Last night I packed Sir Gulliver, my touring bike, in a recycled cardboard box begged from the bike store around the corner on Pulteney St. This morning at 10am, the Seven Seas Shipping van came by, relieved me of a couple hundred $, and I consigned the bike for a trip north,and a couple of months in my niece's garage.
I feel sad, it's rainy, and I am bikeless in Adelaide. So I was pleased to see an alert from Adelaide Public Library, announcing that my hold on Kristian Bauer's Ride a Stage of the Tour De France: The Legendary Climbs and How to Ride Them [London : A & C Black, 2011] was waiting for me. As I'm heading out of town for two week's on The Ghan train to Darwin and back, I can't borrow this little gem. So I skimmed it.
It's a well designed, well written and comprehensive manual, offering short route descriptions, supplemented with photos, maps, altitude charts, and sidebars on fun things. It's written by a knowledgeable German road cycling enthusiast,a translation/update of the original German book from 2006. It's blessedly free of marketing and sales hype. I know I could tackle some of these "hills" on trusty Sir Gulliver, and not feel too self conscious. It's the "doing" that's important, not the "being seen to be doing."
Kristian helpfully lists a "quick guide to fun passes," which include the 3 easiest (Col du Hundsruck, Notschrei, Pra-Loup), the 3 most athletically challenging (Col de l'Iseran, Galibier via Telegraphe, Mont Ventoux), and the most beautiful (Port de Pailheres, Col d'Aubisque, Col d'Izoard).
He's so right. This past July I was able to watch as many hours as I could stomach, live, of the Tour De France, for free, on Australian commercial TV, from 10pm to 2am. Needless to say, I stayed up for the full 20 nights, going to bed in the wee hours, and wandering around at the office in a daze the day after. Only a handful of people there were paying attention to the fact that Cadel Evans was going to be the first Aussie to win.
In all those hours, listening mesmerized to Phil Liggett's delightful commentary, 've never really had the opportunity to study just how lovely the French alpine Tour sections are. I was struck by the realization that the Alpes look remarkably similar to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. In past, stronger times, I've ridden two Ride the Rockies weeklong events, I now realize just how lucky I've been so far in choosing great places to ride. So I need to keep on making my own luck.
I immensely enjoyed this year's Tour de France, as the riders went through both Brittany and Normandy, and I saw several of the roads I'd ridden myself, only a year ago. Of course, I was loaded down with a ridiculous amount of gear, and a total novice at road touring, dealing with stupid things like having my back rack fall off the bike, as I'd not tightened the screws adequately,and dealing with all the insanities of life as a solo cyclist on a long road trip. Despite my laughable start, since then, I've ridden my touring bike from the Grand Canyon in Arizona, taken a folding bike around New Zealand, and even had a little time to ride in South Australia.
So, as I take the slow route back home to the USA, I'm planning to travel via New Zealand. I have just bought a flight from the Gold Coast in Queensland, to Auckland, and will hit the NZ road again, me and Sir Gulliver, in the new year.
Something to look forward to. Life hands you lemons, make lemonade, etc.
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