*** TOUR DE FRANCE ON A FRIDAY STORIES ***

CONQUER the Tour de France on a folding bicycle? Every year several Bike Friday owners do just that. Not surprising, really - with a smaller diameter to turn, small wheels are particularly good for climbing, among other things (read about their advantages here). Viva le Tour on a Friday!

TOUR DE FRANCE ON A FRIDAY GALLERY

Chris Hodge tackles the The Col d'Echelle (near Alpe d'Huez) 2007

Leo Anderson, Austin TX, rode his Pocket Crusoe up Mt Ventoux

Chuck Brabenac at the Tour de France 2005 His Bike Friday's so new it's still sporting its fit stem!

Voice of the Tour de France Phil Liggett is a long time owner and supporter of Bike Friday. Lots of links to him out and about with his Pocket Rocket Pro.

John Rohland, who is the Bike Friday Club of Rhode Island leader, summits the Col du Tourmalet on his Pocket Rocket

Fred Time, Dallas, TX has done the TDF route 4 times on his Pocket Rocket Pro

Robert Wendel rode his Air Friday? on the balcony at Mont Ventoux!

TOUR DE FRANCE CUSTOMER STORIES AND SITES

Andrew Beyer rides the Alpe d'Huez on his Pocket Rocket Pro (Washington Post article, July 2005)

Don Jeske's Photos, Air Friday

Nigel Dick, award-winning film director, 'I HAVE A REAL BIKE AT HOME ... HONEST'. Nigel takes us on several YouTubian video descents - you can even see his Friday in the background in this clip.

No rider too petite to TDF on a Friday! - Marion Guy (UK) and her Pro Petite - scroll to the bottom of the article

Carl Hemmings (Australia), 6'2", has done lots of challenging world travels on his New World Tourist

Tod Rodger: How to Conquer a Mountain Stage of the TDF sage advice on a New World Tourist

OLN Tour de France commentator Bob Roll is a Bike Friday owner - scroll down to see him in a movie telling you so!

Bob Thomas' 2004 TDF experience on a Pocket Rocket

Bob and Kris Thompson joined a group of almost 10 Fridays on this trip of a lifetime through Paris and France, September 2004 - a fabulous panorama

WHAT DOES PHIL LIGGETT DO ON A FRIDAY?

"The morning of the Paris-Roubaix one year, I woke to find the Italian legend Ballerini riding around the car park on my power purple Pocket Rocket Pro. He was obviously impressed!" reports Phil Liggett, famous English Voice of the Tour de France and International Editor of the CycleSport Magazine www.cyclesportmag.com. See here with Cyclesport's Tim Grady and BF owner Nathan Smith.

Climbing the Alpe d'Huez

Hi Everyone,

Mark your calendars. Give us two gold stars. Today we climbed the Alpe d'Huez, the famous mountain that challenges the Tour de France bicyclists with its grueling ascent. We were in and out of the clouds. There was a light rain at the bottom and some snow flurries at the top.

It's a really tough climb with 21 hairpin turns and some most impressive views on the way up. Each turn is marked with a date and the winner of this stage that year. They also count down the turns to the top. At about turn 16 there's a little church where we stopped to pray for a bit, hoping to make it. Can you believe we actually passed three cyclists after our religious stop?

At the finish, Roger congratulated me for keeping up the pace. Actually the top looks quite different from the Alpine village we have seen on the TV. There are lots of modern high rise hotels, condominiums and there could be quite a ski scene. It was lunch time and we were very hungry, but we had some difficulty finding a place to eat as the Alps' snow season never really came this year so most restaurants were closed.

You need to know how great the Bike Fridays work on a difficult climb like this. They ride perfectly.....folded in the trunk of the car!!

HO HO HO, Love, Roger and Judy Dumm, Two'sDay and Pocket Llama owners.

My Air Friday climbed Mt Ventoux and some big cols in the Alpes a few weeks ago with great ease. (I was the one with difficulties.) Is there a more appropriate email sight for sharing adventures? I was on Ventoux June 13, taking 100 minutes to complete the assault from Sault and saw one BF descending. I also met a Chuck B. from Portland OR with his BF in St Paul, near Vence and Nice on June 23, three days after I had an amazing 11 hour ride in the Maritime Alpes. What a great bike you make!!! It descends better than any other bike I have experienced.

Peter Hewitt, Sacramento