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Watching the Tour de France on television is a new experience for me — at least in the past decade.

In fact, the television broadcast on Versus (formerly the Outdoor Life Network) is the best way to see the action up close. But  the best way to see the nuances of Tour de France is to drive the course (Unless, of course, you're skilled enough to compete in the Tour de France.).

Television gives some perspective of the vehicles involved in the event, but it's far from the entire perspective. Each day, hundreds of cars, trucks, publicity vehicles, law enforcement motorcades, photographers' motorcycles, sponsors' cars, team buses, team support cars and a vast array of media cars drive start to finish.

I'm taking a hiatus from the Tour this year, but I drove the course every stage — start to finish — an estimated total of 40,000 miles — during the previous decade of race editions.

Tour organizers provide maps of the entire route and most days there are two ways to get from tstart to finish — on the course or an indirect route. I've taken both routes and had a wide variety of driving experiences in rental cars ranging from a Mercedes Benz sedan to a Renault Scenic mini-van.

I've driven more than 100 mph per hour for hours on auto routes. I've been stuck in gridlock for hours, and I was involved in an accident that could have been a lot worse than the minor injuries a teenage boy suffered when he literally jumped in front of my car.

I've driven over the Tourmalet and Galibier and on tight roads, and I've run out of gas. I've been lost, and sought the directional advice of plenty of strangers. I've taken friends and colleagues to the Tour de France, including Bruce Aldrich whose images from the 2006 Tour are included in this blog.

The field of cyclists in the 2007 Tour de France is now about halfway through their route from London to the race's end in Paris on July 29. They have a tough ride every year. But driving the Tour de France route is no easy task, and I can't wait until the next time.