Something new to me!

Okay, so I LOVE learning new things and new cultures... And yesterday I got to experience a new culture... the culture of cycling... it was so enjoyable!

So here is the story.... My friend Brad has been into cycling most of his life. Brad is the Western European coordinator for Athletes in Action. He loves to follow the cycling tours on TV... but better in person. And over here in Europe, cycling is much bigger than in the United States so there are more tours to go see in person.

Sunday was the final day of the week long Tour de Suisse. So after church, we drove into Switzerland. It was so great to go with Brad because he really knows this sport. So as we found the route... somewhere between Rain and Root (yes.. actual towns), he would point out how this hill or that straight would affect the riders. We stopped in Root...parking where we could easily get on the Autobahn to get to the next place of interest.

I do not remember the names of the cyclicts... but Brad kindly titled the photos he sent me.. this is Allesandro Ballan. I was within touching distance! But I did choose not to stick my arm out.. that might have caused a crash... not a good thing. :-) Can you imagine the headlines? "American girl watching her first cycling tour causes a 100 bicycle pile up in Root, Switzerland on Sunday."

As we drove on the Autobahn toward the next stage... the feed stage... Brad explained that they do not stop to eat but are given bags with food things inside as they ride past. And he also said that as the cyclists throw away their water bottles... people can pick them up for souvenirs... So.. here you have a cyclist drinking water.. good thing.. it was over 30 degrees C (about 90 Fahrenheit)

And here is a photo of the food hand off.. it was pretty cool to watch. And I did get a souvenir water bottle... It was funny afterward to see people scampering to gather the discarded bottles...

After the feed stage we drove on the Autobahn to Bern to catch them at a few different places... the first place was at an intersection where they rounded this corner.. I was on the other side from where this photo was taken. It is a beautiful thing to see the cyclists... unless they crash... it like a field of tall grass moving in perfect sync... they almost glide. And if you could not see the strain on their faces or the strain in their muscles as they pedaled... you would think it was effortless.

after this place we saw them come up a big hill, then we walked the 1k to where the finish line was... but alas... I was wearing flipflops... and well... the sad truth is that we did not actually see the end of the race. Thank you Brad for being gracious about how I was slowing us down. :-)

We watched a bit of the final ceremony... We saw the winner of the day's race and the over all winner of the tour and the winner on the hills, etc... the winners received flowers and kisses from former Miss Swiss winners. (1999-2003) A Swiss man won the race so of course all the Swiss were cheering wildly.

So... it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon! I wish my recently contracted allergies did not act up at the end.. but other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I would do that again in a heart beat... sans flip flops.