Toulouse

So, this is it: the last night before we start riding. We watched the finish in Toulouse today, a hectically exciting and dramatically rainy affair. You can see some terribly choppy videos of this on YouTube at: http://fr.youtube.com/my_videos Before they arrived, I passed the time by agreeing to participate in a sort of mini time trial, on a bike held in place by a trainer atop a stage on the side of the course. I rode fiercely fast for a minute and a half, going just over a kilometer and earning myself a nice T-shirt and a hat. Woohoo! I am excited. My first taste of real Tour riding tomorrow will be a ridiculous climb up the Col d'Aspin, which is the last hill of the day for the regular riders; as I am driving to the end of the stage and then riding back to meet my father, however, it will be my first hill of the day. Drum roll, please...