The Nice Press Room

The nice press room was located in a "cave-like" setting.
Belleville, France – Stage 4 will be remembered for having a nice press room. And for the short transfer from start to finish (15 minutes). And for learning that I needed to work extremely fast upon our return to the hotel, otherwise the wifi would crash once the riders got settled.

It was also the day that I scored a hospitality bag in the press room that included a bottle of wine – which I dutifully shared with the staff at dinner. And about that press room, it was terrific – plenty of room, outlets (pictured), water at the tables, reserved seating, food and drink, restrooms and a location no more than 150 meters from the finish line. But I totally jinxed the day by posting how great it was on my Facebook page. No more than 10 minutes later, the wifi stopped working and it was touch and go the rest of the afternoon.

As for the other parts of my day, I made two trips to the gas station. Once to fill up the crafter, the other time to fill up a team car. On the latter stop, I couldn't get the car entirely filled up with gas for some reason (so I returned Thursday morning and still couldn't get it all filled up).

Other items from my notebook:

- The food at this hotel was much nicer. But I talked to our team chef, who said everything was prepared somewhere else and then heated/cooked here. Reminded me of a Schwan's meal. The sign on the cereal says, "Cornflakes original Kellogg's."

- My room was fine, though it was one of those enter-from-outdoors and the curtain over the large window was paper thin. So you tried not to look at the rooms as you walked by. In my room, the bathroom light flickered on and off like a haunted house strobe light.

- The guys apparently liked some of my stories at the dinner table tonight. Even the ones about the Justin Bieber movie.

My room at the Campanile.

Lights on the equipment truck turn night into day.

Check out all the food already prepared for Stage 5.

Chris Des Vos let me shoot photos of Danilo Wyss's massage.

Jim Fryer and Iri Greco are here, shooting for Specialized.

This is a bumper-type pad between the finish line signage.

A look down the finish straight, still being prepared.

Nice stadium right near the team parking.

Girls: this is what that frame in my living room
looks like when it's built up as a real bike.

A peek inside my lunch sack.

Check out the "Sidi" brand floor mat. Nice touch.