Moments in Time

So I am finally on my way! Riding the prologue route of the Tour de France route is not as easy as it sounds and I knew this would be the case, even knowing exactly the route and the start and finish points. Of course the roads are not closed and the real fun thing is that the route for the most part will be ridden by the pro peloton on the "wrong" side of the road, clearly this cannot be done with roads open to traffic :-)

The thing to do was to use the excellent cycle lanes and follow the route which as it happened had been kindly marked out on the tarmac by the organisers. We just took a very easy potter along the route, the Erasmusbrug in particular is an amazing feat of engineering and will make a wonderful setting for the start of the Tour de France on Saturday.

For the time being at least I am ahead of the pros, long may that continue! The plan now is to just catch up with a bit of housekeeping and plan for the days ahead. Great to meet up with Ben from SKINS today which we managed without too much difficulty. Today was not really a true test of the SKINS clothing I'm using for The Tour but certainly for this very short ride they couldn't be faulted at all, very nice gear, will report on performance tomorrow.

The plan for tomorrow is to be on the road by about 08:30 so an early night tonight before the very long stage down to Bruxelles tomorrow, I wonder if we will have a tailwind all the way or just most of it? ;-) I wish! Have today identified (by riding to it from the city centre) a suitable starting point on the route which will allow us to miss the city centre traffic in the morning rush period. This arrangement will work well and will allow us to get off to a much better start and we have already ridden the few kilometres involved.

On we go! Let's hear it for the Silver Cyclists!

Photographs from Today:

Ready for lift off on the SKINS Tour de Velo.

Road marker at the prologue finish line.

Prologue completed.

Today's Weather:

Quite windy, sunny, and unexpectedly warm.

Ride Time: 00:36 hh:mm

Cumulative Tour Time: 00:36 hh:mm

Work Done: 211kJ

Training Stress Score: 13.3

Intensity Factor: 0.466

Normalised Power: 142W

Variability Index: 1.48

Ride Distance: 6.99 miles

Cumulative Tour Distance: 6.99 miles

Elevation Gain: 291 feet

Cumulative Tour Elevation Gain: 291 feet

Maximum Power: 714W

Average Power: 96W

Average Heart Rate: 107bpm

Average Speed - True: 11.5mph

Acute Training Load: 44.2

Chronic Training Load: 81.2

Training Stress Balance: 34.7

Hmm... Looks like 2 of these sneaked in overnight, guess they must be for the VIPs to travel around in. I still reckon they might have been draughted in to keep an eye on me for the first few stages. Reckon they might be wanting to see if Lance and the guys have a realistic chance this year or whether they should just pull out early to avoid humiliation ;-)

The comment of Christian Prudhomme

After a start launched from Brittany in 2008 and an unusual time-trial start from Monaco in 2009, this year’s Tour Start from Rotterdam returns to a more traditional format. The itinerary through the city centre, crossing the Erasmus Bridge in both directions, is a flat straight, not too winding. An ideal itinerary for time-trial specialists.

To see an interactive map and explore with Google Street View click here.

Photographs from Today:

Departure from Leeds-Bradford airport.

Look who's at my hotel!

Left home early and arrived at the airport in good time for a sad farewell to Lorena to whom I owe so much. Flight left on time and was uneventful and soon arrived in Amsterdam after the short flight where I was met by Steve and Bart from Sports Tours International. Had hoped to meet up with Ben from SKINS but unfortunately other pressures took over and hopefully this meet up will now take place tomorrow when we set off for our ride around the prologue circuit when we will finally, albeit briefly, be on our way.

Gear all seems to have arrived Ok which is great but I still have to put my bike together, shouldn't take too long as long as I haven't left anything important behind! Looked out of the hotel window and saw about 8 Livestrong branded vehicles looking very smart indeed and finally twigged that they were here to spy on the Tour de Velo, just in case they need to sign up a spare rider at short notice, how quickly word travels that there is some new talent on the block ;-)

Hotel room is extremely spacious and even has a kitchen but the air con doesn't seem to be working and it's pretty darned warm. Looking forward to making a start tomorrow and seeing if the GPS routing works out Ok, if it doesn't I've got a problem ;-)

More soon from the Tour de Velo, watch this space!

Even The Met Office thinks it's going to be nice for the next few days so I'm not going to argue, if it's right I'll just enjoy it and if it's wrong I'll just shut up and get on with it. Speaking of getting on with it, it's time for breakfast, last homemade porridge for a good while!

The great adventure begins! Off down to Leeds Bradford airport to fly out to Amsterdam where I should be collected for the short transfer down to Rotterdam where the fun begins tomorrow. This, one way or another, is going to be quite an experience!