Lance and Steph arrived a few days early to visit cousins Brigitte and Franck and Tante Suzanne in Chambery. And a special visit with Romain and Laura who recently returned from Vancouver.
It is always a pleasure enjoying Brigitte's wonderful cooking, tasting lots of cheeses and all kinds of pastries.
We were overwhelmed with the selection of over 50 types of Rosé costing ~ 5 Euros at the local grocery store.
So many people to thank for making SEBA (Steph's Epic Bike Adventure) come true! Thanks to Franck and Brigitte who joined Stage 4 from Bordeaux to Hendaye. In particular, Franck for gifting me the Routard La Velodyssee guide two years ago that set the wheels in motion! This guide was super helpful in the planning stage. Also many thanks for taking time off work and from your day-to-day commitments to join us for a week. And for trading off as 'sag wagon' drivers so the rest of us could ride. It was special having both Franck and Brigitte along! Thanks to Lance my dear husband for supporting my epic adventure and being willing to travel for 6+ weeks on the seat of a bike. An an extra thanks for containing all the complaints about hills and other challenges! May you too have caught the bike touring bug. Thanks for Lauran and John for joining in on the full 4 stages of the ride! And a special thanks to Lauran for...
Perhaps my procrastination in posting the last riding day was an attempt to extend the trip...not wanting it to end. But if it was going to end, this last day was a great way to do it! The views were spectacular. But also this segment was the only segment rated "expert". That was due in part to the amount of road riding through busy Biarritz and the last 4km into Hendaye as well as the numerous steep hills. The trepidation meter was peaking! As we left Bayonne the route quickly turned south along the coast unveiling gorgeous views. The views were so distracting that they led Lauran, John and Lance down the wrong path to the watersedge which meant a big climb back to EV#1. We agreed to stay close and ride together on the last day...then promptly got lost again as we cycled through glitzy Biarritz. Lauran and Steph got off track but quickly found a steep hill to rejoin the route. The rout...
Today we left the interesting Hôtel France located across from a lovely church with its tolling bells and on seemingly the busiest intersection in France after a breakfast of coffee, croissants, and baguette, but no plates! We knew the route would be very straight and wondered at how to conquer the tediousness of such a ride. Playing capture the baguette was thrown out as a suggestion but not, met with much enthusiasm! We seem to have no shortage of good conversation and appreciation for our surroundings and the opportunity to be on the bikes headed somewhere interesting. We also had the anticipation of a café crème stop which we did at a beachside restaurant in the surfing town of Hourtin Plage. The coffee stop lead right in to lunch of fish and chips or woked vegetables and beef. We had a nice chat with German riders Birgit and Ule who had lived in the US for 15 years. After lunch we spent some time on the large dunes and down on the beach. We watc...
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