders would do.