This is a great route, part of which my friend Connie and I rode last year from the opposite direction. Today I was hoping to add on some more mountain villages and was really looking forward to the ride. That all went to hell about one kilometer into the ride. I left Vence a little after 9:00 am and headed up the Col de Vence. The climb has been featured … [more]
Archive for June, 2010
Patisserie: Nougatine
Anyone who knows me knows that I love French patisseries. In fact, the only time I ever eat sweets is when I’m in France. That’s right, I go for an entire year with no sweets of any kind and then when I get to France I go crazy with patisseries. Today’s French patisserie is nougatine (Miel, Amandes) from La Tourrettoise in Vence (one of the better Patisseries in Vence). A … [more]
Vence, La Turbie, Peille Loop
Great ride today! I slept in later than I usually do, but I got a good night’s sleep and I’m now on France time I think. I finished putting my bike together (really just needed to tighten everything up and tweak a few things), got organized and was on the road around 9:30. It’s mostly downhill from Vence to Nice, about seven miles to the coast (Cagnes-Sur-Mer) and then another … [more]
Nice & Vence
Arrived in Nice around 1:00 in the afternoon about three hours later than when I was scheduled to arrive, so overall not so bad. I checked with baggage people there and they told me my bike and bag would be coming in that afternoon around 3:00 or 3:30. Great news, as the London folks had told me they wouldn’t arrive until the next day! I headed over to Terminal 2 … [more]
London Airport
So we arrived late at the London airport. Of course. I had an hour and 10 minute layover here in London before my flight to Nice, which is not a lot of time at all when you’re coming in on an international flight. By the time I was able to get off the plane, travel through the various terminals, go through security yet again and make it to the gate … [more]
Miami Airport
Well, this is not good. Just as we were about to land in Miami the pilot aborted the landing and took us to Ft. Lauderdale instead. Apparently sudden winds at ground level had made it unadvisable to land. Now normally they would just circle around awhile until it was safe to land, but, as the pilot explained, we had used up all of our fuel flying around storms between Nashville … [more]
Nashville Airport
So far, so good at the Nashville airport. Checked in fine. An extra $60 for my bike, which is much cheaper than I’ve paid before. Previous years it has been anywhere from $120 to $225. Of course, they wanted to open my carefully packed bike, which is always a drag. Luckily, the woman doing the inspection couldn’t figure out how to close the box so she let me come behind … [more]
Bike Cleaning
One of the things that is absolutely imperative before a cycling trip to France is giving my bike a very thorough cleaning. Today I broke it all down and did just that. Generally, I’ll remove the rear cassette (the rear gears) and the crankset (the front gears) along with both wheels. I give the frame a good cleaning, clean the chain and the wheels and then really scrub all the … [more]
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