Here is something I wrote up after my trip last year.
Tour de France Trip Details
Here is a little something I put together since a number of people have asked about the tour I went on to the Tour.
The company:
http://www.bikestyletours.com/
Here is my report from 2003:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/features/letour.html
Here are lots of pictures from our 2003 tour:
http://www.bikestyletours.com/thegallery/albums.php
Here is Pete’s most excellent site from the 2003 and 2004 trip:
http://www.spacepiggy.com/
I will have a 2004 site up in the very near future.
Added: http://ironclm.typepad.com/tour_2004/archives.html
A Little Background
Last year we (three friends and I) wanted to see the Alpes, and I didn’t really want to go with a bunch of Americans (why travel internationally—just stay home and visit Cleveland or something), so I did a little research and picked Bikestyle Tours, an Australian company. Well, the research was—Australians? The Tour? Pay Australian prices in American dollars? This looks good. The other factor is that it was cheaper than the big American companies, but really, it was super lucky guessing on my part.
Which Trip to Go On
Last year Bikestyles did two different trips—Paris to the Alpes (first 10 stages, which included the Alpes and Alpe d’Huez) and the Pyrenees to Paris. We wanted to see the Alpes, so we did the first trip. It was a big group (3 buses—about 140 people, split about 60/40 Aussie/American), and we had an awesome time. So much fun in fact, that there is no other company I’d rather go with! This year, because of the weird way the Tour Organization did the route, Bikestyles had 3 trips–the first 9 stages (Belgium/Northern France), a long trip including both the Pyrenees and Alpes and the finale in Paris, and an Alpes/Paris only trip. Because I’d been to the Alpes last year and I really liked the beginning few days of the Tour when all the riders are there, and it’s more casual (so to speak), that’s the trip I picked. I don’t remember where I read this, but it’s so true: “The Tour’s first week is always one of freshness and exuberance. The race is young and full of hope; everyone is the next yellow jersey or stage winner.” The Pyrenees/Alpes/Paris trip would have been nice, but it would have been more than 3 weeks and a lot more money.
This Year’s Trip
We had about 28 people on this year’s trip, plus Lawrie and Natalie and four FABULOUS guides (Neil Stephens “Stevo”, Patrick Jonker, Terry Peters and Darrin Strauch). We also had a professional mechanic (Inaki) and soigneur/masseuse (Choppy), both of whom are with the Saunier-Duval team in Spain. There were three other people returning from the Alpes 2003 trip (Pete, Jim and Gail), and I knew all of the staff except for Choppy, so it was more like traveling with friends. One great thing about the smaller group is that you really go to know pretty much everyone on the trip and everyone was great. And, Stevo and Patrick know so many people, you are always meeting someone famous or getting access that others don’t. This year I got photos of me with Manolo Saiz, Phil Anderson, Pedro Delgado and Thierry Marie. I also got to go onto the Liberty Seguros bus and nearly everyone got a number of up close and personal shots of the riders.
The Riding
I rode every day this year that there was a ride scheduled. We didn’t have any huge mileage this year, but the rides were varied and we ended up with a couple of distinct groups. A couple of days I would have liked to have ridden longer (since I’m in that mode from Ironman training), but all the rides were good. We got to ride the course a number of days, including almost all of the Team Time Trial course and the first cobbled section of Stage 3 and a jaunt through the Arenberg Forest. We also got to ride the Muur du Huy coming back from seeing Stage 1 and on Stage 2, we saw the start, then rode out and intersected the course and rode the rest of the course, all the way up to the 1K to go kite, inside the barriers with the crowds cheering us. WHAT A THRILL!
2003 v. 2004
A number of people asked me if there were any big differences between the two years. The main difference is that the smaller group was so much better. You got to know everyone so much more and ride with the same people every day. And, the guest/guide ratio was great with the smaller group. I also knew more of what to expect this year, especially with watching the race and what to do/where to go/who to hang out with at the starts and finish. I loved the Champagne area, especially Reims, and also the Alpes last year, but Belgium was a very unexpected, pleasant surprise. I’d really like to go back and spend a lot more time in Brussels, Namur and Ieper.
2003 Tour trip:
8 days riding
234 miles
2004 Tour trip:
9 days riding
306 miles
Budget, Airfare and Do-it-Yourself
Budget: The trip this year was $3,600AU (about $2,500 US depending on exchange rate) and this includes ground transport, hotels, all breakfasts, many dinners, ride support, etc.). Plus, you get the Aussies, which is a major plus in my book. Airfare is separate. I budgeted a lot for shopping/other (but then that’s with a number of days in Paris). I also had 6 extra nights hotel that weren’t part of the package since I went early to Brussels and stayed after in Paris.
Do you have any advise for good airfare offerings, “bike the tour yourself,” etc.?
I would think there are a couple thoughts here. The first is to decide which stages you are going to ASAP after the general route is announced and then find hotels that are centrally located to a number of stages. You likely won’t be staying right at any start/finish (unless a large city) since the Tour organization goes through almost a year in advance and books everything up, then all the tour groups start booking once the rumors start. Bikestyles booked the Belgium hotels for this year back in fall 2003 and we still ended up getting bumped by the Tour Organization for a couple of nights. The other option is to wait and then see what you can get when you get there or shortly before you go. Or camp. NO THANKS!! I don’t think I would want to mess with making all the arrangement on my own.
Airfare: Keep checking back every week all through the winter and spring. I’d check all the sites (orbis, travelocity, expedia, etc.), plus also, check the individual airline websites. We ended up getting a flight in 2003 for under $900 on Continental roundtrip to Paris which I thought was good. I think we bought the tickets in March. I flew on miles this year, in to Brussels and out of Paris.