No Rest for the Weary

Getting the band back together: Former 7-Eleven team members (left to right) Davis Phinney, Alex Steida and Frankie Andreu entertained us with their stories and their legs!


Today was the second rest day for the Tour de France, but was a full-on day of cycling for our VéloSport Vacations crew. There were two ride choices today. The shorter, “easier” ride included the hors categorie Hautacam climb while the longer ride did the hors categorie Tourmalet climb. There was also a third, insane option of doing both climbs.

Five guys from one group went for the full monty – 140 kilometers and two hors categorie climbs. Two are college buddies from Indiana – Jonathan “Mr. Amy” Purvis and Greg O’Brien. Ross Moody from Austin, Texas was along for this epic ride and well-prepared in his training with Kevin Livingston. The youngest member of the group was John Cranston from San Francisco, California and the senior member was Robert Fulton from Portland, Oregon. I only saw these five musketeers after their ride and they all seemed sublimely exhausted from their efforts.

Though this was a day when everyone seemed to all go their separate ways, we did come together for a cocktail hour with three North American cycling greats. Chris Gutowsky managed to gather three former 7-Eleven team members in a cozy bar in Lourdes for a special presentation. Frankie Andreu, Alex Stieda and Davis Phinney all regaled us with tales from their days with the Tour de France.

All three of these legends managed to captivate the packed room with their tales of their lives as pros. The older of the three, Stieda and Phinney talked about a time when North American cyclists were an oddity in the world of European cycling. Andreu bridged the gap between the old days and today’s racing scene with his stories as a nine-year veteran of the Tour and a current OLN commentator.

Several in the group threw out good questions for our honored guests, but the best question came from Margaret Fambrough from Huntsville, Alabama. It was the final question for the boys and a doozey. She wanted to know if they would show us their calves. And though Stieda and Phinney cooperated by flexing their gams, Andreu refused the request saying that he hadn’t been on a bike in 5 weeks and didn’t want to expose his hairy legs. The flashes were going off all over the room as they shared both their stories and their legs with us. Thank you Frankie, Davis and Alex!!