Day 1

This is going to be short. Its 10:30 in Paris and I am going on about 2 hours sleep in the last 36 hours. Flight to Paris was pretty uneventful. The only hiccup happened while going through security at Port Columbus. I had packed my cycling shoes and peddals in my carry-on. Apparently, the guys maning the x-ray machine couldn't figure out what was in the bag. They ran the bag through three times before they finally decided to take everything out to see what was actually in it. Once they saw the shoes and peddals, they let me go through.

They guys from Bikestyle were already waiting for us after we gathered our bags and cleared customs in Paris. Straight into the van with our bags and bikes and 15 minutes later we were at our hotel. We had time enough to grab some breakfast before heading down to put the bikes together.

We headed out for an easy 25 mile afternoon ride, around Charles DeGaul airport to help shake the travel haze.

Apparently, Jim was bored with the ride.

We ended the day with with a nice group dinner at the hotel resturant. More later.

I got the bike packed on Saturday afternoon. I never seem to do it the same way twice. It took just about an hour, including beer breaks, to get it packed.

Start...

Wheels first...

Rear triangle...

Top tube, down tube and bars...

Strape it down...

Ready to go...

I have not updated this in awhile but now I'm only a few days from leaving for France, I decided it would be a good time to start again. I'll try to update everyday while I'm in France.

On July 13, I'll be flying out of Columbus, land in Cincinnati, meet Jim and then fly on to Paris. Once in Paris, we hook up with Bikestyle Tours and spend two weeks following the Tour de France. I'll be taking my Ritchey Breakaway. It rides great and you would never guess it breaks down to fit into a suitcase.

I'm pretty excited and a bit nervous. The rides during the first couple of days should be fairly flat. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to get over any jet lag before we get to the French and Swiss Alps. I'm really looking forward to the chance to ride up Mont Ventoux.

After almost two weeks of chasing the Tour, we end up in Paris for the finish on the Champs-Élysées. We fly back to the US on Monday, July 28.

Ronde van Vlaanderen : wij zijn er klaar voor!

Nice girls...

Tour of California - The Podium Girls - Click here for more amazing videos

Team Poseur...My new team? I think I would fit right in.

Cool Stella Artois ad...



Triplets of Belleville clip...

What do you do when the roads are icy and the temps are freezing? You head south to ride. Unfortunately, I only drove south for just over an hour to the Hocking Hills on Sunday to meet Scott. The roads weren't icy but the temperature was still only in the mid-20s. Lots of clothes layers, hot tea in the water bottles and lots of hills to climb kept us warm for most of the three hour ride. It sure beats sitting on the trainer.

The icicles say it all...

Scott looking too warm...

Its all the clothes I'm wearing that make me look fat...really...

We finally made it back to the cars...

Post ride pizza...

The team kit didn't seem to shrink too much over the early winter season, despite all the holiday temptations. That's not to say I didn't partake...I did but with at least a bit of moderation.

Its the new year so I guess its time to actually start thinking about next season. I'm not exactly on a diet but I am trying to watch what I eat (and drink). The Belgian ales will now be replaced by light beer (except for special occasions, of course). Karma got me a small cake for my birthday. We both ate a small piece and then tossed the rest in the trash...the sacrifices we have to make.

I have been pulling out old videos to watch while on the trainer. I still have a VHS tape of the 1988 TdF I recorded from the TV 20 years ago. Its actually on of my all time favorites...John Tesh music and all...

Carbon fiber, a hammer and a chisel are never a good combination but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. A carbon seat post had fused itself inside the seat tube of my Felt. I tried everything I could think of to free the stuck post but nothing would budge it. I finally cut it off just above the top of the tube. I used a hacksaw blade to cut grooves inside the post. I then spent two hours carefully chiseling the seat post from the aluminium insert that sits inside the seat tube. Finally, I had success with no apparent damage to the frame.