Tandem Boy and Girl

The Final Day- the ride to Ferney- 8/9

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:24:00 +0000

It was our last day so we decided to take the long route back to Ferney Voltaire. What a great decision even though it was 68 miles and 4500 feet of climbing. We climbed for "cols" in what proved to be a magnificent day. Only 6 of the 20 rode the long route. The biggest challenge of the day was navigating through Geneva and the thousands of people out for a big festival. Fortunately Les knew the ins and outs and got us safely back.

A beautiful French mountain chalet

The road down the valley. Finally some longer descents....fun!

Four of the six final day "long route" riders

Our lunch stop, a make shift patisserie, but good

My stoker, "stoking up" on some after lunch desert!

One final shot of the Jet d'eaux in Geneva as we blasted by

Switzerland will be a great memory. We learned to suffer on this trip with all the steep climbing but we wouldn't have it any other way. All in all 770 miles and 55,000 vertical feet climbed. Another Williams milestone. Many thanks to Glenn Erickson for his magnificent route and hotel planning.

Chatel, the return to France- 8/8

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:04:00 +0000

Today we would ride back into France. Boy, what a difference in the roads; not as steep, more water fountains, and better food. We almost felt like we were home. What wasn't like home was another day of rain. We climbed the col du Pillon in the pourng rain, then descended the Col de la Croix. This was a wicked, winding descent full of turns filled wtih cars and massive buses. They were doing road work so we got right in the lane with the cars. It was over 13 miles down. Thank God for disc brakes!!!

Being soaking wet we made a mad dash for Monthey and lunch. It was probably the best tasting pasta I have ever had given the conditions. After lunch we climbed again into Corbeau then a rapid descent to Chatel.

The "captains" drying out and waiting for lunch

Chatel is a ski resort town on one of the many "smaller" mountains at the base of famous Mt. Blanc. We were wet, tired, hungry, and thirsty; 13 days down and only one more to go.

I took this shot for my dad, a Bultaco trials bike. Pretty rare to find one of these in the USA

Looking out our hotel room in Chatel. Over those mountains looms Lake Geneva.

Saanen- 8/7

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:14:00 +0000

One of the many beautiful valleys we rode that day

We had done a little more whining on this trip due to all the climbing but as we rolled into the last few days we were feeling quite sad it would be over soon. We were slowly making our way back to the south eastern shore of Lake Geneva. We managed to get quite lost in the middle of a gorgeous forest only to be bailed out by Megan, one of our group, who pieced together some French to find out we were only one "hill" away from where we needed to be.

Do you think we were lost? Megan, top left bailed us out with her superb French

This was beautiful country and we could see the famous Gruyere (the cheese) castle from miles away perched atop a small mountain. The views were much better from the road though. We lunched there and it was a GIANT tourist trap. We ate and rode on to Saanen.

The castle in Gruyere

In we stayed in a "sports hotel" complete with a Mac computer in every room. The food here was fabulous. They even had an Italian winery giving a free tasting.

Fribourg Rest Day- 8/6

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:54:00 +0000

Today we decided to actually rest and check out the town of Fribourg. It was almost as much work as riding since we were down in a bowl and had to climb out to get to the main part of the city. Lots of history, pretty church, and of course a nice Italian pizza lunch.

The climb to the main part of town

The fountain at the "Hotel DeVille"- city hall

The "funiculaire" a giant size tram/escalator to the main part of town

Maria was in charge of wine for dinner back at our hotel so we met with the chef and picked out some great ones, and of course got to taste them (one of the small benefits). This small boutique hotel had some of the best food on the trip.

An evening meal at the Au Sauvage- very cool private dining room

Fribourg- 8/5

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:07:00 +0000

Glenn convinced all of us that we must ride to Lauterbrunnen to see the beautiful granite cliffs before heading back to Thun and ultimately Fribourg for a two day stay. Lauterbrunnen is a very popular tourist destination and as a result had a ton of traffic on the only road there. No question the village in this valley surrounded by giant rugged granite cliffs was impressive.

Now it was time to head away from the big mountains back along side the Thunder See. This was a beautiful ride along this classic lake shore road.

We headed northwest through a picturesque valley with glimpses of the big mountain peaks we had come from. The area was filled with lovely small farms and orchards; great riding, and a nice restful lunch stop.

Navigating Fribourg was a challenge as our hotel, Au Sauvage, sat in the bottom of a bowl with the city above it. It ended up being a long day, 71 miles and 4300 feet of climbing.

Grindelwald a real rest day- 8/4

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:34:00 +0000

I had never been to Grindelwald and had still not seen the "big" mountains, the Eiger, the Jungfrau, the Monch. But once morning arrived those awe inspiring peaks came to life and they were spectacular.

Our hotel in Grindelwald.....

The view...

We planned to actually take the day off and ride the train to the "top of Europe" as they call it on the cog train. You ascend from Grindelwald at 3,300 feet to the Jungfraujoch (top of Europe) at 11,300 feet. This is the highest train station in Europe. It was a spectacular day and the trip up was great. There were hundreds of hikers and mountain bikers traversing there way up through the few small villages between the bottom and the top.

First views beginning the ascent up the mountain

Once there, we lucked out and got some spectacular views of the mountain tops and the ice fields. The altitude just about killed us and we could hardly walk. After a nice lunch at one of the cafes at the top we headed down. A great experience that has to be done if you are in the area. Just ignore all the tourists and focus on the mountains.

Views at the top including the ice fields

The final afternoon sunset to die for!

Kemmeriboden to Grindelwald- 8/3

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:53:00 +0000

Unfortunately it was time to leave the magical spot of Kemmeriboden and head to the "big mountains" of Grindelwald. This was a journey we had been looking forward to the entire trip. Today's route would take us through the towns of Thun and Interlaken. We were hoping to ride by the hotel where our daughter was conceived 22 years ago, but the weather would prove otherwise! At he top of the major climb at Schallenberg Strasse we hit a major rain storm. This was unfortunate because the descent was magnificent all the way to Thun at the edge of the Thunder See. We were beyond soaked after descending at nearly 40 mph. Thank goodness for disc brakes.

We decided enough was enough, and after a short conference with our tandem pals Les and Sue, we headed straight for the train station. Finally shelter and the opportunity to dry out. We weren't there 30 minutes when the "posse" rolled in, wet and cold as well. They were so happy to see us there. After coffee and hot chocolate we had a blast on the hour train ride to Grindelwald. What we thought would be a terrible day turned out to be one of our most fun!

Two wet souls happy to be at the train station...love those new helmet hoods!

On the train, loving life!

The "posse", Mike, "Mr. Short Sleeves" on the left was border line hypothermic but coming back to life quickly

Dr. Bob and yours truly reliving the rainy descent stories coming into town....

The weather in Grindelwald wasn't much better, but cycling a mile to the hotel was a piece of cake!

Burgdorf to Kemmeriboden- 8/2

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:58:00 +0000

After struggling to sleep that night due to all the fireworks celebrating Swiss independence, (Glenn thought would be so great to experience), we were welcomed with RAIN! Today we would ride 43 miles and 3100 feet of climbing to Kemmeriboden. We were definitely in more mountainous terrain now as we slowly made our way into higher alpine mountains. For the first time Maria and I learned what it was like to really ride in the rain and be wet. Fortunately it was not cold but being wet most of the day wasn't our idea a a great time. But, the scenery got prettier and prettier. Like our friends Meagan and Leann told us from Portland, "it's not about keeping dry, it's about keeping warm..."

Our riding partners Les and Sue blazing the trail in the rain

Our first real mountains in the distance

Looking out our hotel room while "drying" out....

This hotel was s small lodge in the middle of nowhere but very popular with their desserts, a vanilla ice cream on top of homemade meringue. An incredible afternoon snack.

The hotel.....

The dessert....

This place was quite magical and one of the best spots on the trip!

Burgdorf- Rest Day 8/1

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:43:00 +0000

We had high hopes for resting today but there was too much pretty scenery to be viewed so we ventured out with Les and Sue for a morning jaunt. We experienced more rolling farmland and ended up for lunch at a working cheese farm.

Typical Swiss farm road---yes, it was a climb!

Innovative vending machine at a farm loaded with fresh bread, honey, and fruit

This was "nome" country and Maria was crazy about these little dudes on nearly yard.

We still ended up with 40 miles and over 3,000 feet of climbing....so much for the rest day.

Delmont to Burgdorf- 7/31

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:44:00 +0000

We were anxious to get to Burgdorf because we had two nights there and a chance to relax a little more and not have to rush and get up so early in the morning. We chose the "long" route for today which took us up a beautiful valley where there were virtually no cars to the village of Movelier.

Up the valley to Movelier

Les & Sue on the climb to Movelier

My little Swiss Miss enjoying the countryside

It was worth it. We then made our way through Laufen (famous city that is one of the major european makers of toilets in all commercial places, named after the city), on our way to climb the famous Passwang.

It was a beautiful ascent winding up the valley to the really steep part of the climb with its "wedding cake" switchbacks (imagine the different layers on a wedding cake, then picture a mountain road with it's winding turns). This was a very steep climb but really gorgeous and worth every percent of the gradient.

Where things started to get steep up the Passwang

Near the summit of Passwang

Every tough climb deserves a great descent and if the time of day is right, a great lunch. The descent lead us to the town of Balsthal. We were clearly in the German speaking part of Switzerland now. Just before entering the main part of town I saw a great looking restaurant so we swung in. What a great surprise. The place was owned by a woman from Kenya and she made us one of their specials, a spicy shrimp dish with some very interesting spices. Very cool.

The restaurant in Balsthal

Our African inspired shrimp dish

Lunchtime map review by the "captains"..."Where the "F" are we??"

After lunch we made haste to Burgdorf through many tiny farming villages. We even got lost on a dirt road in the woods. Quite an adventure, but we finally made it to Burgdorf, 70 miles and 4,100 feet of climbing. Tomorrow would be the Swiss independence day.

Looking back at Balsthal and the Passwang

Typical post-ride cocktail session, in the lobby of the Hotel Berchtold

Mike (front), Chris (back left), and Bob (back right), the "posse" holding court at their usual spot. Three of the best guys you'll ever meet!

Couvet to Delemont- 7/30

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:57:00 +0000

Dehydration or not I was told by my ace stoker to "buck it up, get on the bike and ride. I reluctantly obliged and we were off. We had some spectacular forest scenery as we left town and followed the Areuse river to our first climb out of the small village of les Gratte.

A beautiful cycling path that went for miles along the Areuse River

Further along the bike path, fun descent in the woods

Always a climb after a descent, the scenery kept your mind off of the gradient!

Further up the climb

About half way to our destination we stopped for our first pizza lunch in St. Imier. The Swiss do a nice pizza!!

Ahhh the aubergines (eggplant) and onion pizza, quite good...

Probably the craziest fountain we saw on the trip. This village was loaded with them.

More Swiss fountains always adorned with the Swiss flag...

Some beautiful wooded canyons and the our final destination in Delemont. A fairly long day at 62 miles and 4,500 feet of climbing.

LePont to Couvet- 7/29

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:01:00 +0000

With our biggest day ever under our belt we figured the rest of the trip would be "downhill". I don't think so!!! We were now officially in Switzerland. Many people think this country is all "alps", but actually at least a third of it is the farm country and what we came to know as "Swiss Rollers" (those brutally steep up and downs 7-10% grades at about 3000-5000 feet altitude).

Typical Swiss pasture

One of the many impeccable Swiss country houses

One of Maria's great fountain shots- these were all over Switzerland

Roads were great and wew teamed up with our Canadian tandem friends from last trip Les and Sue. We realy have a nice time with them.

Les and Sue the Canadian dynamic duo

Today's ride was shorter, abut 45 miles and only 4500 feet of climbing. We had a short climb out of the hotel up the col de Mollendruz, then a beautiful descent down to la Praz. We then headed inland ridding the mountain ridges above Lac de Neuchantel.

A happy couple prior to the ball-busting climb ahead

This was one of the toughest climbs of the trip with relentless 9-10% grade for 6 miles. This taxed us more than we thought. The evening proved to be my worst as the dehydration caught up with me from the prior day. I had no appetite and actually skipped dinner. Fortunately we had a few doctors on the trip and one of them gave me a few pills that he said would slow my system down and allow me to recover through the night.

Maria and the "posse" as they would become to be known. She was re-hydrating while I was dehydrating

Official Day One- Geneva to LePont, 7/28

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:23:00 +0000

We were more than ready to leave Geneva. We'd seen enough of the itscountryside and really wanted to move on the the "real" Switzerland, whatever that was. Today our goal was to ride over 7,000 vertical feet our most ever, and cover over 70 miles. The night's hotel was in Le Pont at the north end of the lac de Joux, in the valley of the jewel. This is where many of the finest swiss watches are made including Audemar Piquet and Jaeger le Coultre.

On the way to Col de la Faucille

We ride two major passes and many valleys. The route took us over the highest pass in the Jura mtn range, col de la Facuille, about a 3,000 foot climb.

On the Col de la Faucille, looking back at Geneva and Mt. Blanc

Our first "Swiss" salad at the French/Swiss border in la Cure

Once at the top we descended down into the next valley, then climbed back up (a routine we'd become VERY familiar with in Switzerland). We took the long way around and made the final 2,000 plus foot climb climb up the Col du Marchairuz, a real bun buster! But the views were spectacular looking down to the "Vallee de Joux".

On the descent looking at the vallee de Joux and lac Joux

Once at the bottom we rode around the west side of this pristine lake to our hotel in Le Pont. Great spot and one hell of an accomplishment for tandem boy and girl! (short video below of the hotel and lake in LePont).

Five Days in Geneva-7/23-7/27

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:51:00 +0000

A little miscalculation in when the trip was supposed to start ended up in our favor. We arrived several days earlier than necessary. We got a jump start and put the bike together right away leaving us time for a quick ride on Friday leaving Saturday to check out Geneva which we missed on our last visit here three years ago.

The bridge over the Rhone with the Jet d'Eau in the background

We be-lined it for Geneva the next day via the airport (free hotel shuttle) then a $6 train ride to the center of town. Geneva let us down.... It was Saturday and absolutely dead. There were nothing but watch stores and banks. After a quick lunch we "abandoned" and headed back to the hotel to rest up for our first ride the next day.

At this point the weather was working in our favor; blue skies, views of Mt. Blanc, and warm temps in the high 80's. Just about perfect.

View from the hotel of snow capped Mt. Blanc

After the disappointing day in Geneva we knew it was time to ride. We reviewed the map and chose to ride north up Lake Geneva past the beautiful port Nyon and climb to Aubonne and make our way back to Ferney Volitare through the mountains. This turned out to be one heck of a ride with beautiful rolling pastures and yes plenty of climbing about 4,000 feet worth! What the heck were we thinking. This was two days before the "official" start of the ride and we were already busting our buns. I guess it's the damn French countryside...lures you in.

Just when we thought we had our fill of Geneva, Glenn, tour leader and owner took all the recent arrivals out for a warm up ride the day before our start on Tuesday. We headed back up the western shore of lake Geneva and cut inland through some beautiful vineyards. Maria and I opted for a nice lunch in Divonne while the others rode back. A little carpaccio and seafood salad. We would need the extra nourishment for the days to come!

Switzerland Here We Come!

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:30:00 +0000

After months of training and a small set back with the dislocated shoulder a/c we are off on a plane to Geneva. There is a lot of anticipation for this trip. The alps can be a little intimidating. But there were more important things to enjoy on the flight over. Cocktails anyone....

Fortunately there were no hitches in the connections, though flying through London is a pain. We landed in Geneva at 2pm and were ready to settle into our digs at the Novotel just outside of the airport.

Solvang Century 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:13:00 +0000

We had another great ride in Solvang this year. We had the regulars, Tom from Seattle, Mark from Portland, Jenny from Reno, and Diane from HTB. This year we invited Kurt and Joanne, some wine drinking buddies to join us as well.

Lunch stop mid-way....

This year's ride was one of our fastest thanks to the beautiful westerly winds once we hit Vandenburg! Tom was incredibly strong this year having rid his system completely of last year's Thai food poisoning. He was the man!

Tom, Jenny, Maria and I enjoyed a great little spin on Sunday towards Lake Cuchuma, then round about to Los Olivos and a nice lunch at our favorite spot. The ride home was a dream...slight downhill and 20 mph tailwinds!!!

Borrego Blast- Borrego Springs, CA- 1/30-2/1/09

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:07:00 +0000

All 25 tandem teams (thanks Sam for the shot)

After two years we finally hooked up again with the San Diego Tandem Club for their annual Borrego Blast in Borrego Springs, CA. Each year they are able to attract 25+ tandem teams to ride the desert.

After a three hour drive from Huntington Beach we were ready for dinner. After some quick research on the internet we decided on the Krazy Coyote Cafe. This place was in the middle of no where! The meal was excellent, rack of lamb and a great bottle of Erath Pinot from Oregon. Our only bitch was the $6 split charge, a little outrageous. The next morning we hightailed it to the French Corner restaurant for breakfast. Kirk and Trudie from the club arranged to have the owner come in early to serve about 20 of us. Nice touch.

Day 1- heading out from the resort

Conditions were really optimum this year. We were welcomed with open arms not knowing a soul. Day one took us 60 miles round trip from our hotel, the Borrego Springs Resort, to the Salton Sea and back. Most riders opted for the 40 miler that went to the look out and back. Four teams trudged on the Salton Sea. Nice gradual climbs and good conversation was had on the way back. We felt reasonably strong but needed to save some energy for day two and the 4500 feet of climbing over 10 miles that we would face.

We had a nice meal with our new found friends Frank and Debby from Huntington Harbor, right down the street from us at home. They sported a beautiful Calfee full carbon tandem. The only place we could find for dinner was a decent Mexican place, where the margaritas and chili verde were excellent, not to mention our dinner mates.

From talking around it looked like most would not ride the 50 miler with 4500 feet of climbing, aptly named, Montezuma's revenge (named after the road we climbed Montezuma Valley). We were determined to ride it whether or not anyone would join us. Sure enough we were on our own. The first 10 miles climb up out of the valley with about a 3500 foot elevation gain. It was slow going, 6-8% grade, but the scenery more than made up for the pain. This mountainous desert area had Ocotillo cactus growing everywhere on the hillside. At one point we had a huge bird flying over us and we could actually hear his wings propelling himself along. Magnificent. After 10 fairly grueling miles we descended to our rest stop in Ranchita. This was a VERY rural area. Thanks God the small store had a few Cup-O-Noodles to warm and nourish us for the next 35 miles.

Day 2- Half way up Montezuma's Revenge

What we thought would be all downhill home was not. After a blazing decent at 40 mph to San Felipe Rd., we were again climbing, this time into a 15 mph headwind. NICE. It was short lived and we rode a series of slight downhill rollers to Hwy 78 then one more climb over Yaci Pass then back to the resort.

All in all a fantastic week. Many thanks to Kirk and Trudie for the organization and Sam for the photos!

Day 11, 12- Rest then Barcelonnette to Valberg

noreply@blogger.com (Mark and Maria) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:50:00 +0000

We were long overdue for a day off, so day 11 was it. Two of our group members rented a car and

we cruised the mountains south of Barcelonnette. What a nice break, especially for our rear ends

which were not fairing well this trip. Tomorrow we would ride to Valberg a nice little ski resort on

the outskirts of our home turf in Vence.

Barcelonnette to Valberg-Just when we thought the tough climbing was over Valberg proved us wrong. We were introduced to the col de la Cayolle. Though not as steep as Bonnette, it was as long. This climb was clear;y more scenic than Bonnette and a lot more enjoyable with a better engineered gradient. We rode up with Les and Sue and Glenn got some great shots of us cresting the summit. A long decent after the climb to our lunch stop in Guillaumes then a grind with mixed climbing into Valberg.....ahh a cold beer awaited us at the local ski resort tavern!

Day 10- Barcelonette- The great Col de la Bonnette

noreply@blogger.com (Mark and Maria) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:22:00 +0000

We had planned a rest day but the weather did not look like it would be good the next day so we made an impromptu decision to ride the “Bonette”. We charged off at 11:30am with two sandwiches in our bag and four bottles of water. This would be the toughest climb that we have ever attempted. It was over 14 miles long and would climb to over 9,000 feet, about 5,000 feet of vertical. Gulp. The climb started at the base in Jausiers. From there it was all up. The beauty of this climb were the array of landscapes that you experience from beautiful meadows with grazing sheep to rocky granite cliffs, and then barren, above tree line mountain tops. All in all it took us three hours to climb. Most of the climb average 6-7% with an occasional 10%+. What made this climb tough was the length. Conditions at the top were rapidly changing and a thunderstorm was brewing. We quickly donned our rain coats and headed down. It took only 30 minutes to get to the bottom. What an experience. This was truly the greatest alpine climb we had ever done.

The beginning of the climb looking back down to Jausiers

About two-thirds the way to the top....

Where the hell is the top.....

The top and the oncoming thundershower!

Day 9- Digne-les-bains to Barcelonnette

noreply@blogger.com (Mark and Maria) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:16:00 +0000

We started the day looking very forward to our arrival in Barcelonnette and a few days of rest. Digne les Bains was the last true Provencal city we would be in for days. We were now entering into mountains with more of an alpine feel. The mountains are bigger, steeper, more pines, and more rivers. It was tougher but the temperatures were cooler and there was less humidity making the riding more enjoyable. While I thought I loved the Provencal terrain and feel, the alpine terrain was more than welcome. We followed the Bes river up a 3% average grade and a gorgeous canyon to Barles with the col de Fanger in our sights, and lunch in Seyne on our mind. Climbing was gentle and actually enjoyable as the scenery got greener and greener and again more alpine like.

The river "Clues de Barles", gorgeous canyon

Market in Seyne...love that cheese

Lac de Serre-Poncon

Our lunch stop in Seyne was short but we did manage a nice pizza “vegetrien”. After lunch we climbed col St. Jean then descended the back side with picturesque views of Lac de Serre-Poncon. We then followed the Ubaye valley to our final destination. Barcelonnette proved to be a great base camp for the next few days. We felt like we were in a ski resort, which is what it is in the winter. The tour will stop at the next town north, Jausiers this year so there was a buzz in the air especially at the local shops.

Day 8- Opierre to Digne les Bains

noreply@blogger.com (Mark and Maria) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:51:00 +0000

Today we made our way to Sisteron a mostly downhill run from Opierre. We rode through an area laden with orchards of apricots, peaches, and nuts. Once at Sisteron we stopped to visit the famous Citadel on atop the hillside overlooking the city below. It was built in the 12^th century and has a lot of history. After a delightful lunch of pizza and salad in the old part of town we pressed on.

The Citadel, atop the city of Sisteron

Queen of the Citadel

East side of the river in Sisteron

Quick snack outside of Sisteron--giant meringue

This was one of the hottest days we had ridden yet and really took us into a remote area. We rode most of the day on our own. Tough climbing along a steep mountain side and at one point we ran out of water but were able to refill at a “parc animalier”, a remote mountain zoo. After reaching our first summit at Authon we descended into the “foret de melan” and climbed to the top of the col de font belle”. This climb seemed much easier and rewarded us with a beautiful vista and descent to the valley below and village of Thoard.

One more climb over the pass de Bonnet and our final descent to Digne les Bains. This was the largest town we had seen in over a week. It reminded us of Paris with tree lined streets and more hustle and bustle than we were used to. We made a bee line to the first bar in sight and spotted our tour leaders Glenn and Nancy, a welcome sight. With a few beers and patis in us we were ready to take on the world! This ended up being one of our toughest and most lonely days of the trip.

Day 7- Vaison la Romaine to Opierre

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:59:00 +0000

Now that we had conquered Mt. Ventoux we figured the rest would be “downhill”…NOT! Today’s ride would take us over three tough cols in sweltering heat. We took on our first “eboulment”; a fairly major rock slide that required some sweat and strength to get over. After a well deserved picnic lunch at the top of col de Soubeyrand we pressed on to our final destination in les Begues, outside of Opierre. We were really in a remote area with virtually no cars. Our hotel was a true country inn. Basically there was our group, another group of cyclists from Holland and three guys on BMW motorcycles. They served a very hearty meal of salad, pasta, pork roast, cheese, and dessert. We got our first thunder shower but we were safely snuggled in our rooms. All in all a nice quiet spot and one of our better nights rest.

Day 6- Vaison la Romaine to Gigondas, Vacqueyras

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:54:00 +0000

Today was a scheduled rest day but we were anxious to ride through the great wine towns of Gigondas and Vacqueyras. Les and Sue were happy to join us. The ride from Vaison was a beautiful descent through the vineyards. This again reminded us of the Napa Valley but dotted with more wineries than we could stop at.

The first stop was Seguret, a quaint village perched on the hillside above the vineyards below. There was a small wine store that offered “deguestion” or tastings. We had several reds, predominately Grenache and Mouvedre and some excellent Roses as well. Les bought a bottle of the rose and we rode on to Gigondas.

The next stop was a true winery and a little more attitude but still excellent. After one more stop we made our way to Baumes de Venise for an “unscheduled” lunch. How could we pass of the “bois” or wood fired grill on the street corner serving a true French “ BBQ lunch. But before that, we stopped in at a winery down the street and tasted some of the famous Muscat grown in this area. Generally served in the USA as a dessert wine, they offered a drier yet still fruity version. Both were excellent. They also had a great rose that we purchased.

On the way out of the winery Maria noticed a beautiful water color of the area with Mt. Venotoux in it. The sales person gave us the name of the artist and said his studio was just up the road in Suzette. So after a fabulous lunch, we made haste to Suzette. The bun busting climb resulted in one was our best experiences of the trip. The artist and his wife, also and artist, invited us in their house to show us their work. I think she was actually the more accomplished and had an upcoming exhibition in Paris of her modern “orchestral” sketches. His work was beautiful and he actually told us the picture in the winery was his favorite. We told him we would like to purchase it so he drove back to Baumes de Venise and brought it back to us. Les and Sue also purchased a picture as well. This spontaneous episode was what we had hoped to experience; small French village, great food, fantastic new friends and art that captured the essence of the region. We could not have asked for more.

Day 5- The climb- Mt. Ventoux: Sault to Vaison la Romaine

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:40:00 +0000

Today was the big day; the assault of Mt. Ventoux. After a tough prior day we decided to attack Ventoux from the east and forego scenic gorge de la nesque and the brutal 10% climb from Bedoin to the actual base of Ventoux at Chalet Reyard where the east road meets.

Our climb was beautiful. The 5-6% grade was very manageable and the cool temperature and picturesque pines took our minds off of the hard part of the climb to come. At Chalet Reynard we actually felt refreshed and ready to take on what many call the toughest climb in France. We had virtually perfect conditions; crystal clear with an interesting warm “mistral” wind reminicent of our Santa Ana's in southern California that would blow into our faces while climbing NE but give us a slight push on the long switchbacks headed NW. No doubt about it, a tough, steep, desolate climb. The only scenery were the other cyclists around you, and there weren't too many. About 75% up we stopped at the Tommy Simpson memorial. This was the British cyclist that died while climbing the mountain in the 80’s.

We finally made it to the summit; about 6K of real steepness 9-11% range. The descent to Malaucene was the best of our trip with a top speed of 50 mph. The road surface was near perfect and plenty of room to maneuver. We had fabulous celebratory lunch in Malaucene then pushed on about 6 miles to our hotel in old part of town of Vaison La Romaine where we would spend the next two nights. The hotel was literally an old castle that had been updated slightly with great views of the main city and the rolling Provencal mountains behind it.

Day 4- La Fuste to Sault

noreply@blogger.com (Tandem Boy and Girl) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:28:00 +0000

Seldom are there days on this trip that are uneventful, but this was one. Hot, hot and more hot as we made our way to launching pad to Mt. Ventoux. We took no pictures this day. The hotel was perched on the top of a hill looking out to the ominous white Mt. Ventoux in the distance.

Many of us had to share a room here. Fortunately we were bunked up with Les and Sue. The pull out chair “sleepers” weren’t the best but after this day we really didn’t care. Dinner was excellent but we cooked from heat of the sunset. Most of our thoughts were focused on the next day’s ride up Mt. Ventoux.