When you are housebound, for the most part, you have to live a bit vicariously. Tomorrow morning we get the opportunity to revisit part of our honeymoon, a cycling tour through southwestern France and northeastern Spain. The mid-part of that tour involved dancing across some of the high passes of the Pyrenees, a spectacular region I wished we had spent a bit more time exploring. Tomorrow’s stage 9 of the Tour de France will visit two of our favorite passes, the Col de Peyresourde and the Col d’Aspin. Look for the restaurant advertising crepes at the top of Peyresourde, where we spent some time chatting with an Aussie who was spending some months in the region having some fun. Time for some memories.
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I’d be smiling too if I had to climb those hills with all the gear you had on your bikes. No weight-weenie bikes on those climbs!
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It should be an exciting stage for you. I would love to get over there and do some riding. I have been to Europe many times, but all but 1 of the trips were for work.
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So you’ll be glued to the TV watching for clues to trigger memory lane. Nice. AMR and I are seriously thinking about going to the Tour next year (with bikes of course).
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Todd – Can’t be too much of a weight weenie when doing several hundred miles self-supported. And I like to think that climbing a big hill with an extra 20+ pounds just makes one stronger on the light bikes.
Chris – lots of great riding in Europe, especially if you like hills. Dolomites in Italy are stupendous, Pyrenees are great, and the Alps are a big challenge. And dancing between hill towns in Umbria and Tuscany is beyond compare.
Groover – And we will be doing more of memory lane tomorrow. We have not gone to Europe during any of the big ‘tours’, mostly because those times are not conducive to the flexibility of travelling without reservations. But it might be fun. We were wondering this morning if there was some TdF price-gouging going on; the restaurant at the top of Peyresourde showed a price of 0.40 € per crepe whereas in May 2005 the price was 5/€. Hate to think there has been 100% increase in general price in 3 years.
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Me too! The tour heads right through the tiny town where we stayed (Menerbes) in a few days when they head east through Provence.
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Ali – cool. Bet you will be paying close attention for Stage 14. Was there any new roadwork evident when you were in the area? When we were in the Pyrenees one of the passes we wanted to cross, Col du Portillon, was closed so the French could resurface the French side of the pass in anticipation of the TdF crossing that Col a few weeks later. The French seem to fix the roads just for the TdF.
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