Riding with the 'Big Boys'

Along the Prom after a rainfall

November has brought it's fair share of rain for an area that claims to have 300 days of sunshine each year.  Nowhere near the rains experienced by Paris or London but given how we got accustomed to consistently dry, sunny warm weather, 2 to 3 days of rain per week over the past few weeks was not what we bargained for.  I know bring out the violin.  Along with the rain, temperatures have dipped which has restricted my riding to coastal outings, alternating between rides west towards Antibes, Golfe Juan one day and east into Ventimiglia, Italy other days.  

            

After the rain

Two weeks ago Nancy and I drove to Ventimiglia to stock up on some groceries and have a rich and creamy, sumptuous cappuccino at Bar Canada (the original owner apparently lived in Canada for a brief period) which is right across from the daily market.  Ventimiglia is a small coastal town located on the Italian side of the border and were it not for it's proximity to France I suspect it's economic prospects might be more hard pressed than they are.  A 20-30 minute drive from Nice, Ventimiglia is a pretty enough town but no real reason to visit.  Given its proximity, many French along the coast frequently cross the border to buy groceries and clothing in Italy where the combination of greater selection and price differences of 20-40% make it a no-brainer.  A cappuccino in Ventimiglia sets one back 1.20 euro while in Menton that same cappuccino goes for 3.50 euro.  One café immediately across the border has cyclists lined up to order cappuccinos while 500 meters on the other side of the border a similar café can’t entice anyone through the doors.
  

View from Antibes looking towards Nice

It's a brisk (8C) sunny morning and I'm glad I'm wearing a few extra layers along with full-fingered gloves as I hop on my velo and head to Ventimiglia along 'le bord de mer'.  It's about a 90km round trip and for the first 30 to 40 minutes I lose myself in my thoughts as I still can't believe we are here.  The sparkling mediterranean waters combined with the snow capped Alps in the distance envelope me with a giddy excitement, a feeling I find hard to capture through words.  Beaming down upon me the sun warms me up and it's rays dance and shimmer along the water's surface.  

Snow peaked Alps in the distance

As I approach Monaco, a group of cyclists whiz by me and I soon find myself tucked in behind 3 guys all sporting RadioShack cycling outfits motoring along at a good clip.  I decide to test myself and see what sort of progress I've made by trying to keep pace.  Soon we are zipping along the coast of Menton, the last town before the Italian border and the guy next to me looks over and says "plus doucement, tranquil, tranquil' realizing I'm working too hard.  I nod politely and smile thinking 'no kidding buddy' of course I'm working hard, whadda ya mean go softly?  As we cross the border into Italy, he asks where I'm from realizing from my accent that I'm not a local.  He shares with me that he and one of his buddies are from Belgium and live in Monaco year round.

"So what do you do in Monaco" I ask?  "I cycle" he responds.  "As in cycle for a living, professionally" I retort.  "Yes", he nods.  "As in Tour de France, professionally" I add.  "Yes for the Radioshack team".  I soon learn that the 3 guys I've been busting a gut trying to keep pace with over the past 30 minutes have all competed in the top international races, including the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.  The guy next to me points to his friend and says “he’s a former world champ”.   Yeah right I think to myself.   Not sure whether they were yanking my chain I decided to introduce myself by name and asked them for their names so I might look them up online.            

Just before Ventimiglia my 30 minutes of riding with the big boys was up as they vanish up a hill and leave me to ponder whether they were who they said they were.  As I slowed to a near crawl making my way up the hill I kept repeating "plus doucement, tranquil, tranquil" and visions of another frothy cappuccino at Bar Canada was all I could think of.  

I was able to identify and confirm that two of the cyclists I cycled with today are both 30 year old Belgian cyclists, Tom Boonen and Gert Steegmans.  Steegmans rode for Radioshack this year after not wanting to sign an anti-doping agreement with his former Russian Katusha team which agreement required any riders testing positive for performance enhancing drugs to pay a penalty of up to 5x their annual salary.

Boonen is a former world champion (2005) and was among the most famous Belgian riders over the past 10 years.  This past season Boonen rode for Quick Step.  Incidentally, he's been caught using cocaine 3 times and was suspended from competition by Quick Step in May 2009 missing the Tour de France that year.  It's amazing what one can discover from the net!!  

Maybe with a quick visit to the local pharmacist I might find out what sort of concoction he can come up with and this 45 year old can be ready for next years Tour de France!

Sal