Well that was a good trip all in all. Long driving and random sleeping arrangments were the call for the event.
Was a bit of late min planning and packing as suddenly the night I needed to leave for the event I had an urgent request to sort a few photos for a magazine spread. We left kent at around 1am ready for a shuttle around 3ish, before a long drive down through France. Sadly the sat nav got us slightly confused and we ended up going through Paris at rush hour when we expected we should have been around the outskirts of it to avoid the mayhem. Sadly this meant about 1-2hours sat in traffic enjoying the driving habits of crazy parisians and the delights (or not so) of French radio. Im a big music lover and quite frankly I can admit hearing some songs I would normally hate was quite pleasing on the ear every 15-20mins as the rest of the music was really THAT bad!!!
Anyway, once out of Paris running wasnt to bad and we steadily headed further south towards the last climb on stage 11. We had selected this point in the race as it was late on and with the slight climb we were hoping for the race to have a breakaway or two plus the peleton to be at a reasonable pace to see the riders. So along we went to get as close to the point as possible until we were stopped going further by the local police. Sadly this was at the bottom of the climb so we had a lovely 5k walk uphil to get to where we wanted to be. Once at the top a well earned beer was in order :D.
Anyway we were a few hours infront of the race so had time to kill and just sat
twiddling thumbs and myself making sure that the gear was set up properly, all my memory cards were working ok etc... (allways best to be early and be ready). Anyway the race came through and there was the breakaway we wanted was there so was nice to see a couple of riders off the front of the pack attacking the climb. A few minutes later the peleton came through, hearing the roar a few hundred meters away it was apparent it was the main group with all of the key riders in the race. So it was time to get the camera ready to shoot the whole pack attacking the hill. This was fun, although quite frustrating for me as i had previously switched sides of the road in order to gain a better position for the 2 leaders, only to have Armstrong to ride on the other side of the pack so I could barely see him for the brief time he went by let alone get some pics I wanted. At least I got a few of the main group still which came out nice with some of the brits at the front of the pack and on my side of the road.
So stage 11 is gone and its the walk back to the van and the drive over to the start of stage 12. We had decided to see the riders at the start as it would hopefully mean a good atmosphere and seeing the riders prepair for the days stage. So it was grabe some food in town and find somewhere to stay for the evening. No campsites were around so we had to ditch the van in a farmers field and sleep there, the plan was to sleep in tents but in the end I slept in the back of the van to keep all of my gear inside and with me. Still it lead to a nice view the next morning as I woke up and the doors to the van were opened up.
So breakfast was there and a cold shower in the woods with some bottled water before heading
into the town for the mayhem before stage 12. We arrived early, although not as early as several hundred locals it seems who were allready partying away, we wandered around for a bit trying to decide where would be best to shoot from, we decided on a location by the main carpark around the VIP area where all the team coaches were going to be. This was the plan until the Astana coach pulled up outside of the carpark no where near us, so I had to bolt it round the carpark dodging French people with 2 cameras hanging off my shoulders, whilst my freind gave chace with the rest of my gear. Thankfully I got round quickly and found a spot where we had a good view. We shot alot of the early riders as they were announced to go and sign on for the day. Things were hectic but i was getting some nice shots. Well this was untill all of the VIPs decided to come out and walk and then stand right infront of me and all of the other fans, so that suddenly made things 100% harder. As soon as the Brits came through i really wanted to be on my game and managed to get some nice stuff of Mark Cavendish (who was back in green after his stage win on 11 the previous day).
Still this wasnt as hard as it would get, as soon as Armstrong came out from warming up the atmosphere suddenly changed in an instant, it was electric and the whole area closed up, in the distance I could see a man in a t shirt waving his hands and fortunaetly could catch the top of his distinctive Livestrong helmet, so i knew where he was, yet I seemed to have the entire village in my way! Nightmare, still I was there for a photo of lance, and I wasnt going to go home without one, so i had to just keep firing off the shots trying to hope he kept staying in my line of sight and without random peoples heads getting in my view. He went passed and went to sign on, I think i had him but wasnt sure, i guess id have to wait and see once things had calmed down. Sadly when signing on the french left a bitter taste in my mouth for the trip, they had recently cheered an ex french rider who had failed drugs tests and was reported to have been heavily involved with a famous doping scandal, yet they turned to booing Armstrong, I dont know whether this is just the fact the french dont like the fact some american has come and destroyed every one of their riders on 7 occasions or if the people just were readers of the main french newspaper who seems intent on tarnishing Armstrongs reputation.
So it was the journey home, back to Britain. I had seen Armstrong, well id done more than see him, I managed to get what id come for, its not ideal but hey certainly it works for me!
osen field but also as individuals in the world.
