Arrivederci'

After much ado about everything and a few last-minute errands (Dave forgot extra tubes, socks, TRANQUILIZERS - not really) we're ready to leave. Next stop ... Nice, France. See you in 15 hours or so. The adventure begins ... oy veh.

26 hours!!

So this is what the Honda looked like on Friday driving to Green Bay. 2 dogs, a cat and all their accoutrements, a bike, a bike box, 2 large suitcases, 2 carryons, Dad's Father's Day present plus various other things to hand over to people in Green Bay. Needless to say, the dogs spent all 10 hours on our laps (they were in heaven) and the cat barely cried (thank goodness). Oh, and when we left, we found out the back tire had a nail in it. Had it blown, we would have been quite a site alongside the road. Thank goodness it didn't.

Made it Green Bay safely. 26 hours to go!!

1 day to D-day

We leave for Green Bay tomorrow and there's still so much to do. We're overwhelmed. Can't figure out if we're taking too much or not enough for a month.

Dave's bike is finally together. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. He just got a new set of wheels so he has 2 sets to take on the trip. They're ROL wheels and look awesome. They're called d'Huez - how appropriate. The guy he worked with at ROL, Sean, was awesome and we can't say enough good stuff about him.

The bags are out. Dave is still "gathering." I've got mine pretty well packed. I'm sure we'll rip everything apart when we get to GB, but oh well.

More last-minute errands to run today while Dave works. Will the prep ever end?

Oh yes, and I've begun freaking out about driving the Mo-Ho. Dave was watching an old Tour the other night and I watched one of the climbs and had to go out of the room. We'll see how this epic adventure turns out....

-Julie

I wasn't speeding, honest!

OK, so I'm driving along in Ian's little VW, minding my own business and concentrating on shifting, clutching, braking, etc. I must have been concentrating a bit too hard on other things and watching the wrong part of the odometer because an officer in Fort Calhoun suddenly turned on his lights and motioned me over. As I pulled over, I promptly killed the car - which may have been to my advantage! "Do you know how fast you were going?" "I thought I was going no more than 30." "I clocked you going 41. This is a residential area and the speed limit is only 25 mph. You were the only one on the hill." "Sorry, officer. Honest, I really thought I was going the speed limit. I'm trying to learn to shift in this car, as you can tell because I killed it stopping." Bless the officer's heart, he took pity on me and let me go, but only after telling me we'll love France (he was in Germany for a couple years while his wife was stationed there), the French people are nicer than people say, and to drive carefully."

Oh yes, yes officer. I will! Thank you!

Needless to say, I went at least 5 mph UNDER the speed limit for the rest of my training drive...
-Julie

Home stretch

We're in the final week. We'll be on a plane flying over the Atlantic exactly one week from today. OK, I just freaked myself out.

Dave was in Denver this weekend doing some riding in the mountains. He said he had some awesome rides with our friend, Marco. I'm sure he also had some great pep talks as Marco and his wife, Jacqueline, are world travelers. It'll be a good sendoff.

I drove again yesterday - by myself this time - and planned to drive today, too. Practice makes ... better. Still not perfect, but I'm feeling a lot more comfortable. The only thing I can't practice are the mountains and those will just have to be trial by fire. The first part of the Tour is fairly flat, so I'm hoping to get use to the Mo-ho before I have to conquer the mountains. Our good friend, Bonnie Ford, who has been covering the Tour for ESPN.com for the last 10 or 12 years (she's GREAT - read her stories at http://search.espn.go.com/bonnie-ford/last-7-days/19) gave me a pep talk, too. She was a wealth of knowledge and, frankly, I wish we could put her in the Mo-ho with us. We're hoping to catch up with her at some point during the Tour.

I guess all that's left this week is to pack, pack, re-pack (when we realize that the luggage is overweight, overstuffed or just overwhelmed) and then stuff the Honda with luggage, bike, dogs, cat and us for our trip to Green Bay.

The excitement builds...
-Julie

1 week to go

The next trip is all about ME ... do you hear that Dave? Costa Rica...Australia...and the bike stays home! Oy veh...
-Julie

Game On

The Lakers won the NBA Championship last night and the College World Series is churning out some exciting late inning heroics in Omaha. Brett Favre is thinking of becoming a ViQueen and surely Tiger is kicking somebody's ass in golf somewhere as we speak. But you know what, I could care less! In 14 days I will be landing in Nice, France, for the adventure of a lifetime. I feel a bit renewed as I actually had a solid ride tonight (3 hours) after work. My legs actually felt pretty fresh. Still a few bugs to work out on the bike but all in all I'm liking the way the Merlin Magia handles and it will be reasonably comfortable with a little more spring than the carbon bike. It doesn't have quite the snap on the climbs but overall I think it will be a good choice for the long miles. I got in 17 hours of riding last week, which was below the 21 I was shooting for. This week will be similar with the added fun of some altitude work with Marco on the weekend.
He always humbles me but is a great riding partner. Julie and our dogs continue their patient vigil as I am freed to ride and concentrate pretty much on work and fitness for now. Lots of love here at the Rogers house. Sleep time!