BS Bike Adventures

Sweet home Minnesota

2010-10-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

A long plane trip across the ocean and we are once again back in the good ole USA!

We are at a loss on how to word our last post. This trip has been so wonderful and filled with great memories of the places we visited, the amazing beauty that we saw, and the wonderful people and new friends that we met.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us throughout the summer. To all of those new friends we met throughout our journey, our home is open to you. We would love to have an oportunity to return the hospitality that you shared with us while we were in your country. We hope that someday we can show you the wonders of the United States.

So until our next adventure.............

life is not measured by the

number of breaths we take

but by the number of moments

that take our breath away

Bob & Sherry

Coming home!

2010-09-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

It is with mixed emotions that we let you know that we are coming home tomorrow! Tuesday, Sept 28th. Ariving in Minneapolis at 6:17 PM.

We are both very excited to be home with our families and friends, but we will miss this daily adventure.

We took one last swim today in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. It was a bright, blue sky day here in Nice France and about 70 degrees with a light wind. A perfect last day at the beach.

Then this afternoon we got serious. We had to break the bikes down and box them up. We took them out in front of the hotel and spent about 2 hours with stuff scattered all over. Yup, the hillbilly's are still here in Nice. But we didn't care and hardly noticed people staring at us!! But we got it done! We are all packed up and ready for the taxi at 7:00 AM Nice time tomorrow.

Tonight we are going back into the heart of Nice for a nice fairwell dinner.

See you all soon and thanks for all the support we had back home to make this trip such a wonderful experience for both of us.

Nice!

2010-09-24T02:11:00.000-07:00

It's still a little hard to believe that we have made it to Nice. It was certainly not in our plans to get here yesterday but as we have said for the past 3 months "that is why it is called adventure cycling"

Yesterday we had a very lazy morning and didn't even start cycling until 11:00. Before we even made it 2 miles we stopped to change a flat tire, then stopped about a mile later to change another flat tire! But who can complain when you have to stop at such a beautiful place to change a tire.

Our quitet lives along the italian coast came to a horn honking, scooter buzzing, motocycle roaring halt the closer we got to the French border. Monte Carlo and Monaco are without a doubt very beautiful places to see. Our first real view came as we rounded a corner and below was Monte Carlo bay!! It was filled and I mean filled with the most amazing private yachts!!! And not just average yachts. I'm talkin 4 deck tall yachts! Do you think we were a little out of place riding on our bicycles? I am sure they thought we were the Beverly Hillbilly's coming to town.

It was a little stressful maneuvering through all the traffic and pedestrians. We just kept pedaling trying to find a cute little village to stop in.............before we knew it we were in Nice and we came to the realization that quiet and cute were no longer on the ittinery.

So here we are and lucky for us our cycling karma is holding up. We found a lovely little B&B right in the heart of Nice for a decent price and it is on a very quiet street! Last night while walking to dinner we found a box in the trash that will work perfectly for boxing up one of the bikes! So not only have the Beverly Hillbilly's come to Nice but we are already digging through the trash!

Today we are off to explore the area. Check back later for more adventures from the Bobby & Sherry show

The picture above is from our last night in Italy! Thank you Italy for showing us a wonderful time!

Bob & Sherry

Italian Riviera

2010-09-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

We are in a little town called Alassio, Italy today not doing any biking. Instead we chose to stay in a little hotel by the sea and swim in the Mediterraen sea and lay in the sun and smoke a cigar and drink cold beer! Did I tell you how good life is lately???

We left the Cinque Terre and biked over to Portofino. It was beautiful and we stayed in the town next to it, Santa Margherita at a great little hotel. The next morning we biked back into Portofino and then headed back down the coast. We met another biker, Alberto from Genoa who rode with us back to Genoa and gave us some history of the area and his love of Genoa. We spent some time in Genoa before moving on down the coast where we stayed in another small cute town on the sea called Verazze and then yesterday into Allassio. The coast is beautiful and the drivers continue to be excellent.

We only have a week left and we are already within 100k of Nice where we will fly home from. Tomorrow we will push closer to France but will probably spend one more night in Italy. Then it will be into Monte Carlo, Monaco and then finally into Nice.

We are taking it very slowly now and enjoying each moment before we are back to reality!!!

See you all soon!

Bob and Sherry

Cinque Terre

2010-09-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

The last week has been simply amazing! It was fun and a little goofy seeing the Tower of Pisa. Of course we had to do all the funny tourist pictures like holding up the tower!!! Cycling to the Cinque Terre was a lot of fun as we had over 20miles of nothing but flat roads right along the beach and to make it even better the sun was shinning and the wind was at our backs! Once we got to the mountains it was equally as fun and beautiful. The hills and cliffs remined us a lot of the Pacific Coast but not nearly as rugged.

The Cinque Terre is certainly beautiful and we have taken a few days off of the bikes to really explore the area. It is a bit more touristy and busy than we expected but we have managed to make an adventure of it. We spent our first night in the village of Monterosa and woke to heavy rains! The room we were in was only available for the one night so we had to vacate it and adventure out into the elements. A train which runs right through all of the towns along the cinque terre made it a little easier for us to stay somewhat dry. A mad dash to the train station and we were on to the village of Levanto.

This was an excellent find for us! We found a great little hotel to stay in that is right in the heart of the village and we are just a short walk from the train station. For about 5£ a day you can ride the trains between each of the towns along the cinque terre as often as you want. By the afternoon the rain had slowed enough that we took the train to Riomaggiore (a 20min ride) and hiked the Cinque Terre trail from there to Carniglia which is the 3rd village. It was very beautiful and peaceful. The views are absolutely amazing and once again the pictures just do not do it justice!

There are several american couples who are staying in the same hotel and we have made lots of new friends. It is fun to hear other peoples adventures and get tips on the different places to see and things to do. Tonight we are all meeting on the hotel balcony to share wine and more stories!

The rain continued today and the forecast looks the same for tomorrow but we need to get going since our departure date is getting closer and closer each day. We think we are about 275miles from Nice and we have a lot to see between here and there!

Bob has a knee that is giving him some problems. Getting on and off the trains with the bikes is always an adventure and usually envolves carrying them up and down stairs. We think he probably hurt it doing just that. Hopefully the days rest today will help and he'll be back in tip top sherpa shape by tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to my dad, Tom and to My daughter-in-law Chauncey!

Sherry & Bob

Florence

2010-09-14T00:24:00.000-07:00

The cycling from Castelnuovo to Florence was one of the most beautiful and fun days of cycling that we have had on this trip. Lots of long gradual hills which of course are then followed by long gradual desents. For a long stretch we were cycling on the same route as a sanctioned cycling race. Thankfully they were riding in the oposite direction. But it was very excitting to see the pro's cycle by. They were very excitted to see us also and gave us lots of thumbs up and yelled "Allez, Allez" which we think is a good thing.

The Tuscan country side is much more varried than you would see in Napa. It is covered with a mix of vines, olive groves, sunflowers, and cypress trees. And the houses themselves are just as beautiful as the surroundings. The roads throughout Italy have been ideal for cycling! The drivers continue to be very courteous and even on the busy streets they slow down and move over to alow us plenty of room.

Our first view of Florence came as we cycled around a corner and were greeted with the HUGE statue of "DAVID" and there was beautiful Florence stretched out in the valley below. Absolutely amazing, it litterally took our breath away!

We spent much of the day in Florence exploring its wonders but because it is so big we chose not to stay there. We spent a few hours trying to find our way out of the city. If you believe that St. Paul was designed by a drunk Irishman well that is nothing compared to roads we encountered trying to get out of Florence. They must have been designed by a large group of very drunk italians! We were treated to lovely views of the city dump and a few shanty towns as we wove our way up down around and through the maze. It never ceases to amaze me how good Bob's navigational skills are. Just when I am sure we are lost and feeeling very much like a little white mouse in a maze who will never find its way out, wala! we are suddenly on the road we want to be on and headed in the right direction.

Last night we stopped in a small town about 50miles from Pisa. We found a room in a small hotel just as the rain began to POUR down! This morning we are greeted with beautiful clear blue skies and should have no problem making it to Pisa!!

More pictures are downloaded!!!

Bob & Sherry

Under the Tuscan Sun

2010-09-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

This is what bike touring is all about!! Seeing something new everyday and so often being just simply blown away by the beauty this world has to offer.

These last several days have been such a treat for us. We usually don't know what roads we are going to take until we start! We have a general feel for the direction but then we just go with the flow. Usually we ask someone for their advice on what towns are pretty and then just start cycling. Last night we stayed in Cortona which is where ¨Under the Tuscan Sun¨ was filmed. Our hotel was built starting in 300 BC!! It of course was at the top of a HUGE hill but it was worth it! Today we cycled thru the Tuscany hills and are in a small B and B in a small town that is so relaxing you just want to stay here forever. This original part of this home was started in 1200.

The Italian people have been as wonderful as the scenery. The drivers are curtious and the people are extremely helpful everywhere we go. The other bicyclers all wave, even the constuction people cheer us on. And they all seem happy and it is contagious.

Right this very moment we are enjoying fresh bread, local cheese that is to die for, local wine that is to die for, and fixing a homecooked meal with fresh local pasta and enjoying the Tuscany country side.

Okay, have I mentioned that we are happy!!!

Hope all of you have a weekend that is both relaxing and fullfilling.

Bob and Sherry

Italy!!!

2010-09-08T07:25:00.001-07:00

Yes we are in Italy. Croatia island hopping was nice but we really did not want to go back to the Dalmatian coast and cycle on those roads. Just too much traffic and stress so we took an overnight ferry from Zadar, Croatia to Ancona, Italy.

The ferry to Zadar was a bit scary. Well not the actual Ferry, it was the getting in at10;40 PM at a Port 3 miles from the town!!! It was errie getting off the ferry and it being pitch dark in the middle of no where! We cycled toward town with as much lighting on us as we could. We saw signs for hotels and headed that way. But, we came across a camp ground and decided to set up camp. 1 hour later it was pouring rain but we were tucked away in the tent. Luckily it didn't start earlier or we would have had a terrible time getting to town.

We arrived in Ancona yesterday morning at 7am! Yikes we haven't been cycling that early this entire trip.

Italy is fabulous!!! Ancona is a farily large city and we really only spent enough time there to grab a bite to eat and then find a way out of town. But it is a very pretty city and the italian citizens that we asked for help from were very helpful and friendly.

Yesterday we rode 50miles to the town Arcevia which is a medival town at the very tip top of very steep hill as most medival towns are. I guess thats how Lords kept and eye on their kingdom and the little people.

Today we are in Gubbio another medival town. This town is an amazing find for us. We just looked at our map a tried to find a good route through the mountains to get to Tuscany. But little did we know that the route we chose would take us through some of the most beautiful and amazing little villages. The entire day we have been in awe of the surrounding beauty. When we rode in to Gubbio our jaws dorpped! It is beyond description. We are staying in the very center of the village in a camere (room for rent in italia) which is adorable. We are exploring the village and around every corner we are greeted with something beautiful and awe inspiring.

We are headed to Tuscany area and should get there by the weekend. The weather is a bit unsettled and we are having to dodge the rain but the weekend is supposed to be sunny and 80!

Downloading some pics so check them out!

Island hoping in Croatia

2010-09-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is the Croatia we dreamed of. Yesterday morning we woke up to beautiful skies and rode to the ferry that would transport us to the Island of Cres, Croatia. From the moment we got off the ferry we have been surrounded by beautiful mediteranean landscape and amazing beautiful blue ocean. It seems that no matter what direction you look there is something that takes your breath away.

We have spent the last two nights staying in a nice little Sobe (room for rent) in the village of Cres on the island of Cres. Today we slept in until almost 10:00! We couldn't believe it when we finally woke up and looked at the clock. We went for a short bike ride around the bay and found a beautiful pebble beach where we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon relaxing in the warm sun. The village is very lovely and since we are at the end of the busy season it is not overly crowded. After a relaxing day at the beach we stopped in a cafe for fried calamari and a cold glass of white wine. Does it get any better than this?

Tomorrow we are back on the bikes and headed further south to the end of Cres Island where we are told there is a bridge that we can cross to the island of Losinj. Losinj is a very small island, only 15km long but we've been told that it has a lovely little village at its southern end that is a must see. So that is our destination tomorrow. It looks to be about a 45mile ride but will require a lot of climbing. But the views of the ocean as we climb to the top of these islands is so incredible it doesn't even feel like work.

Be sure to take a look at the new batch of pictures!

By Tuesday we will be in Italy.........

Bob & Sherry

Pula, Croatia

2010-08-31T23:55:00.000-07:00

Hello from Croatia,

We have been here for two days now and are at the bottom of the Istria pennisula. So far we have mixed feelings about this country. The Adriatic sea is still beautiful but we feel like we are in a third world country. It is definitely different than anywhere else we have been in Europe. The roads are very narrow and the Croatian's drive like maniacs, and there aren't very many roads to even choose from. We did go thru some beautiful little towns along the sea yesterday but last night we spent in Pula. We heard they had a colliseum that was still intact so we wanted to see it. We saw it and then tried to find lodgeing in this large poor rundown town! We ended up finding a nice hotel slightly out of town on the sea just before dark!

Today, we are going to try to get to a town to catch a ferry across to the island of Cres. We are trying to determine what road to take as we are only seeing busy roads at this point. Wish us luck today on our journey!!!

Hopefully we will have better roads and a better outlook on Croatia as the days go by.

Our goal is to explore the Islands of Cres and Krk, then back to the coast down to a city called Zadar where we will catch an overnight ferry to Italy.

Bob and Sherry

Sherry's Birthday is Monday, August 30th!!!

2010-08-29T09:26:00.001-07:00

It is Sunday night and we are having a glass of wine and gazing at the sea! We had an absolutely beautiful day here in Piran Slovenia. Tomorrow, I am taking Sherry to Croatia for her birthday!! I am planning on pulling her trailer tomorrow for her birthday. We will see how that goes! I think we are within 5 miles of the Croatian border. We can acually see both Croatia and Italy from where we are sitting.

She wants to find a deserted beach in Croatia tomorrow and swim the Adriatic sea in her birthday suit,,,, smile!

Just wanted to let everyone know that it is Sherry's big day on Monday!

Slovenia!!!!

2010-08-28T04:07:00.000-07:00

We love Slovenia!! We had no expectations for Slovenia but we thought that it would be a very 3rd world like country. Boy were we surprised!! Our first night we spent in Ljubljana in a Sobe (that's slovenian for room for rent) right in the heart of the ancient city. A river runs through the center of town and all along each side there are little restaurants and coffee shops/bars. It was so lovely and we really enjoyed walking along the river, watching the people and listening to music. The Slovenian food and wine are wonderful. We had an amazing meal that we are not sure exactly what it was but it was very very yummy. And if you can believe this the wine was only 0.75 euro a glass.

We left Ljubljana and rode 100km to a littlle town just outside of Koper where we stayed in another Sobe and had another amazing dinner. We ate and drank like kings and the total bill came to £14!

We are now in the seaside village of Piran, Slovenia. Slovenia only has 40km of coastline and we NEVER thought that this is where we would ever spend anytime. We thought it would just be a small country that we had to ride through to get to Croatia. We are enjoying Slovenia and the people so much that we are not ready to leave. We found a lovely furnished apartment for £60 a day and are staying here until Monday. We have been taking long walks along the Adriatic Sea, swimming in the clear cool waters. It is just mind boggling when we think about where we are. Sherry Osloond from Reno,NV and Bobby Nesbitt form Austin MN sitting on a beach in Slovenia on the Adriatic Sea. Heck I don't think we even knew where the Adriatic Sea was before we started this trip.

It is truly amazing and we are appreciating everyday and every experience.

We rode a train from Salsburg to Ljubljana and met a young lady from Croatia who was just coming back home from 6 months in Australia. She gave us a little history on the old Yugoslavia and the new countries that were created in its breakup. Slovenia being one of them. She said there was a joke in Croatia q Slovenia could open an umbrela and one part would reach Austria and the other Croatia. We are finding it a bit bigger and very interesting and enjoying what it has to offer. Just about everyone speaks english, they have good wine and an awesome beer cald Lasko. The Dark Lasko is very good!!!

We are spending a little time on the beach here before moving on down the coast to Croatia in a couple of days.

The Alps are REALLY REALLY BIG

2010-08-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Boy oh boy, the Swiss Alps are big and unforgiving! It has been a tough but beautiful couple of weeks. From cycling along rivers to cycling over HUGE mountains. The Swiss Alps proved to be a much more daunting than expected. (at least for Sherry)

Where do we begin.....the day we left Bad Ragaz we knew that we had a big day of mountains ahead of us. The sky was cloudy but somewhat dry, just an occational sprinkle. The route seemed fairly easy to follow and we were enjoying the beauty of the surrounding mountains. Several short but very steep hills later the route (Swiss Nat'l route #6) changed to an unpaved road. Normally not such a problem but with 2 weeks of rain the surface was less than accomodating for the touring bikes. But the alternative was the busy autoroute with cars going 80miles an hour.

Bob was throughly enjoying the challenge but as the day went on and the hills got steeper I grew weary. One hill was so steep that Bob had to push his bike up. It was so steep that I had to wait for Bob to come back and help me push my bike up to the top.

Close to the top we came to Klosters Platz which is where we put our bikes on a train to take us through the mountain! The mountain is so steep at that point that they just punched a hole right through it. We were told that on the otherside it would be all downhill to Innsbruck!

They lied!!!!! We got off the train and were greeted with yet another big climb. With the rain coming down and the day growing short it proved to be just too much for me. We finally made it to the little mountain village of Guarda only to be faced with cobblestone streets and even steeper roads! I had a melt down right in the middle of climbing up main street. Poor Bob he didn't know what to do. I made it to the top of the hill parked my bike and walked over to a field and had a good old fashion cry. Bob in the mean time went to the first chambers he saw and booked us a room!

A nice warm bath a glass of wine, and a short walk in the mountain meadow and all was better. We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant in town and slept well.

The morning got off to an interesting start. We locked ourselves out of our room. Now normally that would not be a big problem. Well the chambers we were staying in was built in 1740! The lock on the door was probably from the 1800's one of those big skeleton type keys and it was the ONLY key! A locksmith had to be called and he had to go back to his shop to make a special tool to get the door open. ARGH! And of course the owner spoke NO english in fact she only spoke Romansch which is kinda like German but a little different.

So this is the neat part of the story. Here we are in this really little village at the top of the Swiss Alps and we hear about this woman who was born there who moved to Reno, Nevada as a child but had moved back and runs the tourist office in the next village. So I got her number from the man at the restaurant. I called her, she talked to the chambers owner for us and explained that we were NOT going to pay for the locksmith and that it was foolish for her not to have a spare key or to at least have a sign on the door explaining the key situation! All worked out well we got into the room (finally) and then cycled to the next Village of Ardez where we met Theresa Grey from Reno, Nevada. She invited us to her home for coffee. When she took us out to her deck to sit and relax I was just amazed to see dragonfly ornaments decorating the deck. It was truly an amazing moment for me. For those of you who don,t know, dragonfly's are a special symbol for me and let me know that I am being watched over by a very special angel. So to find a woman from Reno in the middle of the Swiss Alps and she too has a special understanding of dragonfly's was pretty special!

From that day forward we have been blessed with warmer weather and sunnier skies. Innsbruck was really beautiful and very cool to see all the stuff from the olympics.

So how did we end up in Germany and then Salzburg? Well once in Innsbruck we headed east towards Slovenia. We started climbing up a really really steep mtn. About halfway up we stopped and asked ourselves if we really wanted to be doing this agian. The answer was no! So we turned around and returned to the Inns River where we could cycle along the bike path along the Inns River with the sun shinning and a gradual downhill grade. We stayed on the Inns for the next 2 days and found ourselves in Rosenheim, Germany. In the Bavarian region of Germany it is surrounded by mountains but we found a bike route through a valley and over just a few smaller mountains that would take us to Salzburg. We enjoyed one night in Germany and then rode to back to Austria where we are now.

We had met other cycle tourists who mentioned that Salzburg is a beautiful city. They were right! It is the birthplace and home of Mozart. Also the place of the story of the Von Trapp family from the sound of music. We have spent the last 2 days enjoying staying in a hotel and exploring all that Salzburg has to offer. Yesterday we took a cable car to the 1853m ummit of Untersberg Mtn. Talk about feeling like your on top of the world! We visited Mozarts home, rode the oldest Funicular in Austria (built in 1892) to Hoensalzburg Fortress. Today we visited the Abbe where Maria Von Trapp lived. This was really amazing. The Abbe is not open to the public because it remains an active abbe but the church was open. When we went in the church we just happen to be there at the same time the nuns were singing their daily chants! It was truly a wonderful experience and gave me goose bumps.

Tomorrow we take a train to Ljubljana, Slovenia! From that point in Slovenia it should only take us a few good riding days to get to Croatia. It is all very exciting and we are looking forward to this next adventure in what has already been truly an amazing trip.

Bob & Sherry

P.S. We down loaded many new pictures!!!!!

Innsbruck, Austria

2010-08-20T02:34:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say we are in Austria and we are well. It has been 11 days of rain but the sun seems to be out for a few days. Internet access is spotty at best so we will update when we have more time. All is good and we are definately having an adventure!

Hello from Heidi land!!

2010-08-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Switzerland. We have been here for about a week now.

This is a beautiful country, the scenery is amazing. We wish we could see more of it with blue skies though. It was beautiful the first day in Switzerland, and that was it. It has been cool and rainy everyday since!!! No good when you live in a tent and travel by bike!!

We crossed Switzerland from the southwest to the northeast and are now working on getting into Austria tomorrow with a little climbing in our future. We have had some awesome campgrounds on lakes and rivers and a couple other very nice ones under a apple tree and several just in the middle of caravans. They have all been quiet though so we have really enjoyed that. No singing Y M C A in the middle of the night like we had in France one night!!

The country is so different from France. Very similar to the U.S. in many ways. The one thing we have noticed though is that the people are not very outgoing. They never smile, rarely even look at you. They seem so un-happy. Vanessa told me before we left that Switzerland was one of the happiest countries, I think not. They do appear to have a lot, nice houses, nice cars, beautiful scenery, but then why not smile, just once in a while. It may be a cultural thing as when we have been lucky enough to talk 1 on 1 with them they slowly come out of their shells and liven up. Just no random smiles.

Other than the people though, the country is beautiful. We have biked thru mountains, vineyards and farms and big cities and camped next to castles. The biking is amazing, almost entirely on specific bike or rollerblade trails. Today we biked from lake Bodensee to Bad Ragaz all of it on a paved trail next to the Rhein river in a valley surrounded by the mountains. We biked by Germany and Lichtenstien but didnt cross the river to actually set foot in either. I am downloading pictures now so I hope you can see these mountains. They are incredible, even in the rain!!!

This area is where the story of Heidi came from. Tomorrow we will bike by the Heidi House and village. Not sure what to expect!! But, you can imagine the views of little towns in the green hills of very large moutains.

Tonight we are going to treat ourselves to a dip in the hot springs. This area is also famous for its mineral baths. These waters are supposed to have healing powers, we both agree that our bodies need some healing!!!

Today is also a big day as we have completed out 7th week!!! Hard to believe! We only have a month and a half left and feel like there is so much more that we want to see!!

Switzerland!!!

2010-08-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Hello! It has been a few days and several miles since you have heard from us. Much has happend and many beautiful places have been visited.

Lyon will go down as oneof our favorite bigger cities in France. If you are going to visit France we strongly advise you to just skip Paris. Lyon is beautiful. We treated ourselves to a really nice dinner which turned out to be one of the best meals we both have ever had! That's all we'll say about Lyon, you can check out the pictures.

A train ride from Lyon to Aix Les Bains where we got back to the business of cycling. Now back in the mountains we were treated with beautiful views of massive mountains and beautiful valley's as our route took us along the Rhone River on our way to Switwerland.

We arrived in Switzerland yesterday. Geneve is a very big and very busy chaotic city. We spent just enough time there to figure a way out! Once out of the city the views of the lake with the surrounding mountains have held us captive. We camped within feet of the lake last night. We had an unobstructed view of the lake and Mont Blanc! I can't even finf the words to describe how breathtaking it was. The view of the glacial Mont Blanc with the auqa green clear waters of Lake Geneve in the foreground were simply beautiful. We spent the evening at our campsite and never een went into town!

Today we are making our way north along the lake towards Lausanne. At this moment we have decided to change our plans a little. We will take a national bike route from Lake Geneve to Olm, Germany. In Olm we will ride along the Danube River to Austria!

Bob here, switwerland rocks!! What a beautiful country. We are updating our blog today at a little cafe next to Lake Genveva qbout 15 feet from the lake. It is like Lake Minnetonka or Lake Tahoe on steriods! We have a bike bath that is taking us along the lake past beautiful homes and incredible views. Life is very good.

We visited a little town just before this town where a gentleman insisted we stop and see. He and his wife gave us a guided tour of the little town and of the castle. Life is good.

It is another beautiful day today and we have nothing but time to enjoy! Life is good.

Bob and Sherry

Wind Wind Wind

2010-08-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

We left Montpellier yesterday morning with Dalia and her daughter, Adalia riding along with us for part of the journey. Adalia is only 11years old and she rode 22miles with us!!! She did fabulous!!! They wanted to see what it was like to travel via the bicycle and they certainly got a taste of it. We usually get lost at least once a day but in the 22 miles that they rode with us we went in more circles and did more back tracking than is usual. But they were troopers and stuck with it. We said our goodbyes at 3pm that day and then set our sights on St. Gilles.

We contiunues to struggle with both the winds and poor maps. Getting lost more times than we care to even mention. But we finally made it to our destination at 7:30 that night. A very long day but it was also some of the more beautiful roads that we had been on. We were on many very small country roads that wove in and around the vinyards. And despite the winds the skies were beautiful blue and we enjoyed the journey.

We met a lovely cycling couple from Holland that were staying in the same campground. They shared there amazing maps with us!! So when we woke up yesterday morning we new exactly where we were going and more importantly how to get there. The winds were once again blowing in from the North at about 30MPH and since we were heading due North it was another long day in the saddle. 45miles to Avginon!

Today we are headed towards Lyon. It will take us a few days to get there especially with the winds which blew ALL night and are extimated to be 30-40MPH today. We really would like to make it to Switzerland by early next week so we are just going to trudge on and hopefully the winds will not continue for too many more days.

Our Holland friends, Ben & Cory are showing Bob the map for the route to Lyon. I know se have said this before but Hollanders are very nice people, extremely well educated, most speak several languages, and they have the BEST cycling maps!!!

More pictures should be coming soon.

Bob & Sherry

Montpellier

2010-08-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

After spending a glorious day on the beaches of Sete yesterday we were ready to get back on the road and head for Montpellier this morning.

It rained cats, dogs, kittens, and puppies all night long but this morning although the skies looked foreboding, for the time being they were dry. We left Sete at 11:00 and an hour later we had cycled 9 miles and were almost back were we had started from. Getting lost seemed to be the key issue today.

But we did finally make it to a canal that looked on the map like it would take us to Montpellier. Which eventually it did. However since it had rained all night long things were a little soggy and at times it was quite the adventure just trying to keep the bikes going straight. At one point Bob's bike sunk into the mud about 6 inches. What a mess. But we did make it to Montpellier where we met up with Sherry's friend Dalia and her daughter.

We have spent a wonderful afternoon visiting with Dalia and her daughter, Adalia. They fixed us a traditional French dinner which we lingered over and had good conversation. Tomorrow they are going to show us their city via the bikes!

Hopefully at some point we will find a store to purchase a new camera. The sights have been beautiful and we would love to share them with you.

Good Night
Sherry & Bob

Sete

2010-07-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been an adventurous few days since last we updated. Today we find ourselves in the little sea side village of Sete. Three years ago we road through Sete and found it to be absolutely darling but on that trip all we did was stop to eat lunch on the cliffs overlooking the meditierranian. But this trip we knew we wanted to stay longer.

But how did we get here.....A wonderful ride down down down out of the pyreenes to the town of Lourdes where we hopped the first train to the coast! We arrived in Perpignan at 7:30pm rode around, got lost, found our way to the center ville and a really great hotel. Went to a very late dinner in the historic area. Probably our best meal at a restaurant this trip! Had ice cream at 11:30 qt this adorable sidewalk cafe and then back to the hotel where we fell into bed and a very restful night of sleep.

The following two days consisted of cycling IN TO the most incredible winds. At times it was all we could do to keep the bikes upright, but we were determined to make it to the ocean! We made it to Cap De Adge yesterday but it was a very long day. 67miles of head winds, very busy roads, canals that were like cycling on a donkey trail, and finally the old city of Adge. As I said, it was a very long day in the saddle and arriving into town that late in the day, tired, hungry, and just a little cranky we checked into a hotel!

A great little town is Adge! Our room overlooked the town center and live music filled the air. When we opened our window it was like having box seats to our own personal concert. A great dinner and we retired to bed.

This morning we set our sights on Sete. An easy 20 miles down the coast with the wind at our backs!!!! We finally made it around the bend so the wind would be at our backs!

No camping in Sete but we found a reasonable hotel right on the water and walking distance to all the happening areas of town. The beaches here are so beautiful and the water is emerald green. The contrast of the beautiful white sail boats against the green of the water is surreal.

We spent the afternoon laying by the pool for just a short time and then it was off the the Lavarie. (thats french for laundry mat) It feels soooooo good to have the laundry done. It had been over 5 days since we were able to do any laundry. Did I mention that we each only have 3 days worth of cycling clothes. The past 2 days have not been pretty!

But now the laundry is clean and we are in an absolutely beautiful area with nothing but blue skies in the forecast with mild winds. We will be at the beach tomorrow for a much needed and well deserved day relaxing in the sunshine and doing absolutely nothing!

Oh I almost forgot. Our camera died. ARGH!! So until we buy a new camera no new pictures. We will get those that we do have downloaded but until we get to a bigger town we won't be able to purchase anything. We should be in Montplier in 2 days and hopefully will pick one up then. Sherry has a friend that lives in Montplier that we will be visiting.

It is late and Bob is already sound asleeep so I too will say goodnight. Sweet dreams to all of you!

Sherry and a sleeping Bob

Col Du Tourmalet

2010-07-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful sunny afternoon in the Pyreenes. We are enjoying a well deserved cold beer as we just finished cycling the grand daddy of them all the Col Du Tourmalet!!!

12 miles up and 4500ft of elevation gain!

But let me back up two days to Sunday. We left our wonderful little chambers and set our sights on getting to the base of the Col Du Soulor. Well the plan changed slightly. Once we finally made it to the base of the Col we had cycled 30miles but felt good so we decided to go halfway up the Col to a little town that we were told had a nice Gite. So up up up we went. The town was further up than we expected and by the time we finally got there it was only 6milesto the top.So we just kept on going......up up up up. By the time we finished the day we had cycled 55miles and 5750 feet of elevation gain!!!! And all of this with all of our gear. I have to say that climbing the Col was by far the most difficult thing I have EVER done. Bob was amazing as usual but even he said that it was probably the hardest climb he had ever done also.

But the views were amazing!!!! When we had less than 1KM from the top we had a great white Pyreenes dog made us stop so he could bring his heard of sheep across the road. It was truly magical!!!

Yesterday we rode to the town of St Sauveur at the base of the Col Du Tourmalet. This morning we woke to beautiful blue skies! We cycled to the top of the Col without any of our gear. After climbing the Col Du Soulor with all of our gear this climb was pure enjoyment! The entire climb was filled with beauty and the sounds of cow/sheep bells ringing in the surrounding mountains.
It was almost surreal. I felt like I was a character in a walt disney movie. The peace and tranquility that washed over me as I climbed that mountain was like an out of body experience. (is that too much) Sorry but I just don't know how else to describe it!

So that is my take on the previous few days. We will get the pictures downloaded hopefully by tonight. And I'll let Bob continue this entry so he can share his experience;

Bob here, I have to admit that sitting here in the sun in the middle of the Pryenees is as amazing as riding in them. Well, maybe it is the combination of riding them and then enjoying a beer in them that makes it spectacular. This is one of those moments that you dont want to end!! The beauty here is incredible and hard to describe. If youhave watched parts of the Tour De France you definitely get a feel for it.

I feel very lucky right now and I am not taking this day for granted!!

Wishing everyone the best,

Bob and Sherry

Pryenees baby!!!!

2010-07-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, we are climbing each day now and loving it. The climbs are all worth it as the views are incredible. It is absolutely amazing how green these mountains are.

We biked 45 miles out of St Jean de Luz to St Jean Pied-de-Port and climbed over 4000 feet. St Jean Pied-de-port is a huge hiking and cycling starting point for the Camino De Santiago, aka the road to Santiago. There are people here from all over the world beginning hiking and cycling adventures. We stayed at a hostel with many other hikers and had a great meal and conversation about our adventures. It was a magical evening.

Today we biked 60 miles and again over 4000 feet of some incredible scenery. We are exhausted tonight and just finished a meal of red beans and rice that Sherry cooked over the camp stove. Treating ourselves again tonight to a real bed in a chambres hotel. Basically someone who lends out one of their bedrooms for the night and makes you breakfast in the morning. All for the sum of 50 euros.

The Tour De France came right thru here two days ago and we road some of the same roads as they did, only at 1/5 the speed!!!

We are still heading towards the Col Du Tourmelet. Probably get there in two days time.

Okay Bob is now drinking various wines and appertifs with our host at the Chambres and it doesn't look like he is going to ever finish blogging! So goodnight for now. We are setting our sights on the Col du Soulor tomorrow but it has been two days of big climbs already so we will see. But it is good to have a goal!

Check back in a few days to find out where we are....

More rain today!

2010-07-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

Well we are still in St. Jean De Luz. It rained throughout the night again but the sky this morning actually looks a little less dense. We decided to pack up our stuff and ride into town and find a hotel for the night. The weather is supposed to clear by tomorrow. Yesterday when we were in town we found it to be such a cute place we figure we might as well take advantage of it rather than spend another day in the drizzle.

We are in a really little but very nice hotel that is right in the heart of the town. Lots of pedestrian traffic and very few cars. (the roads are too narrow even for the little cars they have over here) So you would think that we would be out walking and exploring.

Well when you spend your nights sleeping in a tent, having to walk to the bathroom which is up the road and only having a shower that is one temperature and has a button to turn it on and only runs for 15 seconds per push............you will understand when I tell you that we both took very long and very hot showers, went to the bathroom on a toilet that actually has a seat on it and toilet paper and are now relaxing on a nice soft bed. Bob is actually taking a nap! This might be heaven!

Having said all that we do plan to explore this adorable town and even treat ourselves to a nice dinner.

Even with all the rain these past few days have been really nice. We both feel that our legs are finally getting stronger and we are looking forward to the pyreenes mountains. St Sebastian is not going to happen for us this trip. It was just turning into too much of a logistical task and after looking at the France map for the pyreenes we decided to stay in France. There are more choices for roads that will take us to the mediteranean and it will also give us the opportunity to cycle several of the more famous/infamous Cols AKA mountain passes which are part of the Tour De France. We have our sights set on the Col Du Tourmalet!

Viva La France'
Bob and Sherry

Rain Rain Rain

2010-07-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

Our plan was to spend today as a day off to lay on the beautiful beaches of Saint Jean De Luz. A quaint little seaside town just south of Biarritz. Of course mother nature had different plans. So here we sit in a very very nice hotel bar in St Jean having a bottle of wine and using the WIFI connection. And no we are not staying in this very very nice hotel our campground and tent are awaiting our return if it ever stops raining long enough for us to make it the 4 miles back there without getting completely soaked. When we left camp this morning the skies were very gray but it had rained sooooooooo much throughout the night that we were thinking that there couldn't possibly be any moisture left in them. How wrong we were!

A recap of the previous days

July 18th 70 miles from Cenac to Parentis En Borne:
Our longest day in terms of miles cycled but one of our best days! The combination of roads and paved bike trails offered a great variety and made it feel like we were really making forward progress throughout the day. The weather was perfect, we never made any wrong turns and the wind was mostly at our backs. The perfect cycling day. Camped near a beautiful lake (see pictures) Sat on the banks of the lake to have a little wine before returning to the campground for dinner at the little restaurant. The music being played was all american/english and we sang along to the familiar tunes to the dismay of the French people around us. Although the small children seemed to be entertained.

July 19th 72 miles from Prentis En Borne to Seigosse:
Our second long miles day. The entire 72 miles we were on a paved cycling path that wound its way through the forest. It was like riding a mountain bike only on a paved single track. I would say that about 75% of the trail was in excellent riding condition but the other 25% was very rough going. Bob handles those situations better than Sherry! Sherry starts to get a little cranky and very tired of being bounced around and holding on to the handlebars for dear life while the fillings in her theeth are coming loose. But Bob he just keeps going and going and is even smiling! Although if he could see Sherry's expressions he might not be smiling quite so much! But all is good and by the end of the day a good cry in the shower Sherry was good. We went out for a lovely dinner and sat on the beach and watched the sun set on the Atlantic Ocean. (now that is something you can't do in the U.S.)

July 20th 45miles Seigosse to St Jean De Luz
Today we got our first look at the Pyrenees! And that also means it was our first day of any meaningful climbing! But with the sun over head and smooth roads with beautiful views and cute little towns to cycle through it was a glorious day! We are staying here for 2 days. We are not entirely sure where we are going tomorrow. The weather will have a lot to do with our decision. We would like to go to St Jean Pied De Port which is the starting point for the Camino De Santiago. It will also be a day of climbing in the pyrenees. If the weather clears then we will head that way. If it continues to rain we will go to St Sebastian, Spain which is a short 20 miles from St Jean De Luz. We will make our decision in teh morning.

It is now 2pm in France and it looks like the rain might stop for a little bit. So long for now and hopefully the next time you hear from us we will be in a small mountain village in the heart of the pyrenees!

Bob & Sherry

Pictures!

2010-07-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

We just finished downloading, organizing and labeling all of our photo,s. You can see them on flicker by clicking on the link which is on the righthand side of the blog page!

Hope you enjoy them.

We have had a lovely 2 days of rest and rejuvination. Although we did ride 30 miles today while touring the wine country but without all the gear it was much less work. Tomorrow we are back on the road. Lots of open country between us and our next stop which is approx. 70 miles away. Hopefully not too many hills or too much wind but either way it will be beautiful and still a better day than a day at work.

Bob & Sherry

Cenac, France

2010-07-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

It has been an amazing few days. I'll begin by listing our miles and destinations:

July 13th - 3 miles via cycling - 150 via train to Royan
July 14th - 16 miles via cycling - 5 miles via Ferry to Sou lac-Sur Mer
July 15th - 50 miles via cycling to Lacanau
July 16th - 51 miles via cycling to Cenac (55 miles for Bob because I sent him to the Patiserie)

The train ride from Redon to Royan was a lot of fun. Bob of course gave me a ribbing over getting us to the train station 2 hours early. (I was nervous) But the train ride went very well and we met two lovely couples who spoke better english than we did french. We spent the 4hr train ride chatting about things to see in France and sharing each others various stories of mis-adventures.

Once in Royan we found a great campground and set about some much needed house keeping. Since we are both currently unemployed and on a tight budget I (Sherry) thought I would save money by putting all of our clothes into one washing machine. Well it seemed like the prudent thing to do at the time. Until I sent Bob to retrieve the items and he told me how nice my gray bra and gray shirts, socks, underwear looked. The new BLACK cycling shorts I had purchased faded and turned all of my white, pink, and blue things a lovely shade of gray. Argh!!!!! I just can,t win when it comes to clothing this trip!

But bad laundry aside we had a relaxing time in Royan. Walked down to the beach and watched the children playing and the many surfers.

We spent the next night in Sou-lac Sur Mer just a short ferry ride and 16 mile bike ride from Royan. July 14th is Bastille Day which is France's independance day. The campground wasn't great but all we needed was a place to rest our heads. (It is really nice that we can both roll with the punches) We went into town which was alive with activity. Music playing people everywhere and the streets crowded with all sorts of merchants selling their "bargains"

We made our way to the beach opened a bottle of wine and sat on the beach! What better way to spend Bastille Day.

We woke the next morning, July 15th to sunny skies! Yippeeeeeeeee! It is amazing what a bright blue sky can do for ones disposition. 50 miles to Lacanau which is a sea side village was absolutely wonderful. The entire 50 miles we rode on a designated PAVED bike path! The path took us through a forest which reminded me of riding in tahoe. The beach in Lacanau is really BIG! It goes for miles and miles and the waves are some of the biggest I have ever seen! At one point the lifegaurds stated blowing whistles and shouting for everyone to "get out of the water" not much after that this HUGE wave came in and swept everything off of the beach!!! Luckily we were back far enough that we were not affected but lots of people who had ignored the warnings had their stuff swept out to sea. It was pretty impressive and I even had a nightmare lastnight about a tsunami!

So now we are up to today, July 16th. Yet another great day in France. Sunny clear skies when we woke but by the time we got around to riding it was partly cloudy. Not to worry, it was just a nice cloud cover for our 51 mile ride to Cenac. I can't say enough about the simply amazing bike system that we have found here in France. Our ride today was once again on a PAVED bike trail. The trail system includes directional road signs just like you would see if you were driving in a car! And did I mention that we had the wind at our back the entire 50 miles! It just doesn't get much better than that!

Bordeaux was our first stop today. A big city but very interesting. A stop at the tourist office allowed us to get our bearings and find a nice Gite to stay in for the night. We are approxi,ately 14km from Bordeaux in the town of Cenac. We are the very first guests to stay at the new Gite! If I understood the manager, Paulina, correctly the Gite was purchased by the towns people. It is adorable! And everyone in town seems very excitted to have us staying here. People keep walking by to say "bonjour" One of the neighbors even stopped in to invite us over to her house!

We are enjoying an evening indoors. Tomorrow we are going to go wine tasting! We will be staying here for 2 nights!!!

That is all for now. I know that we keep promising more pictures and I think tonight and tomorrow we may actually be able to get them down loaded. It is a slow and painful process.

Having a wonderful time in France,
Love
Bob & Sherry

Royan

2010-07-14T03:32:00.000-07:00

Bon Jour

We are now in Royan France. We decided to take a train south to the beach just west of Bordeaux. We were seeking better weather as it became rainy and cool. Sherry made sure that we we made it to the train station 2 hours before we needed to be there, thank you very much for the 6 a.m. wake up call!!! The train ride went without a hitch but it made us nervous putting all that stuff on the trains. We met a couple of other touring cyclists and they were helpful too. It is nice that we have the option of getting on a train if we get tired of an area.

So, we are in Royan, we packed the tent up today and got ready to ride the coast of France. Well, it started pouring rain!! No good for the homeless americans who cannot speak French! Fortuantely we are still at the campground all pack up but sitting in the club house waiting out the storm.

We plan to head to wine country tomorrow and spend a few days enjoying the wine.

Just want to tell those folks at Pariter that I am not really missing work. It is sad to say that I rarely think of the returns project or redeposits or any of the deadlines!!! Thanks Jim and Franciso for covering everything while I am gone.

The skies are starting to lighten and we hope to catch a ferry across some bay here in a little bit. The nice thing about this computer, besides staying in touch, is that I can go to weather.com and get a satelite image of what to expect. I expect clearing soon!!

Cheers from France and I hope everyone is truely doing well back home. We are having a wonderful experience here but we do miss our family, friends, and co-workers.

Redon, France

2010-07-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well we finally dug into the coffiers and purchased a new computer! So if we can manage to hold on to this one we should be able to keep the blog updated on a more consistant basis. Just a note....because the computer is purchased in France it has a french key board and the spell check is all in french. So please bear with us and our poor typing skills and spelling!

July 9th St. Malo 35 miles
The ride from Lemont St Michel to St. Malo was again a pituresque ride along the coast line. We made this short day so we could spend time exploring St Malo. A walled city it was built in the 11th century and then added on to in both the 12th & 13th centuries. We walked the entire wall which is approx. " miles around. On the ocean side the beaches are beautiful white sand the consistancy of sugar. Lots of families were enjoying the beautiful sunshine and warm waters. The views from the wall were spectacular and the pictures don't begin to do it justice.

We set up camp next to a french family of four who were also cycle touring. Get this, Mom, Dad, Big sister who is 2 1/2 and baby brother who is just 3months old. We were very impressed!!! There trip was for 6 days cycling no more than 20 miles a day and all of it along river or canal paths. They were a lovely family!!

We will let the pictures of St Malo tell the rest of the story.

July 10th 67 miles Montreuil Sur Ille
A long day of riding along the Canal d'ille et rance. A nice change from cycling on the roads the canals have great crushed limestone paths. This particular canal was built by Napolean as a was to move goods through France during the revolution. The paths next to the canal were established because they harnessed horses to the bardges to pull them down the river. Pretty cool! So now they have all these beautiful canals with cycling paths along them so you can get almost anywhere on a canal. No Cars!!!!

We met an Austrailian couple who have been cycle touring throughout France for many years they are the ones that pointed out the canal for us. A lovely couple just babies really. She is 77 years old and her husband is 81!! They had been cycling through France since May 1st. They were headed toward Normandy.

July 11th Bourg-des Comptes 50 miles

Just a stop on our way to Redon. Sundays are a difficult day to ride. The French people truly value Sunday as a day of rest and to be spent with family. Which we think is great but makes cycle touring difficult when no stores,restaurants etc. are open. Sundays always seem to creep up on us and we are never prepared. But next Sunday we will be! Anyway we pulled into town tired and hungry, set up camp and made our way into a mostly deserted town. We went to the local Bar which was the only thing open. No food but they did have cold beer!!!! We did a little partaking of the local brew and then to our glee the pizza shop opened up at 8pm yum yum.

Back to the campground and snuggled into bed we listened to the rain lul us to sleep.

July 12th Redon 45miles

Pulled into Redon after a gruiling 45miles of head winds. Both of us tired and dirty we treated ourselves to a hotel!!! A hot shower that does not turn off after 30 seconds, a mattress that doesn't need to be inflated and electricity! Life is good!

We are going to down load a bunch of pictures. I doubt that we will get them all captioned but you can still enjoy them.

Love
Bob & Sherry

Le Mont Saint-Michel

2010-07-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy few days since last post. As we left Omaha Beach we spent much of that day hugging the coast line. It was absolutely breathtaking! The weather was georgous and the winds mostly at our backs. (what more can a cyclist hope for)

We turned south at Grandcamp-Maisy and rode to Saint-Lo. Lots of climbing once we left the coast. It was either up or down but the country side and little towns that we rode through easily took our minds off of the hills. It is just so beautiful and gives you a sense of peace. St Lo was a very very busy place and a little overwhelming. After spending the prior 5 days in quite areas the big city is a bit nerve wracking. To make things even more unsettling there was no camping. But again the French people stepped up to the plate! The tourist office called a cycle tourist who lives in St. Lo and he invited us to make camp in his garden. Daniel and his daughter made us feel very welcome. We spent a lovely evening talking about the differences and similarities of our two countries, practicing our french and their english and making good friends. We slept well, had a great breakfast sitting in the garden with our new friends and got on the road.

Our destination for the day.....Le Mont Saint-Michel!! Another glorious day with winds mostly at our backs but again a LOT of hills!! In the first 30miles we climbed 1000ft! By the end of the day our thighs were burning or should I say MY thighs were burning. Bob is like the Ever Ready Bunny he just keeps going and going. Our route took us through the town of Avranches which, thank you very much, sits at the TOP of a mountain. The final climb to town was over 3 miles long with the final 1/2 mile registering 10-14percent grades.

Le Mont Saint-Michel is the most amazing thing I have ever seen and Bob feels the same way. We had not heard of it before but it is considered the most visited place in all France. If you have not heard of it we encourage you to look it up on the internet. abbaye Du Mont-Saint Michel. Built in 1100 it sits majestically at the edge of the ocean all alone. Surrounded only by water and sand. The timming of our visit was perfect. Durring the month of July the Abbaye is open to visitors until midnight. We rode our bikes out last night after dinner. The road to the Abbaye is approximately 2km and the whole way you are gifted with the spectaculat view of the town/abbaye illuminated by the setting sun!

We continue to meet new people every day. Last night we shared our dinner with a cycle tourist from San Sebastian, Spain. Urtzi is a school teacher. He teaches englis to 4 & 5 yeart olds. We thought it was cool that we met a teacher who is teaching english to spansih children and Bob daughter teaches spanish to english children. Urtzi invited us to visit him when we get to San Sebastian!

Omaha Beach; Normandy

2010-07-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

We made it to the beaches of Normandy. They are incredible. The American cemetery is truely amazing and very moving. A big thank you to our grandparents generation who truely helped to change the world.

We were going to go back to Catherines in Evrecy but we think we will instead try move on to St Mont Michelle tomorrow as the weather has been incredible.

We are both incredibly happy to be doing this trip.

Ava Ashby

2010-07-05T01:50:00.000-07:00

I just got to see photo's of Ava being born. She is so cute and looks a lot like her big brother. Ava was born on July 1st 6lbs 14oz, 20inches long. Mom, Dad and big brother Gavin are doing well. They took Ava home on Saturday!

I am truly blessed!

Monday, July 5th

2010-07-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready to leave Evrecy and head to the Normandy beaches. Should be there this early evening. We plan to camp there for 2 nights and then come back to Evrecy for 1 night on our way south.

It has been really nice staying with Catherine and Gilbert and they have been so good to us!!!

Viva France

our French Angel

2010-07-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

We are so thankful for our French Angel also known as Catherine Lejard. We first met Catherine on our last trip to France and have kept in contact with her over the years. Catherine read about our mishap in Paris and sent me an e-mail inviting us to come to her home. So here we are in Evercy, France!

Since our last post we have had wonderful days and nights!

Giverny was so beautiful! We toured through Monet,s Gardens. It was as if we were strolling through one of his paintings. I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland and I had gone through the Rabbit hole. Truly a magical place.

After leaving Giverny we road to Les Andelys. This town is noted for the 800 year old Castle which over looks the town. It was built in 1196! Our camping spot was right below the castle!
The next moring we woke to our first day of rain. It had rained throughout the night but stopped in the morning just long enough for us to eat breakfast and start packing but then the rain started again and we took shelter under the club house awning at the campground.

But the day was not a complete washout. The rain stopped by noon and we headed out. We made good progress despite the late start and cycled 50 miles to the town of Brionne where we again found a lovely campground. The ride into town was very beautiful. The tourist office in the prevous town told us about a multi-use path. The path was very tranquil and at the end of a long day of cycling through 98 degree heat the cover of the forest was a welcome respite. Of course the Tourist person failed to mention that once we left the path the road up to the town and camping was very very very steep. The altimiter on my bike computer registered 14% grade! I wasn,t sure which was going to go first my legs or my lungs. Bob is riding very strong and I am grateful for his draft.

We also met more nice French citizens in our travels. All of the tourist offices have been very helpful and on the hot days the businesses we have gone into to ask for water have been amazingly accomadating. I hope that the tourist offices in the US are as nice to foreigners.

So tonight we are with our French friend, Catherine and her family. I am going to try to get some pictures downloaded before we leave tomorrow. We are headed to Omaha Beach tomorrow. I donùt know when we will have our next opportunity to blog but hopefully it won't be too long. We are safe and beginning to enjoy ourselves again and look forward to our many adventures ahead;

Greetings from Giverny, France

2010-07-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

Oh boy where do we begin...........
The flight was very nice (business class). Landed in Paris at 7:30am. After retrieving our luggage we had the good fortune to be stopped by a Customs Officer (Sylvie) Once she decided that we were harmless she proceeded to help us find a place where we could assemble our bikes, a place for us to dispose of the boxes, add provided us with a hand drawn map that would guide us on the least dangerous route out of the airport. Syvie has small children and we gave her one of our cards so we hope they see this post and will give their ,other a BIG hug for us.

We cycled 30 miles to St Leu Desserent; A lovely little town outside of Paris situqted right on the Seine River. We stayed at a campgroud just outside of town that had a beautiful swimming pool. The weather could not be any nicer. It has been in the low 90's with beautiful blue skies; So yes we layed by the pool. It was a very long day for us as we were awake for over 24hrs. We fell into the tent at around 8:30pm and were both sound asleep by 8:35pm.

We slept so soundly that we did not hear the Scum Bags that stole the B.O.B. bag during the night! The bulk of Sherry's riding clothes; all of her rain gear etc and worst of all the COMPUTER!!!!! Very very upsetting!!!!!! I suppose we got all the bad luck items out of the way and should have smooth riding ahead.

Even though bad things happen someone usually comes along to restore your faith in mankind. The woman at the Local Toursit Office was very helpful in giving us access to the internet to change passwords etc and while we were there another French woman heard our story and offered to let us stay in her house for a few days until we could get things sorted out: It was a very generous offer but we chose to lick our wounds and cycle on...........

Wednesday we cycled 30 miles to Auvers S Oise. This is where Van Gogh spent his final years. We walked the town this morning and visited many of the places where he did his most famous paintings. It was very cool: They had copies of the paintings on signs right next to the object or view of that particular painting.

We got on the road around 12:00 and made it 50 miles to Giverny. This is the town of Claude Monet. It is so beautiful and quaint we decided to treat ourselves to a B & B. Tomorrow we will visit/tour Monet's gardens.

The weather continues to be beautiful although at one point today the thermometer on the bike registered 103 degrees! But since all of Sherry's rain gear was stolen by the Scum Bags we are not comlaining.

So all is well and we are settling into a pattern. Not sure where we will be tomorrow or when we will be able to post again. Congratulations to Sherry who is now the Grandmother of Ava Nicloe Ashby who we are pretty sure was born today at around 7:30am.

Thank you to everyone who has sent us posts. It is really nice to hear from everyone.
Keeping the rubber side down,
Bob & Sherry

Airport - Minneapolis

2010-06-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, we made it through the check in process with only one surprise. Last time we took our bikes to Europe it cost $150.00 to put them on the plane. This time $300.00!!! Thank goodness Sherry has her new bike that breaks down small enough to check as regular baggage so we only had to pay for one bike. Yikes!!!

Thank you to Karen & Gary (Bob's sister & her husband) for giving us a ride to the airport. Our plane leaves at 3:45pm and we will arrive in Paris at 7:45am local time. We are hoping that everything will go well and we'll be pedaling our way to a campground by around noon.

We are at the airport lounge right now. We are flying business class over (thanks to the frequent flyer miles) and enjoying the benefits! We are going to live large before spending 3 months in a tent!!

Check out the pictures from today

Peacock Groove

2010-06-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

A big THANK YOU to Erik Noren, Owner/Frame Builder at Peacock Groove. Erik took one look at Bob's bike and said "no problem". It was music to our ears!

We dropped the bike off yesterday afternoon and picked it up last night. Good or even better than new.

Thank you, Erik!!!

If you or anyone you know needs any special work done on their bike be sure to check out Peacock Groove. Ph: 651-269-5295

Shakedown Ride

2010-06-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we got all our "stuff" together and loaded up the bikes for a trial run. The day was beautiful! We rode on the Luce Line trail which is one of many old railway's that have been converted to multi-use path's. It was a 40mile round trip route that we took and everything went well. Of course we didn't know it at the time but Bob's bike had a crack in the frame. But as Bob said earlier, it is getting fixed and all will be ready by Monday!

I posted a few pic's of the bikes all loaded up so you can get a better idea of what it looks like.

Bike problems!!

2010-06-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Bike scare.

Sherry and I were working on my bike trying to figure out why we couldn't adjust the back break. We adjusted everything we could think of and couldn't get it to work correctly. So I brought it in to the bike shop and told the guy of our problems. He looked at it for 5 minutes before he finally said, "maybe it is because your frame is cracked". Not the thing I wanted to hear one week before a 3 month bike tour!

They have called Trek to see if they can replace the frame but don't think there is any chance they will get a new frame in time. They will replace it but it is unlikely they will be able to do it before this trip!. I have been tempted to buy a new bike too. They look really nice!! My bike is 5 years old and has over 20,000 miles on it so maybe it is time.

But, the guys at the bike shop told me about a guy in town who builds frames and said he could probably fix it. So Sherry is on her way over there now with the bike to see if he can weld it for us. She talked with him on the phone and he said he fixed one last week for a guy who was getting ready to tour.

Only 5 days left!!! We are both getting really excited to get back out there.

2010 Trip Begins June 28th

2010-06-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the first of many posts for our 2010 Europe Adventure. We are really looking forward to the next 3 months of beautiful sights, new friends we will meet, time spent with mother nature, and enjoying all that she has to offer!

Last weekend we pulled out all of the touring gear that has been packed away for the past 3 years. Set the tent up to check for leaks and tears. The sleeping bags, camp stove, utensils, stuff sacks, bike tools etc were all inspected and found to be in working order and ready to go. When we unpacked the backpacking pillows the reality of sleeping on the ground for the next 3 months really hit. Those pillows are evil!!! I suppose they are better than just bunching your clothes up to use but they are still EVIL!

But pillows aside, this is going to be an amazing trip. Three months of exploring Europe with no particular agenda. We have some area's we know we want to visit but we are keeping our options open. We are fairly sure that we'll be visiting France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy. If you have any suggestions of places to visit and sights to see in those country's please share them with us.

For this trip we will be taking along our own computer and will have remote internet access. This will hopefully make it easier for us to update the blog and post pictures. To view the pictures you just need to look on the right side of the blog and click on the flicker shortcut.

I've posted a few of the pictures of all the gear spread out on the floor of the garage. Oh my gosh how do we fit all of that stuff on the bikes? And that doesn't even include the food and clothes! YIKES!

We finished!!

2007-09-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

I guess we got a little busy after Lompoc and haven't had a chance to update the Blog. However, as many of you know, we finished!!

It has been an amazing summer for us. Bicycling Europe and then bicycling the Pacific coast of the US. Both were amazing and both had there good points. I don't know which one I would do first if I had to do it over again.

The last part of this trip has been spectacular. San Francisco was beautiful (although cold). We had company on this phase as Susie and Gwen join us as well as Larry for a nice stretch.

Big Sur was absolutly breathtaking! If you ever get a chance to ride this stretch of the earth, don't pass it up. It was probably the most beautiful thing we have seen this summer and at 12 mph we got to see a lot of it. We stayed in the Big Sur Campground in a tent-cabin that was wonderful. It is has wood sides for 3 feet up and the rest is tent material but then a real roof and it came with a fantastic queen size bed.

Santa Barbara was one of our favorite towns to visit. We got a hotel right in town for $99.00 and went out for an evening on the town. We heard three different musical groups with Katrina Carlson being the best. If you google her and look on her website you can see pictures of us!!! We told them we biked all the way from Seattle just to hear them play.

The town of Malibu was a dissapointment. There really isn't much there. However, there are some amazing homes there. Jennifer Aniston lives there and I am pretty sure we stopped in front of her house. There were 50 paporrozoties out there. Sherry would like to think it was Matthew McConnohey,s house.

We loved Santa Monica as well as it was 80 and sunny and beautiful beaches. Venice beach was interesting. A little run down, lot's of people living on the beach. We stopped at the muscle beach and both did a little flexing.

Getting thru LA was a bit of work as the roads didn't have shoulders and we were in some less than desirable neighborhoods. We passed Orange County choppers but didn't visit the guys.

In Long Beach we stayed at Sherry's friend Jodie and Tony's house. It was nice of them to let us stay with them as Tony had just arrived home from being out of town for the week. They have a very nice family and we enyoyed a faboulous dinner.

The next day we made it to Dana Point and ended up staying in a place called the Blue Lantern B&B. Oh my, we are talking nice. They had a free happy hour of cheese and wine which we readily joined in. There was a fireplace in the room and they actually gave us a very good price. We told them we had been sleeping in a tent for 4 months and that we wanted a deal. They bought the story and gave us the same price as the holiday inn express.

We arrived in San Diego on Sept 19th. We stayed at Amy and Rich's house for two evenings and went out to the Calypso for a wonderful dinner and great conversation. Thank you so much guys!! We owe you.

Okay, the adventure hasn't really stopped though. While in San Diego we loaded up Sherry's stuff from storage with the help of two Mexican's standing on the side of the road. (Thanks Jose and Jorge). Then we drove the U-haul to Phoenix where we had an apartment waiting for us. Upon arriving in Phoenix we didn't like the apartment! We had booked it via the internet so hadn't really seen it. We liked the complex though and after some pleading they gave us another apartment. However, the apartment wasn't ready for us so we moved our stuff into a garage. They say it will be ready by the time we get there on Friday.

We flew back to Minneapolis on Sunday (thanks Pat for picking us up at the airport) and spent two days getting our stuff together there.

Today, Sept 26th, we are on our way back to Phoenix in the car. We are actually in Lincoln, Nebraska as I write this. We plan to make it to Denver tonight where Bob's brother Jack lives and stay with him this evening. We have 457 miles down right now and it is noon!!! We left at 5:30 this morning and stopped only briefly!

There you go. Now you know what Bob and Sherry have been up to. We have had the summer we imagined and it was wonderful.

Bob and Sherry (the happy campers)!!

Greetings from Lompoc, Ca

2007-09-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

The last for days have been filled with lots of fun and adventure. After Kim dropped us off in Watsonville we set our sites on Big Sur. The ride from Watsonville to Big Sur was very beautiful but a bit chilly. Since we had both been to the Carmel/Monterey area before we decided to skip that tourist stop and rode through to Big Sur. Once we left Carmel the fog lifted and we were greeted with bright blue and warm skies. We enjoyed riding along the cliffs and across the famous "bigsby bridge". We camped at the Big Sur Campground in one of the Tent/cabins. It was really nice! The bottom part is wood and the walls are like a tent but it had a real bed! We lounged around the fire, enjoyed dinner and got the laundry done! The next day we had the Banana Walnut pancakes at the Big Sur Inn. Yum, Yum!!

With our tummies full we headed up the road and we really do mean "up the road". Immediately after we left the campground we had a 4 mile climb! Our reward was stopping at Nepenthe! Nepenthe is a restaurant that sits right on the edge of the cliff and offers a 180 degree view of the Big Sur Coastline! With the clear skies we were able to see forever.

We also stopped at Julia Phifer Big Sur Park and walked on the nature trail that took us out to a beautiful waterfall that flows off of the cliffs and onto the sandy beach below. It was very breath taking!!!

Our goal for the day was to make it to San Simeon. We made it but it was a long day of some very tough riding. Lots of steep long hills followed by down hills that required us to battle the trecherous winds comming at us from all directions. With the mountain on one side and the ocean cliffs on the other it was very trying at times. We tried to enjoy the beautiful views in between the times we were holding on for dear life!

The past two days the terrain has been blessedly less hilly and we have had strong winds at our back. Yesterday's ride was an absolute BLAST! We rode from San Simeon to Pismo Beach. On the way we went through Morro Bay which was so darn beautiful we had a difficult time ridding past. We were fortunate to see pods of Dolphins just 25 yards off the shore. We rode for about 3miles with the dolphins.

Today we are in Lompoc, Ca. The ride from Pismo Beach to Lompoc was a lot of fun. Again we had a very strong tail wind, for long stretches today we were going 22-27 miles/hr and we were hardly even pedaling! Tomorrow we head to Santa Barbara or Carpenteria depending on the ridding conditions and the traffic in Santa Barbara.

Bob & Sherry

A few days spent with friends

2007-09-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone! Well it is early Tuesday morning and we are getting ready to hit the road again.

The last 4 days we have been throughly spoiled! Friday night we stayed with my friends Sue, Larry and Gwynne at Sue's mom's house in Saratoga. Thank You Harriet for the wonderful hospitality AND soft bed.

Saturday Bob & I rode with Larry up up up and over the top of the Santa Cruz Mtns meeting up with Sue and Gwynne who had gone ahead with the car to Pescadero and then rode their bikes back towards us. In Pescadero we enjoyed a much needed lunch break. Larry then turned around to ride back up up up and over the Santa Cruz Mtns back to Saratoga while Bob, the girls and I continued on to Santa Cruz. The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed cycling along the coast. It was especially nice in that we had all the camp gear and all the other junk we usually lug on or behind the bikes loaded in the truck. So we got to spend the day cycling without all the added weight. We felt like we were flying and at the end of the 70 mile day we felt great. Bob & I stayed at the Hostel in Santa Cruz while Gwynne and Sue had to return to their families. It was a wonderful two days ridding with the girls of Team Christine!

Sunday we had a leisurely 25 mile ride from Santa Cruz to Watsonville where my life long friend, Kim and her husband Mark picked us up and took us to their home in Cienega. We had a great time. We ate and drank very well and it was so nice to spend some down time on Monday just lounging around with Kim. Bob got to hang out with Mark. He gave him the $5.00 tour of his farming operations. Although Bob now thinks that all farmers do is drive around with a walkie talkie telling the farm workers what to do He did get a lesson on how to kill Gophers! He even got one of the pesky little guys himself.

So all in all we have had a great vacation within our vacation and we really really apprecated the nice soft beds! Today we are off to Big Sur! We will be ridding along the coast hwy through Monterey and Carmel. The weather is predicted to be warm and sunny!

Only 11 days left and about 550miles to go before we get to San Diego. It has been an incredible journey.

Bob & Sherry

Saratoga, California

2007-09-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

We are now just south of San Francisco and staying at Susie's mom's place. They were nice enough to let us stay here last night in their beautiful home. Sleeping in a bed is such a treat!!

California has been wonderful to us. We have been staying in the national parks in the Hiker/biker area's and have been meeting up with other cyclists most nights. We have had a nice fire and cooked all of our meals at the campsite.

A lot of our fellow cyclists ended their trip yesterday in San Fran so we will miss their company, however I am sure there will be new people to meet a long the way.

Our plan today is to get to Santa Cruz today. It is a Saturday night and we are having a hard time finding a place to camp as everything is busy. But I am sure we will find something as we always do.

Sorry for the quick post but just wanted to get something out here for those wondering where we are.

10 miles from California Border

2007-08-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy riders.........

8/27 Newport to winchester Bay, OR 76miles
8/28 Winchester Bay to Port Orford, OR 87miles
8/29 Port Orford to Brookings, OR 58miles

And boy what beautiful miles they have been. Twice now we have sighted whales. We watched Harbor Seals play under the bridges, and we have seen two sets of Bald Eagles. And let us not forget to mention one very ugly Turkey Vulture.

Our route has provided us with a variety of scenery and terrain. Most days we spend about half the time ridding along Hwy 101 with the most spectacular views of the ocean while the other half takes us inland on less traveled two lane roads that wind through beautiful valleys! It is difficult to find the words to describe the beauty. Lush forest floors covered with ferns, and the trees so thick that it looks like night. The ocean is spectacular. The large rock formations that are abundant along the Oregon coast are breathtaking.

We have been camping in the State Parks. They have all had hiker/biker sites which besides being only $8.00 are usually in the prettiest spots. This also provides us with the opportunity to meet and talk with other cyclists. It's fun to share stories and learn where everyone is from.

Tomorrow we will cross into California! Sherry's friend Devra is driving down from Reno to help celebrate her 46th birthday. We are looking forward to seeing her and the wonderful Chipino Dinner she is going to fix us!

Bob & Sherry

Newport, Oregon

2007-08-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

Greetings from God's country,

We are in a little town in Oregon doing laundry this morning and drinking coffee and updating the internet. It is a beautiful sunny day and the views are absolutely beautiful.

We have camped for 7 nights straight and last night stayed in Newport at a hiker/biker campsite in a State campground. They have firewood for sale for $4.00 a big bundle and it was enough to get us a couple hours of burn time. The hiker/biker camp sites are $4.00 a person and are usually very nice. Last night we fell asleep to the sounds of a foghorn and to seals barking and the waves crashing into the shore.

The Oregon coast is so incredibly beautiful. I think it is even more beautiful than the Mediterraen coast. It is a very rugged coast with a lot of rocks in the water and steep cliffs. I had no idea it was so pretty!

We have been averaging about 65 to 70 miles a day and that is usually enough to exhaust us each night. There isn't a whole lot of flat riding and around every bend in the road there is a hill to climb. But, with every hill comes an incredible view so it is all worth it.

It is Sherry's birthday on Thursday!!! August 30th. I want to see some posts on here wishing her a happy birthday! We are hoping to be close to Cresent City, California on her birthday and I might even get us a hotel and a real bed to sleep on for the night. We would feel spoiled just to sleep on a real bed right now!

We are having the time of our lives and are so thankful that we have the time, and bodies that will allow us to do this. It is truely a dream to be living out here on the bike on the coast, next to the ocean. You really feel free!!!

Until next time,
Bob (big legs) Nesbitt and Sherry (little, but strong legs) Ashbey-Woldberg

Pacific Coast Hwy

2007-08-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!

After a short break we are back on the road again. This time our travels will take us from Seattle Washington to San Diego California via the Pacific Coast Hwy! We started pedaling from the Seatlle Airport on Aug 20th. 5 days later and over 280 miles we are now in Tillamook, OR.

It has been an excitting and beautiful trip so far. We have been blessed with good weather ( it has not rained yet) We have even seen the sun most afternoons and had only one morning of fog. The roads have been great and the adventure cycling route has taken through beautiful inland valleys along little rivers and over some beautiful majestic mountains.

We have camped in some amazing places!!! Two nights ago we pitched our tent on the banks of the Columbia River. Durring the night we were lulled to the sound of the water lapping on the shore and in the morning we ate our breakfast while watching the Blue Herons swoon over the bay looking for their breakfast. We have feasted on wild blueberries which grow in abundance along the road ways. We have ridden on inland roads for miles and miles with no cars in sight. We have ridden along the coastline mesmerized by the beautiful Pacific Ocean. The ruggedness and beauty of the coastline is humbling. We feel so blessed to be able to enjoy it and share it together.

Internet access is scarce but we hope to do a little better job of keeping you updated. As usual we have lots of great pictures to share but alas no time to get them downloaded. Hopefully in the next update.

Bob & Sherry

USA!

2007-08-01T13:24:00.001-07:00

Hello from the good ole USA.

We made it back to Minneapolis on Tuesday night at 8:00pm.

Let me try and update since the last time we posted. We ended up camping outside of Paris the two days prior to actually making it to the city. Paris suburbs go for about 100 miles or at least it seemed that way to us. We camped along the Seine river in a town called Melun at a campground. A lot of the other campers where visiting Euro Disney but we actually met several other bicycle touring people as well. Then we biked along the Seine river to Joinville which is just 20 miles outside of Paris. There we camped along with more bicycling tourists. We were surprised to get camping so close to the heart of the city.

The last day riding into Paris was really something! It was like the Beverly Hillbilly's come to Paris. I am not sure what the bigger attraction was in Paris that day, the Eiffle tower or us! Sure we didn't smell all that great after living in a tent the last 45 days, sure we were a little dirty and grimey after living in a tent the last 45 days, but we shouldn't have drawn that many stares from the so called "beautiful people" of Paris.

It was something going around some of those roundabouts where six cars deep are either entering or trying to get out of it!! We lived though, we didn't get hit by any cars. That wasn't the same for one guy from Toronto that we met though. He got hit at the Arc De Triumph roundabout which has to be the most insane place you will ever see. There are probably 12 roads that lead into that one round about and every drives about 50mph. He was shook up and his bike was hurt but he was laughing about it.

We got to our hotel to find out that they didn't have any room for our bikes. The hotel was tiny. We told the guy at the front desk that our bikes were very expensive and that we couldn't leave them on the streets. He ended up letting us put them in the very small lobby and he watched over them carefully for us. It was a great hotel and the best news was that it was next door to a Starbucks coffee! We had both been dreaming about a good cup of coffee. I am not exagerating when I say that at one place in France I ordered a coffee and it was in a dixie cup and was only half full!!! So to have a Starbucks right next to us was fantastic.

So in Paris..... we saw the Eiffle tower, it is impressive. We saw the Arc De Triumph and the Champs Elyse. We actually went to Sunday Mass at the Notre Dam Cathedral in Paris. That was quite interesting. We didn't have any idea of what he was saying but it was still inspiring and we felt more pure when we exited!! And, of course, we saw the last day of the Tour De France!! That was really very exciting. There are many, many thousands of people there lining the streets of the Champs Elyse. We got to see them come by 16 times. You can't believe the speed! It was a fitting end to OUR tour de France to see some other guys on bikes finishing their Tour De France.

We had planned on doing a lot of shopping in France. We thought we would buy some really cool chic Paris jeans or something but, it really just did not happen. The reason was we had to box our bikes for the trip back.

We didn't think this was going to cause us a lot of problems but we were WRONG. It basically took us the whole day! You see, most of the bike shops don't have bike boxes and they didn't seem to simpithetic to us that we needed them. We ended up going to a Decathlon store which are the Europe version of REI but maybe even better. They told us they would save a couple of boxes for us on Monday morning. Monday morning we were in front of their store when they opended. The boxes were there but they where huge! We broke the bikes down and put them in the boxes and taped everything up and were done by noon. However, the guy at the hotel who arranged our ride to the airport said they were too big for the van that was going to pick us up. We also got worried that the airport wouldn't take them because they really were huge! So, We unpacked them again and decided to cut the boxes up and just make them smaller. After taking the metro all over Paris for tape and box cutters and packing materials we finished up around 5:00pm!

We were fortuante that we did break them down as when the van driver did show up, they just barely fit into the van!!

We got to the airport 3 hours early which was just enough time. There was a bag left in the airport so they evacuated us to another end. We were sitting there having a sandwich when an enormous explosion went off!!! Scared everyone. However, I guess it is just routine that they actually blow up any suspicous bags!

The flight home went well. We both watched 3 movies on the flight back!! It is a long flight from Paris to Detroit! We both slept on the flight from Detroit to Minneapolis. Vanessa was nice enough to meet us at the airport with flowers and drive us home.

We are updating the pictures as I write this so take a look. We have about 300 photos to upload.

Paris only 100Km away

2007-07-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well last you heard from us we had spent a cold and wet day of ridding to the town of Nevers. While Bobby updated our web site I was at the Lavare aka laudromat drying our wet clothes. Of course I should probably point out for you some important information, just in case you plan on traveling to France. When you are walking you should take care to watch where you are putting your feet! Otherwise you may find that you have stepped in a big pile of dog POOP while you were looking at you map and trying to find the Lavarè!

But dog poop aside, Nevers was a great town and we enjoyed a wonderful Chinese Dinner!!! We also met a lovely couple from holand who were also traveling via their cycles. They gave us some great information about cycle touring in Europe which will come in handy when we come back. Which we are sure will be very soon.

So lets see where have we been and where are we now. We left Nevers on Monday morning under cloudy skies. It had rained really really really hard throughout the night so we were very pleased to have only cloudy skies. As the day progressed the skies cleared and we enjoyed a beautiful day of ridding through rural France. I know we keep saying how beautiful it is to ride in France but we have to say it again. It is so very beautiful here!!! Most of the cycling today we were on small country roads with little to no car traffic. The road followed along a canal which made for long stretches of smooth flat roads with just enough small rolling hills thrown in to keep our legs working. The wild flowers seem to be in full bloom so even the fields that are not planted with corn, wheat or sunflowers are beautiful. It seems as though someone flew in a plance over this area sprinkling wild flower seeds! We rode 61 miles to the town of Briare. Very cool town. The last 5 kilometers we were on a trail next to the canal.

Briare is one of the neatest towns we have been through which is saying a lot since we have been in some pretty amazing places. But Briare is truly a place everyone should visit. Several of the canal systems that run through France convergein Briare! Boats are everywhere! They even have a bridge that boats float across! We stayed in a lovely campground for only 8euro! This area is known for their white wines so we felt obligated to try a bottle! It was very tasty!!!!! We slept like babies and were ready to ride this morning!

Tonight we are in the town of Souppes su Loing. Another cute French town which also sits along a canal. We rode on more spectacularly beautiful roads under warm SUNNY skies. Much of the ridding was on a canal trail which was a mix of pavement, dirt, and at times just a grass path but it was so beautiful that we did not mind the terrain. We were so taken in by our surroundings that nothing could have ruined this day.

Tomorrow we have heard that the weather is also going to be warm and sunny. We are going to stay on the canal trail for as long as it is rideable! We keep getting conflicting information regarding the canal trail. By looking at the maps it appears that we should be able to ride it all the way to the Seine River and then follow the Seine right into Paris. But some people say "Yes, it is possible" and other say "No, it is not possible" I guess that is why it is called adventure cycling! We will just have to find out as we go!

Sorry no pictures yet. These computers are so SLOW and it takes too long to download and it just turns into a frustrating time! But we promise to post them just as soon as we can.

We are having an absolutely fabulous time and can't believe it is almost over but we are also looking forward to seeing everyone and sleeping in a nice soft bed!

Bob & Sherry

Nevers, France

2007-07-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Nevers Fance.

We have been riding some incredible back roads of central France. We decided to get local maps and it helps us to find the little roads. Some of these roads look like rabbit trails and there is no traffic on them for long long periods of time. They take you thru all these quiet little French towns with little homes that are full of flowers. I mean like rediculously full of flowers. They are beautiful!!!

Yesterday we had a fantastic ride into Moulins and stayed at the edge of the center ville in a campground right next to the river. We had other touring cyclist staying next to us as well as a family canoeing down the river. What a great town and a perfect spot.

Today we saw a wild billy goat in the woods and some wild boars!!!

Today was a rainy cold day. It rained thru out the night and continued all morning. We biked 50 miles to Nevers all in the rain. It was a lot of fun for 40 miles but the cold got to us and we ended up getting chilled to the bones. We checked into a hotel and showered and fell asleep in about 2 minutes flat!!! It was only 1:30 but we felt like we could sleep straight thru until tomorrow.

We hear tomorrow is suppose to be better again. We are getting close to Paris and should have no problem reaching the outskirts by Friday. We have reservations for Saturday night so we want to position ourselves as close to the city as we can on Friday so we can navitgate the city early Saturday morning.

We have so much more to tell you but zith limited time it is difficult. I know we promised more pictures but not today. As soon as we get to a good place we will download more.

Miss you all.

Bob and Sherry

Another Dragonfly Day

2007-07-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hello from Florac, France!

We are sorry for the lapse in communication but we have been busy busy busy pedalling, pedalling, pedalling!!!!

We spent a few days along the coast of France but soon grew weery of the constant winds and the flat terrain so we pointed our wheels to the north and are now headed to Paris.

We could go on for pages trying to discribe the amazing, awsome, beautiful, stunning areas we have been pedalling through but time is money and at 3euro`s for 30 minutes we`ll just tell you about the absolutely encredible day we had today!

Last night we treated ourselves to a much needed soft bed (7 nights of sleeping in a tent) We stayed at a lovely Gite in the town of Ganges, France. The woman who runs the Gite let us use her washing machine and we were able to get all caught up on the VERY stinky laundry! After a good nights sleep and a great breakfast we set out to attack the day.

Nothing like a 3 mile climb with grades of 15-18% to get your legs warmed up! And don't forget thats with each of us lugging 45lbs of "stuff" with us! But the scenery is so amazingly stunning that you hardly even notice that your thighs are burning from the latic acid build up. The mountains we are ridding through are almost more majestic than the pyrenees' were. And as grand as the climbs were in the pyrenees these are even more impressive!!!!!

The woman at the Tourist Office in Ganges and our host at the Gite tried to warn us of the steepness of the route that we had chose but to us it looked just too beautiful to pass up. After the first BIG climb we had a pleasant gradual climb of 4-5% for 10km the REAL climbing began! Oh my gosh!!!!! For the next 2.5hours we climbed and climbed and climbed. We thought for sure we were going to end up in heaven. At about a 1/4 of the way up the hill Sherry had a Dragonfly fly in front of her. She knew that meant two things, 1. It was going to be a tough climb and 2. that she would make it to the top eventually! She hadn,t seen a dragonfly since the last big climb over the pyrenees`. It was an incredible climb. Bob felt very strong and led the way but both of us actually passed two other riders!!! Pretty impressive considering all the extra weight we carry. Of course Sherry was soon sorry that she had passed them because now she had to maintain that lead! I `think it is something about a woman who has a Dinosaur horn on her bike passing a man on a hill that makes them feel a little like a whimp. But try as they might they did not regain the lead. Bob meanwhile was breezing along making it look easy. He claims that his thighs were burning but I don,t believe him. He was a good Sherpa though and waited for me at the top!!!!

Of course the top really wasn't the top! We still had another 8km to go! As we reached the 5000ft mark and were above the tree line the top finally came into view! We were rewarded by the most spectacular views!!!!!! We have so many pictures to down load! (we promise to get them downloaded soon)

Once at the top the road sign informed us that it was only 30km to the town of Florac. Our days goal! It was a beautiful ride down down down but neither of us had done a very good job of eating enough and Sherry especially hit the wall. Poor Bob was just as tired but playing the role of the "Sherpa" he kept his spirits up and gave Sherry some much needed encouragement. When we FINALLY reach Florac our first stop was the market for a Knickers bar and an orange Fanta!!!!!!!

As a recap..............
7/17 Agde, France to La Grande Motte via a dirt canal trail = 50miles
7/18 La Grande Motte to Ganges 2 cols climbed one of which was on the 2006 Tour De France Route = 60miles
7/19 Ganges to Florac 2 cols climbed one of which was on the 1960 Tour De France Route = 60miles

Tomorrow we have some more climbing to do but as we head more to the Northwest we should be getting into more moderate terrain. Or so our legs are hoping! We are treating ourselves to another Gite tonight and will be fresh and ready to go in the morning!!!!!

The weather has been exceptionally warm which suits us just fine but our goal is to be off the road by early afternoon so as to avoid the real heat of the day. The forecast looks like we are likely to get rain as we get closer to Paris. Hopefully it will be a warm rain and not the cold weather we had at the beginning of the trip.

And for those of you who were keeping track..........Bob is holding steady at 19 flat tires (thanks to the new wheel) and Sherry at ZERO!
France is so amazing!!!!!!!!
Bob & Sherry

Somewhere on the Coast of Spain

2007-07-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Hello from ? Spain. We have enjoyed two very incredible days. When we left Girona we made one final stop at the bike shop to get a photo of and to thank the bike guy at Bike Girona for fixing Bob´s wheel and then we headed for the hills.

We took a route that is a popular training route for the many professional cyclists that train in Girona. Up Up Up to Dels Angeles and then down down down to the Sea. Everyone in Girona including the bike shop guy warned us that the climb was very steep but after 11 days of rest and relaxation we were up to the challenge. It was wonderful and beautiful ride up the mountain. We were rewarded at the top by panoramic views. We could see all the way to the Meditteranean Sea!!! The road was well paved and we saw only 6 cars!

We spent our first night on the beach in La Franc which is the beach that we went to with our neighbors. We thought it was so beautiful we wanted to spend one more day there. So after 35 miles of some really great cycling we set up camp at around 3pm and headed to the beach. It´s a tough life that we live!

This morning we were up and ready to ride. After a quick breakfast of granola with orange juice we headed into the town of Palafrugell for coffee and the it was on the road........

As we explained a few days ago, this part of our trip is going to be very serendipitis. Our only goal is to cycle and to stay close to the sea. Today was the absolutely perfect cycling day. With just a little breeze, enough to keep us from getting too hot, and smooth roads with little traffic we navigated through the small towns along the coastline. The serenity that we felt is difficult to explain. We took some great pictures that we hope will convey the beauty that surrounded us throughout the day. We came upon an ancient Greek City that was only found in the 1920´s. It was uncovered in an archeological dig! We got to ride our bikes on part of the old wall!!! We also met some lovely people from London who shared the history of the area with us.

It was one of those days that just seemed to float by.........as we rode along the pathway that followed the beach we made frequent stops to take photo´s, have a cold cerveza or to just stop and admire the view.

This afternoon we stopped cycling at about 2:00. The beach was calling us!!! We are camping only 200km from the beach! It is so lovely here we are planning on staying an extra day. There is a national park just a few Km up the road and we plan to take the bikes out in the morning and do some riding/exploring without all the gear. Lots of hills to attack which will be fun without the extra weight that we usually have to pull along with us.

We hope to be able to download some more pictures soon. For now we are on our way back to the beach to take a stroll.......

Bob & Sherry

Goodbye Girona

2007-07-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

After 11 days of rest, tomorrow is the big day. Back on the road again!

Bob took Vanessa to the airport in Barcelona early this morning while Sherry enjoyed sleeping in. (Although she did get up this morning to fix Vanessa breakfast and say goodbye!)

We took the bikes out for a 26mile ride this afternoon. The new rear wheel and tire on Bob´s bike seems to be working fine. 26miles without a flat. Yipee!!!

Tomorrow morning we plan to be on the road by 9am. We have 17 days before we have to be in Paris. Our plan at this point is to cycle along the Spanish coast back into France and then continue along the French coastline. At some point we will turn inland and make our way towards Paris. We don´t know if we will cycle all the way to Paris or take a train. We are keeping our options open and will let the road and the adventure lead the way!

So goodbye for now. Hopefully we will find internet access in the small coastal towns so we can keep everyone updated.

We want to say THANK YOU one more time to Frances, Pilar, Mark, and Sergi. They made our stay here in Girona absolutely wonderful. We hope that they will come and visit us in the US so we can return the hospitality.

Keeping the rubber side down and air in the tires!
Bob & Sherry

Costa Brava

2007-07-09T04:42:00.000-07:00

We have been living large in the Costa Brava region of Spain these past few days.

With Vanessa here to translate things it has been much easier to get around. We have ventured via train and bus and with our neighbors in their car all over the area. We made a trip to Fugeres to see the Salavador Dali museum which was very interesting. Salvador Dali is one of the most famous artists from Spain and his work was fun to see. The town was a fun place to visit as well, with lots of shops and resturants.

Friday night we had a wonderful dinner at our neighbors house. Frances, Pilar and Sergi. They are wonderful people and the dinner was perfect!!! Vanessa is really getting her Spanish fine- tuned as she is the translater. Bob is starting to understand the language more but has a difficult time adding to the conversation with out a little help from Vanessa to translate.

On Saturday we visited Barcelona. Wow, what a city. It is big but it is very fun. There were a lot of street performers, a beautiful harbor, a even a Starbucks!! Vanessa smelled the Starbucks before we even got to it! Many great squares with cafes everywhere. The archetecture was amazing on every street you go down there was another amazing building. It was a full day of walking and sight seeing. The train ride home was a little bit of an adventure as we got on the wrong train!! We did eventually figure it out and switched trains to get back to Girona but not after being stuck in a couple of different towns for a while. Luckily Sherry had packed a few oranges so we didn´t starve while sitting in the train station while but 1 hour train ride from Barcelona to Girona turned out to be a 2 1/2 hour ride.

Yesterday we went out with our neighbors, Frances, Pilar and Sergie as well as Pilar´s brother and his wife. We went to the coast to Begur first and then to Sant Sebastia. We swam at one of the prettiest harbors I have ever seen. I hope you can check out the pictures but I am sure they won´t do justice to the beauty of the area. Sherry and Bob went out for a long swim into the Mediterranen sea using our goggles to see the fish. It was so pretty and the water perfect. We had a fantastic lunch in town before going off to the El Far (lighthouse) in Sant Sebastia. This town, beach and harbor were even prettier than the previous. It was so beautiful. We have been very, very lucky to have such wonderful neighbors while we are here in Girona. They have been so kind to us and have treated us like family. We are very thankful!

Today is a rest day here in Girona. We got up late and had a big breakfast at home. We are going for a walk in the city today and have plans to take Vanessa out for Tapa´s tonight for her last day here before heading home. Bob will take her to the Airport in Barcelona early tomorrow morning via the train. Hopefully he finds his way back easier this time!!!

Bob´s bike has been fixed and is ready to go. A new rim, a new tire and a new tube. We are hoping that this fixes the whole flat thing!!

Salvador Dali

2007-07-06T02:13:00.000-07:00

Good morning!

Yesterday was another fabulous day in Spain. We took the bus to the beach and were treated to the perfect day. Lots of sun, sand and beautiful blue water. It was plenty warm and we enjoyed swimming in the mediterranean. The water was not too cold and not too hot, aka it was "just right"

We did all the touristy things. We ate lunch at a cafe on the beach, drank cold cerveza´s, did a little browsing through the shops, and spent more time just lying on the beach. We returned to the apartment around 7:30. Our neighbors came over and brought us their lap top so we were able to upload the past few days of pictures. Vanessa impressed us with her spanish language skills. She was just chatting up a storm with Francis. She doesn´t think she does well but listening to her she never seems to miss a beat and Francis always seems to understand what she is saying.

This morning we are taking the train to Figueres (30 min ride) to visit the Salvador Dali museum. Tonight we will be having dinner with the neighbors!

Tomorrow morning we will be heading out early to take the train to Barcelona!

Bob, Sherry & Vanessa

Discovery Team Slept Here!!!!!!!

2007-07-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

Hello again from Girona, Spain.

So far our stay here has been incredible! We have been doing a lot of relaxing aka sleeping in. On Monday we took the bus to the coast and spent a lovely day lounging on the beach! It was the first time for Sherry to see the Mediterranean. The water is so crystal clear!

That night when we returned to the apartment we got to meet our neighbors!!!! (Tony had sent them an e-mail to let them know we would be staying in Girona) They are so nice!!! Their youngest son Sergre speaks very good English and provided the translation that allowed us to talk to his family, mom Pilar, father Francis, brother Mark. Tony had told me that these people were the nicest people you could ever meet and they certainly are. They drove us around the city to show us where the bike shop and sports stores are. (We hope to get the problem with the rear wheel on Bob´s bike resolved) We plan to have dinner with them one night which will be wonderful.

I think it finally hit Bob, after talking with the neighbors, that he is actually staying in the same apartment that some pretty famous professional cyclists stay in when they are training in Girona! Tony Cruz, Floyd Landis, Levi Liepenhiemer, Dave Zabriske! I think he is hoping that his legs are going to get stronger just by sitting in the same chair that they have.

Tuesday we took the train to Barcelona to meet Vanessa at the airport. It was a long day. Her flight from Malaga was delayed twice! But we kept ourselves entertained by watching all the people in the airport. The world reallyis made up of lots and lots of characters!
Vanessa finally arrived and we made our way back to Girona. It is great to have Vanessa here. She spent the previous week in Malaga participating in Young Presidents Orgination which promotes the development of leadership quailities in young adults. It sounds like she had an amazing week and learned a lot about herself. She is full of optimism and ready to take on lifes challenges!

Today is cloudy and looks as if it could turn a little wet. Which is ok with us as we are headed into the old city of Girona to do some sight seeing. The cloud cover should give us some relief from the sun. But after today we expect the sun to come out as we are headed back to the BEACH!

Check back tomorrow for pictures of todays adventure!

Bob, Sherry & Vanessa

Hello from Espana'

2007-07-02T00:49:00.000-07:00

Good Morning! And what a georgous morning it is here in Girona. Our last update we were in Ceret getting ready to make the last few climbs that would take us into Spain. Well much has happend since then and we want to share it all with you so.....sit back relax and join us on a wonderful journey through the Pyrenees!

After spending a wonderful evening in Ceret we had a lovely breakfast, sent one more update to the blog site and pedaled out of Ceret under warm slightly overcast skies. Until getting to Ceret we were still uncertain as to the route to take into Spain. Originally we were going to go through Andora but due to weather in that area we turned further east with plans to cross right along the coastline. The night before arriving in Ceret we met a family from the States (San Juan Islands) who had just crossed over the boarder through La Vajol. They explained that the La Vajol crossing is not accessible via car. It is the pass that was used by the French when they fled France in WWII to escape capture by the Germans!

It sounded like the perfect way for us to cross into Spain! So off we pedaled with our spirits high and our legs feeling strong. The road leading to the top is very very steep but very very beautiful!! It was so incredibly quiet, the pavement was smooth and we saw only an occational car. As a bike rider I have to say that it was one of those truly amazing climbs where you are so taken in by your surroundings that you don´t even feel the steepness of the climb. For those of you who knew my friend Geri, I can tell you that she was right there with me. Each time I came to an extremely steep section a Dragonfly would suddenly appear and fly next to me as I made my way up the hill. The weather was perfect for climbing! It was fairly warm but with the thin layer of clouds we never felt the sun beat down on us and we even enjoyed a few soft cool breezes. Just at the top of the climb on the French side of the mountain is the town of Llama. This town was exactly what you would imagine to find at the top of the pyrenees. Very quiet, no one on the streets. You could tell that the people who lived here were here because they did not want to be part of the mainstream. With no road signs to tell us which way to turn we were in a bit of a quandry as to what to do.........But as I said Geri was there with me the whole time. Not a sole was to be seen in this town when suddenly a door opended and out walks an Asian woman who in very clear English asks us where we are going! She pointed us in the right direction but not before telling us that it is "very very steep".

With less that 3km to go we felt bullet proof. However after turning the corner and looking up up up at the wall they called a road we suddenly felt full of holes! We dug down deep and somehow found the strength to push up the last bit of road which in addition to looking like a wall it was only partially paved and that part was even a little scetchy.

At the top of the mountain the partially paved road now became a dirt road with 8 different trees that had been chopped down to block the passage of cars! So taking all the gear off of the bikes and detatching the trailer together we hauled the bikes and gear over the trees. On the opposite side the road was not rideable so we pushed our bikes the remaining 200meters into Spain!

Under a beautiful blue sky we entered Espana'!!!!! At the top there is a monument to WWII and the rememberance of those who crossed the pyrenees to flee the Germans. We sat at the foot of the monument with only the sounds of the breeze through the trees, birds singing, and cow bells ringing in the distance. It was truly a wonderful experience for us. To come so far and work so hard and then to be able to sit and enjoy such a serene and beautiful area. And we had it ALL to ourselves. Not another sole to be seen!

After sharing a much deserved Snickers Bar we climbed back on the bikes to head down the mountain. As we started out our path was suddenly blocked by a HUGE white sheep dog! This beautiful dog was hearding his flock of goats across the road. No shepard around, just the dog and his goats. He blocked our path as he hurried his flock across the road. Once they were all safely across he then stood gaurd as we pedaled past. What a wonderful way to be welcomed into Spain!

Each day of cycle touring you experience such a wide range of emotions. In the morning you wake usually a "little achy" but after a few cups of coffee and some cereal your spirits perk up and you look forward to the days adventures. If the weather is warm and skies sunny that light happy feeling stays with you and you feel indistructable. As the challenges of the days ride insue you have moments where you feel as though you can´t possibly turn the crank one more revelution but then you look up and are greeted by something beautiful that you know you would not ever had seen had you not been going 4miles/hr and you find new energy. This up and down of emotions continues throughout the day. If you are lucky you get to end the day on the upside of the emotions. But it seems that on the best days we always seem to presented with the biggest challenges at the end of the day.

Our last day in the Pyrenees was one of those days. We were litterally on cloud nine most of the day. Only 3km from the Spain boarder we stopped at a restuarant to have lunch and a celebratory cold Cerveza. What a kick this restaurant was. The people in France are very quiet. Everywhere they speak in soft tones and you do not hear much laughter. I don´t want you to think they are not friendly because they were VERY friendly but they are a very quiet culture. So it was a big change for us when we pedaled into the parking lot of the restaurant and could hear music and laughter! There was a party goin on at 2:00 in the afternoon! A bus of elderly people were there and they were having themselves a grand time. The music was playing and they were shakin their boodies!

With only about 25km to go we left the restaurant and pointed the wheels down hill! But as I mentioned a day in the life of a cycle tourist is full of emotions and challenges. I had been fighting an intestinal BUG for the past 24hrs. While climbing the mountain I think all my energy was sent to my heart, lungs, and legs. Well now that we were going downhill.........well I´ll just let you use your imagination! Needless to say it was not a pleasant leisurely afternoon ride. The road map in Spain is not as detailed as in France and there are actually few roads. What roads there are do not have very good signage and we made a few wrong turns. Once we finally figured out which way to go, mother nature decided we had had enough nice weather and she brought in the clouds and RAIN. My goodness did it rain. So not only did I have to stop on the side of the road every few kilometers (thats probably a little too much information) it was pouring cats and dogs. The only saving grace was that it was not cold. I have to laugh everytime I think of this next part..........

We are riding along, Bob is well ahead of me (can you blame him) and we are both completely soaked! As the rain begins to come down in sheets he slows enough to ask me if I want to stop to put on my rain gear? At this point we are both so soaked that you could litterally wring us out and fill a gallon bucket! Poor guy he just didn´t know what to do for me. I just put my head down and kept pedaling. Eventually we made it to the campground which turned out to be a very nice spot. They had a great patio where we took shelter and waited for the rain to stop. Which eventually it did.

The following day we were once again feeling energized and excitted about getting to Girona! With map handy and some scetchy directions from one of the locals we set out for Girona. The road held much promise for a lovely 40mile ride to Girona. However........our lovely road soon turned to dirt and gravel with lots of short steep hills thrown in for good measure. It was lovely country however and with the sun shinning we pedaled and walked (as the road dictated) our way along. Oh but lets not forget Bob´s flat tires!!!!! He definately has a problem with the rear wheel and although we have tried everything we can think of to figure out what is wrong he contiunues to get a flat about every 10MILES! We have become experts at changing flats and repairing the tubes! It will be good to get to Girona and a bikeshop!!!!!!

Girona is a lovely city!!!! Sherry´s friends Tony & Jody Cruz live here while Tony is cycle racing. Tony set us up with the family whom he rents an apt. from when he stays here. They have been everybit as wonderful as Tony & Jody told us they would be. As soon as we mention Tony & Jody doors just start opening for us. What a wonderful welcome we have recieved. The apt we are renting has 4 bedrooms! It feels good to be able to spread our stuff out and not to have to look in a baggie to find what you want to wear that day.

We went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon which was quite the adventure. If any of you have seen Tom Hank´s movie "The Terminal" well then you will understand when I tell you that we though we were living that movie. It took us about 1 hour to do the shopping and another 2 hours to figure out how to get out of the store! It was pretty commical! Here we are with 10 bags of groceries and we can`t find the exit. Oh it would have been easy had we had a car. You just wheel the cart right out the door into the parking garage.......but we had come via our bikes which were parked out front on the sidewalk. The only way out was through the parking garage and they wouldn´t let us wheel the cart out of the garage!!!!! But eventually we worked it out, loaded our arms up with the bags and struggled up the escallators and out into the fresh air!!!!!

I could go on and on but the day is beautiful and you are probably loosing interest. So goodbye for now. We are headed to the beach this afternoon and later today we will get to meet with Serge! Serge and his family live in the apartment across from ours and they are good friends of Tony & Jody´s.

Update on the flats

Bob 19 flat tires!!!!
Sherry 0 flat tires!!!!

Bye for now!
Bob & Sherry

Pyrenees + Sunshine + warm

2007-06-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

We have made it to Ceret, France in the Pyrnesees mountains right on the border with Spain. Tomorrow we enter Spain!!!!!!! But, not before climbing a few more passes in the Pyrenees.

It has been an amazing last couple of days. We have biked canals, and mountains and have seen castles that would blow your mind. We have met bicyclists from around the world. We have stayed at some incredible campgrounds and they often put all the cyclists together.

We have been climbing the Pyrenees for 2 days now. They have exceeded every possible expectation that we have had. They should be on everyone's to see list before they die. It is hard to explain the sheer beauty. The amazing thing is that there is hardly a soul up there. We have had 10 to 14 percent grades but shared the roads with hardly a car!!

We have loaded more pictures onto the website. I hope they do it justice. The canal was spectacular as well but the trail just kept getting smaller and smaller to the point we thought it would soon disappear! However, we made it 70 miles on it and it was a great escape from the cars and the wind.

Oh, the sun came out!!!! It has been beautiful for the last two days.

Quick update on flat tire counts

Bob ===== 13 flats. He had 1 all the way across the U.S. last year!
Sherry ==== 0 flats!!!! On those skinny little tires!!

Please check out the new pictures.

Biker Roberè and mon Sherriè!!!

We are spending our last day in France in a hotel and treating ourselves to dinner on the town!!!

New Photos

2007-06-26T01:08:00.001-07:00

Down loaded just a few pictures but connection very slow and we have to go..........

Toulouse

2007-06-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends,

We are now in Toulouse, France. When we woke yesterday to be greeted by yet another downpour of rain we decided to cheat a bit and hopped a train: It turned out to be a good decision in that it was only (km from the campground to the train station but it took us over 1 hour to get there! Bob had THREE flats in those short 5 km: So taking the train gave us time to find a bike shop in order to replenish the flat repair kit, buy new maps (our were so wet we could hardly read them) We are still dealing with the rain and winds and we decided we needed a break. But the train was just what the doctor ordered and the miles flew by!!!

As a side note: While changing the 2nd flat of the day we happend to stop in the driveway of the most wondeerful womans home. She INSISTED that we come into her home and wash up after changing the tire. After giving us the grand tour of her very lovely home she then sent us on our way with fresh baked cookies!!!!!

Toulouse was a real eye opener. Very big city! The train got in at 8pm under dry but cloudy skies: We set off to find a place to stay but found the city was booked! We saw several poeple sleeping on the streets and were worried that we would be joining them. Bob was scared but Sherry did not seem worried. After many attempts we found a place right next to the train station. I guess we should have looked there first!!

We slept like babies last night and are ready to tackle another day of rain and cloulds and wind. It is still so amazingly beautiful and the rain makes everything so green. I cannot imagine how pretty it must be when it is 80 and sunny!!!

Today we set off for the Pyrenees and then into Spain:

What an adventure!! Are spirits are high and we are enjoying everything that comes our way.

Bob & Sherry

Goodbye from Angouleme

2007-06-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

Good morning! We just wanted to make another note about France before we leave this beautiful city.

I know that our posting last night may have sounded a bit dreary but the weather aside France is absolutely stunning. We are very anxious to get some pictures downloaded becase words just can not describe how very beautiful it is here! The flowers are amazing!!!! Hydrangeas grow wild here and the most vibrant blues, pink, lavender, and even magenta! The small roads that we travel on go through a small village about every 12-15 K. Each village has a large Cathedral as it's center and then everything else is built around it. As we pedal through these villages we are greeted with smiles and lots of Bon Jour,s.

Yesterday Sherry did the laundry which was somewhat commical. It was a trial and error process. They have one central pay point for the machines. You put your money in then push the button that coincides with the machine you are going to use. Sounds pretty simple, Right? Well it is except that you have to place the clothes in the machine BEFORE you push the select button because as soon as you push the button the washing starts. The machine is a front loader so once it starts you can't open the door!

One other thing that we forgot to add to yesterdays blog. On friday night when we finally made it through 82 miles of wind and rain to the campsite the first thing Bob wanted to do was use the bathroom............well after 5 min Sherry got a little worried and went looking for him. As she approached the restrooms she could hear loud banging!!!!!!! Poor Bob, the handle on the door had broken and he was stuck in the bathroom! Sherry had to find the man who runs the campground then explain to him through gestures (There wasn't a translation in the French handbook that covered "stuck in the toilette") He finally understood and came to rescue Bob! They ended up practically tearing the door off before they got him out!!!!!!! The perfect end to a very wet and cold day! I guess that is why they call it "adventure cycling"

That,s all for now we'll update again as soon as we can and hopefully get some pictures out to you:

Bob and Sherry

France!

2007-06-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hello from Angouleme, France. It has been a wet, windy, hilly and cold 5 days. But do not feel sorry for us; besides Bob crashing in England; he had a small problem with a curb, the curb won! But he rode away with a smile on his face and only a few little bumps; Sherry got bit on the foot by a dog within the first 10 miles in France; on day 2 Sherry had a big crash which she rode away from but had some really BIG scrapes and bruises and maybe a broken arm?!?!? But she is a pretty tough cookie and we are still pedaling...........

On day one in France we met a lovely woman at the auto parts store who invited us to stay at her home: How's that for French hospitality! She even cooked us dinner and breakfast and refused to take any money! It was a wonderful first day in a strange country where we don't even know the language.

The past three days we have put in some good miles, although if it was up to just Bob we would have gone even FURTHER! 400 miles of hills, wind (15 -25 MPH head winds) rain and cold. I think we already mentioned the riding conditions but we feel they warrant repeating.

Tonight we find ourselves in the most amazing town. Angouleme is very quaint, the bulk of the town is accessible only by foot. It is especially wonderful as this will be our first night not spent in the tent, rain, wind, and cold! (oh, I think we already mentioned the weather)

Camping in France is really very nice. The campgrounds are well equiped, clean and quiet: And most importantly they are very inexpensive: So far we have kept our daily budget to under 20euros/day! But not tonight...............we are really going to treat ourselves well tonight: Poor Bob's sleeping pad developed a LEAK! We attempted a repair but alas it did not work: He has spent 4 nights on the cold hard ground! Tonight he gets to pick which side of the bed he is going to sleep on!

The laundry is done! Blog site updated! E-mails answered! Showers taken! So good bye for now we are on our way out the door to have some PIZZA (our first dinner in france not cooked on a campstove) and oh yes some MORE wine: Wine is the one thing we have not gone without! Lots of Frances version of 3 Buck Chuck but much better can be found at any store! And we have been trying out a different one each night!

We have lots and lots of pictures to share but right now our growling stomachs take precidence!

Some interesting tidbits

1.4 dollars = 1 euro

Camping per night = 6 euro's
1 french bread baguette = .20 euro's
A nice bottle of vino = 3.50 euro
A new sleeping pad = 27 euro's!!!!!
Laundry = 3.50 for wash, and 4 euro's for a dry.

Oh, and the French people seem very friendly to us when we tell them we are American!!! That was a surprise...... I guess it is okay to start buying yoplait yogurt and Evian water again!!

Bon Soir!!!

Bob and Sherry

Wonderful British Hospitality

2007-06-17T01:39:00.000-07:00

Good morning from across the pond. We have had the most amazing few days here in England. We can't thank Ashley, Amanda, Ryan, and Alexander enough for their amazing hospitality!!!

Friday evening all of us (Ashley, Amanda, Ryan, Alexander, Bob, Sherry) rode our bikes to dinner. As you can imagine it was quite the adventure. Ryan who is 8 is like most boys of that age and only knows two speeds.....STOP and FAST! Bob did a good job keeping up with him and instructing him on the fine points of watching out for cars, animals, and small children. Although Alexander had recently liberated his bike of the "stabilizer's" aka training wheels, he rode on the tag-a-long attached to Amanda's bike.

Dinner was wonderful. We ate at a local "pub" and it was actually nice enough to sit outside which was very nice. After dinner we all played a game of "tag" (when was the last time you did that) and then it was back on the bikes and up the hill to home. Ashely took over as captain of the tandem team aka tag-a-long so Amanda could have a leisurely ride home.

Saturday Bob & I had a special treat. Ashley & Amanda had arranged for a cycling friend to take us out for a bike tour of the area. John was an excellent tour guide and took us on the most wonderful country roads. We rode through the countryside enjoying the car free roads while being treated to amazing views. We rode past centuries old churches and even a Castle! Bob had a bit of a problem with a flat tire! Unfortunately being the "experienced, prepared for anything cycle tourists" we had left the house with no pump! But I guess that's why they call it Adventure Cycling....... We managed to patch the tire and had our first encounter of British help when a group of cyclists stopped to let us use their tire pump. However the tube continued to have a slow leak. And being the "experienced all prepared for anything cycle tourists" we left the house without an extra tube. So Bob & I slowly made our way home relying on more "prepared" passing cyclists allowing us to use their tire pumps. The ride back to Wimborne was slow but we enjoyed more beautiful scenery as we rode along a bike path next to the English Channel.

Ashley, Amanda and the boys came and rescued us once we made it to Wimborn and we all piled into the Mini Van for a ride up the hill to home. Another wonderful dinner with lots of stories told and laughs shared and we were off to bed.

Today we pack up for the ride to Portsmouth where we will take the ferry to LaHavre, France. It will be hard to say goodbye to the Longs. They have been the ultimate hosts! We have especially enjoyed their boys. Sherry has had enjoyed the past few nights when she has gotten to read the boys their bedtime story! Hopefully the Long's will come and visit us in America this winter!!!!

More picture have been added.....Enjoy!

That's all for now..........
Keeping the rubber side down,
Sherry & Bob

Minneapolis to England

2007-06-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings from across the pond!

We started out from home at 4pm Tuesday, June 12th. My lovely daughter Vanessa gracefully offered us a ride to the airport and dropped us off with two big duffel bags and two bikes boxed up. We were charged $160.00 per bicycle and an additional $50.00 for the heavier of the two bags that included Sherry's bike trailer, aka BOB trailer, the Beast Of Burden.

The flight over was pretty uneventful. We both slept a little but not a lot! Because we were flying north, it never got dark over night! Upon arriving at London Gatwick our bikes and bags arrived in perfect condition. We found a great spot just outside the airport and put our bikes together without any problems. See pictures!

From there we biked directly out of the airport on a bicycle trail that was heading south. We promptly got lost in Crawley. Then we got lost again, still in Crawley. We asked directions and got lost again. Finally a young gal on a bike escorted us in the right direction.

We didn't make as much progress our first day as we had hoped, but did get out of London and into the countryside. We ended up staying the first night at a great little campground in Billingshurst. There was a pub right next to the camp ground which we made good use of! After a much deserved hot shower and a wonderful camp side dinner (thank you Sherry) of clams and oysters and linguine, we finished the night off with a bottle of wine. Our charge for camping for the night was £5.00 or $10.00 U.S. They gave us a half price deal because we were on our bicycles.

Although we had beautiful 70 degree sunny weather upon arriving and for much of the day cycling, it rained buckets throughout the night. I wouldn't have noticed but Sherry kept waking me to let me know! The tent dripped ever so slightly but mostly over Sherry. I think I get that side of the tent from now on!

The morning brought cloudy but dry skies. We started off by 7:30 and had an English breakfast 10 miles down the road in Petsworth, a small village. The cafe was built in the 1400's, the ceiling was about 5' 6"!! The people were small back then! English breakfasts are wonderful, and filling. Eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, beans, mushrooms, and coffee.

Our riding goal for this day was to make it to Ashley and Amanda's in Wimborne, England approximately 100 miles. We didn't quite make it. The roads here are very narrow. A 6 inch shoulder was a luxury here of which we rarely found. We were usually riding a white line while traffic buzzed by only inches away and going the wrong direction (for us anyways) at speeds over 50mph. It is very difficult to have the traffic passing on our right.

We reached Lindhurst, England which was about 70 miles into our ride that day and called Ashley and Amanda to tell them we would camp there for the night. They insisted, and we gladly accepted a ride to their house.

We had a fabulous evening. We met up with Ryan (8) and Alexander (6) their two boys and proceeded to keep us entertained for the night. Ashley fixed a wonderful dinner of Tuna and potatoes and gravy that was out of this world! We enjoyed English cider, wine, and port before during and after dinner. Needless to say, we have been moving slowly this morning! For all that know Ashley and Amanda, we strongly recommend you come and visit them!! The hospitality is wonderful here.

Today we toured the Dorset county area and spent a lot of the time by the English Channel. It is beautiful county down here. Tonight we are going out to a local English pub for dinner. Tomorrow they have arrange with a "keen" cyclist friend of theirs to take us on a cycling tour of the area. We are looking forward to riding with our all of our gear.

We have posted more pictures for your entertainment!!

We are going to be here with Ashley and Amanda until Sunday before heading to Portsmouth where we will board a ferry to Le Havre, France.

Stay tuned for the next post.

Bye for now. (BFN)

Bob & Sherry

One day and counting......

2007-06-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day. We leave Minneapolis at 7pm on a direct flight to London. We should arrive at 9:30am Wednesday.

Today we are busy tieing up all the loose ends. Last week we took the bikes into the shop for one final "check up" a few tweaks were made and the Bike Mechanic gave them a clean bill of health. This morning we loaded "Everything" up and took them out for a 15mile loop around one of the many lakes here in Minnesota. Everything went well and we are now ready to Box, Bag and Stuff everything up for the long awaited journey.

We have had a wonderful weekend spent with family and friends. On Saturday we had a BBQ here at the house to say "farewell, to everyone for the summer!" We had a great time and lots of laughs were shared by all. On Sunday we spent the day "Boating" with our friends Todd & Diane who very generously took us out for a wonderful day boating and swimming at Lake Minnetonka. Bob's sister Ruth and her friend Matt also joined us. The weather was absolutely perfect and the water very refreshing. We had a special surprise when we met up with Vanessa and a few of her freinds who were also "Boating" around the lake. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to enjoy these last few days with.

We still have lots of "STUFF" to get done so we'll say so long for now. We hope you will enjoy visiting the blog often to check on or progress and keep up on our adventure. We will post whenever we can find internet access. We will be using flickr.com to upload our photos. There is a direct link to our Flickr photo's on the right side of the blog home page. Enjoy! And don't forget to send us your comments!

BonJour,
Bob & Sherry

26 Days and counting

2007-05-17T01:28:00.000-07:00

Not that we are counting the days, but............
There are only.........

624 hours left before we leave
I only have 6 shifts left to work
Bob only has 19 work days left

If you have done the math correctly you know that our adventure will begin on June 12th. But before we get too excited there is still lots to do. Getting this blog up and running is one of the major tasks and is still a work in progress. Hopefully we will have all the kinks worked out soon and the finished product will provide us a simple way to keep everyone updated while we pedal across France & Spain.

Bob & Sherry