Monday, March 29, 2010

Bernie Cam


If you didn't guess the cyclist from 2 blogs ago was Phil Liggett. And here we have a shot of the current world champions legs (Cadel Evans) as seen by Bernie Eisel.
And here is a rare glimpse of the director with camera in hand.

I'm not sure why he chose the hardest stage of the Tour (17) to let us put a camera on his bike but with it he went over 5 mountains, 4 were Category 1 climbs. Bernie - you are the MAN

Saturday, March 27, 2010

A hint


he won the Member of the Order of the British Empire medal - straight from the Queen.

Name that cyclist



a few years back...but still a huge part of pro cycling and Chasing Legends...

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The First Mountains



The assistant organiser, Victor Breyer, stood at the summit of the Aubisque with the colleague who had proposed including the Pyrenees, Alphonse Steinès. Breyer wrote of the first man to reach them:
His body heaved at the pedals, like an automaton, on two wheels. He wasn't going fast but he was at least moving. I trotted alongside him and asked 'Who are you? What's going on? Where are the others?' Bent over his handlebars, his eyes riveted on the road, the man never turned his head nor uttered one sole word. He continued and disappeared round a turn. Steinès had read his number and consulted the riders' list. Steinès was dumfounded. 'The man is François Lafourcade, a nobody. He has caught and passed all the cracks' ... Another quarter-hour passed before the second rider appeared, whom we immediately recognised as Octave Lapize. Unlike Lafourcade, Lapize was walking, half leaning on, half pushing his machine. But unlike his predecessor, Lapize spoke, and in abundance. 'You are assassins, yes, assassins!' To discuss matters with a man in this condition would have been cruel and stupid.

Cultural Significance of the Tour

Found some interesting quotes while doing research:
The academic historians Jean-Luc Boeuf and Yves Léonard say most people in France had little idea of the shape of their country until L'Auto began publishing maps of the race. They wrote:
At the start of the 20th century, the French were still largely ignorant (connaissent encore très mal) of the geography of their country. Maps were rare and little used, even at school. The physical shape of France and its contours remained an unknown for most Frenchmen ... Efforts to interest school children in the image in general and maps in particular were in vain. The book Tour de France par Deux Enfants didn't have a map of France before its 1905 edition, by which time it had sold seven million copies!
By the maps of France [that it published], the Tour de France became at the same time a teacher, in printing a map of the contours of the country – which was rare at least until the Great War – and populist in portraying France as a hexagon, a France not only amputated from 1903 of its "lost provinces" but also its overseas possessions and Corsica, never visited in a century and still missing from maps of the Tour de France.

Eugen Weber, in the foreword to Tour de France: 1903–2003 says:
The Tour contributed more to France than new-model heroes. It put flesh on the bones of values taught in school but seldom internalized: effort, courage, determination, stoic endurance of pain, and even fair play. It familiarized a nation with its geography. It brought life, activity, excitement into small towns where very little happened; it introduced a festive atmosphere wherever it passed; and it acquainted provincial backwaters with spectacular displays previously available only in big cities.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

More Mountains

Trying to pack a lot of mountain views into the movie - I think most people love the mountains so we'll deliver a solid dose.

Our friend Jan, always smiling

A look back to Monaco - preride on the prologue course with the team. Up close and personal.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Lance Makes Kids Smile

Another reason why cycling is such a great sport - even at the highest level.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Tim getting hassled by the man.

Notice our helmet cam on his moto driver.

Friday, March 12, 2010

To get the shots



that few have gotten we went to extremes. Like Stage 19 when we accidentally found ourselves ON COURSE only about 20 minutes ahead of the race. We had a parcours sticker from ASO but we were past our time limit to be on course. The Gendarmerie figured the best way to deal with us was to let us run the gauntlet. Not wanting to miss an opprotunity to capture a unique angle, I had Jeremy pull the RV to the side of the mountain (pretty steep as you can see) and we rigged the one and only

RV CAM !!!!!!!!!!!




Thursday, March 11, 2010

Am I gonna be on TV?


Check out this camera-mugging Gendarmerie - I bet Kenny (who scored this sweet shot) didn't even realize the guy was show-boating heading into a roundabout at 50kph on a moto with no hands on the bars. Boredom breeds stupidity...

Finish from high


Our interpreter, RV driver, moral supporter and all-around cool guy Jeremy turned out to be quite handy with a camera as well. Always looking for a good viewpoint he nailed this finish from a distant cliff on the last day in the Pyrenees.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

1903 or 2010?


The start of the film will be very unexpected...

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Kenny was determined to get the CLOSE-UP AWARD for the movie - I think this wins it.

Time Trial, Stage 18

Mic Rogers lights up the course and the camera frame

Stage 18 Time Trial, Lake Annecy

Capturing more than just the racing. Lake Annecy has some incredibly
beautiful architecture, canals and fountains.