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

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

[crazycanuck]

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

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. All so that we can watch the TdF. We'll dump it again after it's over.

[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.

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