The Tour de France started over the weekend and has been rolling its way through northern France with thrilling sprint finishes and gutsy performances (including a win by an American on the 4th!).
The Tour is the biggest bike race in the world and whether you like racing or not, it’s one of the few times a year when bicycling merits coverage in the sports pages and around the water cooler.
Hoping to bask in the aura of the Tour and offer a relaxing and social place to catch each day’s race, a few local establishments welcome fans with daily viewings.
The bike-friendly Apex Bar on the corner of SE Division and 12th is showing the Tour every day. Apex has plenty of bike parking, will loan you a u-lock if you ask nicely, and the owner has “a life-long passion for all things two-wheeled.”
If you’re in the mood for coffee with your Tour, roll over to Oblique Coffee Roasters at 3039 SE Stark to catch daily showings. Proprietors Heather and John Chandler say they’re playing every stage live. Also, during key mountain stages, they’ll give away bags of coffee, drinks, and schwag from Western Bike Works.
New on our list this year is Bazi Bierbrassiere. Located at 1522 SE 32nd, Bazi shows re-airs of Versus coverage each day at 5:00 and 9:00 pm. They’ll also show two stages live at 5:00 am: the legendary Alpe-d’Huez climb on Friday, July 22nd and the final stage on Sunday, July 24th.
You can catch the Tour at both St. Honoré Boulangerie locations. They’re showing nearly live coverage each morning at 7:00 am on the large screens at their Northwest Portland (2335 NW Thurman St) and Lake Oswego (315 1st St) and they replaying it throughout the day.
If you prefer to watch online, we’ve come across two recommended sites.
Steven Hill’s Steephill.tv is a great, one-stop shop for all things Tour de France. They post results very quickly, offer live streaming video, TV schedules, photos, and more.
If you’ve got a little Tour lover in your house, here’s a website for you: Musician and children’s book author Michael Ward (of “Mike and the Bike” fame) believes that, “it is the kids who imagine themselves as the next great riders who are going to save the sport and help increase the popularity of riding a bike.”
Check out the kid’s interactive guide to the Tour de France at MikeandtheBike.com.
Where are you watching the Tour? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add the location to our list.