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RACY LANGUAGE: BRAVO BRAD! ROAD BIKE ACTION ROCKS LE TOUR
Tim Maloney-European Editor
July 16, 2008
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It was our esteemed editor of Road Bike Action Brad Roe's first time at the Tour De France this year. We launched our new website, WWW.Road Bike Action.Com at the Tour De France and went to the far west of France to the port town of Brest where the "Big Start" took place. There were four stages in Brittany, a true cradle of cycling, where the roads were often lined 10 deep with le fans, despite the often cold, windy and rainy weather. Brad, who went to Boston College accurately remarked on the way a Brittany summer resembled that of New England.
As a veteran of many Tours De France, I've seen it all, especially in the way American journos adapt(or don’t) to the decidedly French way the event is run. "Sauve qui peut" could be the motto inscribed above the Tour press room. ("save yourself if you can") and as we muddled through, Brad got down to work as we started cranking out the content for the new website, WWW.Road Bike Action.Com.
The press room was in the local fairgrounds in Brest and we were housed in a huge hanger. One great thing that Brad missed this year was that for the first time, there was no smoking in the Tour De France salle de presse! When I described to Brad how at the end of the day, the press room would have a thick pall of smoke hanging over it like the smog in his native Los Angeles, he suddenly got a crestfallen look. Maybe because he was already homesick for his wife & kids & LA smog.
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll and on the morning of Stage One, we were ready to rock! The car was clean, we had the decals on and the radio whip antenna was quivering with anticipation. We headed out of Brest across the Albert Louppe bridge with thousands of fans along the road and I could tell that it was something special for Brad. As it was for me; as we rolled along during Stage 1 to Plumelec with thousands upon thousands of spectators lining the route, once again I got goosebumps thinking of how fortunate I was to be a journalist at the Tour. Driving along in front of the race with our green car pass, I once again realized just how special le Tour De France is if you love cycling. Plus I saw a young white goat wth polka-dots painted on it…it looked confused.
From there on Brad and I rode the river that is the grand procession of le Tour. For a rookie, he did a great job. Better than most rookies, I would proffer. He dove right in and swam, fast. Maybe because he competes in Masters swimming.
For Stage 4, Brad was with Ag2r's Swiss nice guy Martin Elmiger for the ITT in Cholet, a story that will come out in the next issue of Road Bike Action. He stuck to the five-time Swiss champ like white on rice to get the story. Thanks to Vincent and Magalie Lavenu and the entire Ag2r-LeMondiale team for not flicking the Yank. The next day on the Tour's longest stage, he was invited by Christophe Marchadier of Le Tour's service presse to ride on moto presse. And not just any moto, but moto 41 with perhaps the Tour's craziest motoman, Monsieur Thierry Bouton, a former French motocross champion. Besides being a superb motard, Bouton likes to offer his pillion partners "du frisson"...otherwise translated in Bouton-speak as chills and thrils; a few runs at 150km / hour, possible wheelies and some cool moments weaving in and out of the caravan.
Just as it was great to see young American riders like Will Frishkorn and Danny Pate make their Tour De France debut, it was also great to see an American journalist like Brad Roe make his Tour debut. Despite the fact that Le Tour is a real challenge to cover, Brad rose to the challenge and even managed to put up with a crusty old crazy crab (me) for a week as we careened across France following Le Tour. Chapeau Brad!
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