WINE

	yes, it's true--- they really do sell wine and beer at the Controles, and French riders really do buy a bottle of wine with their meal, and yes, they really do drink the stuff. One lasting image I have is of an American ultrarider, while drinking a bottle of Metrex/Pro-Optibol/Ultrafuel and sucking on a tube of Gu, staring in concerned horror at a French rider who, while knocking back a glass of a '94 Bordeaux and munching on a crusty baguette slathered with foix gras, was staring back in equal horror and miscomprehension. I guess that, at some level, it's all just calories.