2008 Blogs
Every bag of tricks needs to be twisty-tied closed at some point, so my summation of the Tour de l'Aude should be up on cyclingnews.com or on uswcdp.com within a few days or so.
Until then I can offer Tour de l'Aude in pictures, courtesy of Dave Drumm.
Daily lunch spread at Le Tivoli in Limoux
Trying to catch back on in the caravan
The nicest thing to see after a day of chasing
Cleaning up after a rainy day
The peloton heads toward the hills
The Pyrenees
Radio check before the start
Les Gendarmeries can be your best friend when they let you draft (or hold on)
Big cow
One of many starts
Rolling through town or village or city
The trip home was less than desirable. I woke up on Monday morning in Limoux with what seemed to be a ravenous hang over from endorphin overdrive. We boarded the bus which was supposed to take us on the hour-long commute from Limoux to the airport in Toulouse. Instead, the bus driver took the most cirtcuitous route possible and turned the drive into 2 1/2 hours. So Dave, Avery, Gina, and I all missed the first leg of our flight. Off to a a terific start, we all had to get new tickets. Gina and I lucked out and were able to get out of France that day, just a couple hours later. Dave had to wait til Tuesday, and Avery til Wednesday. So I was re-routed to LA, where the customs line was out of control, snaking around the room and out the door. Luckily a police officer fell for my pathetic mummy face, kindly asking "what the hell happened to you?!", and put me in the fast line. With only 30 minutes until my flight to Denver, I was supposed to pick up my bags and re-check them. It was even more of a zoo in baggage claim, so I just forgot my bags and ran to the gate. The design of the airport is asinine, and not at all conducive to being in a rush. But, eventually, after being stared at for 24 hours as if there was something wrong with me, I made it back to the crisp rocky mountain air of Colorado.
The stitches came out of my lip yesterday and it's healing well. Of course, this is thanks to Chellie. She has been nursing me back to life since I came home five days ago. I'm finally feeling like my mind is in my head and my head is attached to my body and my body is touching the ground and the ground is in contact with the earth.
Until then I can offer Tour de l'Aude in pictures, courtesy of Dave Drumm.
Trying to catch back on in the caravan
The nicest thing to see after a day of chasing
Cleaning up after a rainy day
The peloton heads toward the hills
The Pyrenees
Radio check before the start
Les Gendarmeries can be your best friend when they let you draft (or hold on)
Big cow
One of many starts
Rolling through town or village or city
The trip home was less than desirable. I woke up on Monday morning in Limoux with what seemed to be a ravenous hang over from endorphin overdrive. We boarded the bus which was supposed to take us on the hour-long commute from Limoux to the airport in Toulouse. Instead, the bus driver took the most cirtcuitous route possible and turned the drive into 2 1/2 hours. So Dave, Avery, Gina, and I all missed the first leg of our flight. Off to a a terific start, we all had to get new tickets. Gina and I lucked out and were able to get out of France that day, just a couple hours later. Dave had to wait til Tuesday, and Avery til Wednesday. So I was re-routed to LA, where the customs line was out of control, snaking around the room and out the door. Luckily a police officer fell for my pathetic mummy face, kindly asking "what the hell happened to you?!", and put me in the fast line. With only 30 minutes until my flight to Denver, I was supposed to pick up my bags and re-check them. It was even more of a zoo in baggage claim, so I just forgot my bags and ran to the gate. The design of the airport is asinine, and not at all conducive to being in a rush. But, eventually, after being stared at for 24 hours as if there was something wrong with me, I made it back to the crisp rocky mountain air of Colorado.
The stitches came out of my lip yesterday and it's healing well. Of course, this is thanks to Chellie. She has been nursing me back to life since I came home five days ago. I'm finally feeling like my mind is in my head and my head is attached to my body and my body is touching the ground and the ground is in contact with the earth.