Riding in France - Long Post

[spiderlake]

First of all, thanks to Cees Beers for his recommendation on the best spot to watch Stage 10 of the TDF. His recommendation was spot on perfect. Thanks Cees! I think the highlight of the state was just the general atmosphere. All types of fans just caught up in the vibe of being at the TDF. It was great fun to watch people ride up the mountain before the pros came through. By far the biggest number of fans seemed to be T-Mobile. Granted, there were a number of Disco fans, Spanish fans and the like but none of them were fully kitted (to include bike, helmet, shoes, jersey, shorts, socks) like the T-mobile fans. Giant must be well, GIANT, in Germany!!

I saw two Serottas making the climb. A CIII and a Legend. I talked briefly to the guy on the CIII since he recognized the S on my hat but the Legend was going way to fast for me to even say hello. We saw Sheryl Crow too but truth be told, bike porn ruled the day and I refused to leave my post for the chance to meet Sheryl.

Second - I had the opportunity to do some riding in the Alps and in a word, incredible. On a borrowed bike that was way too big, I had the opportunity to ride 52 miles through the mountains. A couple of "baby" climbs at 900 meters each with about a mile of vertical. Being from Michigan (flatlander), this was quite a challenge and dare I say, one of my greatest accomplishments as a recreational cyclist.

The ride started easy enough but within 5 minutes I was wondering if I was going to be able to finish. As I was running through excuses to end the ride early, an amazing thing happened, my breathing became normal, my heart rate seemed to recover and I found a nice cadence to take me up the climb. I wouldn't say it was always fun or that I was fast but I made it. In short, I look forward to more of this type of riding but I think it will be tough to find in Michigan.

I attached some photos from the ride to this post. I also have some pictures from the TDF that I will upload in another post.

[Moveitfred]

Beautiful! Wow, what a place to ride a bike!

[arsegas]

Hey this is so funny! I just got back from a bike tour in France and the lady with the all-pink outfit / panniers in the first picture was someone on my tour! Needless to say, the tour fans loved her.

- Eric

[97CSI]

Hey this is so funny! I just got back from a bike tour in France and the lady with the all-pink outfit / panniers in the first picture was someone on my tour! Needless to say, the tour fans loved her. - EricDid you take your own bikes? If not, what did they supply you with. We are debating whether to take our own bikes or not. We have not been successful in finding a tour with decent bikes. We want to do 50-100 miles a day and that would not be much fun on a comfort bike.

[arsegas]

I took my own bike and went with Erickson Cycle Tours. If you are looking at a set tour rather than a do-it-yourselfer, I highly recommend Erickson...they were very knowledgeable and organized, and their routes would fit well with your target mileage.

On the Madeleine, I ran into some folks with a Trek tour, and they provide their customers with really nice bikes. The impression I got is that they cover more ground (e.g. Alps + Ventoux) by shuttling people around in vans, but I believe their tours cost quite a bit more.

[spiderlake]

Hey this is so funny! I just got back from a bike tour in France and the lady with the all-pink outfit / panniers in the first picture was someone on my tour! Needless to say, the tour fans loved her.

- Eric

Eric,

Did your group happen to be riding in the Annecy area near Columbiere? The "pink lady" was riding solo when we saw her and had Rod Stewart emanating from one of her panniers. She also had pink streamers attached to her helmet. We heard the music before we saw her and both sat in complete silence as she rode by..... It was only then that we thought to take a picture. She made us laugh and it was definitely a highlight of the ride.

Shortly after we saw her we came upon a large group that appeared to be an organized tour. Lots of Americans and I noticed more than a few Treks in the mix. Did that happen to be your tour group??

Speaking of Trek Travel - we saw a bunch of that group in Courchevel and they all appeared to be having a great time. Nice bikes. One guy rode up Courchevel in a pair of dress pants and a linen shirt. I found that quite funny.

Based on my experience this last trip, I concur 100% with the recommendation to bring your own bike. I visited many bike shops in France and they have plenty of "touring" bikes for rent but nothing in the order of a road bike. My friend convinced me he was able to find a 52cm frame for me to use while I was there so I didn't take my bike. Well, the 52 turned out to be a 56 but I was able to make it work...... Didn't stop me from wishing I had my own bike though..... The bike I rode was a Loder - steel frame, Shimano 105, Mavic wheels and was actually a nice ride - just too big.

[arsegas]

Yes, we probably crossed paths on July 10th! That was our first riding day, and we rode as a group from Geneva over Mont Seleve to Talloires on Lake Annecy. We did have a fair number of Treks in the group and we rode through Thorens-Glieres, which I believe is the same town you took the picture with direction signs in.

- Eric

[spiderlake]

Yes, we probably crossed paths on July 10th! That was our first riding day, and we rode as a group from Geneva over Mont Seleve to Talloires on Lake Annecy. We did have a fair number of Treks in the group and we rode through Thorens-Glieres, which I believe is the same town you took the picture with direction signs in.

- Eric

Eric - there is no doubt we crossed paths. We had just stopped in Thorens-Glieres to check the map when your group rode through. Small world! My buddy lives in Annecy and we started at the Lake, went through Thorens-Glieres and then came through a gorge before circling back around the lake and back to his house.

Do you happen to have a link to the tour group you used? My wife and I are looking into a cycling tour of Italy next summer. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[arsegas]

Here's the website for Erickson: http://www.ecycletours.com/

Regarding Italy, I've met a few people who'd been on their Dolomites trip and had nothing but raves for the routes, scenery and food. There's tough climbs in that route...I've heard it's as tough or slightly tougher than the Alps trip. For a more mellow trip, check out the Cinqueterre and Tuscany trips.

[andy mac]

here's another small, great tour group worth checking out.

http://www.topbike.com.au/


cheers,

andy.