Good thing, Bad thing

So we've instituted a family tradition to say what our "good thing" and our "bad thing" was for the day at the dinner table each night. So, Syd will say "I went to pre-school and played" for her good thing, and "Spilled kitty food" for her bad thing. Nice little way to talk as a family during dinner. Apparently, Syd has been asking about my good thing and bad thing - today my good thing was being able to ride famous roads with friends, my bad thing was my body didn't like doing another hard ride, and I went very slow up the mountains. Maybe it was the rabbit from last night's dinner still kicking, these things happen. I wasn't the only one - Becky and a couple of the others took a rest day. It makes the Tour riders all the more impressive. One thing is for sure - I was asking for my good legs back when we came by Mary.

The day started in the mist, but it was never too cold. The first climb was the Col D'Azet. Wasn't terribly long, but today was full of steep starting right out of bed.

We are certainly more in the country on this trip compared to the Alpes. This isn't the first time that I've been joined by a big old cow along the way up. Makes me a little nervous, but no worries so far. They just give you a look, as if wondering why we are in their way. Through the mist, it is cool to hear the bells clanging around the hills and valley. Since traffic is so minimal, that and the sound of our own laboring is about all you can hear.

We gathered at the top for a quick water refill and some directions down, then headed on our way. Going down was a little sketchy since you couldn't see very far in front of you . . . a few close calls for me, but no real problems.

(Usually nice to be able to see better than this going down hill)

Once we dropped down below the clouds, the views returned to the stunning variety. I had to stop for this one.

(This one is for Syd. Baby sheepies!)

After a quick stop for coffee, where I actually ran into Leland Gee from work!!!, we headed on our way to the big nasty, Plat d'Adet.

George Hincapie won on top of this one, and I can remember people saying he didn't work hard and took advantage of his breakaway partner on the day. B.S. is all I have to say to that. It is impossible to get up this thing without digging very deep. This was the first time in a long time that I was wondering if I would finish a climb. It was brutal.

This photo should help put it in perspective. There is the town, then a wall straight up.

(That reads "You are here")

And a glimpse of part of the road coming up.

Now that it is all done, it is a bit easier to appreciate the views - like these beauties.

Since it is a ski station on top, the surroundings weren't all that magnificent - just parking lots and closed hotels, really.

(Mark finishing the climb)

But, still, not a bad place to have lunch, no?

(Neil on the left, me, and two of the three Canadian boys)

My Garmin's battery died into the ride, so I'm not sure how fast I was going on the way down, but I managed to do in minutes downhill what it took a very long time to do going up. I suppose that is going to happen when you have wide-open stretches of double digit grades. After the first look over the edge, I decided to turn off the brain a bit and just enjoy the ride.

I'll end tonight with a quick shot of the town where we are staying. Lovely little place - although I've found the first hotel owner in the world who doesn't seem to like having guests . . . at least those who have the misfortune of being non-French. Part of the experience, right?

Wish us luck for tomorrow. Col D'Apin and The Tourmalet - you know a climb is going to be tough when has a "The" before it! We end in Lourdes, so maybe we can all have our legs blessed and healed at the end of it.

Cheers!!!

Day 2 was H-A-R-D. We started out of bed with a cat 3 climb, the col du bouchette, then ran along a lumpy valley to start the first of our two hors categorie climbs, the Port de Bales (and then on to the Perysourde). Word on the street from our guides was that the Bales was the harder of the two climbs - no kidding! - although the heat kicked in big time by the late afternoon, which made the Perysourde feel like riding a bike in a furnace. But just getting to the Bales was wonderful as usual.

There were a lot of apple orchards along the way - a few dogs that had some fun with the cyclists - and some great back roads.

We had our first and only cafe break at the bottom of the Bales in this amazing town that had a little brook running right through the middle of it. Not bad waking up to that every morning, no?

(I'm including this one for Syd, who wants more pictures of daddy)

This sign should tell you all you need to know about how hard the Bales is, although we have some good photographic evidence to go along with it.

Keri putting his climbing bandana on, a la Marco Pantani after a quick drink at the bottom.

For all the cyclists back home, I've got to say that this is cycling nirvana. The Bales was a little over 20 kilometers today, maybe one car on the road - definitely more cows and sheep than people, and since the Tour has come through recently, the road surface is like riding on clouds. I give you this as proof:

(Based on how hard this climb was for me, I can't imagine what it takes for the sprinters like Cav to keep up with the climbers during the Tour. But he certainly had a lot of encouragement on this climb.)

It was no-joke steep. Here is B doing the classic "paper-boy" maneuver to help even out the climb. Although, I'm not sure she is pleased that this was recorded on film.

Great weather on top of the col today, and a nice lunch as usual with the group.

(Just a pretty picture from lunch)

Of course, with such a hard climb, we got the treat of a nice descent, which ended up being a bit longer than 12km, but the 8% downgrade was probably close. With a little roller of a climb mid-way down, that 8% means we had some screaming sections with wide open turns, no cars, smooth pavement . . . nirvana.

After doing such a hard climb, the Perysourde was wickedly difficult, particularly since the sun had decided to heat things up a bit. Easily in the 90s with a wide open, exposed climb. Sections kicking up into the double digit grades. Yikes. Fortunately the guides were good to us, and feed us cokes and poured water on our heads on the way up. And when the support van wasn't around, one of the country fountains did just fine.

Just to give a sense of this one, here are a few looks at the last couple kilometers.

(Those round outcroppings are switchbacks)

(The final kick at the summit.)

At the top are what are claimed to be the best crepes on the Perysourde. Given this is the only shop/store/building on the Perysourde, that isn't such a wild claim, but for 50 cents, it is hard to pass up the opportunity to taste the best crepes regardless of what competition they have won over.

Good night. Long day. Sleepy eyes and tired body. Love to all at home. I miss you all dearly. Sydney, be a good girl for mommy.

First Day in the Pyrenees

Probably because you appreciate more those things that you don't get to see and experience often, that I spent the day dumbfounded by the beauty of the French countryside. Is it better than the Sonoma wine country? I'll leave that argument for another time, but suffice it to say that today was amazing.

The group is good, the guides are friends, the food is amazing, and the riding even better. So, on with the pictures. Today was a long one at just under 140km, and although billed as a "flat one", we are in the mountains and how flat could it be really (not flat at all in fact - see a sneak peek below)?

As we were riding much of the day around Lourdes, religious icons lined our path. Forgetting about belief and doctrine, there is something deeply beautiful about these pieces of art and what they mean to the towns we roll through. And, I usually think a quick request to myself when riding by - what could it hurt.

We are really just in the foothills today, and because of that we had an amazing array of terrain from fields, to forests, to wooded climbs. Running across a bit of a plateau about mid-way in, we were treated to some incredible scenery.

(Seriously, calling Vincent Van Gough anyone?!)

And given this photo, you can tell what else we saw (and smelled) along the way.

These are some seriously big boys. Apparently they are unique to the Pyrenees. If I could remember the name after the wine with dinner tonight . . . maybe I'll ask again tomorrow.

If you have seen the blog from prior years, this will be a familiar site. We've let Lawrence, our new guide, know that David and Simon (our old guide) had a contest to see who could have the best lunch by the end of the week. I think (hope!) Lawrence is game, but really, can lunch get better than cheese, vegetables, bread, meats, and fruits all produced in the valleys that we are riding through?

Enough of the chit-chat . . . . here are some vistas for your viewing pleasure.

B and Mark rode strong today, bolstered by the leisure tour and their epic up the Ventoux a couple days ago.

And even though there is a mix of fitness in the group, we are all enjoying riding together and cruising - or "roulier toux doux", which is one of my favorite French sayings about cycling, translated to mean "roll sweetly" - through all of the little villages and fields along the way.

I did mention we were in Lourdes today . . . here is the stunning cathedral.

And the group stopping to be with the patron saint of cycling . . . espresso.

I should have expected it with my history background, but we were also treated to Roman ruins along the way. Just happened to notice tucked along the road were these foundations to a tiny Roman village not far from our hotel. Kind of amazing, actually.

We did have a flat today. Fortunately it wasn't mine (see last year's catastrophe). Unfortunately, it was Lawrence, who happened to "find" some road furniture while looking at the map. His tire was torn to pieces, wheel close to gone, left some skin on the road. But, tough man that he is (he knows Roger Hammond and won some European races in his youth), he got back on and guided us home - for about 100km!

I can't finish without putting a photo of a big hill with someone suffering up it. Here is what we would later name "castle hill" over dinner

And here is B suffering at the top.

That is it for tonight. An epic day tomorrow with big Tour climbs coming. All my love to my little girl Sydney, little boy James, and lovely wife. I miss all of you terribly.