August 17. 2009
Sitting in m tent sweating my ass off about 100 clicks east of Marseilles. The weather has been unbearably hot the last few days. We have decided to make another course correction. We are going to take a train from Marseilles to Nantes and finish the biking portion of the trip by biking up the Loire Valley to Orleans. From there we will take a train to Munich to meeeet Barb, Connor, and Donna. I am not sure if it will be much cooler, but the biking will be easier. We are dealing with a lot of hills on the Med coast.
My cousin Jim just emailed me to let me know that his dad, Uncle Dick, has been diagnosed with B-cell Lymphoma. Uncle Dick has been one of the biggest fans of this blog. I hear from him every couple days. This news has hit me pretty hard. Uncle Dick is one of those "larger than life" figures who seem almost indestructible. One of my strongest memories of Uncle Dick is cutting firewood at boy scout campouts. He would lift a 3 foot blade chain saw straight upover his head with his left hand and pull the cord with his right hand. That sucker would roar to life with Uncle Dick holding it with one hand.
He has accomplished an incredible amount in his 80 years and now he has decided it is time to KICK CANCER'S ASS! I want all of you blog readers to send some prayers' positive brain waves, whatever towards Uncle Dick. It is said that Chuck Norris' tears can cure cancer, but no one knows for sure since Chuck has never cried. Well, if he ran into Uncle Dick, he would be making lemonade in his pants and crying bucket loads!
I don't want to paint a one-sided picture of Uncle Dick. As imposing a figure as he is, he is also the biggest Teddy Bear in the world. Since my dad's death in 1986, he has been a surrogate father fror me. He also has made a special connection with Jordan. She calls him "the nicest older man in the world." She never knew her grandfathers, so he gets elected to that role as well.
August 18th, 2009
Got biking early today to try to avoid the heat. Have 21 clicks in by 11AM and doing fine.
It's still hot as hell here, but I am going to try and get some shut-eye...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Cannes to Frejus
August 16, 2009 Cannes to Frejus
Since our room in Cannes had AC, we took advantage and stayed their until about 10:30. After packing up, we stepped out into the heat. The one saving grace is that it is getting less humid. The landscape, except for the Med. Sea, almost looks like Arizona. It is all scrubby firs, cedar, and very little grass. The rocks have taken on a very reddish hue. Ever since Monaco, we have seen cruise ships in most of the cities along the Cote d'Azur. Since we got started so late, we lowered our mileage sites and headed for Saint-Raphael. After aboujt two or three hours of fairly hard biking, we stopped at a cute road-side restaurant. Their specialty was salads and omelettes. Jordan had the former and I had the latter. We were even able to get ice (glace) with our water! I don't know if I have mentioned before how hard it has been to get ice in Europe. I have yet to see it in the grocery stores. When we buy wine at the store, we always have to scrounge to get ice. One time I got it dry ice that the grocery store was using to keep their fish cold.
Just after lunch, I heard the familiar PING of a broken spoke..l. another one on my cassette side of my rear wheel. We kept on riding to Saint-Raphael where I was hoping to find an open bike store. Upon arriving, we discovered that August 15th was some big holiday in France and none of the stores would be open, other than restaurants and bars. We checked with the local tourist office to see if their were any rooms available and there were not. This is the height of holiday season and a Saturday. She was able to give me a list of local campgrounds and it looked like there was a nice one outside of Frejus, about 9 clicks away. By this time we were broiling and Jordan had a pounding headache.
Frejus is located a little inland from the beach. Spotting a good-looking fruit stand, we pulled over for some refreshments. There is something about biking that makes me crave fruit. Jordan feels the same way. We bought nectarines, a pear, a cantolope, and some huge grapes. We ate the grapes immediately, since they would be hard to pack. Each one exploded in our mouths.
We took off from the fruit stand and were only about half a click from the campsite. The road had no bike path at that point, but just ahead was a three foot high stone wall that separated the road from a biking/walking path. Jordan was 20 yards behind me so I thought she would see it without me mentioning anything. I turned slightly to the right upon approaching the dividing wall to get on the bike path. About two or three seconds later I heard a huge crash. I whipped around to see that Jordan had run right into the dividing wall and got thrown to the ground. I got off my bike and ran back to help her. She seemed like she was in shock. I grabbed her arm and led her off the road and onto the bike path, then I grabbed her bike. Instead of comforting her, I started screaming at her... "What the hell are you doing? You are going to kill yourself!" I then brought up all the clumsy moves she has been making of late, and she snapped! She called me every name in the book, and I deserved it. I am not sure why I reacted like I did. I was so scared when I heard the crash. I should have hugged her instead of screaming at her.
The lesson I am learning is that I can not push her as hard as I have been. It seems that the afternoons after a hard morning of riding, are really tough on her. She lost her concentration for just a second and it was almost disasterous. As Sergeant Barnes said in "Platoon"... "If you don't keep your sh!t wired tight, I goddamn guarantee you a trip out of the bush... IN A BODY BAG!" As my brother Jeff has shown me, everything you need to know about life is in the movie "Platoon".
We arrived at the campground without further mishap and set up the tent. We decided to go our separate ways for an hour or two to cool down. I swam, showered, then got a half liter of horrible white wine at the campground restaurant. Jordan came by and we had a nice dinner. The food ended up being much better than the wine. We have decided to spend another day here since the pool is nice and the bike shops are closed. I don't want to risk breaking another spoke. We may ride the short distance back to Saint Raphael to get on the Internet and buy food at a grocery store. I could also use another book, since I just finished "Quite Ugly One Morning". Excellent book! Very Carl Hiassen-like.
I have talked with Jordan about altering our itinerary a bit, not like we haven't altered it already! I suggested to her that once we get to Aixe-on-Provence, we take a train up to somewhere in the Loire Valley. My sister, Jane, said it was her favorite part of her trip biking through Europe. It may be a little cooler up that way, and we will be closer to Munchen (Munich) when we finish riding. She agrees as long as there are no mountains!
Since our room in Cannes had AC, we took advantage and stayed their until about 10:30. After packing up, we stepped out into the heat. The one saving grace is that it is getting less humid. The landscape, except for the Med. Sea, almost looks like Arizona. It is all scrubby firs, cedar, and very little grass. The rocks have taken on a very reddish hue. Ever since Monaco, we have seen cruise ships in most of the cities along the Cote d'Azur. Since we got started so late, we lowered our mileage sites and headed for Saint-Raphael. After aboujt two or three hours of fairly hard biking, we stopped at a cute road-side restaurant. Their specialty was salads and omelettes. Jordan had the former and I had the latter. We were even able to get ice (glace) with our water! I don't know if I have mentioned before how hard it has been to get ice in Europe. I have yet to see it in the grocery stores. When we buy wine at the store, we always have to scrounge to get ice. One time I got it dry ice that the grocery store was using to keep their fish cold.
Just after lunch, I heard the familiar PING of a broken spoke..l. another one on my cassette side of my rear wheel. We kept on riding to Saint-Raphael where I was hoping to find an open bike store. Upon arriving, we discovered that August 15th was some big holiday in France and none of the stores would be open, other than restaurants and bars. We checked with the local tourist office to see if their were any rooms available and there were not. This is the height of holiday season and a Saturday. She was able to give me a list of local campgrounds and it looked like there was a nice one outside of Frejus, about 9 clicks away. By this time we were broiling and Jordan had a pounding headache.
Frejus is located a little inland from the beach. Spotting a good-looking fruit stand, we pulled over for some refreshments. There is something about biking that makes me crave fruit. Jordan feels the same way. We bought nectarines, a pear, a cantolope, and some huge grapes. We ate the grapes immediately, since they would be hard to pack. Each one exploded in our mouths.
We took off from the fruit stand and were only about half a click from the campsite. The road had no bike path at that point, but just ahead was a three foot high stone wall that separated the road from a biking/walking path. Jordan was 20 yards behind me so I thought she would see it without me mentioning anything. I turned slightly to the right upon approaching the dividing wall to get on the bike path. About two or three seconds later I heard a huge crash. I whipped around to see that Jordan had run right into the dividing wall and got thrown to the ground. I got off my bike and ran back to help her. She seemed like she was in shock. I grabbed her arm and led her off the road and onto the bike path, then I grabbed her bike. Instead of comforting her, I started screaming at her... "What the hell are you doing? You are going to kill yourself!" I then brought up all the clumsy moves she has been making of late, and she snapped! She called me every name in the book, and I deserved it. I am not sure why I reacted like I did. I was so scared when I heard the crash. I should have hugged her instead of screaming at her.
The lesson I am learning is that I can not push her as hard as I have been. It seems that the afternoons after a hard morning of riding, are really tough on her. She lost her concentration for just a second and it was almost disasterous. As Sergeant Barnes said in "Platoon"... "If you don't keep your sh!t wired tight, I goddamn guarantee you a trip out of the bush... IN A BODY BAG!" As my brother Jeff has shown me, everything you need to know about life is in the movie "Platoon".
We arrived at the campground without further mishap and set up the tent. We decided to go our separate ways for an hour or two to cool down. I swam, showered, then got a half liter of horrible white wine at the campground restaurant. Jordan came by and we had a nice dinner. The food ended up being much better than the wine. We have decided to spend another day here since the pool is nice and the bike shops are closed. I don't want to risk breaking another spoke. We may ride the short distance back to Saint Raphael to get on the Internet and buy food at a grocery store. I could also use another book, since I just finished "Quite Ugly One Morning". Excellent book! Very Carl Hiassen-like.
I have talked with Jordan about altering our itinerary a bit, not like we haven't altered it already! I suggested to her that once we get to Aixe-on-Provence, we take a train up to somewhere in the Loire Valley. My sister, Jane, said it was her favorite part of her trip biking through Europe. It may be a little cooler up that way, and we will be closer to Munchen (Munich) when we finish riding. She agrees as long as there are no mountains!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Cote d Azur, Cannes, France
August 14th, Nice France
We had a relaxing and hot day off yesterday. I took my bike to a bike shop just West of San Remo. The owner said he could not fix my spoke until about 4PM. Since I had nothing else going on, I said that would be fine. I went to a hotel across the street and used their wireless Internet to catch up on stuff and update the blog. Jordan texted me about two hours later and then rode down to join me. We had a late lunch and then picked up my bike. After returning to the campground, we took a quick dip in the Med. Sea and then showered. We walked towards San Remo and found a great little restaurant. The grilled squid was a big winner!
Got up early today because I had made a hotel reservation for Cannes, about 90 clicks away. Soon into the ride, we began to realize that maybe we had bitten off more than we could chew. Once we hit France, the riding got a lot tougher. By the time we hit Monaco, we were exhausted. Just before Nice I realized that we had left the Med. Sea road and we on the harder road that is a bit inland. After a quick course correction, we got back on the coast where the riding was much easier, although still pretty tough. The heat is starting to take its toll, too.
We grabbed lunch and then made it to Nice about an hour later. Jordan said there was no way she was going to ride all the way to Cannes. Our hotel was non-refundable, so we opted for plan B... THE TRAIN! We are sitting on one of the local trains headed towards Cannes. As much as I like riding on the Cote d Azure, this is pretty damn good!.
A few notes on the two Rivieras... The Italian Riviera to the French Riveria is sort of like Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head. I liked the Italian Riviera, but it is a little seedy. As soon as we crossed into France there was a definite upgrade in roads, buildings, cars (a cool Ferrari zoomed past us... kind of ironic that it is an Italian car!). I am really looking forward to getting my almond croissant addiction attended to. I have been hungering for some since leaving France and entering Belgium several weeks ago. No other country can bake like the French!
I forgot to mention an interesting conversation between Vic and his oldest son, Jordy, as we were going to play tennis the other day in Lugano. Vic was bitching him out for buying a pair of tennis shoes last year and then never using them. Jordy first protested that he did wear them frequently. Vic then asked why they have been in the back of his car for the last 6 months. Jordy moved to excuse number two: mom bought them so why do you care, Dad. Vic told him that mom got the money from Vic. Excuse number 3 soon followed, and it was a good one: Jordy professed he was going through a style change! That finally shut Dad up. Vic and I were both too busy laughing at the "style change" comment. Kids are not much different despite being from Switzerland or the USA!
Train arrived in Cannes and we just found our hotel and showered. Off to explore.
We had a relaxing and hot day off yesterday. I took my bike to a bike shop just West of San Remo. The owner said he could not fix my spoke until about 4PM. Since I had nothing else going on, I said that would be fine. I went to a hotel across the street and used their wireless Internet to catch up on stuff and update the blog. Jordan texted me about two hours later and then rode down to join me. We had a late lunch and then picked up my bike. After returning to the campground, we took a quick dip in the Med. Sea and then showered. We walked towards San Remo and found a great little restaurant. The grilled squid was a big winner!
Got up early today because I had made a hotel reservation for Cannes, about 90 clicks away. Soon into the ride, we began to realize that maybe we had bitten off more than we could chew. Once we hit France, the riding got a lot tougher. By the time we hit Monaco, we were exhausted. Just before Nice I realized that we had left the Med. Sea road and we on the harder road that is a bit inland. After a quick course correction, we got back on the coast where the riding was much easier, although still pretty tough. The heat is starting to take its toll, too.
We grabbed lunch and then made it to Nice about an hour later. Jordan said there was no way she was going to ride all the way to Cannes. Our hotel was non-refundable, so we opted for plan B... THE TRAIN! We are sitting on one of the local trains headed towards Cannes. As much as I like riding on the Cote d Azure, this is pretty damn good!.
A few notes on the two Rivieras... The Italian Riviera to the French Riveria is sort of like Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head. I liked the Italian Riviera, but it is a little seedy. As soon as we crossed into France there was a definite upgrade in roads, buildings, cars (a cool Ferrari zoomed past us... kind of ironic that it is an Italian car!). I am really looking forward to getting my almond croissant addiction attended to. I have been hungering for some since leaving France and entering Belgium several weeks ago. No other country can bake like the French!
I forgot to mention an interesting conversation between Vic and his oldest son, Jordy, as we were going to play tennis the other day in Lugano. Vic was bitching him out for buying a pair of tennis shoes last year and then never using them. Jordy first protested that he did wear them frequently. Vic then asked why they have been in the back of his car for the last 6 months. Jordy moved to excuse number two: mom bought them so why do you care, Dad. Vic told him that mom got the money from Vic. Excuse number 3 soon followed, and it was a good one: Jordy professed he was going through a style change! That finally shut Dad up. Vic and I were both too busy laughing at the "style change" comment. Kids are not much different despite being from Switzerland or the USA!
Train arrived in Cannes and we just found our hotel and showered. Off to explore.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Switzerland to Italy
August 13th, San Remo, Italy
It has been a while since we have had Internet access. I broke another spoke yesterday (only two so far) and this one is on my rear wheel, cassette side. I rode another 30 clicks with no problem. We are staying in a great campground right on the Mediterrean Sea, Italian Riviera. We have been biking pretty hard since we took the train from Lugano to Genoa. I rode to a bike shop this morning, and the guy says he cannot fix it for a few hours. We have decided to spend two nights here, so I said no problem. I am in the hotel Firenza, across the street from the bike shop. Now let me get back to the happenings since the last post.
Vic picked us up from the train station on Friday night. We went out for pizza with a bunch of his friends. Afterwards we all went to Vic's place for wine and song. Ended up going to bed around 3PM. Spent Saturday running errands with Vic. He always cooks a big meal on Sundays for his family, ex-wife (Monica) and her two year old daughter, Charlise. Around 9PM we went to the film festival. We did not watch any of the movies, since it was more fun to just got to the parties. We ended up at a cool place. It was almost like being in the Hocking Hills and somebody putting a night club in Rock House or Cedar Falls! It was another late night.
The next day we got up late and started cooking. I made a banana cream pie for dessert. Vic's meal was amazing... Pasta, mussels, fish. Jordan made a great tomato/avocado/feta salad. We ate around noon, cleaned up, swam in Lake Lugano and relaxed. A little later, Giordano wanted to play tennis. He really has the bug, so Vic, he, and I went and played. Vic has an excellent game, but Jordy is catching up to him. After tennis, we stopped by the basketball court, where Keeno was playing a little 3 on 3. Vic, Jordy, and I formed a team and played one game. The Italians really got a kick out of playing basketball against Americans. We almost beat them, but sadly, our advanced age was too much, despite our more skilled play!
We went back home and barbecued pork ribs and chicken. It was another late night (3AM). We got up early and said our goodbyes. This was a very relaxing week, but I am antsy to get back on the bike. We had to take local trains to Genoa because of our bikes. We ended up having to switch trains 3 times. We ended up almost missing connections because we both fell asleep. We arrived in Genova (Italian spelling) around 4PM and rode to a campground on the western edge of town. Genova is a big port city, pretty industrial. The campsite was up on a big hill overlooking the city. We set up camp and then rode back down to the city. The only decent restaurant that we saw open was a Chinese place. It was actually really good!
The next day we did some serious riding, about 60 clicks after getting up really late. We stopped at lunchtime to swim in the Med. Sea then we bike to another campground that was again on a hill overlooking the city we were in. This time we camped in an olive grove. We walked down to the Med Sea for a swim and then had a nice Italian dinner, gnocchi with gargonzola and some sort of fresh baked fish. The town was really lively with a festival. A lot of magicians and games for all the kids.
We got up fairly early yesterday and started biking for San Remo. On the way I stopped at a little book shop looking for a map of the Riviera. The old woman in the store spoke English well. I told I was looking for a map of France, in my typical Ohio accent with a very hard "a". She looked at me and said, we say "Fronce". I then said "You say tomato, I say tomoto". She then smiles at me and says, "Let's call the whole thing off!" I started cracking up.
Arrived at our campsite around 4PM. We set up our tent which is right on the Med Sea. What a picturesque setting! After swimming in the ocean and then the pool, we showered and went back to the tent. I guy about my age was setting his tent up next to us. I said hello, and he replied in English. Turned out he was from Australia and his name was Boyd. We exchanged the usual info... How long you been on the road, where you going, etc. He had just come from Paris and asked me if I needed some maps. I did, and gladly accepted a great map of the French Riviera. I then invited him for a beer. The three of us went to the local restaurant and had a great time. Boyd is between jobs, too. He decided to take a 6 month bike trip. None of his "mates" could make it, so he is doing it alone. His bike was kind of old, but it had interesting gearing. His granny gear had 34 teeth and the small gear on the front was the smallest I have ever seen. He said that when he is going uphill in the low gear, cockroaches can pass him. It is really cool to see another old coot our there "living the dream". Taking a day off today and tomorrow we push on to Cannes, France.
It has been a while since we have had Internet access. I broke another spoke yesterday (only two so far) and this one is on my rear wheel, cassette side. I rode another 30 clicks with no problem. We are staying in a great campground right on the Mediterrean Sea, Italian Riviera. We have been biking pretty hard since we took the train from Lugano to Genoa. I rode to a bike shop this morning, and the guy says he cannot fix it for a few hours. We have decided to spend two nights here, so I said no problem. I am in the hotel Firenza, across the street from the bike shop. Now let me get back to the happenings since the last post.
Vic picked us up from the train station on Friday night. We went out for pizza with a bunch of his friends. Afterwards we all went to Vic's place for wine and song. Ended up going to bed around 3PM. Spent Saturday running errands with Vic. He always cooks a big meal on Sundays for his family, ex-wife (Monica) and her two year old daughter, Charlise. Around 9PM we went to the film festival. We did not watch any of the movies, since it was more fun to just got to the parties. We ended up at a cool place. It was almost like being in the Hocking Hills and somebody putting a night club in Rock House or Cedar Falls! It was another late night.
The next day we got up late and started cooking. I made a banana cream pie for dessert. Vic's meal was amazing... Pasta, mussels, fish. Jordan made a great tomato/avocado/feta salad. We ate around noon, cleaned up, swam in Lake Lugano and relaxed. A little later, Giordano wanted to play tennis. He really has the bug, so Vic, he, and I went and played. Vic has an excellent game, but Jordy is catching up to him. After tennis, we stopped by the basketball court, where Keeno was playing a little 3 on 3. Vic, Jordy, and I formed a team and played one game. The Italians really got a kick out of playing basketball against Americans. We almost beat them, but sadly, our advanced age was too much, despite our more skilled play!
We went back home and barbecued pork ribs and chicken. It was another late night (3AM). We got up early and said our goodbyes. This was a very relaxing week, but I am antsy to get back on the bike. We had to take local trains to Genoa because of our bikes. We ended up having to switch trains 3 times. We ended up almost missing connections because we both fell asleep. We arrived in Genova (Italian spelling) around 4PM and rode to a campground on the western edge of town. Genova is a big port city, pretty industrial. The campsite was up on a big hill overlooking the city. We set up camp and then rode back down to the city. The only decent restaurant that we saw open was a Chinese place. It was actually really good!
The next day we did some serious riding, about 60 clicks after getting up really late. We stopped at lunchtime to swim in the Med. Sea then we bike to another campground that was again on a hill overlooking the city we were in. This time we camped in an olive grove. We walked down to the Med Sea for a swim and then had a nice Italian dinner, gnocchi with gargonzola and some sort of fresh baked fish. The town was really lively with a festival. A lot of magicians and games for all the kids.
We got up fairly early yesterday and started biking for San Remo. On the way I stopped at a little book shop looking for a map of the Riviera. The old woman in the store spoke English well. I told I was looking for a map of France, in my typical Ohio accent with a very hard "a". She looked at me and said, we say "Fronce". I then said "You say tomato, I say tomoto". She then smiles at me and says, "Let's call the whole thing off!" I started cracking up.
Arrived at our campsite around 4PM. We set up our tent which is right on the Med Sea. What a picturesque setting! After swimming in the ocean and then the pool, we showered and went back to the tent. I guy about my age was setting his tent up next to us. I said hello, and he replied in English. Turned out he was from Australia and his name was Boyd. We exchanged the usual info... How long you been on the road, where you going, etc. He had just come from Paris and asked me if I needed some maps. I did, and gladly accepted a great map of the French Riviera. I then invited him for a beer. The three of us went to the local restaurant and had a great time. Boyd is between jobs, too. He decided to take a 6 month bike trip. None of his "mates" could make it, so he is doing it alone. His bike was kind of old, but it had interesting gearing. His granny gear had 34 teeth and the small gear on the front was the smallest I have ever seen. He said that when he is going uphill in the low gear, cockroaches can pass him. It is really cool to see another old coot our there "living the dream". Taking a day off today and tomorrow we push on to Cannes, France.
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