A Perfect Sunday - Le Tour and the Wood Shed

Sunday's second day of Le Tour de France was an unexpected joy - a mountain stage unusually early on the schedule with two Cat 1 peaks and one Cat 2, as the riders ended in Nice. The views were spectacular - drawing us in to watch for as long as we could before we headed out to work on the shed some more. I'll try to upload a photo of how we left the shed at the end of the day, but basically, a couple of more rafters need bracing brackets and then it's time for roofs and whatever walls he plans. I know nothing about his vision, I'm just the helper when he needs a second set of hands. 

Day 2 of Le Tour had the earliest mountain stage since the late
1970's and it did what mountain stages often do - broke
apart the field. The winner of Day 2 was Julian Alaphillipe
(Deceuninck-QuickStep) with a brilliant ride down the
final slopes for the day. 

We had a night of rain, and I know DH wanted to see how the new drainage worked with the screens, but he was exhausted, and I was exhausted, and the rains came at 2:30 am, so no. I didn't wake him up. I just turned over and went back to sleep. Rain on the roof can be a lovely sound to fall asleep to. 

We're crossing from East to West today, with lots of ups and downs
to keep things interesting. There's a nice flat long run into the
town of Sisteron, so the sprinters will enjoy pushing for the win
here. So far Peter Sagan sits second in the Sprinter's battle. This
might be his time to take the Green Jersey for himself. 

Today's Stage 3 brings us away from the coast and into the middle of France as we begin moving from East to West and the Pyrenees. It's got lots of hills and descents, but it will be a sprinter's ending as the riders move into Sisteron. There are three Cat 3 climbs and one Cat 4, but nothing too arduous (says the woman sitting on the desk chair in front of her computer. Realistically, I wouldn't be able to out-bicycle the worst rider of Le Tour, so who am I kidding! LOL )

Still, it's a Monday, we're racing once again, for at least 9 days, perhaps longer, and I'm quite happy about that. What's up with the 9 days? Well, the riders will be tested for COVID on the first Rest Day, September 7th, and then again on the next Rest Day, September 14th. If any rider's test is positive (and I think the tests will also encompass all of the support personnel), the entire team is eliminated from the Race immediately. If all teams are eliminated, the winner of this year's tour is the man who is wearing the Yellow Jersey at that time. It's really a crap shoot whether the boys will actually make it as far as Paris, but they're doing their best to be safe and conscious of distancing and mask wearing. 

So it goes in this time of Pandemic. Everyone is affected. For now, have a glorious Monday, enjoy your day, and please be safe, stay well, and wear a mask.