July 2014. Greg is doing a live chat on Eurosport. He’ll be doing the whole Tour de France for them. Albert & I see an opportunity. We will both be on vacation not too far from the July 21st rest day in Carcassonne. When the chat begins, Thierry and I dare to ask for Greg to join us in a casual ride there. We try not to hope for too much as we are aware our question might not be picked up by Greg. But pretty soon during the chat, not only our question pops up but Greg agrees to it ! We have to pinch ourselves. We have a date.

During the period before july 21st, our excitement grows and we prepare for the trip. Thierry feels hopeless behind his computer. He has to remain in Belgium to work. No way to escape it. We will have to keep him updated with phone messages. The man is dying.

Albert is anxious. This will be his first meeting ever with Greg LeMond. He’s never had the chance to go anywhere near the man in Z. Coming from Spain, Albert is nervous about getting lost in the Castelnaudary countryside between a vineyard and a sunflower field.

I'm supposed to be cool. I've met Greg a few times now and I've ridden with him on 2 occasions. But this one is different. This time is actually scheduled. Expectations are higher. I rode with Greg in Megève in 2013 for the Time-Megève-Mont Blanc “cyclosportive”. Greg & his team mate Patrick were awesomely kind but Greg was just recovering from a car accident and was not in a good shape. There were also 800 riders which made it far from being “intimate”. Last april Thierry & I were heading for the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones when we met Greg and offered him to come and join us. He agreed right on the spot ! That was so unexpected and wild that we're still having a hard time believing it was true.

We do our best to train in spite of the terrible weather. We know Greg’s riding daily on the Tour so we want to do good. I'm still carrying 10kg too many when I reach Carcassonne. So, when Albert, me and my brother arrive in the hilly southern France where we are supposed to meet… we can’t wait to get on the bike so that all the tension goes into the legs ! Kathy greets us in the most friendly way. We meet a guy called Dave from http://www.cyclingtips.com.au , an avid Greg LeMond fan who’ll join us for the ride. Scott LeMond, Greg’s son, is there too, always amused by the fuzz his father is causing. When Greg & the faithful Patrick come out, we’re good to go. Or are we ? First things first : the first meeting between Greg & Albert is quite emotional. Greg gets a free hug. So does Albert. Then I have to give a hand to Greg. It seems he doesn’t have a foot pump. Proudest moment of my life, lifting the pump lever for the big man.

We come back where we started and this is the end of the ride. Me and my brother have this “remember when we were kids ?” expression on our faces. Albert looks like he’s still a kid, actually, his smile going from one ear to the other. We made it. Not only did we make it but the casual way it all happened was, for us, more than perfect. Greg has an ability to treat his fans as equals, in a very humble and natural way. That’s admirable.

After a quick shower, we unpack the few gifts we have for Greg. Among them, those two t-shirts designed by Thierry. You might recognize them. The first is the same t-shirt we used for our Lac de Vassivière pilgrimage. The second is a replica of the “best rookie” white jersey Greg won 30 years ago for his first Tour de France. You can tell Greg’s having fun.

We're having fun too with Greg’s Eurosport car…

Thanks to Dave, for not yelling at us when we walked into frame and ruined his shot. Sorry, mate. You can check the interviews Greg did with Dave here and here. Thanks to Thierry for not blowing up with frustration and supporting us all along. Thanks to my brother Eric for sharing the food and shelter, and for a life of riding our bikes together. But above all, we want to thank the LeMonds for treating us as friends. That was a dream.