Caley and I saw these awesome cows on a truly fairy tale magical ride that led us up and up and up into a mountain valley that only the cows and the humans that milk them ever go.
The road pretty much disintegrated before ending in dirt and signs that told hikers how long until the next pass or landmark etc.
On the way back we passed a marker that was in memory of a young frenchman who was brutally "massacred" by the Germans. You see those everywhere here. It makes "The War" seem very present in everyones daily lives. I wonder how people feel about Germany basically holding the purse strings of the EU at the moment.
I rode with all the journos on the second day we were there and had some fun beating up on the guys who don't get to ride very much :) I also discovered after uploading our ride to strava, that I was only about 6 minutes off the QOM (queen of the mountain) which is held by Carmen Small! She is the daughter of my very best ski coach from childhood, and is currently kicking some serious ass in races all over. I'll have to get in touch with her to ask what she was doing in Italy in March :)
Last night we had dinner with Caitlyn Vestal again, Zack was at a work thing, and they had moved to a house out in the country. It was so beautiful!! We brought steaks, quail eggs, beer, and bocce. Great fun was had out in the yard before the thunder rolled in with sheets of rain following close behind. I'm super sad they are leaving tomorrow!!! We have discussed plans to move into houses across the street from each other in the French countryside.
I'm not convinced it will ever get warm in the Alpes this year. Today dawned with more rain on top of yesterdays downpours. Caley and Ramsay kicked me out of the house yesterday afternoon so they could clean in time for someone to come look at the apartment to rent it in September (thank you sincerely boys). So I got in a great run! I started out hiking up the hill behind our house to warm up, and as soon as I got onto the Col de Leschaux road I started running. At one point I considered trying to go all the way up and call someone to come get me, but then it started to sprinkle....and then downpour! I hid under some trees for about 10 minutes or so, but finally just gave up and headed back down the hill. The clouds were actually a bit thinner and I ran out of the main part of the storm. Ended up being about 5 miles in about an hour. I can understand why Caley is frustrated by the speed of running...
The past few days we've been trying to get on our bikes when the weather allows and Caley has been covering the Dauphine. I went with him down to the area near Alpe D'Huez on Saturday, fully intending to ride the climb, but we ended up napping in the car and coming straight home :) It was an early morning, the race was supposed to start at 9am! Usually they don't get rolling until at least 2pm or so. I think some of the riders were protesting...they hadn't even left the busses at about 5 till 9.
Someday last week, I can't even remember the day, Ramsay and I rode over Col du Leschaux to meet up with the race as it came through the little town of Cluse. We sort of raced each other. Let's just say a lot of trash talking was had....apparently Ramsay needs more of a warm up or something like that (excuses!!) We sat at our favorite patisserie and had coffees and ate sandwiches while we waiting for the racers. Here's when they finally came through:
Caley rode his bike home and I drove sag for him. Of course, he didn't just go home, had to make a detour to the top of Le Semnoz, the local gigantic climb. Ramsay and I had fun blasting the stereo in the car for him and of course doing a little heckling out the window. Caley is freaking fast on the bike, in case you weren't aware. I never get to really see how fast when we ride together because he rides at a speed that I can keep up with... There are some pics in the gallery at the bottom of the page from that ride.
Let's see...we spent a lovely evening in downtown Annecy last week, we hadn't been down there for awhile. Of course we ran into awesome live jazz on the canal...
Other than that we've been eating delicious food, watching a lot of the French Open on tv, trying to find internet, etc. I finally dug into some school stuff and I'm spending a lot of time thinking about the classroom flipping stuff, now to actually DO IT!
We've definitely been packing in the fun the past few days; as it should be!
Saturday we had the Vestals over for dinner, funny how we have to come half way around the world to find time to hang out with our friends :) Zack works for Mavic, and Caitlyn got some vacation time away so they're here for about two weeks. Dinner was awesome, they are so much fun to hang out with! In fact, we're going over to their place tonight. I hope we get to do some riding with them as well, Caitlyn is super fast at the moment, which is not unusual in the slightest...she just got 4th in some big mtn bike race in Colorado. Hopefully they won't be too annoyed at waiting for me.
The Dauphine started this week as well. We went to the first stage in Champery Switzerland. It was fun to see a grand tour that isn't as insane as the Tour. Some video clips for your enjoyment:
Today we caught up with the time trial, apparently Contador had a super bad race....I wasn't really paying attention :) Caley was a little disappointed, apparently there weren't really any new bikes being debuted. He thought there would be more new stuff to get pictures of. We did get to hang out with Simon and Tom from some British cycling company, don't remember the name. We had them over for dinner last night as well. It's so fun to know people in different countries, I invited them back for when the Tour passes through the area, we'll have to track down more chairs...
Other than that, we've been reading, riding, writing, bocce playing, cooking, sightseeing, and generally enjoying life!
Here are some pics, I will try to caption them as the internet allows..:)
