How do you celebrate TDF time?

[Librarygirl]

Well, it's quite exciting - this year will be the first Tour de France that I have ever watched! Can't believe that I have missed it all these years, now I'm cycling myself I've suddenly become interested and am really looking forward to it :D

I was wondering, what do YOU do to celebrate TDF? Just watch solo, or do you get together with friends? Do you tape it, or try to watch live?

Here in Australia, it is showing from 10.00pm every night, except for the prologue which is on at 2am - I'm not sure that I'll be able to keep awake for the whole stage even though I'm a night owl. I do love the idea of doing something special for at least one of the stages though. I remember reading in previous years about people who get on their wind trainers and cycle along through the night while watching!

[Bike Chick]

DH and I record it during the day then watch it every evening after dinner. There is usually a discussion the next morning at work with a couple of co-workers about what happened the day before. I've also been known to sneek a peek from my computer at work because I can't stand to wait until the evening to find out what's going on:D

[crazycanuck]

I run far far away from the TV as it's just another big lancy shmancy show off time :mad:

Urgh.

[Crankin]

Since I didn't work in the summer as a teacher, and now I am back in school, I am usually home to see the "live" broadcast in the AM. That takes most of the morning... I don't watch it everyday, though. Some days we watch the "expanded" coverage on Versus in the evening, but there are days when I will watch it twice, in the AM, alone, and with DH at night. When it is on in the AM, I don't usually sit and stare at the TV the whole time; I go about my routine things, housework, yoga, studying, etc, with the TV on a little louder than usual. If I hear something exciting, I will go over and watch.
We do usually get together with cycling friends on the weekend to watch particular stages. This usually involves mojitos or beer.
I always get a little sad when it is over. This means summer is half over.

[TxDoc]

I was wondering, what do YOU do to celebrate TDF?

Usually throw a 'TdF party' on the first and last day of the Tour - cheese & wine, or a few nice French recipes... it's always a fun time :)

[MommyBird]

I rarely watch TV. I do not even have one in my house.
But, I do have two in my pool house. One in the main area and one in the home gym. TDF is one of the main reasons that we even have cable!

I keep the official TDF and VERSUS sites open and check them throughout the day. They change the formats each year. Some years it is a great way to follow the tour and others it can be cumbersome.

Some days I will go out to the pool house and spend an hour on the Precor which is conveniently centered on a TV. Unfortunately, I sometimes get sucked into hanging out in the main room, on the sofa, until the finish.

My husband, on the other hand, avoids any TDF coverage during the day so that he can fully enjoy the evening highlight show. That means I have to hold in my prior knowledge of the finish for hours. This can be difficult.

[tulip]

I don't have a TV, so I catch it on the Internet from various countries. It's a pleasure to see/hear coverage from other countries because it's not an exclusive Lance show, like it is on Versus.

I've been watching it since 1986, but there are many more options now than ABC's two-hour weekly coverage back then. When I lived in France, I had it on all the time live. I didn't get much else done, but it was fun.

Oh, and celebrating will include French wine and cheese, baguettes, and good conversation with my French friends. I may even get a tricolor to fly outside my house, at least on the 14 juillet. It's a time to revel in my love of France a bit more than I usually do.

[nolemom]

Watch it off and on at home, and the bike club has a night out to watch a mountain phase at a local sports bar. Probably the only time that their back room is dominated by cycling fans and the big screen is tuned to Versus.

[Eden]

Being on the west coast of the US, our coverage usually starts *early* - sometimes 4 or 5am. We usually pick the "queen stage" - the one with the biggest climbs, the most excitement and the biggest potential to turn the race on its ear, invite some friends over, get up nice and early and make a big breakfast.

[annielynn]

We will record every stage of the race and hubby and I will sit down and watch each night. I am kinda sad that I will be in Daytona at the Coke Zero 400 race on Saturday so I will miss watching the prologue live. Thank goodness for the DVR.

I am so excited for the TdF! :)

[GLC1968]

We've been watching the last 5 years. Not long after last years race, we dropped our cable down to the very basic subscription that only includes 8 channels because we rarely watch TV.

My husband just upgraded our subscription today. I'm picking up the DVR tomorrow. :cool: All so that we can watch the TdF. We'll dump it again after it's over. :o

[Veronica]

Like CC I get annoyed by all the Lance coverage. How much press did Frank Schleck get for winning the Tour de Suisse? He rode the time trial of his life! Or how about Tony Martin defeating Cancellara that same day? Nope the majority of the coverage was Lance 7th to 2nd - at nearly 39 years of age. :rolleyes:

But as my riding buddy reminded me yesterday, Lance is the embodiment of cycling for non-biking Americans. Versus needs to make advertisers happy, and get lots of viewers. The perception is main stream America wants to hear about other Americans. He is amazing, but so is Dara Torres and she didn't get all the Olympic press. ;)

I did watch the very lame Contador vs Armstrong special - basically a rehash of last year's Tour. I wish they would show Contador the respect he deserves.

Veronica

[katluvr]

I, like others, DVR the live broadcast and we watch after work, while eating dinner!

I work this weekend...but otherwise I would love to have beer/wine or food from the area that the are riding in that day...but alas, I have yet to get a menu or plans together. But I get excited to have 3 days of BIKING to watch!

I suspect Lance won't live up to some of the expectations his fan's, versus and "non-biking" americans think of him. But even if not doing well early on they will "talk" and "think" he will show form on mountain stages. Not holding my breath on it!

But still enjoying watching it!

K

[Crankin]

There is a restaurant in Boston that has a dinner for each night of the tour, based on the region in France the tour is going through. It's a pricey place, so we go once during the 3 weeks. They also have great beer, and keep Versus on in the bar during the Tour. A few times, they have raffled off a Trek bike, too.

[Veronica]

That sounds really cool!

Veronica

[PinkBike]

i've been watching since 98. i LOOOOOOOVE the tour. i work swingshift so i watch in the morning. cant stand all the commentators tho. i love lance but hate the fawning lance-hype. i guess that's for the noncyclists tho, i get that.

DVR it also, and maybe watch highlights again after work (midnight).

paint the logo on my driveway.

wear yellow the whole month.

last year i was in california for the start because my dad died. we were in a hotel and their cable channel froze up on versus. i told the hotel but they werent fixing it fast enough so i called the cable company myself. several times. meantime i watched the prologue on some internet site i found on steephill-tv. like tulip, i kinda liked the commentary from a different slant.

this week i have been watching all the DVDs from 99-2005, just revelling in the anticipation of the start.

cant wait til saturday!!!! go fabian!!!!!!!!

[redrhodie]

I'll be putting the red polka-dot sheets on my bed tomorrow! I live for the tour.

[jobob]

I did watch the very lame Contador vs Armstrong special - basically a rehash of last year's Tour. I wish they would show Contador the respect he deserves.

Veronica

Oh, lordamercy, that was the lamest thing to hit the airways e-ver. I give it five eyerolls. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

But were it not for Lance we in the USofA would not have anywhere near as much cycling coverage. So, thank you Lance. gag retch.

That said, I'll be rooting for the Schlecks, Christian Vande Velde, and, oh yeah, Contador!! for GC.

I would root for Levi, and I probably will, but naturally he'll be Working for The Man so Levi's chances for GC are pretty much nonexistent, unless Lance winds up in traction or something.

And I'll be sending out a cheer for Jens every chance I get. And Fabian and Stuey.

Vive Le Tour! :cool:

[loopybunny]

I'm a teacher so I have the month of July off. I'll definitely be watching. I'm also taking part in a Tour de France themed knit-a-long on Ravelry. We join teams and knit Tour de France or cycling related projects then generally make silly comments and share our progress with the group.

This year I'm looking forward to watching on my new LED-LCD HDTV that I've had for two weeks. It's going to be a different experience.

Most of my friends pretty much don't understand my interest in the race. However, I've gotten my mom hooked. We don't live near each other so we usually send several e-mails during the stages making comments on the action. I was surprised last year by some of her insight.

[Owlie]

(Am I the only road bike-owning person who doesn't care?)
Having said that, I really don't need to hear any more about Lance. I understand why there's so much hype, and that a good deal of that hype is marketing. I'm just tired of it.

[Possegal]

Maybe I can party with these guys - their car is parked at my hotel. :)

[mudmucker]

I start off by buying a bouquet of sunflowers and put them on the kitchen table. My own aren't ready yet this time of year.

Then I watch every stage by either recording or catching the extended version at night. I take a 2-week vacation which mostly coincides with this time of year so sometimes I can catch the live earlier version

[SheFly]

There is a restaurant in Boston that has a dinner for each night of the tour, based on the region in France the tour is going through. It's a pricey place, so we go once during the 3 weeks. They also have great beer, and keep Versus on in the bar during the Tour. A few times, they have raffled off a Trek bike, too.

Crankin - where is it, and what's it called? We're on vaca next week...

SheFly

[Possegal]

Maybe today I'll party with this guy?

[Aggie_Ama]

For all you non-Lance lovers just be glad you don't live in Austin! Our local paper writes an article a day about him but didn't cover the Tour when he retired. Please tell me what other Americans are doing. Tell me what interesting pros are doing, just don't think I want to hear about Lance all day. Oh and it just gives the non-cyclist in Austin a place to blog about how anyone who rides here is a Lance wannabe. Luckily, I spend the summer mountain biking and can avoid the hateful motorists around here. Maybe it isn't Lance but the hot weather making them so cranky?

In our house we DVR the live coverage and then watch together. We try to challenge each other to pick the stage winner, we're rarely right. :p I love to hear Paul's history insights and Phil's quirky comments. I can't listen to Craig Hummer so we don't watch the night time coverage. Versus has some flaws but I am glad they cover cycling some. I miss when they used to show more, including mountain biking!

[katluvr]

OMG Possegirl!
We watched the prologue on dvr after I got off work & drank Dutch beer!
K

[gnat23]

PS: for those without TV/Cable, I'm loving the coverage via the Versus Tour Tracker. It's $30 for desktop&webphone access and $15 for the iphone app. LIVE streaming coverage sans commercials and for me so far it's worked *great*. I can finally stop complaining about my cable company and their crrrazy pricing structures and packages!

-- gnat!

[Possegal]

Today maybe I'll party with these guys (that's Horner bringing up the back of the peloton.) :)

[Possegal]

I don't know who this guy is, but what I do know is that he rides for Euskatel Euskadi, and he signs autographs for people, even in his underwear. :)

[redrhodie]

I don't know who this guy is, but what I do know is that he rides for Euskatel Euskadi, and he signs autographs for people, even in his underwear. :)

:eek: :D I wish I were there!!!!

[Crankin]

Sorry for the late reply, Shefly.
It's Brasserie Jo in the Colonnade Hotel. I just checked, and, yes, they are having the dinners again, although there is a new chef.
Hey, if you're on vaca this week, maybe we can have that coffee, if you are going to be in town.

[Possegal]

:eek: :D I wish I were there!!!!

How about this guy, who is right outside my hotel right now.

[redrhodie]

How about this guy, who is right outside my hotel right now.

Don't even tell me that. I'm so in love with Eddy, I named my cat after him.

[Owlie]

I'm a teacher so I have the month of July off. I'll definitely be watching. I'm also taking part in a Tour de France themed knit-a-long on Ravelry. We join teams and knit Tour de France or cycling related projects then generally make silly comments and share our progress with the group.


This fact just might make me care. :D There's always next year.

[Librarygirl]

Wow! Red polka dot sheets; wearing yellow all month; French themed dinners; sunflowers; TDF themed knitting - plus the thought of partying with underwear clad TDF riders ;) - what an awesome bunch of celebratory efforts! I love it! :D

I'm definitely doing something for it now - I like the wine and cheese while watching the Tour on a Sat night idea.

[alexis_the_tiny]

I don't have a TV, so I catch it on the Internet from various countries. It's a pleasure to see/hear coverage from other countries because it's not an exclusive Lance show, like it is on Versus.

Tulip, where on the internet do you find the TDF? There aren't any bars showing the TDF where I live and I'm not sure how to get it on cable...I'm missing out on the action. Also? Rooting for Contador! :D

[Possegal]

The Versus camera guy came over and filmed us at the start line today - with my big US flag hanging over the barrier. And when I yelled to Big George, he stopped and turned around and looked over. I should have had the nerve to wave him over to see if he would have come over. So many missed opportunities.

[katluvr]

How many stages are you going to be at Possegal?

K

[Possegal]

Today's the last day. Though it's killing me to not alter my plans and go following it. Next time, I need to follow it the entire time I'm here. :)

[tulip]

Tulip, where on the internet do you find the TDF? There aren't any bars showing the TDF where I live and I'm not sure how to get it on cable...I'm missing out on the action. Also? Rooting for Contador! :D

You have to click around a bit on the European sites. Sometimes they get cut off and then you have to surf for a new feed. It's not ideal, and I might end up paying for Versus Tour Tracker, but I'd much rather watch the European coverage. It helps to understand the languages, but I'll even watch it in Danish if need be!

If you have cable, check to see if you have Versus. They have exclusive coverage in the US. I don't know if you are in the US, but if you are and you have cable, then Versus is the best bet for TV coverage. My issue is that I don't have a TV and I don't have cable or satellite. This is the only time of year that I want a TV, but it's not worth it to me for the rest of the year.

[redrhodie]

My bf just returned from the cheese shop with Compte, a cow's milk cheese from the region they rode today. Also croissants!

[tulip]

I'm making baguettes today. I just cannot find a good baguette in all of Virginia...so I make my own, which are perfect, of course.

I might invite neighbors over for 14 juillet get-together with wine and cheese. Nothing to do with the Tour, but it would be fun to have a bit of celebration of the Rights of Man and all that. And wine. And cheese. And bread.

I would like to get a French flag for the 14th, but all the flag places around here are strictly stars-and-stripes, cutesy bunnies, or sports teams. I might have to take a trip to DC just to get a simple flag.

[buffybike]

+1--can't wait for the mountain stage tomorrow. And I was really happy for Chavanel today. Good for him!!!

[emily_in_nc]

+1--can't wait for the mountain stage tomorrow. And I was really happy for Chavanel today. Good for him!!!

Me too - he worked hard and had a wonderful ride - totally deserves to be back in yellow!

Looking forward to tomorrow's stage...I'd love to see Lance smack it to Contador, but I feel quite sure that is *not* going to happen.

[TrekTheKaty]

Today I made the Garmin Rice cakes. Hubby finds a stretch of our daily ride to yell, "hey, it's just like (insert current race segment)." Today, we saw sunflowers and I won king of the hill (total of 100 ft climbing--2 rollers--I think DH gave it to me).

[channlluv]

The Lance-bashers must have enjoyed today. Youch. I'm hoping he pulls it out on the next stage, though, and reminds us what a hero he is when it comes to climbing these mountains. DH thinks it's time for Levi to take up the helm, though. I'm just excited to watch and learn.

I'm really happy for Andy. He looked so happy today, and deservedly so. That was an awesome climb.

DH and I DVR each stage and watch them together, zapping through the commercials. Well, most of them, anyway.

Roxy