Alps trip timing- Summer 2004

Just wondering when the best time to head to France in SUmmer 2004 would be... before or after the tour? Any opinions?? I'm guessing that "before" will be trick w.r.t. accomodation etc... How long do I have to wait afterwards for it to die down?

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Road - Santa Cruz Roadster/DA-10sp
Tri/TT - Van Dessel Tijdrit & Ultegra
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well, do you want to see the tour??
i went when the tour was on and it was great, fantastic and worth all the hassles i had with accomodation. If you can, book a couple of nights in one place near a tour stage and then you will be fine. This was my only problem which was solved by spending the night in a park at the base of alpe d'huez. Not the best nights sleep i have ever had...

go when the tour is on and you will never regret it.

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A turn of the crank,
is all that it takes to start,
a revolution

See the section for Europe of the Trento Bike Pages. The Jobst Brandt's
Tour of the Alps Collection. A collection of reports by Jobst ...

http://www-math.science.unitn.it/Bik...r_of_the_Alps/

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David Ornee, Western Springs, IL USA

Thanks for the link - looks fantastic!!

I just found out I have a place to stay in Paris... looks like we'll be able to catch the finish of the tour there and then head out on our own... :rubhandswithglee:

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Road - Santa Cruz Roadster/DA-10sp
Tri/TT - Van Dessel Tijdrit & Ultegra
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Another possibility is to reserve a room (long ahead) in one of the overnight stops. I was fortunate enough to pedal into St. Etienne a few years ago, unaware that it was a tour stop that night and was lucky enough to go back to a hotel I'd used before and get the last room. It's a lot of fun to wander through the streets full of cyclists, mechanics working on bikes on the sidewalks etc. and soak in the atmosphere. You can also go out to dinner with many of the personnel (although usually not the cyclists themselves) Then (with a car, or a bike if you have legs of steel and a good alarm clock) go out to watch the stage go by.
www.todmoore.net

We did a two-week ride that ended one week before the tour started in the very same area that the tour later went through. Only time we had any trouble with finding hotel rooms was in a small town that hosted a big wedding at the day we arrived.