& @ Tour De France:

1. Cycling @ SPC and Tour de France links
2. July 9 2004 - Introduction & Preparation (with pictures)
3. On the tour, July 19 2004 - Day 1 (with pictures)
4. On the tour, July 20 2004 - Day 2 (with pictures)
5. On the tour, July 21 2004 - Day 3 (with pictures)
6. On the tour, July 22 2004 - Day 4 (with pictures)
7. On the tour, July 23 2004 - Day 5 (with pictures)
8. On the tour, July 24 2004 - Day 6 (with pictures)
9. On the tour, July 25 2004 - Closing day in Paris (with pictures)

Click on listing for details.

Cycling is big here at SPC
  - Click here for Cycling @ SPC and photos
Affiliated Distributors, our riding partner
  - http://www.adhq.com
The office Tour de France site
  - http://www.letour.fr
Outdoor Life Network and office English TdF site
  - http://www.olntv.com
Thomson Bike Tour (our riding group) Tour de France Daily Itinerary Journal
  - http://www.thompsonbiketours.com/blogger

First Mike Hobin and I want to thank you for helping us to have some fun with this trip and get more of the A-D family involved.

Mike and I will be joining our tour company, Thomson Bike Tours, on July 19, near Lyon, France for the start of our tour and stay with the race all the way into Paris. July 20th is the first Alpine stage with the very difficult Alp d'Huez individual time trial the next day.

After the final Alp stage on July 22, it is flat roads (thankfully) all the way into Paris.

Each day, we will be riding part of that day's stage, get to a great viewing spot and then watch the racers battle it out for the yellow jersey. Wish us luck getting up that small mountain called Alp d'Huez!

Currently, Lance and the Postal buys are doing well (www.olntv.com is a great website to keep up with the TdF) but there are a number of great contenders this year, all of whom are showing some great form. Mike and I think the normal excitement level of a TDF last week will be up a couple of notches with Lance going for his 6th win, all these great bike riders vying for a podium place and Mike and I cheering as well.

Mike will be riding his Colnago bike and I will be on my Litespeed Titanium Classic. We both have been putting in as many miles as possible these past three months in preparation. Mike has a training advantage as he gets more hill practice in NJ. I have to ride mostly on the flats here in IL, with an occasional trip to southern WI to get anything that resembles a grade. However, those 25 mph winds coming off the prairie can be a real workout too.

Click here to see some pictures.

We arrived in Bourg de Paige, (near Lyon) safe and sound. Stu came in from Chicago and met Dr. Ellen Gallant, a fellow Thompson Tour rider at the Lyon airport. I came down from Belgium, from where I had been working the prior week at SPCI. We arrived a day earlier than the rest of the tour group. Not wanting to wait for the afternoon ride, we ventured out on our own this morning. The three of us were all fired up and excited about getting on our bikes and seeing the countryside. Thanks to a tip from another tour group leader we set off to climb Col de Tournoil. The actual climb was 13 KM culminating at 1150 M (3,800 ft), a change in altitude of about 900 M (3,000 ft). … An extremely difficult climb for the first day. I would be remiss to say that Ellen, who completed a full Ironman three weeks ago, put Stu and I to shame. It was a gorgeous day, likely 80 degrees and sunny and we meandered our way through a number of small French villages and fields of sunflowers. Charming and unique, they were everything we have dreamed about for the last six months. A highlight of the day, besides the climb was travelling a section of tomorrows stage of the TDF. People were already out in their campers and tents parked at almost every mountain turn waiting to see their cycling heroes flash by. When we finally arrived back at the hotel, we had logged about 80 KM, (59 miles). Super day…..Stu and are on cloud nine and ready to view an official stage Tuesday.

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First day of tour viewing. Because of rain, we went up the reverse of what we did day one to see race at Col de Limouche (1045 meters). Mike got up to top. Stu was an hour late because of mechanical problems and they had closed last km, so he joined tour group 1 km below. Wonderful crowd along the route, cheering every cyclists going up including us. We felt like champions even though, for me I was crawling along at 8-9 km/h up the hill.

First experience with caravan of cars and trucks from tour sponsors that proceed the tour. Saw lance and the postal boys. Just great! they go by you in a flash, had a wild decent with all the cyclist and cars going down the mountain.

Click here to see some pictures.

Peter and tour team figured out a way to get to the base of the alp d'HUEZ THE BACK WAY. WOKE UP AT 4:30 to get to place to start. left in the dawn light in beautiful huge mountains all around us. The French gendarmes guessed there were 1 million folks on route. certainly seemed that way.

Think Lambeau field in green bay, Green bay, and Chicago bears game, the biggest tailgate party ever, only vertical.... 1100 meters change in elevation. mike made it up in 1 hour 15 min, beating Cheryl Crow, Stu made it up in 2 hr 15 minutes, 4x as long as lance. spent the rest of the day waiting for each rider and cheering them on. Then. We went down and we mean straight down on our bikes, with everyone else. Long day but great racing, great mountains and great accomplishments.

Click here to see some pictures.

Spectacular! It is hard to imagine it can get any tougher than Alpe d'Huez, but today's ride was excrutiating at times and likely the most enjoyable day of cycling in my life.

It was sunny and 35 Celsius (90+), not a cloud in the sky. The mountains were majestic and lake Annecy shining when we departed around 8:00 am. Stu and I broke off into different groups, both ultimately getting to the same destination, Col de la Croix Fry.

Stu, AD top of mind and like a real Frenchman painted AD & SPC on the road where the tour riders past; (check out the photo, it's a gem). My riding took me up Col de Fordaz, 8KM, and altitude change of 650 M (2,200 ft). Believe it or not, with the heat, it was tougher than Alpe d'Huez. The gradient ranged from 10 - 14 %, straight up, never a flat area in the road.

After an enjoyable downhill it was up Col de la Croix Fry, 13 KM, and 850 M (2,800 ft) altitude change. Reaching the top was satisfying and a relief beyond description. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the shade at an outdoor cafi with a great viewing of the riders as they past by. Lance leading the pack, my appreciation of his talent and strength magnified, as I experienced only a portion of the gruelling route he mastered. After the riders passed, we had the challenge of descending the mountain with a few hundred thousand spectators. Cars, walkers, cyclists, it was every man for himself. We weaved our way back to Annecy, finishing on a spectacular bike path that wound around the lake. Unbelievable day, 70 miles in total. Sleep was the only thing on my mind.

Click here to see some pictures.

Quick train ride from Annecy to Annenmasse. We watch the start of the tour stage in a little rain. What a production! After the start we jumped on our bikes and road 25 miles to Yvoire and took a ferry across Lake Geneva to Nyon, Switzerland. We then regrouped and started a 25 KM ( 16 mile) climb , ( I thought it would never end!) Stu, the smart one of our team rode the first leg and took the bus for the difficult climb. Not a long day of cycling, but after the two previous days, the 40 miles was all this old body could take. A few beers, dinner and another wonderful day.

Click here to see some pictures.

Spent night in Swiss hotel in town of Le Brassus, right over the border from France.

We in the high, alpine foot hills and unfortunately, the mountains caught and held the rain the next morning causing us to rethink our ride to the time trial. It was our last ride of the trip and all of us really wanted to ride. After reviewing safety, we set out in what turned out to be one of the most beautiful rides of the trip. We went 100km, riding from high alpine valleys to low alpine valleys to rolling French farm land. We started at 1000 meters, went up to 1200 and then went mostly downhill over rolling hills ending up at 400 meters in elevation. We had a mixed group of riders on this trip and we all worked together to get everyone up and down the wet roads safely and fast. After the previous 5 days of hard riding us all had improved our road skills immensely and were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves.

Once again our tour leader, Peter, found and staked out a great spot to view the individual time trial. We were in a gorge what was still wet form the earlier rain but drying off quickly. We caught the last 60 or so riders. Mike staked out a spot on a 90 degree curve and I was up by our campervan where the riders had to slow a bit as they went uphill. Mike and I both were within one foot of Lance as he rounded the curves. The concentration and determination on his face was not to be believed.

We saw Hincapie, Landis and other USP boys as well as Ulrich, Basso and Levi. There were only a few minutes between riders but Mike and I were able to get the SPC AD logos down on the road.

Another wild decent (only 10m kg this time) dogging cars, bikes and pedestrians, to Quingey took us to our bus and a 3 ½ trip to Paris for the final day.

Click here to see some pictures.

At last the Champs Élysées.

After a great night rest in our hotel in Chantilly we took our bus in to the center of Paris and waited for the tour.

After a delightful brunch in an outdoor café, with weather perfect, we enjoyed the crowd and finally found a great spot opposite the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champ d' Elysees. We were able to see both the Jumbo TV as well as the final laps and sprint for the finish. What a crowd. Americans and Lance supporters everywhere.

A great ending to a great week.

& @ Tour de France

SPC & AD is proud to have participated at this years' Tour de France.

Lance the Champ, again!

At SPC and at AD, we work hard and we play hard. We work hard to bring you quality products and quality services everyday. Click on our logo to see more about our product and services.

Thank-you for enjoying this years Tour de France with us.


Stu Mechlin
Vice President ISD, Affiliated Distributors

Mike Hobin
President, SPC

Click here to see some pictures.

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