July 15, 2023
Lausanne -> Sallanches
Seeing TDF stage 14 in person
I woke up this morning in a sketchy-ass Airbnb. The owner of the place seemed alright, but it was just a very run down apartment building in a not-so-nice (for switzerland at least) part of town. I had a hell of a time last night carrying my bike up the narrow spiral staircase for 3 flights of stairs. The elevator was too small to fit my bike, even when stood upright. I have no Idea how that entire building passed any kind of fire code. For $60 it wasn't a bad deal.
Anyway, I tried to get my shit together early so I could make it on the Ferry to Thonon Les Baines and start my ascent into the French Alps. I knew I wouldn't make it all the way to Chamonix in one day, but I wanted to see how far I could make it. I asked my airbnb host before I left how the ferry ride across the lake was. He said it is beautiful and that I would enjoy it. I must have been still half asleep when I asked him because he followed his response by asking if I was ok and if I was feeling depressed.
Before leaving the Airbnb, I spent a half-hour doing some much-needed bike maintenance. I greased up my derailleur as well as my chain, and it shifted a lot better after that.
The ride to the ferry terminal was beautiful, and along Lac Leman. I got to the ferry terminal 30 minutes early, which was good since it gave me time to figure out how to buy tickets on my phone. Thankfully there was a couple from the UK who helped me through the process. They showed me that I needed to purchase a separate day pass for my bike. All together, I paid 44 Francs for a one way boat ride across Lac Leman for my bike and I. A little steep, but what the hell, I'm here.
I need to preface this paragraph by saying that I am a little embarrassed about how clueless I was today, but it made for a cool surprise and adventure. As the ferry departure time neared, I noticed that a swarm of cyclists were lining up to board the boat (probably about 20-30) all kitted out in lycra. This was slightly puzzling to me, but I figured it was a Saturday in Switzerland, maybe a lot of people cycle here. As I boarded the boat, my ears caught a whiff of English. I zeroed in on another couple from the UK and started talking with them. They told me they had lived in Lausanne for 13 years and were making a weekend trip across the lake to see Tour De France. They asked me if I was there to do the same. I stared back at them with a bewildered look, and asked "Oh, that's happening here today?" They both stared at me with a look of utter confusion: How could this idiot be so clueless? I guess im my mind I thought it was happening further south of my route. I started furiously googling the stage map on my phone, and the woman helped me out by sending me a link to the gps map of Stage 14. Sure enough I had unknowingly planned my daily route on the Tour De France route ON THE DAY IT WAS HAPPENING. Shout Out Komoot. I couldn't help but laugh at myself a little. A world renowned cycling event that people come from all over the world to see, I had stumbled into. What a cool surprise.
This was mostly good news, but it also made things a little complicated for me. First: I had to wait until the Peloton passed through to go on my route. Second, every hotel and campground within 50km of where I had planned to stay was booked up or outrageously expensive.
When I got to the other side of Lac Leman, I realized that my phone internet wasn't working. This meant no GPS. I figured all the other swarms of cyclists were all headed to watch the TDF (which was on my planned route), so I found a group that spoke English, confirmed that's where they were heading, and started following them. We had intended to make it to the top of Col de Feu, but race officials had already closed the road. Thankfully, the guy leading the group knew a backroad that would get us about half way up the climb. At the intersection of this backroad and the TDF route was a tent selling beer, sausages, and Ice cream, as well as a bathroom. Not a bad place to hang out at all. In addition, the nearby houses had opened their backyards to spectators. I got a beer and a sausage, found a shady spot, and waited. I got to the beer tent around 11:00am, and the peloton didn't come through until close to 3:00pm. However, the tent had a TV with the live stream of TDF going, so I watched it with the other huddled masses. We watched a huge crash happen, most of the riders were ok, but a couple had to be carried out on stretchers.
About 2 hours before the peloton came, a parade of sponsorship cars preceded. There is no way something like this could ever happen in the US. Crowds of people standing at the edge of the road as cars speed by. These cars were throwing merch at people, some getting whacked by flying folded up t-shirts.
When the peloton finally came, a crowd of security motorcycles opened the road, and 4 news helicopters flew overhead. It was quite a sight to see. Everyone got up and clapped and waved. The guys made it look so effortless. They made a 5% grade look like flat ground. The race had separated into 4 pelotons with a few stragglers trailing behind (one of them I saw hanging onto the open window of a car, isn't that cheating?). Within a few minutes all riders had passed, and people packed up and left. They immediately opened the road to cyclists. It's not like any of us were going to catch up with the peloton.
I then got on the road and started toward Chamonix. At the top of Cul de Feu, I realized I was out of water. A generous bartender at the summit restaurant filled up my water bladder in the sink for free. I then descended into the Arve River valley. When got to the bottom of the hill, I found a kebab place to eat dinner at, and decided I should find a place to stay. Every hotel in the valley was 300+, or booked out. There were no campsites available. However, I saw flocks of cyclists heading down the valley with bikepacking gear. They had to be staying somewhere. I followed the route down the valley, and found a good place to wild camp. A park with a lake. Technically not allowed, but at least 10 other people/cyclists were camping here so I felt it was fine.
Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 1,077 miles (1,733 km)
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