If we do nothing, nothing will change

July 18 - Stage 14  / July 19 - Stage 15 / Rest Day / July 21 - Stage 16 / Tour Scenery / July 22 - Stage - 17

July 23 - Stage 18 / July 24 - Stage 19 / July 25 - Stage 20 / July 26 - Stage 21 / Photo Gallery

July 18 - Stage 14

We are just catching up with the Tour today. Had a somewhat uneventful flight from home, as long as you consider a 2 hour delay leaving and an American Airlines plane that was struggling to find it's air-conditioning. But we made it safe and are ready to follow Lance the rest of the way to Paris. We've made previous trips to the Tour during Lance's 7 year streak, so we have some experience chasing the Tour and we have a plan.

When Lance first announced he was coming back to ride again, the real purpose got lost a bit. This is the year that LiveStrong has launched it's Global Initiative to get other individuals, NGO's, companies, countries, anyone willing to make a commitment to fighting cancer. Our goal is to support Lance the cancer survivor and promote the LiveStrong message, same as we have in earlier years. Lance has stated that if we (the LAF) make a difference off the bike in the world of fighting cancer, then regardless of the results on the bike, we win. We certainly agree, while at the same time, we have to say Lance is the most competitive, driven individual we've ever met, so we expect to see him on the podium and won't be surprised at all to see him on the top step.

We arrived in Geneva Saturday afternoon, just in time to watch the final few kilometers, including the close up of George counting the seconds down to see if he  would get a day in yellow tomorrow. Very frustrating to see Garmin take the jersey away from George by driving the peloton the last 10K. Gonna be hard for us to cheer for  them the rest of this Tour and maybe for a long time. Guys just don't get the opportunity to wear the yellow jersey very often, most never in their career, so I don't understand why and American team would take that away from another American, especially a guy as nice as George, who would likely lose it tomorrow anyway. If they're trying to lose fans, they're doing a good job.

We walked around town a bit and ended up eating at a Mexican joint, waited on by an Asian guy, here in Switzerland. Feel like we're in the Twilight Zone. I still believe that if we introduce COLD beer to Europe, they would love it. I just don't quite get the room temp beer. We're crashing early tonight after a long travel day because tomorrow will be a full day. We plan to head to Verbier and get somewhere on the final climb. We've never been on this climb before, so we don't know exactly what to expect. Should be a very important day in the Alps. One of those, you don't win the Tour here, but you can sure lose it.

Jerry & Angie