Le Tour - Spectating Any Tips

[Gardian]

TV sums it up very well.  It's not everybody's thing, but to me it's a bit like live sport (well, it is live sport) - you have to be there to experience it, though you'll get a better view on TV.

 

[Sharkster]

Mimi

Thanks for your offer, I have sent you a PM

[Mimi]

So true what you said tv, I suppose my expectations were a little bit too high.  The reason I likened it to the solar eclipse in 1999 was that sense of anticipation, waiting for something exciting to happen and then it all being over in a few minutes.  I could say the same about my OH!      Anyway, here are a couple of (not very good) photos

[IMG]http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z98/mimibarthez/20070722-000922.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z98/mimibarthez/20070722-000748.jpg[/IMG]

[Sharkster]

Did anybody watch the race in full on the TV.  I am trying to find out what coverage if any, showed the race from the start and if Clermont L'Heault was feature in any of the footage.  Also still looking for a copy of the footage around Clermont if it exists.  I know it was shown live on both Eurosport and France 2 (did not realise about France 2 until we returned home after the event).

[Stefan]

TreizeVents

Thanks for the info, unfortunately I had to go off line for a few days and didn't have the chance to check the frequency out on the day but hopefully I'll get the chance to check it next year.

As for the Plateau...due to work I was only able to head up there late on Friday evening only to find the road up to the Plateau itself was closed by the Gendarmes due to fog...unfortunately the rest of the family were already ensconched in our Camping Car by the Kite and no amount of pleading with the very nice lady Gendarme would get the barrier rasied.   I then spent an entertaining evening yomping all 16 kms from Les Cabbannes to near enough the top.... Things I learnt:

1. It's steep.

2. It's a long climb.

3. French and Spanish youngsters do drink to err, "excess".

4. The writing on the roads is often so dreadful because of point 3.

Still had a great time on Saturday though, well worth the effort [:)]

 

Rgds

 

Stefan (09)

 

 

 

[lecurie]

Hi

missed the map in Charente Libre for tomorrows stage, no map in today's l'Equipe - trying the internet again for details of Cahors to Angouleme

[Le_Jars]

Like this you mean?  http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/LIVE/us/1800/etape_par_etape.html#zone1

[Patf]

They passed near us today - 4 km -  so I went to watch. It was in a little village on a crossroads and there was plenty of viewing space. Exciting experience but the backup vehicles nearly outnumbered the cyclists. There was a lot of camaraderie and joking among the other viewers, most of whom seemed to know eachother, and one family had prepared refreshments in their garden. "A table! Les saucisses sont cuites!" I enjoyed it.

[Alex H]

I'm a bit late to this thread as I was in France for all of July [:D]

I disagree with a couple of the comments about not taking photos. Providing you have a decent camera there should be no reason not to get good quality photos without endangering anyone (including yourself)

These were all taken from the roadside (behind the white line) with a Nikon D50 and zoom telephoto

[IMG]http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/alexhudghton/175.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/alexhudghton/176.jpg[/IMG]

Right to left Laurent Lefevre, Sandy Casar, Michael Boogerd and Axel Merckx 17 minutes ahead of the peloton with 24km to Angouleme

[IMG]http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/alexhudghton/188.jpg[/IMG]

The Euskatel team on the front of the peloton

[IMG]http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/alexhudghton/198.jpg[/IMG]

[TreizeVents]

Probably this is the bit that you referred

to.  I posted it. 

 “I guess one piece of advice is don't take

a photo of it.  Just listen as they go by, the sound of a passing peloton

is very odd, slightly haunting and unlike anything you have heard.  The

"feel" of them passing is also quite intriguing.  It kind of

ruins it to take a photo, you miss the feeling and the sound.” 

 Stefan wrote this.  “3. Don't take photos, you can rarely beat

the stuff the pros take. Savour the moment.”

 Then I wrote this.  “And the advice about photos is very

solid.  Forget it, just open your senses, and watch the other idiots lean

out into the road to get a bad photo.” 

I guess I must have seen this happen recently, hence the “idiots”. 

 Your photos are good.  I am sure you took them safely, although

many don’t, as one can see on the box every year.  Two memorable accidents happened with photo takers, the one where

the cop at the finish caused a huge crash, I forget what year, and the other

when Guerini crashed into a young German guy at the finish of Alpe d’Huez.  But as you say, you can take them safely

from a distance with a telephoto lens.

 My own experience is that they go by so

fast that there are only seconds to “be there”.  All I meant was what Stefan might have meant.  You miss the moment when you have a camera

in front of your face or your eye.  You

are concentrating on the photo, not the sound, the movement, the moment.  Each year I debate whether to take

them.  Sometimes I do and sometimes I

don’t.  Since I have seen it so many

times live, I figure it makes little difference.  Each to their own taste and experience.

 Too bad the avatar is so small, can’t read

the sign.

 Any

one think we should share some more Tour photos?

[Gardian]

All I can say is that the 1st pic is the best.

I'll bet that she doesn't turn up in most A & E's, whether in the UK or France !!!

[Alex H]

TreizeVents - the sign reads 'Col des Goules Altitude 997m' its somewhere in the Auvergne [:D]

I think what I'm really trying to say is if you want to take photos, then get a decent camera which will give you good results, not a cheap one which will not and possibly put you in a 'difficult 'position because of its limitations.

I suppose if you have seen the tour many times then the option not to take photos is there.

This was the first time I had seen it live, so there was no way I would not have taken any.

By the way when the peleton went past, I got one really good shot and then the autofocus couldn't keep up with the sea of helmets [:D]

 

[TreizeVents]

I must have taken ten shots of "the peloton going past" in my life.  I always define them as "art shots" as they never turn out that well.

A more expensive camera is no doubt the answer.   Although not possible for all.

Have any of you noticed they have built the barriers at the finish in a new way to leave a small slot for the police, out of the path of the cyclists to avoid the problem of the cop with the cheap camera that caused that horrible crash some years ago.   I'd send a picture,but I can't figure out how to do it.

[Alex H]

Theres a guide here http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/819635/ShowPost.aspx