I spent much of the day in the Tour de France press room here in Copenhagen, typing away and attending press conferences. It would have made for a pretty boring video. Fortunately, when I left the press room and started to pedal back to my AirBnB, I stumbled upon the team paddock. Riders were preparing to head over to the team presentation. What luck!
So I pulled out my cameras, donned a mask, and started covering the Tour de France — by bike.
I ran into an immediate logistical problem: parking my bike while I attempted to shoot photos and video, and conduct interviews. Soigneurs gave me odd looks as I rolled my titanium road bike with panniers and bags attached through the team paddock, cameras hanging off my shoulders and swinging as I went.
At first I leaned my bike against the barriers where fans were posted, snapping photos and keeping eyes out for their favorite riders. I wasn’t worried that someone would steal the bike; it would be pretty obvious if they were lifting the bike over the barrier. But it did seem all too easy to snatch my Hammerhead Karoo 2 off the bike, or even swipe my water bottles.
Besides, I had to keep moving. Finding a good spot, leaning the bike, and then heading off to do my work seemed inefficient. So I started simply leaning the bike against my thighs, taking my shots, and moving on. At one point I even used the saddle as an impromptu tripod.
Still, it’s not a great way to do my job. I think if I had to do this all over again, I would leave my bike at home and simply use the bikeshare bikes that are basically everywhere here in Copenhagen. They’re super easy to use. I downloaded an app, attached my credit card, and was off and pedaling within minutes. Copenhagen makes it easy to travel just about anywhere by bike or by rail, so having my bike here feels a bit redundant.
It’s not that way in other parts of Europe, of course. And if I was following the Tour de France all the way into the less populated regions of France, I would very likely be happy to have my bike. (It’s also more likely I would need to hitch rides in cars.) But in an efficient urban center that has de-prioritized cars and placed a premium instead on multi-mobility, getting around is easy without fancy equipment like high-end bikes and cars.
Toms Skujins on the new Madone
As soon as I arrived at the Tour de France team paddock, I spotted Toms Skujinš (Trek-Segafredo) and, naturally, shoved a camera in his face. Toms gave me his impressions of the new Trek Madone SLR, with its eye-catching IsoFlow system built into the seat tube/top tube junction. Be sure to watch the video above for Toms’s take.
The IsoFlow system replaces the IsoSpeed system on the previous Madone. IsoSpeed was a decoupler design that allowed some fore-aft flex in the seatpost for tons of compliance on the otherwise super-stiff bike. IsoFlow simplifies the compliance equation and lowers the overall weight of the bike by a whopping 300 grams. And that big chasm beneath the seatpost is more aerodynamic, according to Trek. Win-win.
