The First week of the TDF is over-

Well, the first week of the Tour is in the books. It has offered incredible racing and that has made this first week fly by! I already have so many stories–some inspiring, some sad and some downright crazy!The impact of crashes, both on time lost and rider injury, has dominated headlines this week. There have also been some incredible performances by American teams with 5 of the 8 stages being won by American-based teams–quite impressive, I must say. I believe this Tour will continue to keep us on the edge of our seats. I am excited to see how these next couple weeks unfold, so stay tuned.

From the work side of things, life has been very nice with my crew of Frank Bitali, Greg Peterson and co-reporter Craig Hummer. We laugh a bunch and we have put out some great pieces, many of which have not made the air since the crashes have happened when my course reports were supposed to run. I have also been lucky to interview old friends like Levi, Horner, George, Cadel and many others. I am lucky these guys are such professionals and allow me great access to them.

I have had a few funnies in the last 10 days, starting with a massive zit on my forehead that took a ton of makeup and some clever camerawork to hide. After the zit went away, I got stung in the forehead by a bee! It swelled up bigger than the zit and took even more makeup and camerawork to make disappear. And once that was gone, I burned my forehead really bad and it took a different kind of makeup to get rid of the swollen, bright, shiny, red glow just under my hairline.

After my forehead returned to normal, I dumped a full bottle of water down my producer’s back by mistake. He was in the middle of a show and I leaned over to tell him something, except I had an uncapped bottle of water tucked in my arm. So when I bent over, it poured all over his back and chair. NOT GOOD.

During the next stage, Craig Hummer parked near a farm. I opened my car door and backed into an electric wire that sent a shock into me like I have never experienced. I jumped 5 feet in the air, my hamstring locked up and I ended up on the ground.

There has been some serious fun along the way and I appreciate everyone’s comments and encouragement. I miss my family like mad. I constantly think about Lori’s cooking, my kids’ laughter, our wonderful home and my other friends and family.

I will check in again soon!

Ciao~
Robbie