2017 Tour de France Stage 21 Watercolor

For an overview of my Tour de France watercolor project, click here.

And then another great Tour de France came to a conclusion as it always does, on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

2017 Tour de France Stage 19 & 20 Watercolors

For an overview of my Tour de France project, click here.

Stage 20 brought the Tour through the beautiful red-roofed villages of Provence.

One more treat before heading to Paris ... a spectacular individual time trial through Marseille.  The

beautiful view of all was as the riders climbed the hill to the Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde.

2017 Tour de France Stage 17 & 18 Watercolors

For an overview of my Tour de France watercolor project, click here.

Stage 17 featured the spectacular giants of the Tour -- Col de la Croix de Fer and the Col du Galibier -- as well as a beautiful alpine landscape of mountain rivers, lakes, and treeless slopes.

As if the climbs of Stage 17 were not enough, epic Stage 18 finished atop the Col d'Izoard, sending the riders through the col's desert-like landscapes before reaching the summit.

2017 Tour de France Stage 15 & 16 Watercolors

For an overview of my 2017 Tour de France project, click here.

The tour not only headed into the land of extinct volcanoes on Stage 15, but also through some beautiful French villages (actually, aren't all French villages beautiful?).  I just had to try to capture those narrow streets and fans pushed up against stone houses as the riders careened around sidewalk-less corners.  The interesting thing about this is if you take a look at some villages on Googlemaps Streetviewer, they can be quite plain, albeit lovely.  But when the Tour comes through town the flowers and flags break out, and a whirlwind of color descends on even the sleepiest little community.

The theme of beautiful villages continued into Stage 16 as the Tour made its way into the Rhone valley.  Red roofs and elaborate cathedrals looked down on the peloton today, and Michael Matthews took his second stage win of the tour.

2017 Tour de France Stage 13 & 14 Watercolors

For an overview of my Tour de France watercolor project, click here.

Tour de France 2017 continued its journey through the Pyrenees on July 14, Bastille Day.  Stage 13 concluded with French rider Warren Barguil winning the day, after having just missed victory on a very close Stage 9.

Hilly Stage 14 made its way through the beautiful fields of southwest France, finishing with a sprint won by Michael Matthews -- win #2 for Team Sunweb in two consecutive days.  It turns out that the Stage 13 and 14 winners were not only on the same team, they were roommates!

Bookstore Ride ... With Video!

Take an ordinary errand, and make it something special -- that's what a bicycle does so perfectly, especially when that errand is to visit a wonderful bookstore.

Here's a video I created of my ride to from Cambridge to Newtonville Books in Newton, Massachusetts.  I shot the video with my GoPro camera and iPhone7, and then I edited it in GoPro Studio.  Enjoy!

2017 Tour de France Stage 11 & 12 Watercolors

For an overview of my Tour de France watercolor project, click here.

Sunflowers!  I wait for them every year, and then there they are!  Whole fields of them, like in lovely Stage 11 from Eymet to Pau, as the race made its way toward the Pyrenees.

By the time the Tour reached the last 100 kilometers of Stage 12, we were high into the Pyrenean Mountains, with heavy fog enveloping the riders.