Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 21

What is it about that last little bit of a project that's always so difficult to finish? Maybe it's the final piece of trim on a new window you installed, or that oil painting you spent months working on that now sits up against a wall, simply waiting for a frame.

Or maybe you assigned yourself the project of painting a watercolor for each stage of the Tour de France, and after twenty paintings completed and posted on your blog, you just can't bring yourself to do that last one!

A deadline really is a wonderful thing. There's no way I could have done twenty-one paintings had I sat down after the Tour and said: "I think I'm going to do a painting for each stage of the 2011 Tour de France." It was the challenge of doing them quickly during the Tour itself that kept my inner critic quiet. "Just leave me alone," I'd tell it, "I have a blog to write! It's good enough!"

But the final Stage 21 painting was different. There was no Stage 22 coming up the next day. No future stages that would pile up saying, "paint me now or else you'll fall hopelessly behind!" I had all the time in the world ... which really meant I had no time at all, because when tomorrow is an option, so many more mundane things start crowding into today.

So at long last, here is my Stage 21 Tour de France watercolor!


...or maybe I should say "post-Stage 21" painting. I think I'll call it: Tour de France, The Day After. Or maybe: A Tour de France Fan Lives Here.

Unlike football, baseball, hockey, or nearly any other sport, there's no stadium for road cycling that stands during the off-season. There are only scattered remnants of races past to remind us of all the fun and excitement of a remarkable Tour, like photos, articles, blogs, books, and journals ... and a few very special jerseys, hung out to dry until next year.

In my painting, life goes on down below on the street, but you never know where a Tour de France fan might live in the windows up above, reminiscing about Tours from earlier days, keeping the magic alive.

So to all the riders, team managers, mechanics, t.v. announcers, Tour organizers, journalists, wild & crazy roadside fans, and fellow television viewers, thanks for a wonderful 2011 Tour de France! I loved every minute of it. Vive Le Tour!

Colors of the Tour de France: Stages 15-20

After Stage 15's brief but beautiful journey through the villages of the Southern France...


...it was time for the Alps!

What words define the Alps for you? Maybe majestic, grand, or even breathtaking. But we Tour fans have our own unique shorthand for describing these magnificent mountains. A picture may be worth a thousand words -- but for us, a simple name brings up a world of images and stories.

Like Col du Galibier, with its misty, treeless summit and winding road, the site of this year's Stage 18 and 19:


That word, Galibier, will now always bring Tour fans back to the thrill of Andy Schleck's solo breakaway on Stage 18 and Alberto Contador's equally daring attack on Stage 19. Who wasn't cheering at their TV's during those stages?!

Then there's the mythic L'Alpe d'Huez, with its 21-switchbacks, wild fans, bright colors, and thrilling finishes...


After Stage 20, it will always be remembered as a very special place for young Pierre Rolland, the first French cyclist to win this legendary climb since the 1980's. That's the beauty of the Tour -- there's a little magic in it for everyone.

This year we can also add new names and images to our Tour vocabulary. Like the high-speed descent through the dark forests of Sestrieres, where in Stage 17 Thomas Voeckler once again defended his Yellow Jersey with so much heart and panache.


Then there was the so-called "transitional" Stage 16, which to everyone's surprise turned into a fantastic GC battle when Alberto Contador attacked on the Category 2 Col de Manse. But that was only half the story! Norwegian Thor Hushovd's victory inspired thousands of Scandinavian fans to cheer him on, chalking his name on the road in grand Le Tour tradition.


And to end this historic week of racing, there was Stage 20's Grenoble. Not a mountain, but a beautiful mountain city, where Cadel Evans launched his magical ride.


What an incredible Tour de France! And after 20 stages of watercoloring, I'm beginning to run out of paint! But I think I have a little left for one more day: Stage 21. Paris.

So fellow TV viewers ... see you on the Champs-Elysees.

Colors of the Tour de France: Stages 12, 13, & 14 (The Pyrenees)

The soulful Pyrenees seem so mysterious and remote in comparison to their superstar cousins, the Alps. But that just makes them all the more romantic. Maybe you have a mountain range near your own home that you love, like the Berkshires, the Cascades, or the Alleghenies. But for a few days in July, every cycling fan's heart lies in the Pyrenees.

My Stage 12, 13, and 14 watercolors are of the blur of orange-flag-waving Basque fans as they crowd around the climbing rider, a lone racer careening down a misty Pyrenean descent, and the mountain switchbacks made so colorful by the breakaway and long line of fans:




There was so much drama in these three stages! Not only did Thor Hushovd earn his first mountain victory, but the battle of the favorites was both weird and wonderful. Sure, it would have been fun to see Contador, one of the Schleck brothers, or Evans pull out ahead and really dominate the race. But watching all of the contenders eye and test each other on the slopes of the Plateau de Beille was equally suspenseful and thrilling. And best of all, we still have no idea who the 2011 Tour de France frontrunner is. It's going to make for a wonderful few days in the Alps!

Colors of the Tour de France, Stages 10 & 11

Two stages, two days of amazing Tour de France scenery and racing. For Stage 10, I decided to paint a watercolor of the riders careening through the lovely red-roofed village of Villefranche...


And for Stage 11, the iconic Tour image: the peloton racing past fields of bright yellow sunflowers ... here in a quick, late-night watercolor:


Can't wait for the Pyrenees tomorrow!

Colors of the Tour de France: Stages 7, 8, & 9

Those were beautiful fields the peloton rode through in Stage 7 of the Tour de France -- the perfect setting for Mark Cavendish's incredible stage win. Here in my Stage 7 watercolor, the riders are being cheered on by local fans as they race through the lovely colors of the Loire Valley:


But the scenery in next two stages was truly magical! Deep in the Auvergne region of France, the riders weaved their way around the "puys" of the Massif Central. Puy is the French term for a dormant volcano. How cool is that?! Both stages featured climbs up and around those magnificent old mountains (as well as some terrible crashes, unfortunately). Here in my Stage 8 watercolor, the peloton is just a tiny ribbon of color as it races toward the village ahead (I put on of one of those distinctive puys on the right):


And in Stage 9, the riders rode right up into the misty upper reaches of those now-quiet volcanos:

Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 6

We see so many colors rush by the peloton as the Tour weaves its way across France. Soon we'll replace the greys, browns, deep greens and blues of northern France with the sandy and sunny colors of the Mediterranean coast and the cold granite shades of the Pyrenees and Alps. But if there's one color we see absolutely everywhere on Le Tour, it's the stark white of all those rented RV's and campers!

I imagine the camper-renting fans must be having so much fun. They simply park their RV in a prime spot, role down the awning, break out the Normandy cheese, and wait for the Tour to pass by. I love seeing whole families cheering on the race, standing in front of those oddly charming-looking vehicles.

So here's my Stage 6 watercolor, dedicated to rented campers and the fans who inhabit them.


Hmmm ... I wonder where that family on the left drove in from, waving the black, yellow, and red flag. Can you guess? (Hint: they're most likely rooting for Philippe Gilbert and the entire Quick Step and Omega Pharma-Lotto teams...)

Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 5

Congratulations to Mark Cavendish on an incredible sprint finish!

As much as I was rooting for Tyler Farrar on Stage 3, I was rooting for Cavendish today. Something just doesn't feel right these days when Cavendish isn't out there winning stages. Maybe it's because we feel his emotions so vividly. We know how terrible Cavendish feels when things go wrong, especially since he always says he owes his loyal teammates a win. Or maybe it's because watching Cavendish and HTC-Highroad win a sprint is such a thing of beauty. In Cavendish and HTC's hands, the tactics of cycling look so graceful and powerful on the road.

Today's victory might not have followed the usual HTC-Highroad playbook, but that just made it all the more thrilling.

And then there was the magnificent backdrop of Brittany, with its grey villages, rocky coastlines, and all those delightful fans. Watching today's stage, I wanted to hop on a plane, rent a bike, ride to a spot on the Tour route, and cheer alongside all those wonderful people who love cycling so much.

So I'll do the next best thing. To the cycling fans of beautiful Brittany, this Stage 5 watercolor is for you.