Editor's Note: After mild haranguing, we have a new guest blogger to allmydogseat.com. Rich came to Switzerland for work, and that means he got to write a guest blog post! Thank you Dad - the fans appreciate it! Without further ado:

Seeing a stage of the Tour de France has been one of my bucket list items for many decades.  I’ve seen the Taj Mahal, traveled to Iceland and Madagascar, climbed Mount Whitney, visited every state in the US, even stopped at Wall Drug South Dakota (OK, skip the last one), but I’ve never seen the Tour live.  I first became aware of the Tour de France from my French relatives as a child, but just something in passing about a big bike race in France.  I started following the Tour more closely when Greg Lemond made a big splash in international cycling in the mid 1980s.  I’ve kept up with the Tour highlights off and on depending on the excitement and American involvement (Lance Armstrong - both the good and the bad aspects).

I was planning a trip to visit Lisa and Freddy in their new home in Zurich, Switzerland.  Lisa suggested I schedule the trip so we could watch a stage of the Tour since it was going through Switzerland this year.  Since this was a Lisa and Freddy (as in AMDE) type event, it had to involve some type of physical activity (as in much MORE physical activity than Lisa’s father can handle).  I was able to borrow a really nice Focus carbon road bike from my Google co-worker friend Marek Nerko.  It was an awesome bike, although for my riding ability I could have used a cassette with bigger climbing gears.  At hot tip for borrowing bikes while traveling: 1) if you use cleats, bring both your shoes and appropriate pedals (fortunately Marek had some extra SPD pedals)  2) if you don’t have well established calluses on your rear end, bring a seat you are used riding on, and 3)  Lisa and Freddy have these awesome packs that fit on the back of the bike seat called a “Butt Rocket”, which are much better than riding with a backpack.

We (Lisa, Freddy, Freddy’s sister Charlotte and I) woke up early on Saturday morning and took a train from Zurich to Lausanne.  By the way, if you haven’t been to Switzerland you don’t realize how well public transportation CAN WORK!  The trains were on time, fast, clean and bike friendly.  Even someone like me who is “directionally challenged” can more or less figure your way around on the train and bus systems (Note:  Lisa had me buy a 2 week train pass that works on basically all public transport so I never had to stress about buying individual train tickets - very good idea).  When we got to Lausanne, we jumped on our bikes and rode about 1k of the Tour course where it was going through Lausanne that day.  People were already gathering around the course to find a good spot to watch the race.  

The first part of the ride was along Lake Geneva, with some dedicated bike paths as well as decent bike lanes along the road.  Switzerland has a fantastic system of bike paths (for both road and mountain bike) and I never felt nervous about the motorized traffic when sharing the road.  The view of the lake was stunning and the hills surrounding the lake were packed full of vineyards.  We stopped in Montreux to have lunch, where we met Lisa/Freddy/Charlotte’s friend Sean.  We ate “French fish-n-chips” which was butter and garlic soaked perch baked with chips.  Not your classic English cod fish-n-chips, but very good nonetheless.  It was quite a hot day and fortunately there are plenty of public fountains where you can get nice, clean, cold water.  It was a good ride, although I was definitely bringing up the rear of the peloton, benefitting from drafting the younger riders.

Then came the huge climb up to the chalet at Saint Maurice where we were going to stay that evening.  There was over 3,000 ft of climbing, and as previously mentioned, I wish I had a 42 tooth gear on the rear cassette like Lisa has.  At this point I was somewhat tired and searching for additional oxygen to fill my lungs.  Lisa was super patient and helped nurse me up the mountain.  It seemed like several hours of climbing, but that just might be a slight over exaggeration due to my oxygen deprived memory (editor's note: There was a bus that would take us most of the way up the hill. Resilient Rich was determined to get up this hill under his own power).

Photos: Sunet over the Valais, the Auberge we slept at, Rich falling asleep at the dinner table.

The payoff was an absolutely stunning view of the mountains and the Bex valley.  The Auberge de Chindonne chalet was somewhat rustic, but very nice and the dinner was awesome (at that point, anything would have tasted good!) (Additional editor's note: The Auberge advertised having some of the best ribs in Switzerland. Don't trust anyone from Switzerland on what are "good" ribs) One of my requirements for this type of trip was a hot shower and a bed to sleep in.  Taking a shower after a long day of riding was fantastic and totally re-invigorating.  Sleeping in bunks with about a dozen people in the same room was an interesting experience, with constant sounds of multiple people snoring (I’m not naming any names FREDDY!).  OK, to be honest, I’ve been accused of snoring from time to time.

The next morning we rode down the mountain, mostly on gravel and dirt trails/fire roads.  Going down a steep descent on gravel roads on a road bike with 700x25 road tires is quite the adventure, but no cyclists were lost on the way down.  We rode into the town of Monthey and then up the finishing climb for TdF stage 9.  We rode uphill for several kilometers, with hundreds of other cyclists and hikers finding a good place to watch the race.  This was a fairly steep climb and I was in my largest rear cog trying to keep within sight of our leader Mr. Mondale.  We found a really sweet 180 degree turn with a grassy area and decided it would be a good place to watch.

When watching the mountain stages of the Tour on TV, I always wondered “how do so many rabid cycling fans get up these massive hills to watch the riders.  The answer is, you either have to walk or bike up the hills.  There were limited places for cars to park, and vehicle traffic is halted many hours before the riders arrived.  The place we chose had a crazy group of about a dozen Belgian and Dutch guys who had apparently been drinking heavily for many hours.  They had a big PA speaker with a generator and were playing an interesting assortment of “Euro Fist Pumping Music”  This definitely added to the spectacle of the event.  My favorite quote was from one of the partying group who mentioned “The Belgians are so drunk they make us Dutch look good”.

Since we got an early start, we arrived at our viewing spot 5 hours before the riders were supposed to start the final climb.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we certainly would have benefitted from more shade as we waited.  We did have a great lunch packed with us which we ate while waiting.  As we hung out there were hundreds of people walking or riding up the hill to find spots to view the Tour.  We were lucky to get there early and find such a good spot.  The Belgian/Dutch group continued their fine assortment of music in different languages.  The only song I recognized was Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” with the Belgian/Dutch bros adding in the “so good, so good, so good” to the chorus.  Our new friends also kept the crowd entertained with some “amazing” dance moves, which often involved drunken staggering and occasional face plants.  About an hour before the riders arrived, a huge caravan of promotional/advertising vehicles  drove up the course, throwing out various swag items and food.  I managed to grab a very cheesy looking polka dot Tour t-shirt and hat.

The anticipation of the arrival of the riders built as several helicopters started to circle the valley below.  Some of the people in the crowd were sharing information about the progress of the stage, who was leading, how far back the peloton was, when the riders would show up, etc.  The helicopters kept moving closer to our spot and the noise of the crowd continued to build. The cheering grew to a crescendo, then came a group of motorcycles to clear the road, and finally we saw the first riders.  It was super exciting to see the lead group and they approached the hairpin turn.  When the lead riders actually rode by us I was amazed how fast they were going.  They had to be riding at least 15 mph up an approximate 7% grade.  They rode as if they were part of their  bicycles, a single blend of human and machine.  The spectacle was just like you see it on TV, the riders climbing through a phalanx of screaming fans on both sides of the road.  You could have easily reached out and touched the riders as they went by.  There were a few people that ran after the riders for 10-20 meters until they ran out of gas.  There was even one cycling fanatic who had “Marry me Sagan” written in marker across his chest!  I don’t think Slovak rider Peter Sagan accepted the offer.

The riders were pretty spread out on this stage, so there was probably 30 minutes between the first and last riders as they passed by.  It was not long after the breakaway riders (led by Bob Jungles)  passed us that the first group of lead riders including the current Yellow Jersey (Tadej Pogačar) and the eventual tour winner (Jonas Vingegaard).  The lead riders and their teammates were closely marking each other, riding in a super close wheel to wheel formation.  Riders continued to come by us and the crowds cheered each and every one of them.  Finally, the group of sprinters brought up the back of the pack.  They were definitely riding significantly slower than the rest of the riders appearing to be on a social ride, smiling and engaging with the crowd.  

Once the riders and following enterages were well past us, we packed up our bikes, said goodbye to our new Belgian and Dutch friends (well, the ones that hadn’t passed out) and headed downhill to catch a train back to Zurich.  The police kept motorized traffic off the road for a while after the Tour, which allowed cyclists and pedestrians to make their way down the hill safely.  When we got into the town below our viewing point, the road was blocked and we ended up having to take a long detour around the town (along with thousands of other cyclists).  We had a fairly long ride to get to the train station, and there were a lot of people with bikes trying to get on the train.  Again, the Swiss train system was awesome and with only one transfer, we arrived back at the main Zurich Bahnhof (train station).  It was a short bike ride home and a much needed shower and a good night sleep.

Overall, this was a wonderful experience.  I would highly recommend that anyone who is into cycling to see the Tour de France.  In addition, cycling in Switzerland is so enjoyable.  The Swiss make both road and mountain biking so accessible for all levels of riders.  The trail and path systems are well marked and safe and the train system allows you to bring bikes with you to explore the country.  The whole event was amazing and I really appreciated that Lisa and Freddy provided me the opportunity to experience the Tour de France.