Bike Tour

This week, in my town, there is a bike tour called "La Tour d'Abitibi" 2006. It is a tour for juniors, but it is important in the fact that it is the only tour in North America where the points count towards ranking you for the Tour de France.

Luckily for me, the race against the clock brings the bikers right in front of my house. The best place for pictures, though, is at the top of the street. The bikers start the race at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft and must climb close to 400 meters on a 17% incline. It takes powerful muscles to make the climb, and often the riders with heavier leg muscles seem do do better in this race. The wire-thin guys tend to do better in the long distance races.

Look at how cool this bike is:



Imagine how this guy must feel. Every biker leaves at 1 minute intervals... you have one kilometer to go before getting back and the person that left behind you is already on your tail!



A biker from Sweden... you can tell by his socks! ;-)



And what kind of race would it be if there weren't some Canadian rider sponsored by Tim Hortons Donuts! :-D