Down from the Mountain

What goes up, must come down.

The Arcalis climb was in Andorra -- the paved road ended soon after the summit finish in favor of a gravel/dirt road. Something about the French side and taxes. So everyone that went up, had to go back down the same way they had come. EVERYONE.

You have to understand the length of the tour. First are random cars, motorcycles, gendarmes, vans -- not really sure what they are for, why they are needed, or who is in all of them.

Then the really fun part. The publicity caravan! These are floats, vans, funny games and etc. It's a rush of vehicles, all throwing out schatzkes for the fans. Some really cool stuff (hats, shirts), candy, food, bottles of water, etc. Some throw aways too of course. These are the sponsors of the tour -- they drive the entire route every day, handing out stuff to hundreds of thousands of fans every day. It must cost them alot of money. And the rush for the stuff they throw out -- sometimes a bit embarrassing! Saw one lady shove a kid out of the way! Fortunately we'd seen enough stages I had one of everything and could give some kids stuff I got so I looked good! A few years ago one of the floats unfortunately hit and killed a 12 year old boy. So they've cut the caravan but 1/3 -- but trust me it's still huge.

Then there are more cars, more motorcycles, more gendarmes. Again -- not real sure. Guess its some VIP's, officials and etc.

And then you hear the helicopter, the rush of the crowd, and you see the riders. Depending on the stage they either zip by in a pretty intact bunch or spread out over 15-20+ minutes on a mountain top finish. And the riders are accompanied by motorcycles with media/photogs, official cars, and etc.

And then -- you guessed it -- MORE CARS! Tons of them -- all of the team cars with bikes on top. Each team with 2 cars. The medical car, vans, more motorcycles. It is amazing.

So now all of this is at the top of the mountain -- and has to come back down. With the 300,000+ people who have hiked to part of the mountain and all of their cars and campers -- Whew.

So how do the riders get down? Well it depends on who they are. Some have to descend with the mess just like we did (and trust me -- it was TERRIFYING!). They bundle up against the cold and head down. A few years ago a lead rider on the Discovery Team -- Paolo Salvadello (known as the Falcon due to his descending skills) was hit by a spectator on the descent and crashed out of the tour.

Some go down in team cars -- the gendarmes will hold traffic or escort them down the wrong side of the road to gain them a little time (It can take HOURS to get back down in traffic).

And the stars? Well this is how they get down the mountain!