Jimdoc On The Bicycle

France 2011, Sep 22, Mont Ventoux

2011-11-03T10:55:00.006-06:00

Our last day of riding. We decide to climb the "giant" one more time. This time from Sault, the very north ridge of the mountain. It is the easiest approach until the last 6 km when it joins the road from Benoit. It was a beautiful day, no clouds, and very little wind.

When starting a ride we often look for a Tobac (small place they sell cigs, beer, coffee, hot chocolate etc) We found one in Sault and asked about the "toilet". We were pointed up a circular staircase about 3 feet wide. Nothing at the top. Halfway up a very small door. Inside was crammed a toilet. We swear it had to be set and then the very thin walls put up after. No way to take an adequate pic. You had to be there. Hilarious.

On the way up this approach there we some very nice forests to ride through. Most of the grades were around 4-5 %.

There were three professional photographers I saw on the way up. None on the day we climbed in the Mistral. They shoot your picture and a helped above runs out with their card and contact info.

In this picture I have about 3-4 km to go. This is my third time up the mountain. Have climbed it from all three approaches. Lots of other bike riders, motorcyclists, and cars going up this time.

The top was like a hornets' nest of people. This pic taken by a Dutchman who I saw several times on the way up as was the next pic.

This is the weather station at the top. It is huge and I suspect it has some military function as well because there were 3 passes by fighter jets that we saw.

This is looking down the north side and the road approaching from Malaucene. We did this climb in September of 2009.

That it for this trip folks. Had a great time. A bucket list trip. I am tired. Ready for some time off and the flat rides. I love riding my bike, almost anywhere, anytime. It is truly a privilege to be able to do so at age 70.

France 2011, Sep 21, Gorge de la Nesque

2011-11-03T10:22:00.007-06:00

On the 20th I visited friends in the Luberon. They have a house in Goult. So on the 21st we decided to take it easy and look at the Gorge de la Nesque.

The ride starts by traveling up a long ridge on the south east side of Mont Ventoux. In the picture below you see the "Giant" on a clear day.

We stopped at a great out door restaurant at the the top of the gorge for a nice lunch. Best one we had seen in the small villages during the trip. Sorry for the lousy picture.

Then a view riding down the edge of the gorge itself. Note on the right edge of the picture, the southeast face of Mont Ventoux. Very nice an relaxing day

France 2011, Sep 19, Mont Ventoux in a Mistral

2011-11-02T21:09:00.006-06:00

This was a crazy day. Weather predicted a Mistral. This is a north wind that comes down the Rhone valley when there is a high over the eastern atlantic and a low over the low countries. It then creates a wind that roars down the Rhone valley.

When we got up it was nice an warm, a little breezy and looked good for a ride up the Bedoin side of Mont Ventoux, the side the pros usually use, as we had never done that.

We rode from Carpentras to Bedoin and took this pic. Note that you cannot see the top of Mont Ventoux. Also note the name. Vent-tous (always windy) in English. Little did we know. Off we went.

I know, I took this pic on the way down. This route is the hardest of the three routes up the Ventoux. Several kilometers of average of 10% or greater. We didn't get too warm on the way up so stopped at the little shop and restaurant 6 km from the top. A man (T.W.) insisted I take his leg warmers. He was on his way down and we watched as he drank 4 hot chocolates. Then he began shivering. We took off for the top.
The top. I do not have my bike as I cannot hold it and stand at the same time. I am leaning into the wind. Winds recoded that day on top were around 100 km in gusts. We were crazy. Had to walk up the last 200 meters and get in the lee of the weather station.

Post script: I found TM in Canada and talked to him. He was coming to Denver so I gave him his leg warmers and a drink. He agreed we were all crazy because we were limited on time and thought we had to do it NOW. NOW!! A great killer of athletes.

France 2011, Sep 17, 18, Transition to Provence

2011-10-27T08:23:00.008-06:00

At the end of Pyrenees tour we had a great outdoor dinner. The resturant was excellent, the talk jovial, and the wine and beer relaxing. It was a great tour.

We drove about 370 miles back across France. We based in Carpentras, a town in Provence. The town was good, but the parking really tight. I was 70 years young on this day. Riding my bicycle in Provence.
I won the lottery.

A s I said above, the town was old and the streets small. Our Hotel had almost no front, but a very nice garden in the back. As you can see, parking is almost nonexistant. The hotel had a parking garage which was off a very busy street and not easy to get in or out of.

My birthday dinner with Jim and Susan. A good time was had by all. We were in walking distance of severl great resturants. The french know how to do it.

France 11, Sep 16, Soulor and d'Obisque

2011-10-13T10:06:00.007-06:00

This was our last day of cycling in the Pyrenees and it was going to be a doozy. Over two Cols and 82 miles of riding. We started west from Lourdes along a nice valley road toward Pau our eventual termination of the ride. BUT, we then abruptly turned left towards the mountains.

Here in the foothills of the Pyenees are some beaudiful farms in some areas. Other area look quite poor and the villages are definitely more primitive than in some other parts of France.

This is a typical view as you leave the foothills and head into the real canyons of the Pyrenees. We are going to really climb today.

The SIGN. You know its famous when you see this kind of sign. We are going up 2,800 feet in 7.5 miles. Parts of it are really going to be steep. Keep in mind we have been gently climbing for several miles (about 12) before coming to this sign.

A Look back as we climbed to the top of Col du Soulor. If you look closely you can see the road we came up. (left click on the picture for an enlarged view)

The top of Col du Soulor was crowded with tourists and sheep. Sheep were bedding down in the parking lot with the cars. We were told it was because the cars were warm. Then its down towards the west for abou 3 miles and onto a spectacular road.

To travel from the Soulor to the Col d'Obisque we travel the road on the side of the mountain. I actually took this picture as I climbed up the Col du Soulor. Most of the time I was hoping it didn't come down while I was on it.

Actually being on the road was ok. It turned out that the main problem were the tunnels. There was one curved tunnel with absolutely no lighting and water dripping down everywhere. You just had to ride and hope for the best.

Now in the high country with the sheep again. Susan and Jim had to do some herding . The sheep really pay little attention to the cars and riders.

Another trophy. This one was very satisfying after the long climb. I think I am losing weight.

Some nice art work at the top of Col d'Obisque. Not so crowded so I was able to get a picture without tourists in it.

Now the descent. This is the view to the west. As we head down we will turn to the right and out of the mountains.

Down into the villages and along the valley into our final stop, Pau. We started from Pau 6 days earlier and had some great climbing rides. I am ready to stop, though, as I am getting weary of slogging up climbs or screaming down descents. I must admit that the descents are really exilerating. There was very little gravel or other debris on the road which made it much safer.

France 11, Sep 15, 'Aspin and Tourmalet

2011-10-07T15:13:00.013-06:00

This was the big day in the Pyrenees, lots of climbing, but mainly because the Col du Tourmalet, and also the Col d'Aspin are such fixtures in the TDF. It was a beautiful, crisp, fall day at the start, with a temperature of about 50 degrees.

We drifted out of town, down the valley, and came to another fateful sign signalling several hours of climbing ahead. I enjoy climbing. You are going slowly enough to really see the scenery and you and your body get into a rhythm which is really very satisfying. I like to climb with a heart rate of about 145 bpm. I am not particularly stressed and can generate about 200 watts into the rear wheel with that effort.

This is a look back at the town we have just left. You can see the river in the middle.

This is a look up to the Col d'Aspin. Not particularly high, but plenty of climbing to get to the top.

The top of the first Col of the day. Not particularly impressive but the views are spectacular. I never get tired of looking at mountains. No attacks by cows on the way up, but I did see several herds.

How about this view from the Top of the Col d'Aspin towards the Tourmalet? The Col du Tourmalet is to the left of the massif with the weather station on top. So, its down, down, down, followed by up, up, up.

Up we go. La Mongie is a ski station, as they call them here about 5 km from the top of the Col.

There were several snow sheds on the way up. They use them a lot in Europe because of the heavy snow and the constant avalanche danger in many areas. A nice road, much better than many in the Pyrenees.

A look back to the road I have just climbed. One interesting thing to me is looking down on the power station. There are two buildings at the bottom of this cut which contain hydroelectric turbines. They appear to be working on the pipes which carry the water down to the turbines. I guess they produce electricity for the valley and are seen frequently around France.

The ski station of La Mongie. It is about 5 km from the top, and you can see the road snaking its way up. It was strange to me that the road was very steep around the ski station and averaged 11% for several km.

The final km shot backwards after I have climbed to the top. The top was crowded with people, cars, RVs and bicycles.

The top. I don't know why the photographer cut off part of the Tourmalet sign, but at least he got the whole statue of the bike racer.

And a way we go. Miles and miles of descending. A lot more dangerous than climbing. Often competing with cars on the way down. Sure is fun to go fast, though. Very similar to skiing.

Arriving in Lourdes, appropriate to see a nice cross on the way in. They are all over the Pyrenees. Incidentally, there are more hotel rooms in Lourdes than any other city in France except Paris.

France 11, Sep 14 Pla-d'Adet

2011-10-06T14:43:00.009-06:00

This, the 3rd day of our tour, is a "rest" day. Only about 4-5,000 feet of climbing, depending on which option you take. Susan opted to stay in town and rest, while Jim and I wanted to climb to the ski resort Pla-d'Adet, because it was the finish of the only stage the American, George Hincapie, ever won (so far) in the TDF. We skipped the other climb which is not as famous, so we only got about 4,500 ft of climbing in 30 or so miles.

The town we are staying at for two days, Arreau, is at the confluence of two small rivers. The rivers create quite a beautiful sight when they combine in the middle of town, with the streets and houses on either side.

This is the approach to the climb to Pla-d'Adet. Looks pretty benign until you spot the road going up the side of the mountain in the upper right of the picture. Right on up to the clouds.

Up we go. 2,500 ft of climbing in 6.5 miles. This baby is up, up, and away.

Pla-d'Adet. All ski resorts look terrible in the summer. Lots of construction going on. We ate in the small cafe with several of the workers. Everyone had a beer with lunch except us. Several tables had a carafe of wine at the table but we didn't see anyone drink any.

Jim S. at the top. He is still tough as ever and loves riding hard.

This is where we came from. The views are wonderful, but don't show too well in photographs. Left click on the photos to blow them up to full screen size.

A look down at the village from the road on the way down. You can just see the road below on the bottom left of the pic, and the rock wall on the road I am standing on at the bottom right.

France 11, Sep 13 Pt de Bales, Col de Payresourde

2011-10-04T16:52:00.010-06:00

Today we really start climbing. Over two passes the Port de Bales (which is called a port because it separates two departments or counties) and the Col de Peyresoudre, both often used in the TDF. We climbed around 7,000 feet today. For example, the 3,750 ft climb to Port de Bales is 11.8 miles.

Beautiful country and very pastoral. Wonderful little villages and nice people. Cars virtually always courteous. A great day.

We're going up there? Yep.

Up we go!

Had some company on the way up. The cow on the right walked right up to my front wheel and spooked me. I was frantically putting my camera away and trying to steer clear. He just stopped and watched me. Pretty funny in retrospect.

A pretty puny sign at the top.

Lawrence was busy making lunch and I didn't want to disturb him to take my picture. They do a pretty good mid-day lunch on this tour. The guides tell me it is the same on all their tours.

A nice little ski village off the southwest side of the Port de Bales.

The view southwest into Spain.

Oh, man! Up we go to the right. Got really hot today. Supposedly 90 degrees part way up.

Finally on top after 7,000 ft of climbing.

Our small town, Arreau, at the end of this great day.

France 2011, Sep 12, Along the Pyrenees foothills

2011-09-29T10:34:00.009-06:00

This tour had an interesting method of enabling us to climb the major Cols of the Midi-Pyrenees region. The first day was a long 83 mile ride from west to east along the northern foothills of the Pyrenees. The ride was long because it was quite lumpy (that is hilly) and we did 5,100 ft of climbing. The rest of the days were spent going up into the mountains, climbing the Cols and the back to the foothills for the night. These days took us gradually back to our starting city, Pau.
Along the foothills. When we looked to the right the mountains almost always loomed above us. The country side was very pretty and the weather great. Again, it appeared a little more primitive than the Alps in the east of France.

We rode through Lourdes, one of the greatest pilgrimage sites in France - in the world, for that matter. This is just one of the many churches in Lourdes. I believe in the 1850's a teenage girl saw a series of visions of the Virgin Mary on a rock face.

Our first coffee stop was in Lourdes. We were more interested in the replenishment of fluids than the churches and memorials.

Somewhere along the route the guides would set up a lunch stop. I thought it was quite lavish although it did have its drawbacks. The fastest riders got there perhaps as much as an hour before the last riders and the guides were reluctant to let everyone start before the last riders were close to the break location. I loved these breaks though, because they always had rotisserie chicken and it is not easy to come by in the resturants. I was tired of ham by now.

We're going up there tomorrow? I am already tired. Enough said.

One of several castles along the route today. Many have a Moorish look to them, all located on a substantial hill.

France 2011, Sep 11, Pau, Start of Pyrenees

2011-09-28T16:30:00.007-06:00

On the 10th of September we traversed France, a distance of approximately 520 miles to the foot hills of the Pyrenees and the city of Pau. This tour of some of the Cols was made famous by the Tour de France. The vast majority of our trip over was by tollway. It cost us about $50 in tolls or about 9 cents a mile. The good news is that the roads are very good, well marked, with frequent turnpike-like gas and resturant stops.

At first glance the area of the Pyrenees looks somewhat poorer than that in eastern France, and thus, more primitive, as well.
The French Cycling Holidays van sitting next to the hotel entrance which is hidden from the main street. It ain't easy finding these places.

Guides assembling bikes. They were quite knowledgeble about the mechanics of different bikes. A lot more campy over here.

A view from a couple of hundred yards from our hotel. In the far distance you can see the Pyrenees. In the foreground are the foothills. The rivers run north into the foothills, then the valley, and finally turn northwest to exit into the Atlantic near Bordeaux.

In the late afternoon, I was riding around the city and saw this window half full of pastries. I made a further hole in the display and sat down to eat at a table facing the sidewalk and the display. Over the next 15-20 minutes at least 8-10 people walked by and not one failed to stop and at least look. Some went right in and bought something, but one young lady oscillated between going in and going on. Finally she entered and bought. The pastries sold themselves. Throughout all this activity I sat about 6 feet away munching away on my two wonderful chocolate wonders.

We are about ready for the warmup ride with Lawrence (in the blue). We had eleven on the tour. There was a Finnish professor of recycling, 3 young Canadian doctors, our group of three, and another American family consisting of a father and two young adults. Finally, we had a delightful Scottish accountant whose passion in life was the triathelon. He had done them all over Europe.

France 2011, Sep 9 Col de L'Iseron

2011-09-14T10:24:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow we drive across France to the Pyrenees to start a week-long tour riding the mountains there, so as an excuse not to ride today, we decided to visit a famous, but not commonly used, Col on up the Mauriene Valley. It is too isolated for the Tour de France to use often, but is really spectacular.

On the way up the valley we saw these giant forts. They were a line of forts built in the early 18oo's along the border between France an Italy to secure France from invasion. We didn't storm them.

Passing through mountain towns in France is often beautiful due to the flower displays. This town was particularly great. this is just a small example.

On up the valley we came to the Moutain ski resort village. It is being restored as it was in the ancient times. Note the giant slate roof tiles, some old and some new.

Driving up the actual climb of 14 km was really spectular in many ways. Beautiful views, but also no guard rails anywhere. I was a passanger and had a death grip on the "oh shit" handle and was leaning toward the driver at a 45 degree angle. He said, "not now honey."

This baby is desolate. Val d' Isere is one of the biggest ski resorts in France. The base is 17 km away and the ski lifts came up and above where we were.

France Sep 8, Col de la Madeleine

2011-09-11T11:13:00.008-06:00

This was the start of the climb that faces southeast, the Col de la Madeleine. We were assured that it was open. This is the steeper side with several km averaging 11% and overall grade of 8.5%. Tough, but much closer to our home for the week. Had a great day to start. Here below, Susan is ready to leap off.

The view toward the southwest, looking back toward the Col du Glandon. Taking pics was a good excuse to stop and rest, although sometimes it seems easier to just keep going or to get going again.

The village seen below is a ski station and quite new.

Here I am at the top. You can see that we were within 9 - 10 km from the top via the northwest approach when we were stopped on the 6th by construction.

I show this picture because it was taken about 10-15 min later and we all have on another layer. It may be hot coming up, but it gets cold quickly.

The Mont Blanc Massif is a truly magestic sight. It is almost directly north of the Col de la Madeleine. Breathtaking.

Was quite hot again. The climb took 2 hours and 1 minute for 12.7 miles and the descent 27 minutes. It was really fun, as the road surface was good. It was paved in part for the 2010 Tour de France.

A wonderful French lunch, and all in all, a great day. Around 5,500 feet of climbing in around 40 miles of riding. 2,200 calories burned. Also a nice little podium girl to serve lunch was a bonus.

France 6 Sep, Albertville and attempt at Col de la Madeleine

2011-09-11T01:45:00.010-06:00

The plan today was to do about a 58 mile loop. Starting at Saint Jean-de Mauriene, we would ride down the valley and around the corner to Albertville. Then up the valley to the start of the northwest climb to the Col de Madeleine. It is often used in the Tour de France.

A view back down the valley to Albertville. Note the valley is fairly flat and the climb very gradual. This is because the glaciers scooped out the valleys at least thousands of years ago. The steep climbs then branch off the valleys and go up narrow gorge-like valleys as we saw above in the Col de la Croix de Fer climb.

The Sign to the Col de La Madeleine. Note the Celliers sign.

This approach is actually averaging the whole way at about 7-8%. Not too bad because there are 3-4% areas and some up to 10%, but nothing more.

A view to the northwest, back down the valley, on the northwest side of the Col de Madeleine. The fun stopped just above this at Celliers. Climbed 16 km and got stopped by construction. No way to get through. Tried talking about walking, getting a ride from the workers, bribes. Nada. So we had to back track.

It was a great day for a ride. Got in 70 miles and 5,150 ft of climbing. I noted something that occurs not infrequently. Here is a somewhat delapidated farm house up on the hillside about 500 meters above the valley floor. BUT, three satellite discs. Must get a lot of channels and probably don't come down too much in the winter.

All in all we had good day.

France Sep 5, Glandon and Croix de Fer

2011-09-07T17:55:00.018-06:00

Today was a misty rainy day to start. We planned to leave Saint Jean de Mauriene, ride down the valley to the next town, turn left, then ride up to the Col du Glandon.

This route has very nice blocks which tell the route, the route number (D927), distance to top, and the percentage grade (7 average) for the next km.

Opps!! It just got a lot tougher and stayed that way to the top of the climb. Lots of standing on this one.

Here are Jim and Susan Sproull gliding easily up the bottom part of the climb. They are both quite strong riders.

Jim on the top... in the fog!

Looking up the Croix de Fer. Easy climb and really wild countryside. Beautiful in its own way. Lots of ski lifts, although you can't see them from here. The Tour de France uses this col and the Col du Glandon to transition from the High Alps to Alpe du Huez and the more southern Alps.

A view down the northwest side of the Col del la Croix de Fer. That is actually a ski resort at the bottom of the valley. You can only see about one forth of the way down here. You descend for 26 km down to the town of Saint Jean de Mauriene.

On the descent these incredible gorges occur. Jim Sproull, a former earth science teacher, says these are formed by millions of years of water eroding a crack that formed in the crust of the mountain when it was uplifted to form the raw mountains.

France Sep 3, Col de la Forclaz

2011-09-04T10:08:00.013-06:00

This trip was designed to allow us to climb as many of the Cols (mountain passes) of the Tour de France as we could during a three week trip to France. The first week was spent in the Alps, the second in the Pyrenees, and the third partial week in Provence. We flew into Geneva, Switzerland on Friday morning, 2 Sep 2011. We spent the day getting the bikes ready, the car rented, and recovering from the overnight flight from Denver and Seattle.

On October 3rd, we started south into the Haute Alps to do some of the climbs. The first stop was by Lake Annecy for the Col de la Florclaz, a short steep climb the Tour De France did in 2010.

Had excellent lunch at the typical Hotel-Resturant just off the Lac D'Annecy.

We started our climb after getting Co2 cartridges. Just to the left of this sign a small sign said 8 km to the top. We were only about one mile from the car. No time to warm up.

Beautiful House below the cliffs on the way up. Besides the scenery, the climb is horrendous. Much of it was a 10-15% grade. Only leveled off to 8-9% a few times.

A look back. Mountain houses were common. I would not want to drive up this road all the time.

The top with tourists and cows. No view, which was supposed to be spectacular, due to rain moving in. In all, we gained 2,000 feet in 5.6 miles. Really steep. Very difficult descent with heavy

rain. It was the only time in my life I enjoyed climbing at 10% more than descending at 10%.

Summer in the mountains

2011-09-01T16:17:00.003-06:00

I spent July and August riding in the Mountains.

Climbing up Deer Creek Canyon, which is great training for my upcoming trip through the French mountainside.

Summer Continued

2011-09-01T15:45:00.006-06:00

I did one huge ride this summer. The Reverse Triple Bypass.

This ride is 122 miles long and has three passes to cross. Here I am going over Loveland pass (the second). I am at about 11,000-11,500 ft, so I'm not too spry. Still have 60 miles and another pass to go. Two days later everything hurt!

The last big climb of the summer. Rode from Idaho Springs at 7,500 ft to Berthod Pass at 11,307 in 22.6 miles.

The fun of training in the mountains is the descent. Here Doug "Big Guy" Squires (from old England) and I are descending deer creek canyon, which is about 10 miles from my house and is a great training hill I use a lot.

Cross Roads XC2011

2011-08-30T15:02:00.002-06:00

Jim and Rick

Riding on XC2011 in the Arizona Mountains

Here I am riding with Rick Wardell, one of my favorite riding buddies.

He is the mechanic on the Cross Roads (XC) trips as well as being a

pharmacist who own his own pharmacy. A Great rider and a great guy as

hundreds of riders will attest. I rode with the XC2011 group through the

mountains for about 650 miles. (Wickenburg Az to Tucumcarri NM)

Spring Training

2011-08-29T07:06:00.007-06:00

Spring training was hard this year as it was quite cold in the Denver area.

I do some Time Trialing mostly to get in better shape. I also

like the group. You have to 50 to be in the COBRAS but most

of us are in the 60's and 70's Some are excellent racers. I am

definitely second tier. I got 9th out of 26 in the state TT this year

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-29T16:16:00.006-06:00

Santa Cruz to Carmel by the Sea

65 miles

Sep 25, 2010

Our last day. In some ways were are relieved as we are all tired, but in others we wish the tour would go all the way to San Diego. We had a nice day and not too much climbing until the Monterey peninsula. One of the amazing sights were the incredible "truck" farms as we called them. We saw artichokes, brussel sprouts, cauliflowers, straw berries, several kinds of lettuce and probably others we didn't recognize.

Picking straw berries. Appeared to be at least hundreds of

acres of them

Cauliflowers by the thousands. All looked ready to pick to me

A local we talked to, said these types of fields went at least

75 miles further south than where we were

The gang, plus a visitor, Paula, on the left who was

a rider on the cross country tour in 2008 and on the staff in 2010

Cannery row in Monterey. Great food on the wharf.

Bird rock on the Monterey peninsula

Jim and Pebble Beach

The Lone Cypress on pebble beach Supposedly over 250 years old

One of the unusual houses in Carmel. Carmel was a

disappointment to us. It was totally over run with

tourists including us. We finally loaded up in someones

driveway and drove back up to Sea Side tired and hungry.

This tour was the hardest work of the seven I have taken since 2006. It was also the most beautiful. I have never seen so many beautiful and wonderful sights in two weeks in my life. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-28T20:43:00.004-06:00

San Francisco to Santa Cruz

86 miles

Sep 24, 2010

This was one of our toughest but gratifying days. We had almost 5,000 ft of climbing, most of it in the first 30-40 miles. Nice day and later in the ride we had a nice tailwind. Getting out of SF and its suburbs had lots of climbing and traffic. SR1 was very challenging with lots of traffic and absent shoulder part of the way early.

A ship coming into SF as we are leaving

Started seeing alot of pampas grass after about 25 miles
on the route

Crop lands started about 30 miles north of Santa Cruz

This field is something I had never seen before. Artichokes

Sorry about the pic quality. I was shooting on the run

trying to keep up with Ron

This camp was strange. It is not a camp ground and the

cars were parked on the road shoulder. Big sign said

"Keep out"

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-28T17:37:00.003-06:00

San Francisco

Rest Day

Sep 23, 2010

Sandy came out from Denver for two days. We first

came to SF 44 years ago. We finally took a tour of the

city. I was always in meetings on our previous visits.

Tom (aka Mr Tour Director) out at the beach in west SF

Yep, Alcatraz. My dad (born in 1897) and a marine in
WWI, voluntered in WWII and trained death row and life
prisoners from the Federal Prisons like Alcatraz. He gave
them basic military training to be ammunition carriers in
the pacific war

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-23T16:29:00.005-06:00

Petaluma to San Francisco

50 miles

Sep 22, 2010

Our route today had alot of climbing out of Petaluma. We went southwest into the hills then swept around back southeast to Sausalito before getting on the Golden Gate Bridge. Traffic, Traffic, Traffic in this area. The Golden Gate was absolute fabulous. Had a 25 knot cross wind but that was no problem compared to the people on the bridge on rental bikes. Still, lots of fun crossing this great land mark of America.

Hills west of Petaluma

Jim H cruising through Sausalito

Getting ready to cross the Bridge. Yes, it is

cool in SF in the summer

Jim and Ron on the bridge

At the start of the bridge

I was amazed that the railings were so low on the bridge.

Easier to jump over I guess. There are plans to put a

net below it.

San Francisco and the Bay Bridge from the GG

Bridge

A look back . Really wonderful experience

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-21T18:34:00.007-06:00

Cloverdale to Petaluma

73 miles

Sep 21, 2010

Today was another great riding day. Slight head wind, but no rain and beautiful country side. We rode through the Sonoma valley. As Jim H said. Napa is for tourists and Sonoma is for farming. We saw lots of evidence of the start of the vendage, but few tourists. Went up in the hills and visited some "hippy" towns. Really strange. Young hippys seems like an oxymoron to me.

Sonoma vineyard backed by beautiful hills.

Haven't picked yet.

You may recognize your favorite vineyard.
Lots of them here.

Look at those grapes! Sweet too! We only stole a few

Some parts of a hippy town are really nice. This is in

Occidental. I didn't want to show the down side.

WEST COAST TRIP SEP 2010

2010-09-21T18:18:00.006-06:00

Fort Bragg to Cloverdale

77 miles

Sep 20, 2010

Things are changing. We started along the coast then went up the Navarro river to the redwoods and over some hills to the Anderson Valley. They produce some great wines including the Silver Oak Cab. Lots of climbing again (4,460 feet)

The Coast just below Mendicino. Look! No rain and

we actually a mild tailwind. Great riding day

Where are all the trees? This is unusual

The Navarro Redwoods. Look at the tiny car. Most
of these trees are actually second growth (that is less
than 150 years old)

Then into the Anderson Valley and great vineyards. I am
always amazed at the neatness

The vineyards backed by the hills (if your in a car) or

mountains (if your on a bike) And yes we had to

pedal over similar ones to get out of the valley

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-20T21:10:00.004-06:00

Garberville to Fort Bragg

70 miles

Sep 19, 2010

This was a really tough day. Rain for all but the last 5 miles and headwind all the way. To be fair the wind wasn't really a factor in the mountains. Almost 5,000 feet of climbing out of one river valley into one that drained into the sea. Then 20 miles along the sea to Ft Bragg. Really cold descending out of the mountains after having climbed for a couple of hours.

Lousy picture, right?

Fits the day. Climbing and rain

Down to the sea. Beautiful in spite of the weather or

because of it. I don't really know

Sea, sea stacks and mist.

WEST COAST TRIP SEP 2010

2010-09-20T18:17:00.007-06:00

Eureka to Garberville

77 miles

Sep 18, 2010

This day had rain the whole way with few exceptions. , 4300 feet of climbing so I was bone tired at the end. BUT, really beautiful and wonderful sights to be seen. Rode the Avenue of the Giants. Something unbelievable.

The area around Ferndale had at least dozens of diary farms

around it. Some people thought it smelled like a barnyard,

but I thought it smelled like money.

An area of Old Growth that was cut down in the 1800s'

The Scotia Museum, made entirely of redwood. This town

has been the headquarters of the Pacific Lumber Co. since

1869. Very well kept.

Jim among the Giants

Ron among the Giants

This tree was 21 feet in diameter, almost dead

and supposedly over 2000 years old. Note

the fresh cuts because it is still growing

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-20T17:57:00.005-06:00

Crescent City to Eureka

87 miles

Sep 17, 2010

This was a long cloudy with about 30 miles of rain. I wasn't up to that much and got a bump (a ride in the van for the first 12 miles. So I got 75 miles of riding on my 69th birthday. I was happy with that. Total ascending for the day was 4500 ft and I did about 3800 hundred feet. Rain for the last 30 miles.

Typical route rap (review of next days' ride) with director Tom

reading off his little lap top.

Saw some beautiful swamps and in this one some ducks
who didn't want to have their picture taken

Tracy changes Ron's tire while he look on (helplessly?)

Nice herd of elk right by the road

The gang had a surprise for me at the last SAG

How about this victorian house that is now

an exclusive club in Eureka?

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-19T18:30:00.006-06:00

CRESCENT CITY

Rest Day

Sep 16, 2010

Of course we had all the menial duties: bike cleaning, laundry etc, but we did go out and look at some big trees. Will not post many as there are many more to come, but they are awesome. Truly amazing and wonderful to look at. They are at their most northern natural locations near Crescent City

Where's the top. Over 300 feet up. This tree

is probably around 500-800 years old

if it is typical for its diameter at the base.

Makes you think doesn't it?

And of course, the obligatory light house. Not working
naturally. I promise this is the last one. It is cut off from the
shore at high tide, and I was mesmerized watching the
tide come in for an hour.

WEST COAST TOUR SEP 2010

2010-09-16T21:02:00.006-06:00

GOLD BEACH TO CRESCENT CITY

60 Miles

Sep 15, 2010

Fairly easy ride today into California. We have ridden the Oregon Coast and I would recommend it to anyone. BUT, take it easy and stop alot. Keep the daily distances shorter than you would ordinarily due to the climbing and you will really enjoy it. We had a quartering head wind most of the way, but that was really not a factor.

Ron heading into his home state. He was raised in

Redding California

Much more pastoral here.

Our first red wood stump. Doesn't look too big until you

look at the yellow house behind it.

Light house in Crescent City. You're right, not

working. They have a horn sound that occurs

every 10 seconds. Very comforting at night when

your window is open

The sea. Mesmerising. The tide is coming in. I watched

it overcome the small black rock in front of me over the

next 30 minutes.

WEST COAST SEP 2010

2010-09-16T17:45:00.004-06:00

BANDON TO GOLD BEACH

60 miles

Sep 14, 2010

Of course, alot of up and down, but more rollers today than real climbs. Less work but not as spectacular. Wonderful nevertheless, except for the never ending quartering head wind. This is known here as a winter wind. The summer winds are north west.

The oldest birthday I could find was 1836. Died 1906

Yes, that is the sea right behind

Always looking for a treat. This one really liked paydays

In a few places the beach looked similar to that seen
on the east coast.

One of the many signs along the route. Some more PC

than others.

Also saw swamps in a few place. All beautiful and full

of birds. They wouldn't hold still so I could take their

picture.

WEST COAST SEP 2010

2010-09-16T17:30:00.002-06:00

FLORENCE TO BANDON

79 Miles

Sep 13, 2010

Mile legs are toast. You wouldn't think 3800 ft of climbing could do you in, but I guess the over all effect of the last 5 days is getting to me. I spent 11 hours in bed after this ride.

I have been informed the rock formations are called

sea stacks. Sure are amazing

Great fried oysters for lunch

Behold, a WORKING light house
Supposed to be visible 19 miles out
to sea.

Coast guard rescue boat from the 1930's

One of the many small beautiful marinas we passed.

Now for another climb

WEST COAST SEP 2010

2010-09-16T17:08:00.002-06:00

Lincoln City to Florence

80 miles

12 Sep 2010

Lots of climbing again. Up and down and around the craigs and creek beds. Hard work but well worth it. The views are spectacular

Another beautiful setting for a non working lighthouse

The coast looking south into the head wind. (mild)

We climb up here, then zoom down to the town so we

can climb up the next one

The bridges were a great adventure. Many times we pushed

a button to cause flashing lights to let motorists know

there were bicyclists on the bridge Then we pedel like hell

The gang at a look out

Boiler Bay
Questions?

WEST COAST TRIP SEP 2010

2010-09-14T18:08:00.004-06:00

TILLAMOOK TO LINCOLN CITY

62 Miles

Big STEEP (up to 16%) Hills

Tillamook bay in the evening.

Crows Nest ; best seafood dinner I have ever had.

Oyster stew and Halibut

Tillamook Bay in the morning

Lots of fishermen out this gloious day

Not a cloud in the sky

The sea shore from Cape Maeres. Horrendous climb

up here. Not too long (2 mi) but very steep in places

Cape Maeres Light house. Not working

Behold, a virgin forest. It was wonderful and

somewhat spooky. Trees so high you couldn't

easily determine top of them

WEST COAST TRIP SEP 2010

2010-09-14T08:45:00.003-06:00

SEA SIDE TO TILLIMOOK

Moderate Hills

50 Miles

Our first real look at the beach.

Doc and Ron enjoy the view

Monoliths

Located all along the Oregon beaches

Haystack Monolith. Really a giant
Look at those ants (I mean people around it)

Doc and the Coast from a look out

Yep. That's and Alpe d Huez vest on the old man

WEST COAST TRIP 2010

2010-09-13T18:21:00.009-06:00

THE START

Tom and I ready to leave his house in Denver on Sep 7, 2010

to drive to Portland, Or to pick up the other 3 riders.

Our first look at the northwest. The Columbia river near

the Dalles dam

Loading the "Black Widow" as the Navigator came to be known
Note that Tracy (owner of CrossRoads) is doing all the work
while Jim and Ron watch.

All the unindited co-conspirators. Doc, Ron, Tom (Tour
Director) Tracy and Jim at our Sea Side, Or hotel
Our Starting Point

We took a 33 mile warmup loop the day we arrived and got
our second look at the Columbia River right at its mouth
to the Pacific Ocean. Actually the foregroud is an estuary of.
the River. Excited to go the next day

BURLINGTON, MS TO BOSTON, MS

2010-06-26T18:19:00.009-06:00

Burlington, MS to Revere Beach (Boston), MS
19.7 Miles
25 June 2010

Today is a ceremonial ride to the beach. We ride 13.5 miles from the hotel on our own and the in a two by two parade accompanied front and rear by the vans to the beach. There meant by family and friends for the group pic, wheel dipping in the Atlantic etc. One little glitch. The whole group got lost except for Jim, Rick and I who were riding sweep and got behind due to stop lights. We arrive at the rendezvous sight and now one is there but the one van. The rest arrived about 20 minutes later.

It was really nice to see this group finish. They were great. Excellent determination, camaraderie, and spirit. It will take a few days to weeks for them to realize what has happened to them, I know it did me.

I personally made at least a couple of new friends that I think will stick. That is a great feeling, and PRICELESS.

A Great Group of Cross Country Riders

Wheel dipping

Zak carrying Jan's bike to the beach and walking with
her and her grandson. She was our oldest women rider
and a real trouper She made it the whole way

Are we having fun.? You bet

Me and my pojo, Jim Hall. We have now ridden

about 8,500 miles together,

AND more to come

BRATTLEBORO, VT TO BURLINGTON, MS

2010-06-25T14:15:00.006-06:00

Brattleboro, Vt to Burlington, MS

93.96 miles in 5 hrs 30 min

24 June 2010

Today is the last real riding day. he final day is a ceremonial ride to the Revere beach from Burlington. Today's ride starts out nice crosses over into New Hampshire after about 4 miles , then stair steps ups to the Mass border at around 45 miles. I do mean stair steps up. One hill had some 14% grade in it. I had to stand in my lowest gear part of the time. Nevertheless the country side was beautiful and the traffic light.

There was a great covered bridge we got to go over and we saw some nice lakes. Then all hell breaks loose as we zoomed down towards the coast. At first it was fun because of the long downhills. But about 25-30 miles from Burlington, the traffic gets terrible and the roads narrow and bad. Really dangerous in my opinion. This why Rick (who has been on the tour 13 times) says this is one of his least favorite ride., BUT, it is what it is, and you have to get there. Makes for a tough day though

Hey! This looks fun.

It is fun

Oh, not quite as fun as I thought! I don,t
like the parallel cracks with a truck coming

Finally, a place to get my bicycle AND my

carriage worked on.

Nice lake, but either it is tilted or I am. Oh, this

was shot from the bike of course

ALBANY, NY TO BRATTLEBORO, VT

2010-06-25T12:20:00.007-06:00

Albany, N to Brattleboro, VT

70.68 miles in 5 hrs 1 min

23 Jun 2010

First you have to get out of Albany and cross the Hudson. That is a major challenge with the traffic, construction, and otherwise poor roads. I rode across the site of my only crash since starting to ride 6 years ago. I was mighty nervous as I approached the railroad underpass just east of the Hudson river. All went well but I didn't move a muscle as I coasted through it. The staff said there were more potholes than ever, but I was just glad it was over.

Then the climbing really begins. Up first out of the Hudson Valley and over to Bennington, VT, and then from there up the 7.2 mile climb from Bennington over the Hog Back mountain divide. A fairly steady 4-6% grade until the last mile and a half where it kicks up to 8-9%. (they wouldn't allow that steep a grade in the west) All in all a tough ride, but really beautiful country side.

By the way, remember the discussion Rick (the mechanic) and I had in Ohio about me kicking his behind in Vermont. Well, forget it. He had me wimpering for my mother on the Hog Back climb. I'm just going to have to get in shape.

Mountain Stream on the Hog Back climb

Nope, a different stream on the other side of the
Mountain. I didn't see any fisherman.
Maybe they don't do that in the east.

Beautiful view east from Hog Back Mountain
(Obviously shot by lousy photographer zinging by
on a bicycle)

LITTLE FALLS, NY TO ALBANY NY

2010-06-23T15:36:00.005-06:00

Little Falls, NY to Albany, NY

72.45 Miles in 4 hrs 10 min

22 June 2010

The start of this day way great riding down the Mohawk valley towards Albany. Like all the eastern rivers this one was a gate way to the interior. In the early 1700's settlement started and in the early 1800s the Erie Canal was started. (mostly finished by 1860.) The scenery was great but of course does not photograph well.

Then we hit the Schenectady area. Heavy traffic, poor roads etc. There was one short stretch where we went through a neighborhood where the high level retailer was Dollar General, the Dunkin Donuts was nice because there were always three cop cars there and there were armed guards at the McD's Only a few blocks fortunately.

I was at the back of a pace line and shot this pic of Greg

following us over my shoulder. Am I getting careless?

You bet. Don't try this at home.

Historical Sign with some nonsense about the Mohawk Valley.

Why were some priests said to be martyred?

Because we were the winners and got to

write the history

Lock number 9 on the Erie Canal. Now almost only used
for pleasure craft.

SYRACUSE, NY TO LITTLE FALLS, NY

2010-06-22T15:09:00.009-06:00

Syracuse, NY to Little Falls, NY
80.25 miles in 4 hrs 10 min
21 June 2010

Boy! Another great day to ride with a mild tailwind. Not much climbing and the roads in NY are certainly better than the ones we had in Ohio. I was riding in Ohio with Rick the mechanic (he actually owns his own pharmacy store in Texas) and he was killing me on the rollers. I said to him "wait till Vermont and I'm going to get you on the long mountain climbs." He said, " "bring it on." How lucky can you be to argue about who is the better climber over a 1,500 mile bicycle ride. I am so blessed.

We went by the smallest chapel (so they say) in the US. 28.25 sq ft in size. You can rent it by the hour.

Finally, in Little Falls got to see my neice and her husband who live there. He is a dentist and she teaches math in the high school. They are great people. Their son Aron wants to be a military Doctor and is at a camp at the Naval Academy. (camp for high school students) I love the generation of my children and their peers.

The smallest Chapel in the US

We saw Jan at a stop sign. One strong lady

Colin from the UK. He is 72 and you can see is "packin" in his

shoulder holster

Would you believe it, A bird actually had the gaul

to hit Rick.

My neice's house in Little Falls. Really pretty

Got to have a nice dinner with Gretchen (my neice)

and her husband Alan

CANANDIAGUA, NY TO SYRACUSE, NY

2010-06-21T14:14:00.010-06:00

Canandiagua, NY to Syracuse, NY

70.55 miles in 3 hr and 48 min

20 Jun 2010

Fathers' Day. Good morning, good morning, it's such a lovely day....... Ok, What musical is that from? I didn't know either, but it was a great day today.

Traveling east along the Erie Canal route (also the NY Thruway route) has been delightful. Beautiful scenery, big barns, big gardens ,etc, none of which photograph well.

Went through more of the fingerlakes area again and came to the resort area of Geneva, NY. Lots of tourists, but also lots of closed businesses.

Now here is a family garden!

We come over the rise and see the fingerlake with
Geneva at its edge.

Nice Hotel on the water's edge, but most of the town was
old and delapidated

Some of the towns along the Erie Canal had some

beautiful old homes in them.

HAMBURG, NY TO CANANDAIGUA, NY

2010-06-19T17:38:00.007-06:00

Hamburg, NY to Canandaigua, NY

93.4 miles in 5 hrs 6 min

19 Jun 2010

Another beautiful day with another tailwind. This 2010 group is blessed so far. This ride across the top of some of the finger lakes is really nice, with good roads, large farms, picturesque small towns and wonderful green fields. Lots of bogs, reeds and cat tails in the bogs.

Some of the group starts earlier than others so that the entire group does not get too spread out. That makes it difficult for the staff to support everyone and starting some earlier keeps it more compact

The land was rolling with giant rollers, also called HILLS pretty much the entire way. All in all a great ride with 5,300 feet of climbing

We are passing Doug from England who is in his

70's and has ridden virtually every mile.

I don't know why he has the Illinois jersey on

The reeds and cat tails seen along the route.

You may be wondering why so much pavement.

I am taking these pics while rolling along about 20-25 at

the tail end of a pace line and it is easier to shoot

a picture to the left than the right and keep the bike straight

and steady.

Many of the barns up here are enormous as are the

granaries

"Big Ring" Sam and I drinking the recovery drink
of choice, "chocolate milk."

ERIE, PA TO HAMBURG NY

2010-06-18T15:11:00.011-06:00

Erie, PA to Hamburg, NY
81.36 miles in 4 hrs 40 min
18 June 2010

Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh, what a beautiful day. Wonderful and easy ride up the southeast side of Lake Erie to Hamburg, NY just east of Buffalo. We had a police escort out of town. Two riders side by side and rolling right through red lights with the motorcycle cops racing out front blocking traffic and then stopping while the other one raced forward.

The ride had moderate rollers all the way. I rode mostly by myself and really enjoyed it. Tried to make it as much of a recovery ride as possible. Passed numerous vinyards on the right side of the road and across the road were small farms and numerous houses right on lake Erie. There was an occasional inlet and marina and one old light house near the road.

Notice that I didn't mention the 17th, the rest day in Erie. It was the usual laundry, blog, email, rest, buy toothpaste etc.

Lining up for the Police Escort

Big group of riders clustered around the New York
border Sign. Why?
Never saw that before

Jim by Paula, by the light house, by the
marina, by Lake Erie

One of the marinas by lake Erie

NILES, OH TO ERIE, PA

2010-06-17T15:58:00.001-06:00

Niles, OH to Erie, PA
91.03 miles in 4 hrs 38 min
16 June 2010

Nice tailwind today. We flew with Rick pulling most of the way. He loves the flats being from northern Texas. My legs wern't too bad, but my body is really tired. Wrists and arms sore from getting beat up by the roads yesterday. Roads much better this this county.

Sometime Crossroads sets up a SAG stop at a store or ice cream shops. The riders can get extra treats there. We had two SAGs on this ride and at the first we had fruit to dip in chocolate. It is wonderful, except that I get it all over my face. Everyone has a great time teasing me about that.

Tracy (Crossroads owner) gets them to open early for

us each year.

Lovely young ladies to take care of our ice cream needs.

How about that!

WOOSTER, OH TO NILES, OH

2010-06-17T13:32:00.002-06:00

Wooster, OH to Niles, OH
96.74 miles in 6 hrs 15 min
15 June 2010

One of the worst days riding I have ever had on tour. The country was beautiful here in noeth east Ohio, BUT the roads were the worst I have ever had to ride any distance on. In addition the terrible portions were unpredictable. Crossroads has change this route 4 time, but the roads deteriorate so quickly there are many, many patches that would be better or being gravel than supposedly paved. I was worried about injury not only to myself, but the bike. We felt like we knew what the European pros go through on the cobbles. So rough you could not eat on the bike.

That said, Rick, the mechanic, (and a great rider) rode with Jim H and I and did a great job of guiding us as best as possible. On to better things.

Time to talk about the SAGS (support and gear) Crossroads provides. It starts with great transportation equipment. That is two vans and a truck. The truck carries all the bags (and can get to the hotel ahead of the riders and get the bags in the room before the rides get there), and the vans support the riders with bumps (rides) if needed, plus snacks, bars, gels, water and gateraide. There are a great variety of all of the above, plus they get fresh fruit, cakes, and good snacks from the grocery store every day.. In the last three days we have had carrot cake, pineapple dipped in chocolate, apples dipped in carmel, strawberries, etc. You get the idea. Really nice when added to the bars and gels. Gels are small packs of high energy stuff that you can shoot in your mouth in about 5 sec and contain about 100 cal. These are to be eaten while riding as are the bars.

Our truck with Zack (the best truck driver and bag handler ever)

He is holding my bike, also great and alot better than me

Our two support vans. Wait till you see as SAG stop
as we call it. Uaually two SAGs on rides longer than 80 miles

Oh, boy! Fresh grapes, small donuts, carrots with dip,

bannas and various bars at this SAG

Now you see the whole SAG set up.
Coolers with gateraide and water, and between them

more bars and jels.

We are definitely spoiled.

MARYSVILLE, OH TO WOOSTER OH

2010-06-15T18:11:00.009-06:00

Marysville to Wooster
89.28 miles in 5 hrs and 25 min
14 June 2010

Riding across central Ohio today. Beautiful coountry side. Some really large prosperous farms and some really rundown poor ones. After about 72 miles the hills really begin. Most people don't know that Ohio has some really big hills. We climbed over 5,000 feet today. Weather was overcast, but no rain AND we had a nice quartering tailwind for most of the ride, hence the fast speed (18.3 mph)

One thing we have noticed. Many of the nicer places have HUGE lawns (I would say 2-5 acres) and they mow them regularly with great big riding mowers. We were wondering how many barrels of oil go into this every year. Must be at least millions. What about the polution from the mowers?

Just and example of a side yard.

Many yards also double cut

Yes, Martha that hill really is long and steep.

Goes around the corner to the right
and continues up

Yep, I am talking hills and old and new barns
The bicyclist's favorite sign.
And away we go.

RICHMOND, IN TO MARYSVILLE, OH

2010-06-14T14:51:00.006-06:00

Richmond IN to Marysville, OH

108.16 miles in 5 hrs and 46 min

13 June 2010

A long day, but not too much climbing until the last 25 miles and then not severe. Legs not too bad. We had alot of fun in the pace line particularly when the whirling dervish (Tracy, the tour company owner) joined us for around 40 miles. She doesn't get to ride much, but really enjoys it when she does and is a great cheerleader out there.

We entered obvious Amish country today and saw our first buggy clopping down the road. They really live their faith. Still it is strange to see them working in the gardens and fields with hand equipment. Laverne, who knows alot about the Amish, says they reject machines, cars and electricity because it tends to break up their community which is paramount to them

Amish buggy on the road

Amish farmstead. Note the clothes line

The pace line with the tour director pulling (leading)

followed by Rick W (the mechanic), Sam W, and

Jim Hall.

Tracy really gets low in the drops.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN TO RICHMOND, IN

2010-06-13T18:39:00.004-06:00

Indianapolis to Richmond

86.05 miles in 5 hrs and 2 min

12 June 2010

Not a nice day. Started riding in a real down pour. Going out of Indi with cars splashing on us and not being able to see the bottom of the puddles. You don't know if they are a real pothole of just a dip in the pavement. Several pinch flat have occured this way. Also possible to break a rim.

Cleared a little after 20 miles but spit or rained most of the day. Still, NO WIND, NOT BLINDING HOT, so the day had its good points. Rode with Jim H, and that was very smooth and easy

This Jersy is filthy with grit even though you can only

see the dirt on the lower portion. Can't wear glasses on

a day like this

CRAWFORDSVILLE, IN TO INDIANAPOLIS, IN

2010-06-12T18:14:00.004-06:00

Crawfordsville, In to Indianapolis, In
67.47 miles in 3 hr 58 min
11 Jun 2010

Today was team day. Everyone wears the Crossroads jersey they were given for the trip. Looks pretty cool actually.

The day was hot, and going into Indianapolis was complicated and traffic laden. Nice that it was short. One lady said I never thought that I would think that a metric century was a recovery ride, but it was.

Three great guys and superb riders decked out

Jim H, Rick W, Greg B

CHAMPAIGN, IL TO CRAWFORDSVILLE, IN

2010-06-11T12:44:00.009-06:00

Champaign, Il to Crawfordsville, In
80.49 Miles in 4 hrs 35 min
10 June 2010

Today was "fancy head dress" day. Riders get the blas by five weeks on the bike and this is a small energizer. Saw some really wild stuff.

A very nice day. A little head wind, but not too bad. Beautiful country side. Some funny signs seen, but mostly tiny towns not looking too good, and lots of corn and soybean fields. People including the drivers are quite nice.

Jim Hall and I rode pacing each other almost the whole day. Jim is a real diesel on the flats and can motor along for miles. He and I have ridden over 8,000 miles together. Another riders was following us for a while and said, "you guys have ridden together before." No kidding. We ride a mile and switch pulls. (leads) Doing this smoothly and safely increases the speed over doing it along about 1-1.5 mph with the same energy expended

Greg the "space man" on the left and me "fluffy" on the right in our best

One of the riders actually saw the chief sorehead.
He was really nice

Me, motoring towards Jim H on a great day

CHAMPAIGN REST DAY

2010-06-10T14:14:00.005-06:00

Champaign Rest Day

Rest day is busy but boring. There is laundry, shopping, bike cleaning, etc to do. But without transportation, it is tough to see much. I got a massage today, and it was one of the best I have ever had. This guy was an expert. He goes to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for a couple of weeks every summer and works on cyclist.

Doug S cleaning the bike, Don't show this to anyone in England where he is the Chairman of the Chamber of commerce

SPRINGFIELD, IL TO CHAMPAIGN, IL

2010-06-09T16:09:00.004-06:00

Springfield, Il to Champaign, Il
88.56 miles in 5:19 min
8 June 2010

Today was Jim Hall's first day as an official rider. He as been helping on staff until now. Needless to say the weather was not great. We had rain at the beginning and end and a quartering head wind all day. We rode together the entire day pulling each other. He did most at the beginning and I did more later. We picked up Doug after about 45 miles and he rode in with us.

Jim said, "I thought we were joining the 2010 tour and not the 2006 tour." This statment comes from the fact that 2006 was notorious for some bad weather in the desert and alot of headwinds in the midwest. However, the truth is that every tour get some good weather and some bad. I just hope 2010 doesn't get alot of bad weather from now on.

I was really a tired puppy at the end, but very happy to be at rest day in Champaign. I think my legs were a little stronger today than yesterday, but the quads are really sore. Will get a massage tomorrow morning.

Jim Hall riding well in the middle of the day.

You can't see the head wind but you can sure feel it.

QUINCY, IL TO SPRINGFIELD, IL

2010-06-09T15:03:00.010-06:00

Quincy, Il, to Springfield, Il
110.14 mi in 6 hr 20 min
7 June 2010

What a day. Really long. Doug Squires from Coverntry England and I rode most of the day together. He manufactures auto parts there. He is a great guy, rider and story teller. Seems to 'ave been everywhere.

We rode over the Illinois river which is much bigger than one might think. Have seen barges loading grain there twice.

Doug and I got a great pull from Greg the last 35 miles or so. Still was a beautiful day and I really enjoyed riding with both. Doug is more my speed. Greg is much stronger.

The countryside is beautiful, but does not show well in photos.

Beautiful patriotic barn

Doug Posing on the Illinois Bridge after watching barge load

Now here's a good sized farm tractor

Doug coming out of the Sag and Greg catching up.

We latched on for a great pull

Greg Pulling into Springfield after leading Doug and I

for 35-38 miles or so. Saved us. 110 miles is a long way.

Sorry the pic is distant, I guessed wrong. So what's new.

KIRKSVILLE, MO TO QUINCY, IL

2010-06-09T14:52:00.008-06:00

Kirksville, Mo to Quincy, Il
78.53 mils in 4 hrs 16 mi
6 June 2010

This was one of the most beautiful days I have ever ridden. Cool until late, mild tail wind and some loss of altitude. What more could you want.

Great scenery of the eastern Mo countryside is nice to ride though, but doesn’t show well in photos. A really wonderful riding day, during which I rode mostly by myself.

Missouri Bike Store. What More could you want?

This sums up the rural Missouri economy

The Mighty Mississippi never fails to impress me.

Some really beautiful restored old homes in Quincy

CHILLICOTHE, MO TO KIRKSVILLE, MO

2010-06-06T16:01:00.007-06:00

Chillicothe, Mo to Kirksville, Mo

76.5 mi in 4 hr 40 min

5 Jun 2010

This is 148 hill day. Like a roller coaster we went up and down and in the meantime dodged thunderstorms. Ascended about 5300 ft as well. All in all a tough day, but every day is lots of fun.

How about that Thunderstorm Cloud?

Wonderful Hills with Horses and Cattle on Most

But not this one

I rode 50 miles with Jim Hall, my pojo, who is working on staff until Champaigne. He is not a great fan of hills but a very strong rider and a great guy.

Jim Pounding Up and Down the Hills

Wouldn't Want to be in that Current

and that just a little stream

ST JOE TO CHILLICOTHE, MO

2010-06-05T19:02:00.006-06:00

St Joe to Chillicothe, Mo
87.8 miles in 4 hr 54 min
4 Jun 2010
I am now officially on the Crossroads cross country tour with a great bunch of riders. I will be riding with them from here to Boston. I flew in yesterday from Denver and really excited. I am like a 13 year old on a great adventure. I love riding my bike in new places.
Today I rode most of the way with Harold Kamins (aka Harold the Hammer). He pulled me about 40 miles of the 58 after the first sag. A fantastic rider. Very steady and powerful. Has a daughter in medical school of whom he is obviously very proud. She is on her way to Africa to work in a clinic for a month.. He lives in CT and Steamboat, Co

Me Having Fun On The Bike in Missouri

A beautiful monument in a tiny town on the way into Chillicothe

Harold (the Hammer) on his beautiful Cervelo Soloist. Really enjoyed the day with him

Ride With Crossroads 2010

2010-06-01T08:04:00.010-06:00

Well, here I go again. I love cross country riding. I am not very good at blogging, but will try to get better. I rode with XC10 from Alb to Tuc. The pics are in reverse order, but so am I.

Here we are at Roy's new favorite bar in NM. What NM, hell I don't know) So what if the drive in window closed in 1998. It still is a great place for a SAG. By the way Roy is a hot rider, and a very nice guy.

On the way into Santa Fe, I see this hitch hiker. Turned out to be someone I knew. I just didn't know he had been convicted recently. I knew he was an unindited co-conspirator. Don't pick this man up unless you really know him. He is a real trip.

Here are two hot guys. Well at least the one on the right is. The other is a Dr. like me and we like to pretend. Both really great people though. Ok so I have the pics backward. I told you I am just getting used to the system agin!!

Last fall did the ride across France. (see earlier blogs) Now will be joining the Cross Roads Tour 2010 on thursday 3 Jun and riding with them from St Joe, Mo to Boston. I rode 2 days with them in New Mexico from Albuquerque to Las Vegas.

Now get to go to the finish with a great bunch of riders.
I rode the whole tour from LA to Boston in 2006 and from LA to St Joe in 2007. This ride will give me a chance to make the whole tour twice. It is really a blast!

Day 21 - La Ciotat, The End

2009-09-24T09:38:00.009-06:00

Thursday, September 24, 2009

La Ciotat

We have finished!! Almost exactly 1,000 miles across from the the English Channel to the Mediterrean. We did four climbs used frequently in the TDF, and one climb that was harder than any of those (up to Col de Parquetout).

The view from our hotel window. Not to0 bad!

La Ciotat, a former ship building port - now yachting repair port, and minor tourist destination, was the end of our tour. Because it was not a major port, we hoped to avoid congestion and have easy access. It its own way, it was beautiful and very pleasant. It wasn't crowded, and of course, there was great sea food.

Our Yacht is finished! Ready to take us back to the USA.

NOT! There are a lot of big ones here, though.

The four musketeers! If we look a little tired, it is only because we are.

Was it great? Yes, definitely a bucket list hit.

Would I do it again? No. It was a lot of work for everyone. Instead, I would like to select an area, rent an apartment for a month, and do rides out of there.

Where? Probably Provence, but also there are areas in the Alps which would make great hubs (like St. Jean-du-Maurinne), particularly for climbing.

It certainly made me appreciate what France has to offer. We met so many great people where we were. They were very courteous and helpful. We ate wonderful food. In fact, I would say that the most dangerous thing in France is the food. I loved it, and could easily eat too much. I lalso like a lot of their customs. Among others, I especially liked closing the stores for lunch from 1230 to 1430. The language is so beautiful, and in many ways, quite fun to try to speak. Sandy and Susan did very well, and improved quite nicely as we went along.

So, thanks to all my companions - Jim Sproull, Susan Radke Sproull, and most all, Sandy Olsson, for making this happen.

Day 20 - Roussillon to La Ciotat, The Mediterranean

2009-09-24T08:05:00.015-06:00

Wednesday, September 23

Roussillon to La Ciotat (131 Km)

This is the last riding day. Finishing our trek south, through the Luberon, was really great. Up through the town of Bonnieux, and down the south side of the small mountain range to the Durance River (hey, I got one!), was also a real pleasure.

Sunrise in the Luberon. Absolutely georgeous.

Next, we rode around the northwest and west side of Aix-en-Provence, which was not too bad. Then the trouble began. We probably spent a total of an hour (in fragments), lost south of Aix.

Pont Julien Bridge

Talk about old! We rode by a bridge that was built in A.D. 25, by the 2nd Roman Legion, and was still being used by farmers until about ten years ago.

The coastal mountain rande south of Aix-en Provence. We did a lot of climbing this last day.

Cross

Crosses are everywhere along the country roads in France. From the most simple, to the very elaborate, every variety can be seen. Most in the north are memorials to soldiers in WWI. After a couple of days, Jim S. said that he could pay for the trip if he had a nickel for every cross he had seen. By the time we reached the last day, though, we figured he could buy a lavender farm with the money. I'm sure we saw close to five hundred crosses.

This is a typical place for lunch. These two ladies had the morning shift and waited on us. They were leaving with their baggettes while we ate. They sell bread, pastries, often pizzas (French style), and sandwiches. I'll bet we each ate 50 jambon and fromage sandwiches, most of which we made at breakfast, and ate while riding.

A small gorge near the coast. To our right is a main road and freeway.

Aix-en-Provence gets very congested, and there are a lot of tight roads squeezed in between the mountains of the coastal range. Typically there will be e a freeway, a main two-lane road, and a small road, all going through the same gorge. Really tricky. It also got very hot, until we got very close to the Mediterranean sea.

Nevertheless it was a wonderful ride, as we knew were accomplishing our goal of RIDING ACROSS FRANCE.

La Ciotat

Well, we made it. Tired but satisfied, we are in La Ciotat, a coastal town that used to be famous for ship building, but is now mostly small marinas with a lot of tourists. I must say, though, that is was not very crowded during our visit.

It wouldn’t proper to neglect to give my wife, Sandy, a big big thanks for driving the support vehicle, and being there to help. If you think navigating these roads and tiny streets on a bike is hard, try doing it in a car. Of course the van had a standard transmission, as that is about all they rent in France. A very tough job well done.

THANKS, SANDY.

Day 19 - Roussillon Rest Day

2009-09-24T07:31:00.009-06:00

Tuesday, September 22

Roussillon Rest Day (o km)

This was originally scheduled as a day to ride around the Luberon part of Provence and look at the small hill towns by bike. However, I think we are wearing down - I know I am.

The logistics have been much harder than I thought they would be. The riding is also very hard at times. You have to be so diligent while riding, as the roads are so small with no shoulders. You can rarely drift along day dreaming. The drivers are almost universally courteous, but things are just somewhat tight.

So, instead we took a little car trip, and looked at the scenery and ancient towns. We saw a lot of very unique sights. We also found some great roads to take bike rides on in the future. Enjoy the pictures!

Luberon Countryside

Gordes, one of the most visited towns in Provence.

This hill top town is really spectacular.

The Ochre Cliffs around Roussillon

The building to the right is the resturant of our hotel.

It's pretty easy so see why they call it Roussillon. Every thing is some variation of rose or yellow color.

Day 18 - Vaison la Romaine to Rousillon

2009-09-24T02:11:00.016-06:00

Monday, September 21

Vaison-la Romaine, Mont Ventoux to Rousillon (90 Km)

Vaison is a beautiful ancient Roman town, and Rousillon is a charming village. In between stands the Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux. It truly is a giant and serious - as serious as a heart attack.

Here we go -just short of 5,000 foot of climbing ahead.

In the first 21 kilometers, we had just short of 5,000 feet of climbing. It took us one hour and 50 minutes. Not too fast, huh? The pros do it about 50-75% faster.

WHAT A VIEW!!

We climbed out of Malucene (http://www.climbbybike.com/), where there are numerous sections that are 10-12%. It never gets easier than 6%. It was a beautiful climb with awesome vistas from the higher portions.

A super long downhill into the northern edge of the Luberon followed, topped off by a final climb to Rousillon.

I took these pictures on the way down. I didn't want to stop on the way up. That's my only claim to fame!

Look at those sloggers!

You really get the picture as to how giant it truly is.

Now down in the lavender fields around Sault. I wish they were in bloom.

Finally, down a beautiful ten kilometer gorge into the northern part of the Luberon.

Just as Sandy arrived on the top of Mont Ventoux (about an hour ahead of us), three Mirage jets buzzed the mountain. She swears they weren't more than 100-200 feet above the top.

This was a tough but very gratifying day.

Day 17 - Serres to Vaison-la Romaine

2009-09-22T10:12:00.012-06:00

Sunday, September 20

Serres to Vaison la Romaine (81 km)

Today was a lark. We woke to cloudy skies and wet streets. It was raining when I got up at 0430 for the old man’s break. But, the sky in the west looked better at 0720. So, off we went. After a brief fifteen kilomter, gentle, climb, the ride was slowly 1-2 % downhill most of the way to Nyons.

Provencal Mas (farm house)

As we rode along toward Mont Ventoux we noted the change in the architecture.

St. Georges Gorge

For about forty kilometers we passed through the St. Georges gorge along the ? river (I never can seem to get the name of the rivers). It was beautiful and fortunately almost all down hill. After that, we expected to have to climb up over a ridge, but instead, we rode along the ridge to Vaison la Romaine.

Looming on our left was the GIANT, Mont Vantoux. It really is massive, mainly because it is out here by itself. There is nothing else there to compare it with. We are really excited to climb it on Monday. Down its southeast side is Luberon, where we have ridden before, and where our friends have a house.

How villagers got their water in the "Olden Days."

Vaison la Romaine was the medieval city where we stopped for the day. There, we saw another of the many constantly running springs (I guess you would call them that). In most towns they are in a small plazza. I guess that's how villagers got their water in the "olden" days.

We arrived in Vaison la Romaine to find an ant pile tourist town. It took a while, but we finally found our hotel up by the Castile, built in the 1300’s. It was a nightmare for Sandy with the car. She finally had to have the hotel owner drive the car up there. The parking for eight cars really has enough room for 3 ox carts, but they pack them in. It really is unreal. But the room was great, the food wonderful, and view gorgeous. All in all, a fun and easy day.

Tomorrow will be the test.

Day 16 - Alpe du Huez to Serres

2009-09-20T09:23:00.014-06:00

Saturday, September 19

Alpe du Huez to Serres (132 km)

Today was a surprise. First, we woke to an overcast sky. We thought we had two Cols to go over, but it turned out we actually had four. It was very hard - we are definitely still in the Alps. I thought they would quickly fade away after Alpe du Huez, but that is not so. It took another fifty miles southwest to get out of them.

The first, up to the Col d' Ornan, was twelve kilometers long, and challenging, but not too steep. It was followed by a twenty kilometer, beautiful downhill where we were able to safely hit high speeds (60 kmph).

Riding toward Col d' Ornan.

One of many wonderful views back up the canyon toward Col d' Ornan.

THEN, we started up to the Col de Parquetout. Its road is not commonly used, and is in fairly poor condition. However, the bad news was that, even though it was short ( 7.5 km), the average grade was 10%, and much of it was around 12% - with one shot over 15%! My knees and right hamstring were talking to me.

The climb to this Col was the steepest I have ever done.

View coming down the Col de Parquetout toward the southwest. We could detect subtle changes in the architecture, flowers, and temperature.

Thank God the next col was not much, and the final Col d' Festre wasn't too hard. Finally, a very long downhill for about 30 kilometers. It was a beautiful, but tough, ride.

The town of Serres was also a surprise. It was a little, podunk, place, and the hotel was nothing to write home about. However, the French food came through again. We found a little resturant about ten feet wide, that had fabulous food. I had a regional specialty - a salad with chicken hearts in it. I followed that with wonderful lamb chops, then topped it off with profiteroles filled with ice cream and covered with cholocate. Again, French food is dangerous. We had a couple of demi bottles of very dry French Rose's that were quite good.

Day 15 - Briancon to Alpe du Huez

2009-09-20T08:55:00.018-06:00

Friday, September 18

Briancon to Alpe du Huez (81 km)

In some ways, today was a strange day. We had to backtrack up to the Col du Latauret and then go down to Bourg d’ Oisans to begin the climb up to Alpe du Huez. There are four major tunnels on the way there, and we were advised not to ride through them. We only knew about three, and so we shuttled through those. The traffic stopped about 45 minutes just outside the third for reasons unknown, but a helicopter did come and do something. Then we started pedaling again, only to find another 700 meter curved tunnel - but we made it through.

The view back down the climb.

The climb starts abruptly, as many of you know, and is a 10-12 % grind for the first 2.5 km, then will ease to 8% sometimes, and rarely to 7%. It has 21 switchbacks; there are signs with the names of previous winners of the TDF stages over the years. Lance is up there for the years 2001 and 2004. There are still many cyclists climbing daily, and at the height of summer there are as many as 500-700 a day going up. There is no way to describe it. Check it out on Google earth or http://www.climbbybike.com/.

A pro was selling pics of us tourists climbing. I tried to look good for him.

I have to say, my only claim to fame is that I didn't stop. It took me an one hour and 05 minutes to do 14 km. I was really slow. I really needed a triple chain ring to be able to spin. I couldn't get over 65 rpm with my compact and had to stand quite a bit.

At the Top

We finally made it to the top. There was hardly anyone there. A false arrival sign below by a T shirt shop stopped most people. It was short of the offical route by 1.5 kilometers. At the arrival, there was a lot of room for spectators and equipment. They must expect crowds again soon.

Our Hotel

It was a treat to stay at this great little hotel. Everything inside was in pink. The flowers were wonderful, and she watered them in the evening and morning. The owner was a little old lady that was just delightful, and worked tirelessly the whole time we were there.

Day 14 - Briancon Rest Day

2009-09-19T10:15:00.014-06:00

Thursday, September 17

Briancon Rest Day

I had a true rest day in today. Sandy and I explored Briacon, a beautiful and very original mountain town. When the Popes moved to Avignon, it got its real start as part of the trade route between Avignon and the northern Italian towns.

Children running home from school for lunch.

Briancon has a beautiful old cite just above it called Vauban. There we saw very narrow streets with primitive sewage system in center. They aren't really used anymore.

Church at Cite Vauban built in 1706-18

The church was very quiet. It was beautiful but primitive.

Sandy at the gate to Cite Vauban with church behind her.

Birthday dinner desert. HOW ABOUT THAT!!

Today was my birthday, so Sandy took me to dinner. We were served one of the best meals ever. French food is dangerous - you will eat too much!

Day 13 - St Jean de Maurienne to Col du Galibier to Briancon

2009-09-17T07:22:00.028-06:00

Wednesday, September 16

St. Jean de Maurienne to Col du Galibier to Briancon (80 km)

It’s the big day. Today we traverse the highest point of the TDF in France, the Col du Galibier, at about 9,000 feet. It's not high by Colorado standards, but high it's for the Alps and we are quite far north. The day dawns cloudy, cool (44 degrees), with a forecast of intermittent rain.

We headed out wearing a lot of clothes and carrying a lot more. Within five kilometers I started heating up, so I began pealing off arm warmers and ear muffs. After ten kilometers the climb up to the Col du Telegraphie begins. It is a tough climb for 14 km, at a 7-11% grade. I never thought I would say 7% was good! After about 18 kilometers, we coast down four kilometers into Valloire, a little ski town and break for hot chocolate.

Valloire

At Valloire, the climb toward the Col begins in earnest. We have climbed about 2,500 feet by this time, and ridden 22 kilometers.

A view up a side canyon on the way up. Looks pretty inhospitable to me!

The view back from whence we came.

We ride up 17 km for a total of 5,000 feet of climbing. We saw spectacular scenery as we rode to around 7,500 feet.

Shepherd

We saw hundreds of sheep on the way up, but the most interesting being was this shepherd. He looked right out of the middle ages! At first I thought he was black, but he was really just weather-beaten and deeply tanned. He did not acknowledge me.

A look down from about 0.5 km from the summit.

As we continue climbing, I think it is not going to be too bad. It's just sprinkling off and on (which is actually welcome, at times). At two km from the top, we hit the snow. It reaches about 250 meters in altitude below us. I gradually had to bundle up more while riding the last two km.

Road with Tunnel

How about this road? You can see the tunnel entrance below and to the right. It was open to cars but the summit road was not. We carry on to the top in the foggy snow storm and get our pictures.

The Summit

Finally, we reach the summit in the fog and snow (and oh yes - the COLD the minute we quite working hard climbing)!

Alas, now the trial begins. We start down but our wet brakes are ineffective without the maximum pressure on them. Within one kilometer down, I am frozen and fear I will have to walk and ride down because my hands and arms are very cold and fatiguing rapidly.

Suddenly, out of the mist appears a bar-restaurant and the support car. Hooray!!! We hurry inside for a hot chocolate. No debate. We take a bump down the mountain. It would have been suicidal to try it on the bike, as the snow went down about four km on this side. It rained all the way down to Briancon.

We climbed a total of 7,000 feet over 30 miles. Sandy and Susan provided superb support.

What an incredible day!!

Day 12 - Chambery to St. Jean-de-Maurienne

2009-09-16T13:12:00.011-06:00

Tuesday, September 15

Chambery to St Jean-de Maurienne (82 km)

This was a very strange day. We awoke to clouds, moist and cool, but no rain. Then we got lost in Chambery for 45 minutes, until we finally made it out on a main road (which we weren’t planning to take due to traffic). We found that the traffic wasn’t that bad and - WE WEREN’T LOST! We took a major road all the way to St. Jean-de Maurienne without any problems. GREAT!

Scene as we rode up the valley toward the Haute Alps.

We were actually traveling up a major river valley to the Haute Alps region which has many high Cols and is one of the routes to Italy. It was pretty but congested . There just seem to be so many people in France. You just never get completely away from them. Nevertheless, it was a very smooth and easy ride with a gradual climb after getting out of Chambery.

How about that Castle?! Wonder when that was built?

Our route is open over the Col du Galibier.

St. Jean-de-Maurienne is a delightful, little town and the Hotel St. George where we stayed had a locked garage just for bikes. Cyclists from all over come here to ride up to the various Col’s as the sign shows above. We were the only ones at the hotel on since its near the end of the season.

Our first look at the mountains over which we will climbing.

Looks intimidating!

Day 11 - Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambery

2009-09-15T13:10:00.014-06:00

Monday, September 14

Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambery (131 km)

This is the day of our first big climb, the Col de l’Epine, which has been on the TDF several times. The route starts off with low rollers and gradually climbs for the first 100 km. Next it abruptly turns up and over the mountain. The grade was 7-8 % for the first about two km and then went up to 8-12% for the next eight km with most being about 9-10%. There really was no let up until the very end.

The Rhone river on the way into the Alps.

A beautiful valley town stretched along both sides of the river.

Here we go - our first big climb.

On the Way Up

The views from the ride were beautiful and grand. Pictures just can’t capture them.

Top of the Col de l'Epine. A fun climb.

It was a very steep descent into Chambery. We had to use the breaks constantly so I alternated front and back; sometimes I had to use both. The descent was the scary and cold part. This area is the foothills of the Alps, so the top of this mountain was only about 3500 feet high.

Apple Tree

Coming into Chambery I saw a beautiful sight. An apple tree with beautiful apples! I took one and it was great.

Going in to Chambery was a real adventure, because it's a fairly large industrial city. The navigation was tough and the traffic very heavy. Thank heaven for the experience of going across the U.S! It reminded me of Troy, NY.

Day 10 - Beaune to Bourg-en-Bresse

2009-09-15T10:05:00.012-06:00

Sunday, September 13

Beaune to Bourg-en-Bresse (130 km)

We had a north wind pushing us south, which made for a very nice ride today. We made a couple of mistakes, but nothing major. The road was flat to begin with, then began the same rolling pattern we saw as we approached the Alpes. Susan rode the whole day with us and did a great job.

The evening before leaving Beaune we ate in this resturant that was in an old wine storage "cave." It has been a resturant for 30 years and was quite good. We arrived as it opened, but it was full of diners when we left.

Restaurant in Beaune

In one of the villages we came to today, we saw a church with an amazing steeple. It's constructed so the ribs spiral as they rise. The colors were also fantastic. Storks had nested on top of the church. They were really big!

Village Church

This area of France is known for its chickens; we did see some true “free range” chickens, but only a few. There are statues of chicken in many places in Bourg-en-Bresse. This one is near a grand cathedral. Most are beautifully decorated, as this one is.

Sandy and Chicken

The big mystery is that we see jmbon (ham) everywhere, but have never seen a pig. We did hear one about two days ago, though! I am starting to get ham and cheesed out. I always get a sandwich to take with me, but I wish I could find some Payday candy bars. They are easy to carry and eat, and are very satisfying. I have seen some snickers, but I failed to by more than one. Next time I will stock up!

The French have many things on the menu we rarely see in the US. Let’s start with the common ones: frog legs, rabbit, onglet, liver of various kinds, gizzards of chicken, deer, kidneys, pancreas, and numerous other parts of the pig, cow, and lamb in sausages. They use it all!

Unusual fruits are used in addition to the common ones. Food seems to be well prepared the vast majority of the time, but they are starting to get some fast food places of their own like one called Hippotomus (This has mostly different kinds of hamburger and steak).

Day 9 - Beaune Rest Day

2009-09-14T09:57:00.008-06:00

Saturday, September 12

Beaune (0 km)

After 6 days of riding we have done 425 miles. It seems tough because everything is so new to us. We get lost a lot, and have to stop to look at signs. There is a silver lining though; we see many sights we wouldn’t if we rode through rapidly. All in all, it's a lot of fun. Susan has ridden almost all of it with Jim and me.

Beaune is a typical tour rest day for us. First, we had to go to the bicycle shop to get a spoke changed for Jim S. He broke a spoke about 55 Km out of Beaune. We found a good mechanic, but it took a good hour and a half. Then we had to find a place to do laundry, and that took until 1 pm. FINALLY, we got to rest and look around!

Hotel Dieu Hospital

The Hotel Dieu truly is amazing. It was a hospital built in the 1500's for the poor to die in. It was built at a time of epidemics, probably the Plague.

Hotel Dieu inside. Very luxurious for it's time.

The vintner’s headquarters are really luxurious (with a lot of nice cars around them), and the streets crowd with tourists. The signs are in French and English.

I also found the WWI and WWII memorials. Usually, the major part of the monument commemorates WWI, and the lower part commemorates WWII.

We had another great dinner - I don’t know how many more I can take! I had Mirabelle for desert, although Susan is the most adventurous in food. We have seen some really strange things, which I'll discuss in an upcoming post.

Day 8 - Avallon to Beaune

2009-09-12T09:27:00.029-06:00

Friday, September 11

Avallon to Beaune (130 km)

The day dawned cloudy and cool. We started out in the canyon and slowly climbed east out of it, about a ten kilometer climb. The next 55 kilometers were up and down big hills.

In Avallon we stayed in a very nice hotel. The resturant was a typical, beautiful, French dining room - but the restroom was really unusual.

You opened the door to see the nice sinks. But then, starting high and to your right, you heard water running.

As you looked up, you saw water running down a glass wall to...

...the trough, which is the pissoir! How about that? Very impressive to us men.

Our ride took us through some beautiful forest early in the day. It slowly eased until the last big ridge of hills just west of Beaune. That was followed by another ten kilometer climb, finishing with the swoop down into Beaune past the beginning of the vendage.

Very dense and beautiful forest. No rain on us! Note the ferns.

In total, we climbed well over 5000 feet. The rural roads think nothing of climbing or descending with 8-10% grades for short distances; they are a lot of work! As we rode, the weather turned much hotter, so were stuffing clothing everywhere (ear warmers, leg warmers, vests, long fingered gloves, etc. - you get the idea).

Grocery store in St. Auben

We found a great little country grocery store in St. Auben today. At it, a nice lady cut a baguette, then helped me make a sandwich with a terrine compangne as the meat. Those are really great for hard riding in the hills. Stores like this have been rare in our travels, but are the best.

Well, it's time for some preliminary answers:

It takes one bagette sandwich for about every 40 km. That, with a gel or bar, keeps you topped off.

Approaching Baune

We roared down into Baune with the vendage just starting. We saw a lot of activity and little trucks in the vineyards. Here in Burgundy they typically have stone walls around the vinyards.

Baune is the usual tourist ant pile. You know you're in trouble when most of the signs are in French and English. Still, it is a wonderful, small, French city. Trucks loaded with grapes passed through town, dripping sweet smelling juice on the pavement.

Day 7 - Troyes to Avallon

2009-09-12T08:14:00.014-06:00

Thursday, September 10

Troyes to Avallon (108 km)

Leaving Troyes was no problem (how about that?). We are getting better! We shot south to Avallon on a route that was flat early on, then gradually got into some fairly large rolling hills. We had a "favorable headwind" pretty much all day.

An 1800's mechanize loom. This is the main industry in Troyes.

Susan is riding well and stayed with us easily the entire day. She is a real trooper and very positive. Sandy stopped the van at a church and saw a gold plated cresh made in the 1500's. Hey, we came within 200 yards of it on the bike!

Having a nice baguette sandwich (ham and cheese) on the road.

We continue to learn how to steal baguette sandwiches from the petit dejeuner (which is grossly overpriced anyway), and take them with us to eat while riding. They are so much better than gels and bars. We're also getting skilled at finding the patisseries along the way. They often have sandwiches as well. All freshly made of course!

Tonnere all dressed up for the races.

Went though Tonnere where the town was all dressed up for the "supercross" races this coming weekend. Then down to Avallon and old walled town on a bluff above a beautiful canyon where our hotel was. The vast majority of small towns are clean, neat with streets that are great fun to ride through much faster than in the US. Jim and I love to shoot through the small villages where the houses are right up against the highway. We learned it from the watching the cars.

Where is everyone?

Many vines on the houses in this part of the country.

Avallon on the bluff. Ramparts just below a medieval church. Our hotel was in the valley below.

Day 6 - Reims to Troyes

2009-09-12T08:01:00.011-06:00

Wednesday, September 9

Reims to Troyes (135 km)

We had a nice, hot day with a gentle breeze - mostly headwind. The locals say that our choice is hot, with a south wind, or cooler and perhaps raining, with a north wind. Getting out of Reims is not too bad and we are in the beautiful vineyards.

Grapes just south of Reims. You can't believe how sweet they were. Have not started the vendage here yet.

As we come to the first town next to the forest, we get in real trouble. The map directs us into the forest up a very steep climb (14% for 300 meters); in 1 more km the road stops and becomes a walking path. We see no way to get through. So, we have to backtrack, which is way around - and still have to do a lot of climbing. After two hours we've ridden 33 km and it is really getting hot. But, we grind on, and eventually go through some pretty forest towns until we're back down to flatter country.

After that it's just a constant, tiring, grind to Troyes, where we get lost several times in this ancient city. There is where they spun textiles in the 1800’s, and now they are into engraving. Our was nice, with modern decor and two towels per room.

We have been over several canals and I understand there are any more. This is a private canal boat south of Reims.

Troyes is on the Seine, but has not been fixed up to any extent. Lots more minorities here at least in our area. We see the kids going to school a lot on this trip and here there are tons of them mostly dark brown and black.

One of the many, many WWI war memorials. Every little village has one with many names on it. Occasionally there are WWII memorials, but never as large or elaborate.

I am amazed at the food on our trip. Even in the small villages we get excellent pastries, cold meats, and plats. Today I had spaghetti bolognaise in a small café in Fere Champenoise, and it was great. The tomatoes are really wonderful, and the salads, in general, are fabulous. I am certainly not losing any weight. One day we did run low on fuel due to the lack of food in the very rural area up north.

Day 5 - Saint Quentin to Reims

2009-09-11T14:22:00.012-06:00

Tuesday, September 8

San Quentin to Reims (123.5 km)

It was a long day with another headwind. Our weather yesterday and today has been pretty hot, according to the locals. The roads were good. Traffic was fairly heavy, but with very good drivers.

Question: Why are the cars so small, but the trucks are as big (or bigger) as those in the US?

At least the truck drivers know what they are doing. They have mastered just where the right side of their truck is. We saw one in Laon navigate a street where he had one foot on the left and 4-5 inches on the right.

A field of chard in the foreground, with a good view of the basillique in San Quentin.

San Quentin and Reims are quite different. San Quentin has renovations underway, but is quite poor. Hence the flee market we saw when we arrived. In contrast, Reims is quite wealthy. We see many BMW's and Mercedes around this part of the country.

The cathedral in Reims.

Not all French churches are old. This country church was built in the 1900's.

We have had some difficulty finding food in the rural areas. I took a ham and cheese baguette sandwich from the hotel petit dejeuner this morning and it really came in handy. I eat quite a few jells also.

Another question: How many baguette sandwiches does it take to go 80 miles?

Answer: Research in progress. I will have an answer in a few days.

I love these vines coming into Reims!

We came over a hill northwest of Reims and it was like turning on a light switch. We rode past acres and acres of vines. From 20 km northwest to 70 km south of Reims there is almost nothing but vines everywhere and they are very well tended. They say this area only has 2% of all the vines in France. Amazing!

We have now visited twenty tabacs. We find that the people never speak English and are always nice. However, today we arrived at 2:05 pm to find the kitchen closed. Usually they close at 2:30 pm. There was no way to get anything, even though they were still bringing food to people and a local appealed to the madam. So, we got a coke and went on. They are very rigid about the open and closed stuff.

I do like the fact that the stores close from 12:30 to 2:30 and everyone goes to the café, tabac, or restaurant. They all seem to have a very good time.

Day 4 - Arras To Saint Quentin

2009-09-11T10:07:00.014-06:00

Monday, September 7

Arras to Saint Quentin (87.9 km)

Today was a short day, but very challenging. We had a head wind all day, leaving me exhausted at the end.

This was military cemetery day. We came across British, German, and French WWI cemeteries, all beautifully kept. There were 11,400 soldiers in the German cemetery. The French one was much bigger and buried two to a stone. It's size left me contemplating how many soldiers had died. No wonder the French didn't want to fight again twenty years later. The mothers and wives probably said, "No way."

British Cemetary, with one soldier to a grave, and some very nice inscriptions - most from 1916. Really a tragic, but beautiful thing to see. They were extremely well tended.

Over 11,000 soldiers in a German cemetary. Note how well it is cared for.

A plaque at a German cemetery.

Another very neatly tended French cemetery, with two soldiers to a cross.

We had our first experience being on an N (national) road for about 3 km. There's nothing like an 18 wheeler coming by you at 100-110 k, three feet away and no shoulder on the road. First the wind tries to push you off the road and then the vortex tries to pull you to the center of the road. You have to be attentive and steady. No roads in France have a shoulder except by accident. The road are good and drivers courteous, but just not a lot of room. It's best to be on the small D (departmental) roads even with the LOST problems.

Today we saw a lot of large fields with potatoes and what we think is probably chard. It was very pretty countryside and low rollers. As usual, we were lost quite a bit. I am not sure we are getting lost less or just getting more used to being confused and “sort of lost.”

When we got into Saint Quentin they were having a giant street “flee” market. People from everywhere, were hawking junk of every kind - and a few good things. Gypsies, Arabs, blacks, Italians, and many others, all with stalls made of tents.

We had to get to the hotel, which was in the center of it all. It was next to a cathedral being renovated and didn’t look too good. The Hotel de Ville was very nice.

Jimdoc, Sandy and Jim in front of the Hotel de Ville Saint Quentin

(Rider, Tour director, Rider)

The food is expensive, but good at every level. Every meal we have had at night has been two hours long, and well worth both the time and the money!

The hotels ration everything and charge for any extra they can. A typical room is very small and has one large bath towel, internet difficult to get on and expensive, and poor lighting. However, the people, in general, are very nice.

Day 3 - First Riding Day Boulogne to Arras

2009-09-09T08:59:00.009-06:00

Sunday, September 6

Boulogne-sur-mer to Arras (about 75 miles)

We awoke to a blustery day; cloudy with a southwest wind. The temperature was around 50 degrees.

Went down to the quay to a Boulangerie and got a pain ou chocolat and a baguette sandwich with butter ham and cheese. Really good along with the fresh orange juice.

Here we are at the Quai ready to go.

I am with Jim and Susan Sproull from XC06 and XC07

Then to the start at the quay. This is the location of the largest Atlantic fishing fleet in Europe. Off to Arras, and oh my God, the initial hills getting off the coast! Up to 14% several times - each time a slight downhill, then up again. Finally, some giant rollers (similar to Missouri) for 20 miles and then smaller rollers.

At 100 Km a real adventure begins. Going into Arras we get our first taste of a major road into the center of a large town - 1 and ½ trucks wide. A lot of one way streets, but we finally make it. 120.5 K takes 5.5 hours with LOST stops. A great time was had by all, but this is just the beginning of our education.

We saw numerous windmills, but not in large farms. Usually alone or with 3-4 others.

They were working that day. Look just like the ones in the US.

We spend quite a bit of time in the villages looking at the signs to figure out the directions. Often, we go wrong for a short time and have to back track. Overall, though, not too bad for the first day. The roads are generally good, and the people we asked for directions are very friendly. Sandy actually has more trouble in the van because she goes too fast for the twists and turns, signs, and road changes. Lots to asking for her also.

Pig Roast

A small town was having a festival. This is a whole pig with the ears on. It is wrapped in chicken wire which Jim S. says has lots toxic cadnium in it. Everyone was laughing and drinking beer. They were very friendly to us, and loved hearing we were riding across France.

Vive La France!

Day 1 and 2 - To the Start

2009-09-07T13:28:00.007-06:00

Friday, September 4

Sandy In Her Chair-Bed for the Atlantic Crossing

(Not like our Grandfathers and Mothers)

Sandy actually got 4 hrs sleep on the flight.

The flight on Air Canada was great. Flew to Montreal and then Paris Charles De Gaul.

At the airport, the problems begin. Moving through it feels like stepping into an ant pile. There were crowds of people everywhere and very poor signs. In terminal 2A, baggage is easy, but there is no ATM and I have trouble getting a phone. I finally got one phone working, but I still don’t know my own phone number. Nobody can understand the operator (electronic of course), even after telling multiple people the number.

At our hotel, a standard room for about ($125) is like the Econolodge in Santa Fe, but the hotel staffers were nice. Car rental was no problem, just expensive ($110 day).

Saturday, September 5

The next day I found a phone store and got my phone set up. Stephanie, the phone store employee refused to accept a tip, even though she did a lot of work that should have been done by the people at the airport. Another lesson; take the time to find a phone store.

My Air Caddy for the bike worked great and folded up so small that we took it in the van, so there were no storage problems.

We had a great dinner at very simple restaurant in rural area outside CDG. I had eggs mayonnaise to begin, then beef bourgongne, and mousse ou chocolat. Really fine food in a humble setting.

We took an easy but expensive trip to Boulogne-sur-mer on a toll road. There we had an expensive and looooong dinner at famous fish restaurant. Boulogne now has the largest fishing fleet in the European Atlantic.

First Impressions:

Everything seems close, crowded and expensive. France also seems to be well organized, have excellent food and NICE service people.

We are slow, disorganized for the day-to-day functions but improving rapidly.

The Ride Across France

2009-09-02T08:54:00.014-06:00

I think I got the idea last summer from the word ACROSS. I had ridden across the United States from LA to Boston and from LA across to Kansas City, and was going from Maine to Florida so I was used to long rides. I have ridden about 46,000 miles in the past 5 years. Sandy, my wife speaks French and it looked like a great chance to do some of the famous TDF climbs.

Follow The Black Line Across France

(no this is not an ad for Reynolds)

By November I was immersed in maps. The route was chosen by a series of steps, 1) it had to go across from the Atlantic to the Med, 2) it had to include some of the great climbs of the TDF (hence the Alps), 3) it had to pass through some of the well known regions of France (hence champagne and burgundy regions) and 4) finally it had to pass by some friends house in Provence. There were technical problems. I wanted to avoid large cities, but had to go through towns with a variety of hotels to ensure internet hookup. The daily distances had to be around 70-80 miles to get across in a reasonable time with some time for sight seeing in the afternoons.

Training was part of an ongoing effort to get stronger and longer endurance. The culmination of this years training was a 101 mile ride with a 24 mile climb up to Estes Park through Devils Gulch,. The next to last km is 6-8% grade and the last km is 10-15% grade. I am lucky to be able to take the trip. The highest we will go in the Alps is 9,400 ft high and the steepest grade on 1-2km of Mont Ventoux will be about 10-12% for a couple of km.

Training at 10,200 feet near Leadville Colorado

(this was actually in 2007, but I did it again this summer)

Over the last two weeks I have been hammered with the myriad of detailed actions needed to actually run a tour. It seems never ending, particularly when you are going to foreign country and have never been over those roads personally. I have ridden twice in France and it was very nice, but always with a commercial company.

I am now in the "what have I forgotten." mode.

We leave for France tomorrow.