OP
OP
Shut Up Legs
Down Under Member
Heading home, and Conclusion
[ click any image to see the larger one ]
Heading Home
Another lodger, Andrew from Canada, arrived at the lodge's breakfast table this morning. He'd arrived at the lodge at 0200, due to a delayed flight. While I waited for my taxi to Lourdes, I watched him start to reassemble his bicycle, which he'd brought in a box, so he could leave for his first ride. I wished I could stay, and ride also, but unfortunately the fun bit was over.
The trip home was much like the trip to Europe in reverse, but with a pre-booked train trip included. I first took a taxi from Saint-Savin to Lourdes, between 15 and 20km and costing me about 38 Euros. The taxi fares are roughly the same as in Australia, but with one difference: the taxis arrive to pick you up on time. In Australia, waiting for taxis is a frustrating experience.
Booking the taxi was easy enough, because Olive at the B&B called one for me that morning.
From Lourdes, I took the SNCF TER train to Toulouse, which took a bit over 2 hours, and left and arrived on time (again a contrast to Australian trains). I then took a 1.5 hour Air France flight to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport near Paris, and couldn't get out of that place fast enough! That airport's too big, and getting from my arrival gate to the departure gate at a different terminal in the airport wasn't much fun (and involved a bit of fast walking and jogging, and the use of an inter-terminal shuttle bus). I arrived at the departure terminal with only 25 minutes to spare before boarding time.
I then had a 6 hour flight with Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi, endured the chaos that is Abu Dhabi airport (a badly-run place, in my opinion), then took Etihad Airways again for the 12.75 hour flight to Melbourne, arriving there around 0430, very jetlagged.
Shopping
Yes, I did a bit of this, although it was mainly the occasional food and drink purchase, and cycling jerseys and t-shirts to commemorate the major climbs I did. These included:
Learning from the past
As I mentioned, I wanted to improve on the previous trip, and learn from any of its mistakes (although there weren't many, because that trip went fairly well). Improvements this time around included:
Trip Report
Writing it was hard work.
First, I had to decide which of the 1700 photos I took (and the 1000 taken by Richard in the tour group, since he and I shared our photos with each other) to show in the report, and ensuring I kept the number of photos per post to 22 (which seems to be the limit imposed by the forum software). I then resized them all to 1280 x 960, with the thumbnails for each being 320 x 240. Once this was done, I uploaded them all to Google Sites: this is a free online storage site which allows you to create multiple sites, each site with a 100MB limit (for this trip report, I reached about 70MB).
Then, I had to split the report into 18 sections: one per day of cycling plus some extra ones. After that, I hit writer's block, as the scale of the writing task ahead was a bit daunting. During the trip, I made daily diary entries on my phone using a memo app, which helped, as there were so many events on each day, I knew I'd never recall them all unless I noted them all. So eventually I copied these to the trip report, and voila as the French say.
The CycleChat forum software makes writing trip reports quite easy: it's nice using a forum with modern fully-functional software behind it. Thanks, @Shaun !
Conclusion
Some final observations on the trip: the mountains are very quiet and have minimal traffic noise, so it was very peaceful, which made the frenetic traffic noise in Melbourne all the more jarring on my return. Although the weather can be unpredictable with mountains this high, it was generally good during my trip, with very little rain or strong winds, but then I did go there in mid-summer.
Upon weighing myself at home, I found I'd lost 2kg, and given how much stronger my legs felt after all that cycling, I knew I'd lost some fat and gained some muscle, which was part of my mission.
On last year's trip in September, I broke even, i.e. my weight remained the same (but I also lost fat and gained muscle on that one).
The strained right leg muscle near the knee that I suspect I strained durings days 2 and 3 of the tour (probably the most physically demanding 2 days) recovered after about 3 weeks, the first week back at home I did no riding (I was still on 1 more week of holiday, so no commute rides), then 2 weeks of commute rides. It feels fine, now.
I also missed Italy and France, and never really wanted to leave. It was nice being in countries where cyclists are just accepted as normal road users (provided they do the right thing, and follow the road rules and don't do anything stupid on the roads). While using the roads in Italy and France as a pedestrian or as a cyclist, I never felt threatened, like I sometimes do in Australia, where far too many motorists seem to always be in a hurry, and make no secret of their resentment for anyone who 'gets in their way'.
In Australia, there's just too much negative media coverage about cyclists, something we seem to have 'inherited' from our mother country the UK. I wish I could go back to Europe and stay there, quite frankly, because I'm not happy in Australia. For now, I'll just have to be content with visiting Europe for cycling once a year or whenever I can afford it.
There are 2 more posts following this one, relating to the trip, but they're not cycling-specific. They describe, respectively, the animals and plants I encountered during the trip, mainly in the Alpine / Pyrenean areas. They are, after all, part of the spectacular scenery, and should be celebrated.
[ Prev: Day 14 - Col de Tentes ]
[ Next: Extra - Of Marmots and Other Fauna ]
[ click any image to see the larger one ]
Heading Home
Another lodger, Andrew from Canada, arrived at the lodge's breakfast table this morning. He'd arrived at the lodge at 0200, due to a delayed flight. While I waited for my taxi to Lourdes, I watched him start to reassemble his bicycle, which he'd brought in a box, so he could leave for his first ride. I wished I could stay, and ride also, but unfortunately the fun bit was over.
The trip home was much like the trip to Europe in reverse, but with a pre-booked train trip included. I first took a taxi from Saint-Savin to Lourdes, between 15 and 20km and costing me about 38 Euros. The taxi fares are roughly the same as in Australia, but with one difference: the taxis arrive to pick you up on time. In Australia, waiting for taxis is a frustrating experience.
Booking the taxi was easy enough, because Olive at the B&B called one for me that morning.From Lourdes, I took the SNCF TER train to Toulouse, which took a bit over 2 hours, and left and arrived on time (again a contrast to Australian trains). I then took a 1.5 hour Air France flight to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport near Paris, and couldn't get out of that place fast enough! That airport's too big, and getting from my arrival gate to the departure gate at a different terminal in the airport wasn't much fun (and involved a bit of fast walking and jogging, and the use of an inter-terminal shuttle bus). I arrived at the departure terminal with only 25 minutes to spare before boarding time.
I then had a 6 hour flight with Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi, endured the chaos that is Abu Dhabi airport (a badly-run place, in my opinion), then took Etihad Airways again for the 12.75 hour flight to Melbourne, arriving there around 0430, very jetlagged.
Shopping
Yes, I did a bit of this, although it was mainly the occasional food and drink purchase, and cycling jerseys and t-shirts to commemorate the major climbs I did. These included:
- 2 jerseys with a Stelvio + Gavia + Mortirolo theme, and 1 t-shirt with the same theme.
- 1 jersey + 1 t-shirt for the Col du Telegraphe + Col du Galibier climbs.
- 1 jersey + 1 t-shirt for Alpe d'Huez.
- 1 jersey+ 1 t-shirt for Mont Ventoux.
- 1 jersey+ 1 t-shirt for Col du Tourmalet.
Learning from the past
As I mentioned, I wanted to improve on the previous trip, and learn from any of its mistakes (although there weren't many, because that trip went fairly well). Improvements this time around included:
- longer cycling distances and more climbing;
- more days spent overseas, to help offset the huge distance needed to travel there and back;
- using my own bicycle saddle from day 1. Last time, I did 3 days of riding on the saddle provided with the hire bike. Even though it superficially looked similar to my own bicycle saddle that I brought with me, it wasn't similar enough, and by day 3 my bottom was hurting a great deal!
Once I put my own saddle on the hire bike, the pain just vanished, and I was fine for the rest of the trip. This time I used my own saddle for all the days of riding. - last time, I had a problem with a powerboard I brought with me: somehow a bad wall power outlet at one of the hotels fried the board, and I had to buy some French USB wall chargers at one of the road houses (termed 'Aires de service' over there). This time, I brought several different chargers, a powerboard, and a few miscellaneous wall socket adaptors, including several portable chargers for use on the road. No frying occurred this time, and I didn't even use all that hardware, but it's better being overprepared than underprepared.
- I brought my own front and rear bicycle lights this time. Last time, the tour company said they'd provide lights, but they didn't, which was a bit disappointing. I used these lights a few times, in some of the longer and/or darker road tunnels in the Alps.
- Last time, I didn't bring baggage with wheels, and my shoulders didn't thank me for that, so this time I brought 2 cases with wheels and telescopic handle, one larger to check-in, and a smaller one for on-board (the latter carefully measured to meet the carry-on size and weight requirements of the airlines I travelled with).
- I tried to make more of an effort to learn French (and Italian) than last time. I didn't learn that much more, but at least I tried, and of course while over there, I picked up bit and pieces from road signs, menus, newspapers, etc.
- better use of the smart phone. Last time, I didn't turn on global data roaming, only using the global voice/text roaming. This meant I couldn't use internet (e.g. to check weather reports, send text messages to family, post gratuitous wish-you-were-here-in-the-sunny-Alps photos to CycleChat and family) during the trip unless I was in range of one of the hotels' wifi transmitters. This time, I turned on global data roaming, and it wasn't too expensive, compared to my overall trip costs. For about 16 days overseas, my phone company charged me $125 in total. Their charge per day for global voice/text roaming was a fixed $5 per day, and another $5 per day for the data roaming, so I expected about $170 but it turned out to be even less than that, so I was happy enough with it.
- more pre-trip cycling training: I didn't really improve much in this department, although I tried. It's hard to get motivated in the middle of winter, even if you're training for a trip where it's summer.
- doing the rides I skipped last time. Last time, for various reasons, I skipped the Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and Alpe d'Huez climbs, and this time I'm happy to say I did them all.
- not being sunburnt: in the September trip last year, I didn't use sunscreen lotion when I should have, and ended up sunburnt on my arms, my legs just above the knees, and my nose. This time, I remembered to apply the lotion just about every day except for 2 I think, and avoided any sunburn. I just ended up with a nice summer tan, which I still have, although it's fading slowly.
Trip Report
Writing it was hard work.
First, I had to decide which of the 1700 photos I took (and the 1000 taken by Richard in the tour group, since he and I shared our photos with each other) to show in the report, and ensuring I kept the number of photos per post to 22 (which seems to be the limit imposed by the forum software). I then resized them all to 1280 x 960, with the thumbnails for each being 320 x 240. Once this was done, I uploaded them all to Google Sites: this is a free online storage site which allows you to create multiple sites, each site with a 100MB limit (for this trip report, I reached about 70MB).
Then, I had to split the report into 18 sections: one per day of cycling plus some extra ones. After that, I hit writer's block, as the scale of the writing task ahead was a bit daunting. During the trip, I made daily diary entries on my phone using a memo app, which helped, as there were so many events on each day, I knew I'd never recall them all unless I noted them all. So eventually I copied these to the trip report, and voila as the French say.
The CycleChat forum software makes writing trip reports quite easy: it's nice using a forum with modern fully-functional software behind it. Thanks, @Shaun !
Conclusion
Some final observations on the trip: the mountains are very quiet and have minimal traffic noise, so it was very peaceful, which made the frenetic traffic noise in Melbourne all the more jarring on my return. Although the weather can be unpredictable with mountains this high, it was generally good during my trip, with very little rain or strong winds, but then I did go there in mid-summer.
Upon weighing myself at home, I found I'd lost 2kg, and given how much stronger my legs felt after all that cycling, I knew I'd lost some fat and gained some muscle, which was part of my mission.
On last year's trip in September, I broke even, i.e. my weight remained the same (but I also lost fat and gained muscle on that one).The strained right leg muscle near the knee that I suspect I strained durings days 2 and 3 of the tour (probably the most physically demanding 2 days) recovered after about 3 weeks, the first week back at home I did no riding (I was still on 1 more week of holiday, so no commute rides), then 2 weeks of commute rides. It feels fine, now.
I also missed Italy and France, and never really wanted to leave. It was nice being in countries where cyclists are just accepted as normal road users (provided they do the right thing, and follow the road rules and don't do anything stupid on the roads). While using the roads in Italy and France as a pedestrian or as a cyclist, I never felt threatened, like I sometimes do in Australia, where far too many motorists seem to always be in a hurry, and make no secret of their resentment for anyone who 'gets in their way'.
In Australia, there's just too much negative media coverage about cyclists, something we seem to have 'inherited' from our mother country the UK. I wish I could go back to Europe and stay there, quite frankly, because I'm not happy in Australia. For now, I'll just have to be content with visiting Europe for cycling once a year or whenever I can afford it.
There are 2 more posts following this one, relating to the trip, but they're not cycling-specific. They describe, respectively, the animals and plants I encountered during the trip, mainly in the Alpine / Pyrenean areas. They are, after all, part of the spectacular scenery, and should be celebrated.
[ Prev: Day 14 - Col de Tentes ]
[ Next: Extra - Of Marmots and Other Fauna ]
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On day 14, on my way down from Col de Tentes (and so at about 2100m altitude), I saw these marmots, like cute, cuddly beavers. 
).
