Postscript

As you can see by the dates on the last few blogs, we fell behind on our blogging at the end of the trip. We are caught up now and you can see more information from our trip at www.mtnjunkies.com. Please leave lots of comments on our blog and on our photo pages.

Summary

This was a fantastic trip that surpassed all of our dreams. It was great to be tourists in Barcelona and Paris, bit the real treat was challenging ouselves physically and experiencing the French culture on our way across the Pyrenees. Our group was very complimentary to our love of cycling and our desire to enjoy the ride. While we set our sites on the Col de Tourmalet, every day and every col before and after was awe-inspiring. While the easiest day was still 3000 feet of climbing, the typical day was more than we ever think of riding in New Mexico or Colorado. We had two days with about 12000 feet of climbing which used to seem unattainable. I hope you NM folks are ready to step up - the bar is definitely raised now. In the end, we rode 490 miles and climbed 60,000 feet in 7 days. Wow.

Traveling was a constant challenge.There were several times that not understanding the language led us to do things the hard way, but we made it through in the end. We knew that carrying our bikes would be a pain, but we could not find another option as we were doing a point to point trip instead of a loop. We had many long days and were typically up at 5am or 6am and did not go to sleep until 11pm or 12pm.

Although we acted like tourists in the big cities (Paris and Barcelona) Kenny got to use his four years of high school French (thanks Mom and Dad) and blend into the countryside while on a bicycle. He was not expecting to enjoy the culture but quickly came to love the easy-going attitude and will be happy to go back and spend more time there. Also, speaking French can be tricky. For instance, "en retard" simply means that you are late. That almost started a fight between Kenny and a concierge. And "une douche" is just a shower.

The Roads...were best in the early part of our trip, with fresh pavement and paint on nearly every road. The roads got rougher towards the end of our trip with a horrendously fresh chip-seal job on the final day. The few stages of the Tour de France that we rode along seemed to have been paved on the uphill side for the Tour, while the downhill side was left rough. Since we were going in the opposite direction, this was great! The roads over the cols are really bike paths that sometimes have lines painted on the sides, and occasionally a line down the middle. No one pays attention to the lines anyway. Traffic is very constant over all of the roads, even the remote cols. You rarely spend more than a couple of minutes without a car coming up from behind, and there is invariably one coming when you try to take a picture or have to negotiate a sharp downhill hairpin. Having said that, the drivers are always respectful of bicycles. They will wait behind you until there is not another car coming, but will then pass you quickly as soon as there is the slightest gap. They pass closely, but not agressively, and the small cars are much less intimidating than American SUV's and dually pickup trucks.

The Food...is great, but different from everyday American. There is lots of bread and wine and cheese, They don't serve heaping plates of food, but the breads are filling and there are several courses including an entree (not the main course), a specialty (the main course), and a dessert. The typical beer is a light lager similar to Heineken, but nothing like a good hoppy microbrew IPA. We stuck mostly to wine and sometimes had good luck with a pitcher of the vin de maison, and sometimes not. The same with bottles and sangria. A bottle of the local wine (vin de pays) was usually a good choice. Breakfast (le petit dejeuner) was often just a bread roll and a croissant with butter and jam. Lunch is a light sandwich and many places close after 2 pm and don't open for dinner until 7 pm. Many people don't eat supper until 9pm.

The French take their bread seriously. As we rode though town after town throughout the day, the busiest spot was always in front of the bakery (patisserie). People would be coming out the doors nibbling on a single baguette wrapped in paper or a bagful stuffed under their arm like a football. It is baked fresh every day and is has a hard crust, but is light and airy inside and it is delicious. Sandwiches are mostly baguettes with a thin slice of spiced ham like prosciutto and cheese.

When riding, we would typically try to fill up as much as possible on the light breakfast and then hold out until lunch. Our support driver, William, had an uncanny ability of showing up at the lunch spot minutes before we arrived and then filling a picnic table with fantastic breads, meats, cheeses and fruits. We would eat as much as possible to restore energy and load our tailpockets with more than we could possibly eat during the rest of the day's ride.

Thanks for following us - we'll see you on our next adventure.

Kenny and Michelle

New Mexico

9 hours from Paris to Atlanta, 5 hour layover and then on to Albuquerque. We stopped in Santa Fe at Marias to repatriate with some Margaritas (the best in the world) and green chile enchiladas and then finally made it home after 24 hours of traveling. Back to work the next day. Ugh!

Paris

For our last day in France, we opted for a more technological locomotion. We hopped on the TGV (train à grande vitesse) and shot through the French countryside at almost 200 mph to arrive in Paris in the early afternoon. On the Champs Elysees we ate mussels and french fries (frites, en Francais) and ended up at the Louvre after the museum closed. Mona Lisa was already asleep, so we visited the Eiffel Tower at sunset and finished the night at Notre Dame. We felt like typical tourists, but in Paris, that seems to be the norm.

The Med

This was our final day of riding and we were sad to see it end. We finally got to reap the rewards of the past several days of climbing and shifted into the big chainrings. Each "col" we crossed today was lower than the last and several were entirely downhill from one to the next. We got our first glimpse of the Mediterranean from about 40 kilometers away and then rode through mostly flat vineyards to Collioure. It seemed like an easy day, but we still did over 3000 feet of climbing. The group stayed together all day and finished with a quick dip in the Mediterranean. The fish dinner baffled the Americans, but we countered with plenty of sangria and finished the evening with crepes and hard cider. Au revoir mes amis!

Col de Pailheres

Another monster day yesterday with almost 12000 feet of climbing. 87 miles over 7 cols. The last 18 miles into Prades were all downhill with at least a 5% grade. Mon Dieu! Today is our last day of riding - should be an "easy" 66 miles.

Ridiculous

Our trip is going great, but we have had trouble getting Internet connections and having time to use the computer. Our Tourmalet day was far beyond our wildest dreams. 75 miles over three big cols and 12000 feet of climbing. The scenery puts anything in Colorado to shame. The days before and after have not been much easier and today will be another big one. We hope to catch up soon. Thank God for triples!

10 Things Kenny Noticed About France

1. The pavement is gorgeous. I believe they re-pave the roads in France every three months. Chip-seal is outlawed.

2. Everything in France is small and cute. Their cars, their trucks, , their beds, their roads, their coffee..

3. The French take their bread seriously. And their wine. And their water (every bar it has a tap for it in the middle of the beer taps). They could care less about time, however.

4. Gas is much cheaper, but it takes a lot more of it to fill your tank.

5. Miles are much shorter. They call them kilometres, which I assume means mini-miles. It takes a lot of them to get from col to col.

6. Miguel Indurain does not bike the Col d'Ispeguy any more often than Bob Roll bikes Coal Bank Pass.

7. If you order escargot, you'll be eating snails (gross!)

8. Winding mountain roads are evening windier. Apparently tiny cars can negotiate curves better than 10,000 pound SUV's.

9. Shoulders on roads are not necessary when you can fit five cars across a 2-lane road. If your car breaks down just leave it in the middle of the road. Same for parking.

10. You really don't need a pickup truck to commute to an office job.

11. The wine is very very good.

Day One: Take two...

Day eight (Day one of Pyrenees RAID). Whew! 69 miles. 5 cols. 7000 feet of climbing (this is our "flat" day). Unlimited overlooks of French/Spain villages and farms...priceless. We were up at 6 and Kenny made a quick jaunt to the coast to dip his wheels in the Atlantic. After an amzing breakfast of breads and fruits, we filled our water bottles with Perrier and stuffed a baguette in our tail pockets and hit the road. Before we could say "Au revoir" we were climbing our first col (pass) - Col de S'Ignace. We crossed into Spain for our second col which was actually a puerto (Puerto Olsondo before our third and highest col (Col de Ispeguy) for the day took us back into France. The view constantly overlooked mountainsides covered with pastures and sheep/cows which had a strange habit of wandering, if not sunning, across the road in the middle of a harpin turn that you were trying to negotiate at 40+ mph. After a well-deserved picnic lunch we found some awesome backroads that led to the final two cols (Garnia and d'Osquiche). The final descent led us to our resting point for the night (Mauleon Licharre) where yet another wonderful meal with the group awaited us.

Into the Pyrenees

(Saturday, 5 September) First day of riding! Today is the day we start riding. We go over three cols (passes), dip into Spain, and ride about 70 miles. We figure our internet access is going to be very limited over the next week as we will be traveling through some very small towns in the Pyrenees. So, we'll post when we can! And I guess photos won't get posted until after we get back. We have plenty!

Ascain

Friday (September 4th). Ascain. Today, we went for a short ride out into the French countryside. It is unbelievable how nice the drivers are! They wait to pass, they don't honk, they give you plenty of space, and they are very polite. We have seen lots of cyclists every day heading up toward the Pyrenees, so we figure the drivers are used to having bikes around. After the ride, we explored Ascain. It is a very small quiet village. We learned today that the French honor the afternoon siesta - all shops/stores are closed between about 2-5. We had the best goat cheese salad for lunch (we'll be posting food photos later) and decided to try duck. It was all yummy. That evening we met up with the people in our tour group. There are eight people riding, one tour guide, Karl (who rides with us), and one driver,William. Five people are from England (Paul, Mike, William, Karl and Eugene), one is from Australia (Ano), and four are from the U.S. The big shocker is that the other couple (Miriam and David) from the U.S. is from Santa Fe! Not just a small, but a tiny world! We talked about our route and logistics for the next day, then headed off to the hotel restaurant for another fantastic French dinner! More goat salad was had! After dinner, it was off to sleep to get ready for our big first day of riding!

St. Jean du Luz

(Thursday, 3 September) St. Jean du Luz. The day after that train ride, Michelle woke up feeling very tired. After breakfast at the hotel (yummy bread and croissants!), Michelle took the morning and early afternoon to rest and read (she read an entire book in one day!) while Kenny went for a ride in the in the rain. After that, it was into St. Jean du Luz to see the Atlantic. We walked along the boardwalk, browsed shops, had some gelato, stopped at a cafe for cafe au lait, stopped a sandwich shop for quiche...then down to the ocean to play in the water. We had to wait until 7:30 for dinner (that is when the restaurants open). We picked one on the boardwalk and unfortunately, the meal was a big letdown. On a different note, Kenny is now in charge of communicating since he knows a bit of French. Michelle is now mixing Spanish and French, creating her own language such as soui - a mixture of 'si' and 'oui.' It has been interesting speaking (well, trying to) one language one day and then switching to another the next. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for the evening.

Train Ride

(Wednesday, 2 September) The Train Ride. We had originally planned on spending Wednesday and Thursday in Pamplona. We decided instead to travel to the west coast of France, to the town of Ascain, our starting destination for our ride. The idea was that we could then spend some time on the Atlantic and get a bike ride or two in. According to the the lady at the information booth at the Renfe Station in Barcelona, the only way we could get to our destination, St Jean du Luz, was to go across France. We had hoped to go through Pamplona as the route looked the most direct. But, instead we took three different trains for almost twelve hours, before we arrived at our destination at St. Jean du Luz. Along the way we got our first views of the Pyrenees. They are some big mountains! After finally getting off the train and trying to find our legs, we took a taxi ride into Ascain, a small quaint town about 4 miles from St. Jean du Luz. Not an exciting and a very tiring day! We ate dinner in the hotel and it was one of the best meals we had had so far. After that, needless to say, it was straight to sleep. It seems that the French like to have their meals over a couple of hours - we started eating dinner around 8:30 and left the restaurant at 10:20. By that time, we were pretty darn tired.

Barcelona II

(Tuesday, 1 September) Despite a late night on Sunday on the beaches of the Med, we got an early start and joined the commuter rush. We drank our cafe con leches like care-free Americans while the local businessmen popped into the cafes, bantered with the barista, slammed their cappucino and bolted for the metro. Our destination this morning was at the end of a 1-1/2 hour regional train ride outside of Barcelona to Montserrat, a mountain town/monestary north of Barcelona. After getting off the regional train, we hopped on a rack train - a train that winds slowly up the mountain side to reach the monestary. Nestled by itself on the side of the mountain, it was a sight to behold. The basilica was the largest we had ever seen. Bells were ringing off and on the entire time we were there. There was a service at eleven, and the church was filled with people - astounding considering the amount of effort it takes to get there. Before visiting the church, we hiked one of the trails that would take us straight up the mountain, we were hoping to give our legs a workout since we had not been riding since we left the states. It was straight up and there were spectacular views of the monestary and the valley below. We are pretty sure we took a wrong turn and ended up at somebody's 'house.' It was an awkward situation considering the language barrier and the fact that we walked right into their front yard not knowing somebody was there. We promptly waved hello and goodbye and started heading back down - ratherly quickly! We returned to the city in the heat of the day and hid inside the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (http://www.mnac.cat/index.jsp?lan=003). As any large museum goes, we had to choose sections to visit. We checked out the Picaso exhibit, but spent most of our time in the Romanesque and Gothic period sections. Michelle took a stupid number of Madonna and child paintings in the Gothic section, it seemed to be the main focus of that time period. To end the day, we got a great window seat at a bar where we caught up on some computer chores and watched the craziness of a busy pedestrian-only street through the window as the Barcelonians celebrated another Tuesday night. It was a busy narrow pedestrian-only intersection with a constant dance of partiers, bicycles, scooters and roller-bladers all effortlessly dodging the occasional speeding taxi cab. Kenny had to resist the urge to buy the imported beer: Budweiser.

Ten things Michelle noticed about people in Barcelona

Ten things Michelle noticed about people in Barcelona:

1) Friendly
2) Not sure if a reply will be in French, Catalan, or Castellano
3) Shorts, skirts and dresses are worn short, no I mean short!
4) Your average women's shoe is either a flip-flop, super uncomfortable looking sandal, or high heels that also look uncomforatble
5) Overall are thin
6) Are very very fashion conscious (especially women)
7) Stay out long past Los Alamos roll up the streets time of 7:30pm
8) Smoke a lot (and it is not frowned upon)
9) Don't obnoxiously spend their time talking loudly on their cell phones while gesturing frantically (and don't sit around texting)
10) Don't sit around like me and Kenny typing/surfing on their laptop while drinking a glass of wine....

Sagrada Familia

(Monday, 31 August) Our late start today found us looking for breakfast at three in the afternoon. We finally found what Michelle as looking for - a pastelleria! I had to peel her off the window to go inside and buy something to eat. Then we were off to the biggest icon of Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia - an enormous cathedral by Gaudi that has been under construction since 1882 and is still heavily under construction (see photos when we can post - you will see that it is surrounded inside and out by scaffolding and tower cranes). Photos can not accurately describe the plethora of random thoughts provoked by the building. It's ugly, it's enormous, it's a feat of engineering, it's ugly, why did he do that?, how did he do that?, OK, if I step back I can visualize the forest he created with the tall columns with star-shaped tops in marble and plaster, why is there a green tree with white doves?, there is no stained glass in those holes yet...and so on. It is a sight to behold, no doubt. Michelle thinks the most interesting sections were the facades outside of the entrances. Each one tells a story and had a specific meaning and goal to Gaudi. Kenny was sure this would be a tourist trap but was quite impressed. After the Sagrada, we headed to the 1992 Olympic Village (the lodging and watersports area) and the Mediterrenean Sea.
This was our first time to see it and step into it! The water was relatively warm and quite enjoyable considering how hot and sweaty we were. People were everywhere up and down the beach and quite a few were playing some fierce games of ping pong (we guess, there are two paddles and a ball, just no table). Michelle and Kenny played in the water, collected rocks, and then started a long evening walk along the Mediterranean stopping every so often for a tapa or two and a glass of sangia which is a far better option than the local beer. We ended the night at one of the marinas (we took lots of photos of yachts and boats for Jim and Fawn) on a yacht that had been converted into a floating bar. There Kenny had the best calamari he has ever had!