(apologies again for the delay. work has been a little b-a-n-a-n-a-s for both of us this week)
(from Lindsay)
Sunday was an early day. We got up at 7am, grabbed another great breakfast at the hotel café and headed to Rotterdam. We were really feeling like commuters! We were both really tired, but the excitement of knowing we were going to the tour kept us going (well, at least one of us…B fell asleep on the train). After walking around a bit along the race course we settled in at a spot just before the main bridge in Rotterdam where we could sit down. This was the key after yesterday – we needed to find somewhere we could sit for a few hours while waiting for the tour to start (both of us had really sore feet after the previous day of standing all day long). For those who watched the start on TV we were sitting on the entrance to the bridge where the race officially started.
I was excited that this stage stared the same as the prologue – with the parade of free stuff!! We snagged another “king of the mountain” hat (now we can be the couple with matching hats!) and some cookies. We sat for about 90 minutes between the sponsor car parade and the riders coming by. Fans were really out in force and they were lined up 5-6 deep behind us. All of a sudden (it seemed like) the riders were upon us. It was INCREDIBLE how close they were riding together. There were 4 or 5 guys across in a single car lane. This was crazy to me, especially since I can’t stand it when Brian rides next to me and it’s just the two of us in a lane. We got some great photos of the peloton going by (B got an awesome one of Lance talking to Mark Cavendish…the nemesis of my favorite Thor Hushovd who I blogged about before. Maybe I can photoshop Cav out of the shot…).
After the official start on the bridge we walked around Rotterdam for a bit. It was a gorgeous day outside – sunny and in the high 70’s. It felt just like home in sunny California! We grabbed lunch at an outdoor café and did a little shopping. I FINALLY found the pantalones that I’d been searching for (the baggy, low-wasted ones I saw earlier in the trip in Barcelona). My fashion expert husband helped me pick out a grey pair and I knew I could leave the Netherlands a happy lady. After our shopping trip in Rotterdam we took the train back to Amsterdam and walked around the city.
While we were walking around it occurred to us (about 4pm) that it was 4th of July! We promptly sang the national anthem (quietly, to ourselves, of course!) and I said the Pledge of Allegiance. We were trying to think of other American things we could do to celebrate and Brian decided that he wanted to eat something American. We went in to a little bodega and B immediately spotted "Cool American" Doritos. He housed the bag and we felt like we'd done a fine job of celebrating our country from abroad! We ended up eating an assortment of cheese, fruit, bread and wine for dinner (Old Amsterdam is an incredible cheese we discovered!).
It was an exhausting couple of days, but I can honestly say that the Tour was one of the most amazing sporting event’s I’ve ever seen live. All of the pomp and circumstance around the race, the passion of the fans, the amazing athletes…it really is something sports fans should experience. If anyone’s interested Brian and I are planning a trip to watch a stage in the Pyrenees and south of France. Not sure if this will happen before or after Rio 2014 for World Cup…We'll keep you posted!
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