<\/font><\/p>\nSeptember 19, 2007<\/u>.\u00a0 <\/span>Today we rode from Tremp to Luchon over two hard passes and went to France<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.\u00a0 <\/span>The first was Port de la Bonaigua and the second was Col de Portillon which separates France<\/st1:country-region> and Spain<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nThe scenery is incredible with huge views, incredible mountains, unbelievably good (and under construction) roads, rivers with river rafters, rocks being climbed, roaring waterfalls \u2013 you know — the usual amenities.\u00a0 <\/span>I would have taken more photos, but I didn\u2019t.<\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nAs for the group, one guy unfortunately had an accident and fell at the top of today\u2019s second descent (they are hairy to say the least).\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019ve gone off alone to avoid descending with others since I like go at my own speed and not have to trust others.\u00a0 <\/span>The ride leaders, Peter who owns the company and Eric, who is French, are very strong cyclists and oftentimes pull the entire group for many miles.\u00a0 <\/span>They pulled for about half an hour this afternoon and this morning as well, moving us along at very high speeds. <\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nIt\u2019s a nice group and only one woman, which is a super strong climber (out climbs me, more or less) and a few others of varied abilities but everyone can climb and ride fast.\u00a0 <\/span>Today\u2019s ride was 150 kilometers so over the last three days we\u2019ve done 420 kilometers \u2013 just huge mileage. Breakfast, lunch and dinners are with the group and one thing is for sure\u2014it\u2019s intimate living and stressful.\u00a0 <\/span>Hat\u2019s off to Peter who takes everything in stride and has a great sense of humor.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nThe only problem I\u2019ve had is a pocket in my jersey tore, apparently, and I couldn\u2019t figure out why my camera fell out three times (incredibly it did not break).\u00a0 <\/span>It got a lot cooler today which required wearing armwarmers for lots of the ride; plus jackets and more for the descents. <\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nThe difference between France<\/st1:country-region> and Spain<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> is stark \u2013 this town may be sleepy (it appears to be where they have a major ski resort \u2013 super banillier) and a spa, but there was no shop open other than a bakery and no where to buy groceries (chocolate, fruit, etc… which we\u2019ve been living on in addition to meals). \u00a0<\/span>I don\u2019t have Internet service either, so the Internet superhighway apparently has not reached this area of France<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> \u2013 Non, we don\u2019t need such a highway.\u00a0 <\/span>As I watlked into the door to the hotel, they were very nice, I got to practice some French but came early in part because Peter had warned us that the rooms required that each person was shown their rooms separately, which took time.\u00a0 <\/span>The father of the owner of the hotel then decided to talk to me, which is of course nice, and tell me about his trip to the US, while Nick winked at me as in, \u201cI\u2019ll be going to my room now, have a nice chat.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>The guy was nice and completely invaded my personal space.<\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nToday\u2019s ride was a mere 2500 meters and tomorrow\u2019s is 3500.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<\/span><\/font><\/p>\nSeptember 20, 2007<\/u>.\u00a0 <\/span>Today was our biggest day of climbing.\u00a0 <\/span>About 3,500 meters \u2013 over 10,000 feet.\u00a0 <\/span>Some of the most famous climbs in the Pyrenees were on today\u2019s itinerary including Col de Peyresourde, Col<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> d’Aspin then Col du Tourmalet \u2013 just a huge day of climbing.\u00a0 <\/span>Tourmalet is the classic Tour climb and it along with all the serious climbs have all sorts of stuff written all over the roads.\u00a0 <\/span>Usually it\u2019s riders\u2019 names but it can also be things like \u201cno doping\u201d and more.\u00a0 <\/span>The big climbs also have signs with information that includes how many kilometers from the top, the steepness\/grade of the next kilometer, the current altitude and the summit altitude all organized for cycling.\u00a0 <\/span>The French are really into the sport and people will yell out their car windows and just say to you as you pass them \u201cbonne courage\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s so nice.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nNick and I have a great joke going, the premise of which is that it took the other one so long to get up the climb.\u00a0 <\/span>So we\u2019ll say things like, I stopped to have lunch.\u00a0 <\/span>Then it got really funny and we stopped to learn the Koran, stopped to learn backgammon (started as a beginner but by the time I was ready to go, I was a grandmaster) learned languages.\u00a0 <\/span>Nick told me he stopped to milk a cow and then made cheese (aged just right).\u00a0 <\/span>I think it\u2019s hilarious.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nThe day took its toll with the Chinese guy and the son of the Canadian lawyer both deciding not to ride tomorrow.\u00a0 <\/span>The Chinese guy (Eric) has a swollen knee, the 22 year old has had enough.\u00a0 <\/span>I am running through my supply of Advil and Rolaids \u2013 welcome to a bike trip in the Pyrenees<\/st1:place>.<\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nWe got Internet service, but I didn\u2019t do much other than get a call into Anne.\u00a0 <\/span>She managed to get tickets for the soccer game with Valencia<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> for David\u2019s birthday on Saturday but I can\u2019t go \u2013 originally the game was scheduled for Sunday so I planned to fly back and make it.\u00a0 <\/span>They change the time and day of games without much, if any, advance notice.<\/font><\/p>\n<\/o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\nSeptember 21, 2007.<\/u>\u00a0 <\/span>I got a great night of sleep finally.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nToday we rode over three or four \u201ccols\u201d which means passes here in France<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.\u00a0 <\/span>At this point, everyone is so fatigued and wasted, we just call it the \u201cC Word\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>Peter, the ride leader, thinks it\u2019s supposed to rain tomorrow, in which case I have a good excuse not to ride.\u00a0 <\/span>We have at least three people who have abandoned for various reasons ranging from accident to sore knees, ankles and just had enough.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nThe mountains in this part of the Pyrinees are pretty fantastic, that\u2019s for sure.\u00a0 <\/span>Huge passes looking down on meadows, rocky outcroppings, tiny roads that are barely one lane, and animals all over the place on the roads.\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019re passed herds of sheep and cows on the road, pigs, goats, horses, mules, lamas \u2013 all free ranging it.\u00a0 <\/span>They probably don\u2019t call it free range, instead saying there are animals on the road and grazing everywhere.<\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nIf I ever do this again, and somehow I doubt I will, I would use different gearing on my bike.\u00a0 <\/span>Doing this without a triple is adding torture to torture.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s amazing how people are keeping, generally, a very good attitude about the ride and enjoying it. \u00a0<\/span>I doubt I\u2019ll be looking at my bike for a long time \u2013 and will take up running and doing weights.<\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nThe hotel this evening is another French 2 or 3 star (crappy either way) and I can hear cow bells from the room.\u00a0 <\/span>The Internet is broken.\u00a0 <\/span>I hope the cows don\u2019t move around at night so I can sleep.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
September 22, 2007<\/u>.\u00a0 <\/span>Today it rained and I choose not to start.\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019ve ridden enough and don\u2019t feel 100 percent as it is.\u00a0 <\/span>It was destined to be a miserably cold and wet ride.\u00a0 <\/span>I choose to ride in the van, along with Mike, the van driver and my English friend Nick.\u00a0 <\/span>We certainly had some good laughs.\u00a0 <\/span>Both Nick and Mike have great senses of humor. Everyone who chose to ride was freezing and cold and the ride included lots of climbing and very cold, wet descents.\u00a0 <\/span>We talked about travel, and the eloquence others brought to describing the trip.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nAs for the terrain, it was beautiful to the extent it could be seen through the fog.\u00a0 <\/span>The mountains in this part of France<\/st1:country-region> and Spain<\/st1:country-region> (we crossed into Spain<\/st1:country-region> and back to France<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>) are incredible.\u00a0 <\/span>We are in ETA country, meaning the Basque language is spoken here \u2013 especially in Spain \u2013 and you see signs of it here and there mainly through graffiti on signs.\u00a0 <\/span>There are huge views, lots of hikers, including those doing the cross-Pyrenees pilgrimage tour, which is a religious experience of walked from one side of the Pyrenees to the other.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nThe mountains here are spectacular and huge views, beautiful very well-kept towns and more.\u00a0 <\/span>Every house is perfect with a yard that is well kept and the huge fields are perfectly mowed by livestock, all of which have bells around their necks.<\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nWe had a good-bye dinner and that\u2019s that.\u00a0 <\/span>I feel like I had a great time, got some serious bike mileage in (697 Kilometers \u2013 almost 500 miles over six days), climbed plenty (over 14,000 meters sometimes at 10 percent grades), saw the Pyrenees<\/st1:place> up close, and that\u2019s everything I wanted.\u00a0 <\/span>We did the extreme version of what was advertised \u2013 it turned out in reality there was no other version. <\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nBeing part of an organized tour is hard but from what little experience I\u2019ve had, this was a good one.\u00a0 <\/span>The ride leader, Peter, really made it through his sense of humor and patience with everyone.\u00a0 <\/span>As for tonight\u2019s hotel, it also has not hooked up to the information superhighway and has, without a doubt, the most mildew invested bathroom I have ever experienced.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nI look forward to getting back to family tomorrow in Barcelona<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and getting language courses, and planning our next adventure(s).<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
September 23, 2007<\/u>.\u00a0 <\/span>Went to the airport at San Sebastian<\/st1:city>, Spain<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> this morning along with the vans and some of the stragglers from the trip.\u00a0 <\/span>It was fairly cool weather, I was tired, my legs were sore, I was ready to get back to Barcelona<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.\u00a0 <\/span>There were tons of groups of guys on bikes dressed warmly that we passed \u2013 I think one guy in the van was seriously thinking he might try to join them.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/font><\/o:p><\/p>\nAnother word about the difference between France<\/st1:country-region> and Spain<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.\u00a0 <\/span>Spain<\/st1:country-region> is young and happening \u2013 there are lots of young French people in my Spanish classes; France<\/st1:country-region> (at least what I saw in the Pyrenees<\/st1:place>) is populated with older people.\u00a0 <\/span>Nothing wrong with that and in fact I rode up one of the passes with a 74-year-old gentleman who was in amazing shape for his age.\u00a0 <\/span>He patted me on the back and thanked me as an American for liberating France<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>; he was ten years old at the time.\u00a0 <\/span>It was a touching moment.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
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