Corsica used to be the home of the " Lupra " , sort of a sawn off shotgun ! These days the villains
of Corse use the car ! Simple way to dispose of Cyclists , pull up alongside , shout at them , then flick the wheel to the right , they hit the ground HARD ! Of course not ALL those that ride bikes are associated with the " Society " , variously described in Novels as the " Mafiosa " or " Costra Nostra "!
The 3 Italians riding North on the Main Road from Porte Vecchio towards Bastia , a lady and 2 Men , were heading for their Ferry home from Bastia , perhaps not even aware that the " Le Tour " would be using the same road later in the day . Both of these men were towing a " Dog Cart " , a trailor attached to the rear wheel forks . So even IF , we are kind to the Villain of the event , and say that he was ASLEEP at the wheel , WHY , should he not be just as culpable of " ATTEMPTED MURDER "?
Getting behind the wheel of a Motor Vehicle , Large OR Small , requires the Driver to pay 100% Attention to the task at hand ! Yes , you see " Cops " riding the Government Issued Motor Bike , with " No Hands " , as i did on Stage 2 , last Sunday ! Yes , he was practicing his " Skills " , to be used in Promotion Displays , BUT , Joe Tourist , or , Mr Local , is not LICENSED , to practice these skills , in fact , i am sure tthey would be invalidating their Insurance , by this behaviour ? NO , you may not EAT at the Wheel , nor may you Smoke whilst operating a vehicle , AND there are Enforceable Laws that Penalise you for using the Telephone whilst moving ! Oh , you think it is OK to Chat whilst Driving , Text whilst Driving ? WHAT SORT OF IDIOT doesn't look at the Road whilst in control of a speeding mass of metal ? TOO MANY , it would seem !
So here are 3 people minding their business , heading up an incline , and along comes " Angry Driver ", mows down the rear man , cuts and bruises and damaged bike ! Cannons at speed into the Woman , who is thrown into the hedge at the side of the road , and narrowly misses the other man ! No doubt that this was deliberate , since the vehicle did not stop ! The following vehicle from Austria , was lucky enough to avoid colliding with the debris strewn on the road ! Further they were kind enough to render assistance and summon emergency services , who were on the scene as i arrived . Little i could do then, as i happened on the scene , just as the " Sapeur Pompiers Ambulance Vehicle " arrived . My contribution was to recommend that the Austrian Vehicle , a Mid Sized van from a well known large Austrian Tirol Transport Company , " Ernest Derfeser ( red/green livery , that has a fleet of Vehicles for ALL Aspects of Transport )" , consider transporting the bikes to dockside in Bastia , since they were going to that area and there was plenty of space in the back .
Emergency vehicles , will normally refuse transporting bikes and leave your property at roadside OR at the mercies of " Well intentioned Locals "! Who knows how you will be able to return to collect the property , left behind /disgarded , due to the negligent behaviour of those causing the accident situation, in which the victim finds themselves ?
Continuing the " Parcours " i passed a " Fete " on the left hand side of the road , about 26km from the day's " Arrivee " of the 1st Day " Le Tour " Etappe . As i was riding about 40kph following traffic , i was confronted with a large White vehicle , swinging out of the oncoming lane , into my lane and into my face , then onto my righthand curb , causing me to swing hard into the middle of the road , narrowly missing a collision with a Gendarmerie Vehicle that had been following ! Further along the road , i felt the presence of a vehicle , then thought the Gendarmes were attempting to ask about my riding ! Lo and behold , it is a White Land rover 4x4 , of the classic style ! Mr " Perfect Driver " , is shouting at me ! There is a woman passenger , who winds down her window , then i can hear some sort of angry french patois . The turkey is red in the face , i shrug my shoulders and then he turns right into the kerb , sending me into the grass curb , off the bike and into oblivion . Next thing , i find i am being kicked by a man standing over me ! The woman is pulling his arm , screaming at him as vehicles start arriving . When i get up i try to stop the woman from getting into the vehicle , but she was able to evade me and they took off .
Whilst i am trying to find some paper to write down the Vehicle plate Number , a lady hands me the vehicle details that she has already noted ! An Angel , quick witted enough to record the pertinent details , then i recognise her . " Alexandra " , is the Premier Cycling Commentator for RAI TV . She is essentially the Face of Italian Cycling TV , these days , certainly much more attractive than Davide Cassani , and Auro Buberello, perhaps even more knowledgable also ? With Alexandra organising water , fruit and a chair and some paperwork , i am made to sit at some ease , thinking that ALL will be put to rights ? Several Gendarmerie Vehicles , stop briefly , containing High Rank Officers inquiring as to WHAT has transpired , some speed off with the Vehicle Plate Number and description , one remains , with Junior officers . By this time some of the roadside bystanders have run up with their accounts , of what they have seen . With them is their " Tour Operator Rep ", who is kind enough to take details from Alexandra so that she can continue to the " Arrivee " , to get the Day's RAI TV Show organised .
Trini , the Danish " Rep " , knows her clients and promises to email , all their contact details . Meanwhile another Gendarme arrives with " Official photographer " who films the bike , which one of the bystanders has tried go put back in some semblence of working order . He can't adjust the Broken handle bars , nor fix the broken STI Gear Levers but , at least he tried to help ? The Gendarme , is bulky and wears 2 white diagonal stripes , older and Wiser ? , than his younger , senior colleagues and sends them on their way .
At this stage the Ambulance that i had refused arrives , they survey the scene and as i am refusing to leave the bike decide that i should fill out the " release form " that allows them to disclaim responsibility . Eventually they apply some disinfectant to the scrapes and bruises . At this point " Mr Officious Gendarme " decided i will ride to the Poretta Gendarmerie with him , there is no room for the bike in his vehicle . He refuses to speak English , so Trini is like a YoYo , with a back and forth translation . He is getting quite irate , that he is not having his way ! Why would i have to go to the Gendarmerie of this area , to fill out a Report form/ plaint , that can be filled out in Bastia ? BECAUSE HE SAYS SO ! Well , i explain that , " I have 70 days , according to other , more Senior Officers , to fill out this form . He tells me that it will be 5 months before i can claim on the Insurance , if i DO NOT DO AS HE SAYS ! He is deflated when i tell him that there is NO INSURANCE to be considered , that it is upto the Gendarmerie to apprehend the culprit and his woman , then , and only then , will i be able to recover monies for the damage done ! At this point he says he is going and that if i do not go with him , then i will get no further help ! Seems that he put a spoke in the wheel of the investigation , as will be seen later in this report ?
When i ride into Bastia , i find the last 5 km closed to ALL Traffic , by barriers at each roundabout , controlled by the " CRS of the Police Nationale " , i find that riding up side streets for several kilometres , then rejoining further along gets me into the last 3 km where i ride at speed between the Metal Barricades to about the 500m point . At this point i am well above 45kph in the middle of an empty road , when one of the " lunatics in Green shirts " decides to make a breakneck attempt to stop me ! Quite frankly , i would rather run him down , as i have had abuse from his sort over the past days from his Overweight & obnoxious colleagues , but good sense prevails and apart from adding to the handlebars being further out of alingment , i am brought to a halt , and escorted from the course .
With the remaining section controlled by CRS officers , there is no way of getting back over the fence , so i ride around the outside to the rear area in time to have a chat with Mario Cippolini
and Richard Virenque , who couldn't keep the smirk off his face when JaJa is mentioned . Seems that JaJa , will not be at the " Le Tour " which allows Richard more standing with the Media . Wearing the " Festina Company Shirt " on Saturday tends to suggest me is not working with " Carfours Supermarket " alone this " Le Tour "! Not speaking French , particularly well , i will not really miss hearing JaJa reporting from the Motor Cycle as he has done for many years . Richard was able to recall our riding together on the " Rest Day " , after his Victory on Mont Ventoux , but was unable to commit to a ride during this Tour . No doubt he will ride with the Celebrities on Tuesday before the Team Time Trial in Nice ? Cipo also was equally non committal although he posed for photos . Last year we were riding together at the Giro D'Italia before the ITT .
Having made the rounds of the team Busses searching out a Doctor to tend the wounds , refreshed and watered i headed down to the 100m where there were a bunch of Aussies Flags . Joined with them for a while , then went in search of " Georgethecyclist.blogspot ", whom i had encountered on the road on Wednesday and at the Teams Presentation on Thursday night . He took a shot of Phil Gilbert shaking my hand , with Cadel in the background . George & Vince ( Melbournian from previous years ), said that it looked like Phil was " THRILLED to meet Skippy " , but i think he always makes an effort with the " Punters ", pity about some like the yahoo , known as the sheriff , looks could kill , i would be dead , but then i met him when he was swallowing whatever the team told him to take ! Yeah , and pigs fly ? Caught up with Dan Martin as he was being interviewed and scored a sour response from the Journo when i called him Chris ( boardman ) , could have been Nick ( boult ) , but they look alike , so since they do not seek me out , who cares ? " Sky lady " , not sure if she is a pretty face for the TV Screen , or has other cred , looks down on what i do for Adaptive sport , as below her dignity to talk to me , but then , each time i see her , she is spending so much time on her appearance , she has little time to think about what is happening around her !
Having found George , i took him back to the area near the Aussies and shortly after the Orica Bus grabbed attention , in a devastating way ! It brought the stage down ! ASO , organisers of the " Le Tour", publish info about the various pieces of equipment on their route , detailing clearances and roads accessabilities , so that the Vehicle drivers KNOW WHERE THEY CAN GO ! Seems that they do not always stick to their agenda , as the front of the Pullman bus scraped through until it came to an emergency halt .
After a few minutes i left my bike with George and went over to tell those that would listen , to let air out of ALL Tyres , to lower the Bus . At first , i was told to mind my business , then i got a Sapeur pompiers Ambulance Guy , to go to the Gendarme Officer i had pointed out , who then got to work organising the emptying the front tyres . When i asked him to deal with the rear tyres there was neither thanks NOR action . Meanwhile pandemonium was reigning supreme as CRS troops were rushed 150 m to the vehicle turnout . They were there to protect the " Minister of Sport " , who travelling with Chris Prudhomme , would be exiting his car , in another location . Had it been Sarkozy or President Hollande, then you could understand the " PANIC STATIONS"!
Having freed the Pullman , as the Racers arrived at the 3km to arrivee placard , on the TV , it was reversed out from under , to about 125m from the finish line , where the barricades were opened , to allow it to drivre forward off the Parcours , to take up spectator space , with the nose metres from where we were standing . Whilst talking to " Ian, a photo Journo " , on Sunday on the 2nd Etappe Parcours , he described how the Gantry fell on his several Cameras set up at the "Arrivee Linee "! He had spent 10hrs of Saturday there , guarding his various Cameras and spot , thus he looked like a well cooked lobster , as he served me Coffee and Uploaded the photos taken by my Blackberry on Friday , when my Nikon camera had failed to work , as the " Chip Card " was 90%+ complete , thus refusing to take any more photos . This had to happen as i rode with the Radio Shack Team out of Porto and then the Lampre Team back to the Seafront and a stop at a cafe for a spot of Coffee R & R a chat with the Racers .
This photo of Damiano Cunego , is one of the photos that Ian released for me , so that i could tweet it to @dcunego , somewhat later than i had promised on that Friday .
Now with Bakelandts , taking the Sunday Victory , i do not have the photo that i thought was captured on that ride , bummer ! Thought it was the batteries , fortunately i did not throw them away ! After the race was run , George and i headed out on the Sunday Route , with the CRS making us walk , parts of an EMPTY Road , because they could ! About 15km out of Bastia , i realised we were passing the Poretta Gendarmerie, so George continued on his way on Sunday's route towards Ajaccio , and i went to find the Gendarmerie , which turned out to be located at the Airport .
Only one Officer there , who fortunately spoke English , quite well and was very friendly , whilst ALL his Colleagues were farewelling the Minister of Sport . That was the reason that ALL the Public , could not use those sections of road , closed by the CRS , so that she would not be delayed from catching her PRIVATE JET ! Nice to be a VIP member of the Government ? After about an hour plus , several colleagues reappeared , they all had spent their day working exclusively with " Le Tour " related matters ! It turned out that MY Matter , was being handled by another Gendarmerie Office , so i would have been left kicking my heels whilst the " Le Tour " came and went . HELLO , HELLO , i am the VICTIM !
They did tell me as i set out to pedal something like a hundred plus kilometres back to the car , that they had apprehended the " Driver of the Vehicle " , but they could not do the " Plaint " at that Office . With ALL modern technology available and the light fading fast , i really began to wonder , whether we will see this MURDEROUS Corsican , get his just deserts .
Whilst writing this Blogpost , i am waiting for Trini , the danish lady translator of Saturday , to email me the Witness details , promised for Saturday ! Just as well i did not plan on accepting their accomodation offer in Calvi , although their Pizza lunch on Saturday that they shared with me , went down very well . Since the gendarmes left , i have found that i can ride uphill on the bike , in the lower gears , but on the flat , i can fidget with the change up lever as i do 15kph and with luck get a higher gear , seems to depend on how hot the weather . Mostly i am riding on the 11 cog with the option of the 39 or 53 front chainring , but getting off the bike to change up from the 25 cog is getting a bit annoying .
