Stage 1 - Kilkenny to Cork - 22 August

Race day is here. Almost a year of detailed planning and we're about to see if we got it right. Of course we did. At least as far as the fans will ever know it was perfect.

Here are the motor marshals sitting around waiting for the gun which will not go off for an hour.


This is the Start Line which was completed at 9am this morning. I don't mean the construction. I mean the graphic attachments. The vendor forgot to do the left side and no one knew until it was being assembled for the first time..


Here are the lead vehicles including officials, race security, Mavic neutral support and the invaluable Garda motors.


This shot is in the category of "carrying coals to Newcastle". It is a picture of the great cycling photographer, Graham Watson (center) and his pilot, Luke Evans. Graham is guy who brought sunflowers to France so he'd have great backgrounds for his pictures or so it was claimed in an April 1, 2002 article in Velonews. Luke is supposedly my roommate but I have yet to be introduced to him nor has he shown up in our room. That's me mate, Mick on the left.


Here are Pat and Theresa Dowd ready for their Time Board (over here they call it blackboard) duties.


And they're off in Kilkenny.


Here we are just after the intermediate sprint in Carrick-on-Suir, the home of Irish Cycling legend, Sean Kelly.


A bit further down the road, the riders race through the Clonmel city gate after the second intermediate sprint of the day.


Now this is some scenery as we wait for the racers at The Vee, the only mountain points in today's stage.


Here's a closer look of the folks we get to look down on for a short while.


And here comes the bunch. The leaders went by four minutes ago.


The race is over and as usual I missed it. In this case it's because I had to guard my bike and its equipment. Apparently petty theft is a big thing in Ireland's cities. But the good news is I was there when Sean Kelly came by to tend to his Murphy & Gunn team.


And of course, no day would be complete without a reference to that holiest of Irish holies, Guinness.



As I write tonight's post I am at the Cork International Airport Hotel which is one of the nicest, funkiest places I've ever stayed. Funky how? you might ask. Let's start and end with the house flys painted on the urinals.

Tomorrow we're out at 0930 to take the coast road to Clonakily for the start. I'm told that tomorrow will be the most scenic day of the Tour. I promise to take lots of pix.