So. Remember when I broke my collarbone (April 1), lo those many weeks ago (nine, to be exact). Well, if you'll recall, that was my first ride of the season, as I was preparing for what I'm calling my Crazy European Bike Trip of Death.
Were I prepared, I wouldn't be calling it the CEBToD. But the shattering of my clavicle set my training back just a smidge. So here I am, barely in good enough shape to walk to the corner drugstore, let alone bike 900 miles over 3 weeks... and I'm 3 days from my departure.
What is this trip, you ask? Ho ho, let me tell you. Or rather, let me show you. Click here to see a google map of the itinerary that my friend (and trip instigator) Dan has created. We fly into Barcelona on Sat, then on Sunday we start off for Florence, Italy. We're taking 20 days to get there, with ~3 rest days en route. Sounds easy, right? I mean, how hard can it be to bike along the French Riviera in the gorgeous month of June?
Well, France is likely going to be the easy part. The bitch will be crossing the Pyranees to get out of Spain, and crossing the Alps to get into Italy. Hannibal had elephants; alls I've got is this dinky bike. But I shall persevere... I keep telling myself that if I can survive to day 5, it'll all be ok.
Dan says not to worry, that I'll be fine. Did I mention that 2 summers ago he biked 5000 miles from San Fran to DC? Oh, yeah, he did. Raise your hand if you think he might be a little more prepared for this than I am. Yeah, I thought so. It's unanimous.
In reality, I'm bitching, but I'm not really serious. I am seriously nervous about getting everything together and over there, and about getting going that first day. 40 lbs of extra weight from gear, new shoes and pedals, paper airline tickets, and more... But after that I know I'll be fine, and I'll be loving the whole thing. And at the end of the bike trip I've got 3 days in Florence, and then 10 days with my friend Maria on her family's vineyard in La Rioja (including a side trip to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls)... so by the time I'm back home in SF on July 8, I'll be tan and ripped and ready to take the SF dating scene by storm. =P
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2 comments:
dood. call me before you leave. hugs.
why do you have paper airline tickets?
the pyranees - why god created the train. :-)
you can make it - if Erich can bike from vancouver to alaska and back, you can make it from barcelona to florence! of course, erich was *crazy* back then. the man biked everywhere until i forced him to get his driver's license when we got married!
bon chance!
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