How Do You Brag Without Sounding Like a Show-Off?
Simple! When one of your awesome guests happens to be a journalist and offers to share their experience, you let them do the talking J. Eric Eckard, a Tour de France trip alumnus, originally wrote a fantastic article for his local newspaper—and, Eric has made a few tweaks to make it tour-ready for all of you.
Big shoutout to Eric for his generous words!
A good experience on a good trip creates a good memory.
But a trip to France to follow the greatest cyclists on the planet during the greatest bike race in the world created a great memory. And not just for me.
Whether it was conquering the Tourmalet or Mont Ventoux as an amateur cyclist. Or snagging a Tour de France road sign to take home asa souvenir.
Or developing friendships with people from around the globe. Or maybe even just scoring a Tour-used water bottle from your favourite cycling team. These are the kind of memories that you can get on a Bikestyle Tours trip to France.
I’ve taken two Bikestyle Tours trips to see the Tour de France in person – one in2019 and then again in July. When I was researching the trip in 2019, I originally had a wild idea that I might go solo – rent a camper van, find the right spots to set up shop along the route and create a do-it-yourself Tour de France trip.
But I eventually opted to go with a tour group and then settled on Bikestyle Tours. And after the 2019 trip, I knew I had made the right call – in more ways that one. First, I know I wouldn’t have been able to navigate the country to get up close to the riders as I did with a group tour company. And secondly, I definitely chose the right tour operator.
Speaking to the owner
Bikestyle Tours has been bringing cycling fans to Europe for nearly three decades to watch the Grand Tours in person. So, owner Adam Gill knows a thing or two about creating lasting memories for bike fans year after year.
“In our guides, I look for people skills first and bike riding skills second,” Adam said. “We pride ourselves on attention to detail.
“Our guests are paying for an experience, and we want that experience to be stress-free.”
Like not having to worry about where you’re sleeping each night, or where the best spot is to watch the race each day, or if your bike has a flat tire, or even if you take a spill and need a few bandages and some ibuprofen.
“It’s a bit like Tetris, and there are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes,” Adam said. “A good day can turn into a bad day really quickly if you’re not careful.”
Adam, recalled a trip that he thought weather was going to ruin his guests’ experiences. A woman was riding up Alpe d’Huez in the pouring rain. She reached the summit, and when he saw her, she was crying. But, they apparently were tears of joy.
“She told me that was the best day of her life,” Adam said.
Speaking to other guests
For an amateur cyclist, summiting the same mountains that the pros do can be the ultimate accomplishment. And if there’s some hardship – like the woman with the weather – the feat can be even more satisfying.
Paul Vosti, an Australian who was on the July trip, said climbing Mont Ventoux was his most memorable triumph. When he got to the top, all he felt was relief because he had nothing left in the tank.
Ryan Kennedy, a Canadian living in Australia, cited the Tourmalet as one of the best memories of the July trip.
“The Tourmalet was absolutely stunning,” Kennedy said. “We scored an absolutely bluebird day. The sun showed up, and the natural environment of the road up the valley to … the mountain, with people every where will forever be imprinted in my mind.
“The top of Tourmalet was absolute chaos with thousands of people trying to get … back down the mountain before they closed the road for the race. But it was also a bit daunting because it was so high.”
Kennedy said he cooled down and recovered a bit on the descent, and he was feeling pretty good about himself after conquering the Tourmalet.
“I was with an awesome group, and we rode back to Lourdes,” Kennedy said. “I even tried to give a little gas to see if I could get the best of (Group leader) Eric (De Clercq).
“That plan backfired.”
With about 10 kilometers to go to get back to the hotel, De Clercq asked Kennedy how he felt. Kennedy responded, “Yeah, good.” In retrospect, Kennedy said his response probably was a little naïve.
“I didn’t see it, but I bet he cracked a sly smile because he slowly wound up the speed until I was almost out of gas.”Kennedy said. “So, I … tried to beat him up the last 200-meter hill into town and completely blew up.”
“But even the pain of that day was worth the memory.”
I didn’t have that tear-filled, chest-swelling exploit of climbing iconic Tour de France mountains on my two trips. But only because I was a spectator on both trips. In 2019, I wasn’t sure if I could handle the climbs. And in July, I was recovering from hip replacement surgery.
But that doesn’t mean I didn’t walk away with great memories. The friendships you make on such an unforgettable trip can last a lifetime. I still talk occasionally to people I met on the 2019 trip, and there’s still an active group chat going on from the July trip.
And when I talked about snagging a water bottle from your favourite team, I was talking about myself. For a Tour de France spectator and cycling fan, grabbing a discarded bottle on the side of the road is the holy grail. It’s like catching a home run ball at a baseball game.
In 2019, I got lucky and scored a bottle from a lesser-known team on the first day. This year, I figured it would be a piece of cake again, but I came up empty every day. Meanwhile, my cohorts were grabbing bottles right and left because they told the Bikestyle guides what they wanted. And the guides know a lot of the pro cyclists, so they’d yell at them during the race and score a bottle for my fellow guests.
I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing because I’d had such an easy time five years ago. So, I struck out.
Don’t worry though. I didn’t go home empty handed. Vosti had claimed an Ineos bottle early on during the trip. And after I told him that Ineos is my favorite team, he gifted me the bottle on the last day.
I went home with an Ineos bottle, thanks to Vosti. And I went home with some great memories because of Bikestyle Tours.
Words by J. E . Eckard
Thanks Mate
Cheers Adam
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