Berengere, Geraldine, Jacques, and I had breakfast together -- one last bowl of coffee and piece of bread. It was raining and they invited me to stay longer. In fact, Berengere would drive me to Italy on Friday. But, I had to go. I slept through the other rainy days but this was my big finish. We exchanged info and said our goodbyes, and I reluctantly put on my rain jacket and left.
Of course, mother nature had to give her last word. It was pouring rain the entire ride. As I rode cautiously down the mountain gripping my breaks and brushing water off my GPS, I think I heard her congratulations: be fearless, but go humbly and intelligently.
After a 15 mile downhill I reached the sea and rode on a bike path into Nice. The tourists were avoiding the rain, so I had the path to myself.
Nice is a bit like Miami -- wanna-be trendy beaches (though they are covered with rocks, not sand), deco architecture, and retired people.
I rode until the end of the promenade, then congratulated myself and my bike. The guys on the bench next to me were rolling a joint.
I wanted to pop a bottle of champaign, pour some on me and some on my bike, then jump into the sea (I had on my pink bikini top, which looks great with the LG kit). But I was already on to my next adventure. The original post-ride celebration plan was to meet my Swedish friends for a week vacation in Nice, but during the course of my trip they decided we should meet in the Italian countryside for a culinary biking vacation.
Well, I just did that. I see they are envious, so I'm going with them. I'll show them my GPS, let them borrow my panniers, loan them my hand pump. But they must know I'm going to school them on the bike.
This is me. I carry my panniers on one shoulder and bike on the other so there is about 20 lbs on each side. It's 3 trains to Tuscany (I arrive in Pisa) and bikes are only allowed on the slowest moving trains that stop every 10 minutes. It's an 11 hour trip for what would take 3 1/2 hours by car. Oh well. I'm with my bike and wearing my kit with pride.
At least Italian is more similar to Spanish than French.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
3 comments:
What a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing the blog- it made me so envious! Cheers to you! Tell Eric I say hi!
lots of love,
vw
Congratulations, you made it! Can't wait to see you next week and hear about everything in more detail.
Diane -- I have devoured your every word. What an awesome trip! Well done and done well!! Enjoy Italy. And thanks for sharing and inspiring. BTW -- my wife and I bought a road tandem. Thanks to you we are now fantasizing our own Tour de Tandem Something. Also, I'm doing the Copper Triangle with Jon Anderson on 8/6. Google it. Ciao!! Bo
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