Tour de Paris

July 15, 2006

By Dennis C. Suiter

It was a dark and stormy night…. Well, it was at least dark or as we said in the military, O-dark-thirty.  While Mark, Steve, Nancy and I were excited about going to the 22^nd annual Tour de Paris Bike Rally, the exuberance was less than forthcoming as we loaded our bikes into the back of the Johnston pickup.

The conversation during the two-hour drive to Paris, Texas, centered on searching for some semblance of sane reasoning as to why we would want to get up before the Johnston’s sprinklers sprang to life to travel 120 miles to ride 62 miles on our bicycles in near 100 degree weather.  I don’t recall anyone coming up with answer.  However, the general consensus was that we all should still be in bed.

We arrived at Paris High School with plenty of time to register and change into our bike gear.  As none of pre-registered, we did have to wait for a few minutes to register.  The tour organizers did an exceptional job of keeping that wait to a minimum.  Then it was off to suit up for the ride.

Back at the Johnston’s pickup, we got to visit with other LBC'ers who for the same uncertain reasoning decided to get up before the crack of dawn and make the trek (no commercial endorsement intended) to participate in well attended event.  While not in a particular hurry to get going, we discovered the best way to start in a pack is to merge with peloton as it gets started.  This appeared to alleviate the nervous tension experienced in other paid ride starts.

Mark and Steve had our foursome going through the main pack with a purpose.  What that purpose was escapes me, except to get as many miles in as fast as we could before it got more unbearably hot.  For the first 20-30 miles, we maintained an 18-plus average.  The pace was tolerable until we got to a false flat, with a head wind, en route to the turn around for the 100 K riders.  It was during this part of the course that we heard a strange popping sound.  Nancy laid our curiosity to rest when she stated it was the rubber band snapping in her legs.  (Later in the ride Nancy’s rubber band rejuvenated as she pulled the group from mile 40 to 50 at pretty good gallop.)

The Tour de Paris organizers did an exceptional and outstanding job of having rest stops will stocked with cold water, Powerade, fruit and cookies.  Furthermore, the routes were well laid out and marked.

Between our first and second rest stop, we picked up several riders who were no doubt, as Mark has expressed, impressed with our riding skills and witty repartee.  Although with the addition of each rider to our group, we warned them, in a half-joking manner to ride a certain rear wheel with caution.  (editor’s note: Although we did see one rider who had crashed, he did this on his own with no assistance from our group. No one in our group had an encounter with the certain possessed rear wheel)  I will also say, for a group of riders who had never rode together before, everyone did an excellent job of watching out for each other and worked well in the pace line.

As the ride went on, the heat seemed to exponentially increase.  Keeping hydrated was crucial and our group did a great job of making sure everyone had plenty of fluids.  I had to drop back the last ten miles as I could not maintain the pace.  Thanks to Mark for hanging back with me to make sure I made it in ok.

Everyone made it back to Steve and Nancy’s truck in pretty good condition.  We gathered up our change of clothes and headed to the fire station across the street to a welcome cool shower (editor’s note: separate showers of course).  After the refreshing shower, we went back to the high school for the traditional Tour de Paris hamburger and smoothie.

On the ride home in the comfort of the air conditioned truck, we came to the conclusion the ride was a great practice run for our next adventure, the Hotter Than Hell Hundred.  We also concluded, the ride was well worth getting up at O-dark-thirty and would gladly do it again. 

While never stated vocally, each of us realized the reasonable explanation as to why we put our bodies through such a grueling event.   It is because we share the passion to ride our bikes along with the camaraderie of each other and other cycling freaks.