France 2016—Lessons Learned

I'm back in Texas.  It's nice to be home, especially after living most of the last three months out of a suitcase.  Here's how the trip went.

Living out of a suitcase is tiring.  First there was a trip to visit family at the end of May/beginning of June.  Then the Harvard summer course and then France with only three days at home in between the two.  On top of this, I made a weekend trip from Boston to Sun Valley for Margaret's and Ted's wedding.  Making the France trip as long as possible seemed like a good idea six months ago, but I was ready to come home about a week ago.  I couldn't wait to get on the plane this morning.  If I am not thinking about this when I start planning France 2017, will someone please remind me.

Ambition often exceeds ability.  I have probably done the Hautacam climb about a half dozen times now, so I know what to expect.  Of course six times over the course of several years is nothing when you compare it to Paddy Sweeney's 100 times in a single year.  Each time that I have done this climb, it has been the first climb of the day and usually the only climb of the day.  As I mentioned in the last post, Hautacam is a hard climb.  People who have done other climbs first (such as the Tourmalet), have regretted tacking on Hautacam as an extra climb.  Two people from Denver did the Tourmalet-Hautacam double this summer.  Halfway up Hautacam, Brian was ready to quit but Nancy, who is an incredibly strong climber, soldiered on.  Brian finally joined Nancy on top.  Back at the Pyrénées Cycling Lodge in Saint Savin, Nancy admitted that the Hautacam was the hardest climb that she had ever done.  Brian's comment—"I will pay anyone 100 euros if they will ride with her tomorrow."  

Never get between Rebel and the garbage truck.  I absolutely adore French dogs.  Dogs in East Texas make it their mission to chase cyclists with a vengeance, but I have yet to be chased by a dog in France.  Most lie in the middle of the road and only lift their head to make sure that you will not run over them.  This brings me to Rex and Rebel.  Olive and Paddy now have two dogs at the Pyrénées Cycling Lodge.  Rex and Rebel are rescue dogs.  Originally, I think they were supposed to be outdoor dogs, but now they sleep inside.  If they had their way, I am sure that they would be sleeping on Sean's bed.  Sean is Olive and Paddy's 6 year-old son.

These dogs are wonderful.  Sean and Rex are especially inseparable.  The dogs are great with the guests too.  In general, they don't bark at strangers or people who are passing by, including cyclists.  The exception is Rebel with either scooters or the garbage truck.  He will chase either the entire length of the yard (he generally cannot get over the fence).  We saw Rebel go after the garbage truck a few weeks ago.  He ran through one of the plastic lawn chairs shattering it into about 10 pieces.  The chair didn't slow him down a bit.  By the way, what do you do with a garbage truck once you catch it?  Below is a photo of Rex at the dining room window, which he believes is his drive-through window.  Rex has yet to get a handout, but he keeps hoping.

Avoid the Italian Alps and the Dolomites in July and August.  See my last post.  Both the Italian Alps and the Dolomites are a must visit for cyclists.  Wait until September after European vacation time is over.

Five weeks of riding in the mountains will tire you out.  Although I have learned this lesson from past summers and included plenty of rest days and recovery rides this year, five weeks is a long time to be riding in the mountains.  My last ride this summer was up Passo Pordoi in the Dolomites on Sunday.  The climb isn't too difficult from Arabba, but I realized that my legs were just shot on the way up. I am taking most of this week and next off.  The profile of Passo Pordoi is below.

Not being able to communicate is stressful and tiring.  I know enough French to get around in France, but my Italian is nonexistent.  On the drive back to Geneva from the Dolomites on Tuesday, I made the usual stop at customs on the Austrian-Swiss border.  The customs officer addressed me in French, and it was so relaxing to understand what someone was saying again.

I still hate tunnels.  I am terrified of riding in a tunnel because every car sounds like a freight train.  I don't like driving through them either if they are long, and Europe has some long tunnels.  On the way to Italy I passed through the Fréjus Tunnel (8.0 miles and the world's tenth longest road tunnel.  On the way back through Austria, it was the Alberg Tunnel (8.7 miles and the world's sixth longest tunnel).  Tunnels under 5 kilometers don't spook me, but these two tunnels are just too long to be underground.  There is too much time to think about all of the bad things that could happen.  It didn't help to see that the French army was guarding the entrance to the Fréjus tunnel—not totally unexpected considering recent events.