France Recap

The daily grind has began. Assimilation into society sucks. I just spent over two weeks living the simplest of lifestyles; eat, ride, eat, wine, sleep, and repeat. I can now fully realize the allure to the life of a pro cyclist. Although I’m sure the pressure and constant travel would make it a wash.

I finally got Garmin Connect to upload my data. Totals for the trip are impressive, I think. (I’ve left off two rides, one where my Garmin ran out of juice because I forgot to charge for a few days, and the ride up the Ventoux on race day.) Only one day off the whole trip.

Rides -- 11
Miles – 650
Ride Time – 40 hours
Calories – 37,000
Vertical feet climbed – 65,000

Total mileage was low, but when you figure each day had 6,000 feet of climbing, it starts to make sense how hard those rides were.

Things learned while covering the back roads of the French Alps:

--Always take TP to the toilette
--There is a total absence of soap or towels in any bathroom
--Ice is a foreign concept, be prepared to drink warm beer
--Wine is cheaper than water
--Turkish toilettes and dead cycling legs don’t mix
--When a climb is rated HC, its really, really hard…really
--The French are friendly if you try to speak their language
--We over complicate our food, simple IS better
--The Alps are BEAUTIFUL!!!!!