Two Wheel Blogs

I set out from St. Girons with no idea what to expect. I have learned that the green-highlighted highways on the Michelin maps (scenic roads) won't disappoint me and today was no exception. I took the road to St. Croix Volvestre and it was the totally-unexpected highlight of the whole trip. If I were to recommend a trip to someone interested in biking but not touring, I would recommend heading for a base in St. Girons. It is the center of a wheel, with beautiful rides like spokes heading out in every direction.

I am typing for the first time on a French keyboard, which makes me realize that I really can touch type. There is absolutely nothing familiar about this keyboard, most especially the position of the A and M - and you must hit the shift key to type a period. I admit I find myself a little bit nostalgic for Spain. I didn't realize it was easy there until it wasn't easy anymore. The landscape of France is truly spectacular, but the people are so much more dour. Those Spaniards are some of the most laid-back, fun-loving folk this side of the Himalayas.

My morning began with a key slipping into the lock of my hotel room door, and a strange man walking into my room at 6:30am. He whispered "Pardon!" and backed out into the hall, tiptoeing down the hall as quiet as a mouse. What the heck? Hard to sleep after that.

Well, I´m still standing! I left Ripoll this morning and started climbing. 47 km and 1500 vertical metres of steady climbing later, I popped over the top of Toses Pass. What an absolutely, positively incredible day! I don´t think I have exerted myself that much in eleven years, since Brice and I cycled across the AltiPlano in Bolivia. We came home from that trip and within 3 days I was pregnant with Nathaniel. That slowed me down for a while.

I am not sure where to begin, but it probably has to be with Phoenix. I stepped off the plane and thought I had stepped straight into an oven. I kept touching my head to be sure my hair was not on fire as I stood on the roadside waiting for a hotel shuttle. What an uncivilized temperature... I will forever think of that roadside when people ask me about Silverton..."Isn´t it cold there?" Human beings can stand anything if they can stand Phoenix.