Blink and You'll Miss It: The Tour Passes By

Simultaneous with, or perhaps a contributing factor in, my blossoming interest in becoming a better rider, Tour de France fever has been slowing building across the southern provinces. Somewhat unremarkablably for France, it seems to be perfectly acceptable behaviour to finish work early, or not go to work at all, to watch the Tour. Every man, woman and child takes an interest in what is more than just the country's oldest and most prestigious international sporting event; it's a national pastime spectator event and the best fodder for small talk down at the market. And like all contentious topics in France, everybody's got an opinion, which they don't mind sharing, on who's doping and who's not - and these opinions change on an almost daily basis. It's hard to keep up.

Today, the Tour passes by little ol'Narbonne. It's a fast and flat 196km stage that takes some of the vineyard routes that I now consider to be 'my routes'. I am heading out shortly to carve out a good spectator spot in one of the smaller villages outside Narbonne, where I am then going to try very hard not to blink and miss them fly by.

For those who are watching live coverage in Europe, and for those who watch the highlights in other time zones, I'm outfitting myself in a white t-shirt with a denim miniskirt in a blatant attempt to catch Lance's attention as he goes by. Look out for me.