About the trip

It's funny how different people have reacted to this trip. I need to clear up a few misconceptions:

No, Dave will not be riding the Tour de France with Lance and the boys. Though we all think Dave is a great bike rider, he's not THAT good! (No disrespect meant, Dave!) Lance and the boys are professionals, meaning they don't have to work a second job in order to earn an income. They can just ride their bikes each and every day. Dave, on the other hand, NEEDS his job at Children's in order for us to take this trip ... or eat, for that matter. He's only an amateur racer. He's what is classified, in biking terms, as a Cat 3 racer.

On the other hand, Dave WILL be riding as much of the same route as Lance and the boys will be riding as he can, only a few days earlier. Unfortunately, when the Tour occurs, roads and traffic are shut down in order for the race to come through the cities and towns along the route. Dave won't be so fortunate, so he will have to put up with traffic and other obstacles. In fact, in Monaco, the route goes the wrong way on a one-way street. He may need to pass on that for safety's sake and take a parallel route.

Now, hold your breath - for those who don't know how long the route is, Dave will be trying to ride approximately 3,471 km, or for those of us who need an American translation - about 2,160 miles. Yeah, so I can barely ride 20 miles, let alone 100-plus times that. The route covers three weeks (the Tour begins on July 4 and ends on July 26 - watch it on Versus, if you get that channel), starting in Monaco and ending in Paris. There are three short days (a 9-mile time trial in Monaco - but don't let the length fool you, it is extremely hilly - a 22-mile team time trial in Marseille, France, and a 24 mile time trial in Annecy, France), but most days are between 96 miles and 135 miles (the longest being a mountainous 135-mile stretch between Barcelona, Spain, and Andorra). He'll have two rest days, the first after about nine days and the second after another 6 days.

One big detour we will be taking is Dave won't be riding the last leg of the Tour, which is into Paris (it's a 96-mile day). In talking to friends, one journalist friend in particular of mine who covers the race for ESPN.com, they told us to stay away from the chaos of Paris. We decided to heed that advice. Thus, if Dave is up for it, we may take his final day and go find another mountain for him to climb in France before we pack up.

Lofty goals, we know. But we're excited to be able to do this and to do this together. Who better to do this kind of trip with than with your best friend?