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 25 - Stage 20

Mont Ventoux. Been there. It was painful. I know it looks cool on TV, but to be there consider this. The mountain closes early to traffic, so walk or bike up as far as you want. One possibility is driving up the day before, which means sleeping in the car or on the ground, before the trees disappear. Gets pretty cool at night and really hot and windy during the day. I also wanted Angie to speak to me again at some point this year, so, we made the brilliant call to watch it in a great Irish pub with some old friends. This also meant we didn't have to get up early for the first time of this incredibly restful vacation :-) Instead we had some breakfast and walked down the Champs Elysees to Nike Paris. They've got a great LiveStrong display on the front window as well as LiveStrong clothes. Unfortunately they didn't have any new LiveStrong clothes we needed. Not because they were out, but because we already have about everything that's been made. It was cool to see all the employees sporting LiveStrong shirts, though.

Next we took a cab to the Gallerie Emmanuel Perrotin to see the Stages Art work show which Nike has helped assemble. There were some really cool pieces, cool mix of media and how they were created and incredible cancer stories attached. Strongly suggest you try to see it if it comes within reach. As we walked into the last room we heard a surprising "Jerry & Angie" and looked to see our longtime LAF friend Allison Wright! So nice to visit and catch up on life in general. We usually only see each other at events and there's never enough time to chat. After a long talk, Allison had to go to a meeting. Hard dedicated worker, great gal, we love her!!

We viewed the other pieces and left for Bugsy's, a great Irish pub near the embassy row area. We had gone there several years ago and watched a stage of the Tour and had a great time, so we were meeting some old friends from Tours of several years ago, Doug & Joanne Larimore. When we walked into Bugsy's, we saw Doug & Joanne, then a couple of tables over was Allison. She was meeting with the Tour of Ireland folks about the upcoming LiveStrong involvement there in conjunction with the LiveStrong Global Cancer Summit. She claimed meeting an Irishman about the Tour of Ireland meant a pub was the perfect meeting spot. We had some good lunch and cold beer and repeatedly reminded ourselves how happy we were not to be on the mountain today.

It was very cool to see the entire bar cheer for Lance at various times during the climb up Ventoux. I know there are people that will say Lance lost the Tour this year, but I will once again remind folks that his mission this year was to launch a global effort to unite the world to fight cancer, which has been an astounding success so far. The year's not over, so more to come on that. As for the Tour de France, we couldn't be prouder of his accomplishments on the bike this year. With one hundred eighty riders starting at the Tour, finishing third is incredible to have been away from the sport for 4 years, broke his collarbone a few months back. Wow! Great job Lance!

So tomorrow is the last day of the Tour. People will generally tell you it's a ceremonial ride into Paris, which may be true, but once the riders hit the cobbles on the Champs, it turns into a very real race, very fast. We're turning in early because we have to be on the street early to secure where we want to spend the day.

I'm trying to figure out how I can get this wristband out on the street tomorrow. Hmmmm.