Biking

Summer of the Bike: The Road Trip

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Summer 2017 is officially over as today is the first day of fall. And, this past summer will officially be know as our “Summer of the Bike.”  Steve completed the Whiskey 50 Mountain Bike Race in late April and from then on it was all two wheels.

Shortly after the Whiskey 50 Steve received admission to RAGBRAI–Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.  While trying to figure out how I would support Steve’s ride across Iowa, it became clear that driving a support vehicle wouldn’t be near as much fun as riding.  So, with less than two months to prepare, I got back on the bike and started training.  By July 6 we set out on a road trip with the plan to pass through at least 13 states, visiting family and friends, and riding our bikes across Iowa in the annual RAGBRAI ride!

On day one of the road trip we explored Walnut Canyon, stood on a corner in Winslow Arizona, and biked 26 miles in Holbrook. IMG_7886Day two included the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert and 38 miles along the Paseo de Bosque bike trail in Albuquerque, which runs along the Rio Grande.  We took our time, enjoyed the scenery, and used each stop as an opportunity to continue training.

Day three of the road trip took us from Albuquerque to Amarillo. The highlights included a stop at the Cadillac Ranch and dinner at the famed Big Texan Steak Ranch. IMG_8028Yes, we spray painted the cars. No, we didn’t have the 72oz steak…but we watched two guys try. Kitsch all day long. Then we moved along to OKC for a quick visit with cousin Lori & Don & dogs Lucky & Lucy.

We couldn’t do a midwestern road trip without a stop in Kansas City to see Gary, Kristy, and the kids.  In one weekend, we biked, hit a Royals game, floated and slid at Schlitterbahn, and played pickleball at Chicken & Pickle. The best part was spending time with family, including Brynn, Hudson, and the dogs Nellie and Ruby.

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Brynn & Nellie

On the way to Nebraska we had a nice stop in Corning/Prescott/Creston Iowa to reconnect with the Freshour cousins. Thanks Terri Freshour Kretzinger & Dan, our gracious hosts, who sent us off with copious amounts of sweet corn 🌽 picked straight from the stalk. That fun was followed by two super fun days in Omaha with Brian, Heidi & the kids. We had lots of pool time, sno cones, and a little biking.

Then, it was time to head east towards the Mississippi and the start of our first RAGBRAI. Steve was ready, but I sure had doubts about a 400+ mile bike ride from the Missouri to the Mississppi Rivers…

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Just another routine day at the Tour de France

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Beaune, France

Today we had one more day in the Champagne region of France. The beautiful scenery of the vineyards and the French architecture never gets old. Steve rode about 58 miles today with the “fast” group while I took the bus into town to wait for the group and the Tour de France start. The ride was a challenging one, through the hills of the champagne region. One of our group members had a really bad wipe-out, so I was glad to be in the bus.

The Tour de France is like a traveling circus. Each day a new city hosts the departure, which means they must stage the arrival of the teams, their buses, and their cars along with the publicity caravan, the press, and the dignitaries.

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Riders at the start in Epernay

Roads are closed and large event venues are assembled each day just to host the departure of the race. Then, along the race route there are sprint zones and feed zones set up by roving crews that are always a step ahead of the peloton for the entire month of July. At the finish each day, usually in a town over 100 miles away from the starting line, the same thing happens in the town that hosts the arrival of the peloton. At each phase there are moving restaurants, souvenir stands, medical tents, and the like.

We’ve been so lucky because we travel in a bus that has VIP access. For each stage we’ve visited, we have been able to drive within a block or two of the race course. As you’ve seen on previous days sometimes that means we have to drive on the actual course, across the finish line, in order to find our parking space. Spectators along the way cheer and wave to us each day as if we are something special.

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Radioshack team car

This afternoon, after the departure of the riders in Epernay, we walked down the Avenue de Champagnes. This is a beautiful, famous street that is home to some of the most prestigious champagne houses in the world. We took the tour at Champagne de Castellana and then tasted the good stuff at the end. Yum! This was the perfect thing to do before our four hour bus ride south to Beaune.

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Stainless steel vats

We will spend this evening in Beaune and have planned a nice dinner with the group. We expect there will be plenty of good Burgundy wine since this is the capital of the Burgundy region of France.

This will be our last night in France as tomorrow afternoon we will begin the long journey home via Paris, Amsterdam, and Philadelphia. What an adventure we’ve had!

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Crossing the Finish Line

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Gembloux, Belgium

Well, we had another awesome day on the Tour de France. The actual race got underway for real today with stage one: Rotterdam to Brussels. We left Antwerp on bike, wearing our Custom Getaways “kits.” For you non-cyclists, a kit is the outfit bikers wear. We have jerseys and shorts that show our group name, as well as other sponsors. You’ll see the outfits in the pictures below.

Our group of twelve riders wove through the streets of Antwerp until we eventually arrived on the actual closed part of the course. The actual Tour peloton was behind us by about two hours but the tailgate-like parties were well underway all along the course. It was an amazing feeling to ride along cobbled roads, through cities like Mechelen and Edegem, with the old churches and landmarks all around us.

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The bikers

We were scheduled to cross the actual finish line in Brussels at 2:30, and because we had some detours in Antwerp, we were running behind schedule. Those of us who are slower riders were going to have a hard time making it on time, so three of us jumped into our van and were shuttled along the closed course via car while following the fastest riders. With 1km to go, we all joined together again on bike and crossed the finish line with crowds cheering all along the way. After podium photos we changed out of our cycling garb and into street clothes.

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On the podium

Today we had access and a tour of the “technical” area of the Tour de France. This means that we went behind the scenes and saw where the crews who produce the event work and live during the three week race. We also got up close and personal with the media area and we were able to walk right up to the sets and equipment that bring the Tour to over 100 countries across the globe. Broadcasters from China to Columbia and from the USA to Serbia were set up in this area.

From there we were escorted to the rail of the course, right at the finish line. Today’s race was a sprint finish because it was flat and straight for the last kilometer.

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Final sprint

After 223.5km the race came down to a sprint. And, because the final approach had some tricky turns coming into the final stretch, there were several crashes that took some riders down. Because of that, the entire peloton received the same time, which means the overall results (called the General Classification or GC) remained the same. Fabian Cancellara, my favorite, is still in yellow and Lance Armstrong is still in 4th place.

Because we had such special access we were able to take some very close up photos of the winners while they were giving press interviews following the race. See just how close in the photos of the yellow jersey, Fabian Cancellara, below.

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Fabian in yellow!

From there we had just a short walk to our bus and a 45 minute drive to our new hotel in Gembloux, which is just south of Brussels. Tomorrow should be another fun day, with access to the Start Village and another ride. Today Steve rode about 38 miles, while I did about 28 before jumping in the van. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!

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