T-Day

No Bike

I arrived in Geneva to rain and 15 degrees.


Bike? Nah. Luggage? Nah.

But what about that human spirit that still clung to a glimmer of hope even when carousel No.5 from Helsinki was completely empty. Still, Tania at dnata Baggage Tracking was nice enough to find my gear and explain that it was indeed on its own jumbo and would be along at 2pm, and then delivered to my hotel sometime later tonight. Good enough for me T-babes, I'm outta here. 

The train transfer was free for international travellers, and painless - nice!

Then it was a short 5 min walk to Hotel Astoria in central Genève to not check in (too early) and head out instead in search of caffine. Note to self: brush up on French...ASAP!! The caffine order was clearly incorrect for what I wanted but close. I drank it and headed out for site seeing in the drizzle. Not exactly the leisurely ride I had planned to see UN HQ, cruise around the lake, see the "Captain Cook" fountain that we ripped off, and so on...but the way this European summer is shaping up, best get used to it.

I'm maybe 65% but I think this is where I'll be...just take it easy and hope to improve some more.

As for the actual Tour - the teams are assembled in Corsica...the first stage starts today and my pick is Cav for yellow. Late nights follow for my Aussie cycling mates - vive le tour!!!

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The TdF100 Stage 1 was a fairly predicable affair. Everything went to script for the first 160km. The obligatory break went up the road, 2 minutes ahead and dangled there in wind all day. They were caught at 40km to go - no surprises there. Then then crashes started happening as they lined up for the final sprint - yep still on track. The one at 5km to go was quite spectacular and prevented the main contenders from contesting - Cav, Greipel, Sagan (who went down very hard) - out.

But to really spice things up - what about the genius of the Orica- Greenedge bus driver who decided to take the excitement, entertainment and suspense factor to a new level? Not content with hanging out in the caravan all day and not getting any air time, he took centre stage by wedging his bus under the finishing line façade when the riders were only about 9 mins from the finish. Brilliant - noone saw that one coming!! He should definitely get 40 points for the green jersey - first over the line!!

The promised by T-Baby at dnata, bike and bag did NOT arrive. In fact my online investigation revealed that the bag had in fact arrived at Geneve airport but my bike was still in Dubai and not turning up until 2pm tomorrow. Devastated...