Intro

Welcome everyone. We're at life in the peloton here and I've got my co-host today, Lionel Bernie on board, but I've got him on board for the whole podcast.

He's over there in France and we're going to be discussing the tour to France today. Welcome Lionel to your first official full episode of Life in the Peloton.

Thanks very much, Mitch. I'm honored to be a fully fledged guest, although I'm going to be turning the tables on you because really you're going to be answering the majority of the questions that have come in from some of your listeners, some of our listeners, and also I've got some questions of my own.

But I'm here on the rest day of the tour to France. We're in a hotel in La Rochelle and I'm looking around the room. It feels like I've unpacked absolutely everything that I brought with me for the three weeks.

I've got all my stuff on the surfaces. I'm not too proud to admit. I'm not the tides of people when I'm on my own. It just made me wonder about your rest day routine during the grand tours, what it's like. Do you like to get the travel bit done the night before so you get a full day in the hotel on the rest day?

Well, yeah, I was just getting cast in my mind back to that. Just as you were asking that question. And one thing that just popped into my head, one thing I always love to do was exactly what you said, do the travel before.

And often my wife would come and visit me the night before the rest day and she would be staying close by and that meant I would be able to catch up with her on the rest day.

You come down, you hopefully not get into late and that was always a day I'd put if you had your team attire required any kind of dressy clothes that was because pretty much all the time all you're wearing is tracksuit pants, team t-shirt, tracksuit top and then cycling gear.

And you live in those clothes day in day out. So the night before the rest day was like my day to sort of spruce it up. So what I do is I'd pack my presentation shared in that team one.

Give myself a little chance to dress up for the night, maybe have a shave and go down and have my before rest day dinner. And you know, it wasn't anything special. Maybe we could have a glass of wine, but you could just mentally switch off knowing I've made it.

I've made it to the rest day. I've got a day off tomorrow. I don't have to do the routine. And it was just a nice feeling. It's always a nice buzz around the table.

If that was you did get in in enough time because sometimes you just don't get in in time. And the worst scenario is you have to travel on that rest day to the following hotel.

So to go back on that, then to be able to wake up in the morning of the rest day in the hotel and just sort of have a relaxed morning, go down for breakfast. Maybe read the paper a bit longer or you know even catch up with your wife or your girlfriend.

That was actually pretty special. It seemed so weird to think of it outside the bubble because it seems a bit ridiculous. You've only been away for 10 days. It sounds like I'm talking like you've been on a race for 10 years.

But it does build up so much that you do need that decompression on that rest day because there is still a lot more to come. It's only the first rest day.

And then a little ride just to kind of keep the legs moving. And in normal times, I guess a nice relaxed coffee with teammates. I think the riders here on the tour and not allowed to do that because that was counter going out of the the COVID secure race bubble.

So a bit of an unusual rest day for them here, but I guess that's one of the little pleasures just getting a little bit of downtime.

It's just not thinking about the race for 24 hours. And also exactly also one thing I did didn't mind also is that morning that breakfast. I always tried to have something different to what I do on race day.

You know, race days all that getting the carbohydrates and preparing for the big stage ahead. And what I would typically do is try and eat a little bit normal.

You know, I might just even have some scrambled eggs and a piece of toast. And that would be it. And just feel nice not to be sort of shoveling food down your throat. Have a coffee like have a long coffee because generally you're having the quick breakfast, you're having a big breakfast and you're feeling pretty damn full before you jump on the bus and go to the stage.

So I think the biggest thing was the changing routine. And I'm sure a lot of guys are enjoying that today going for a cruiser ride.

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