To Melbourne: Ici Le Paradis

April 2, 2024 to April 3, 2024

Our rough plan for the trip included no 80 mile days. As we have massaged it to visit relatives for three days in a row, it turns out that's what we'll cover today. We're bound for Melbourne to stay with my cousin Claire and her husband David Wurmfeld for a couple of nights. Barry and I will split up the ride again; he'll take the first leg. Mike is in for the whole distance. Winds are expected from the south so that should be helpful.

The guys are ready to roll just before 9 when Mike discovers his front tire is soft. He's running tubeless tires and can't find the leak so he pumps it up and they get going.

I dig the snazzy decals on Mike's gravel bike. He's carrying a cooler on his rack for fresh food. It has pockets to stash stuff in, and a place on the side to strap on his camp shoes. Very slick.

By the time I meet them with the car in Vero Beach they're averaging over 16 miles an hour with the tailwind. Now I have performance anxiety for my leg of the relay. Barry takes over at the wheel and drives off towards Melbourne. Mike pumps up his tire again, we grab a bite for lunch and off we go.

First ocean view of the day for me, at Wabasso Beach

Seven miles further a festive sea turtle greets us at Sebastian Inlet State Park

At Sebastian Inlet State Park the tide is flowing into the bay, bringing along some tasty fresh fish. There's a kerfuffle in the water when some pelicans and a porpoise go after the same fish.

The pelicans swoop in to harry the porpoise and make a play for the catch

My guess is the porpoise prevailed in the fishing derby

Out of curiosity I ask the ranger if they have hiker-biker sites here. They do, and there are some open today. This park would be a great camping spot if you're coming this way.

We're moving along well as I ride in Mike's draft with the tailwind behind us. We stop a few more times so he can pump up his tire. Continuing past Melbourne Beach, we take the causeway back west over Indian River and ride on to Claire's house.

Bridges are our only hill work on this tour so far. It looks to me like we might sail off the top of the bridge over Sebastian Inlet into the sea.

Riding through the Florida Institute of Technology campus

Woot! I finish with an average of 15 mph when we arrive at Claire and David's beautiful home in Melbourne. They've been in this area for years, and in this house since 2022. There's plenty of space indoors, no need to pitch tents in the yard.

We haven't taken a day off since leaving Key West a week ago and are ready for some chill time tomorrow. For dinner they treat us to a feast at Carrabba's Italian Grill.

Wednesday morning I have notions of hanging out at the beach after I get some journaling done. Then the rain starts. We're all just as glad not to go anywhere today. Mike wants to figure out the issue with his tire, Barry is content to read and relax, and I get to go through pictures and talk about old times with Claire.

Good timing, arriving here for our first rainy day

David is a computer engineer who builds ATMs and other technologies for Capital One. He has a workshop full of electronics parts, 3D printers and design tools and wants to know if we need anything fabricated for our bikes. I do I do!

My bike flag has a habit of falling down through the zip ties that attach it to the side of my bike frame

There's nothing for the bottom of the pole to sit on. It's a little hard to see the issue with all the scratches from falling over

David gets to work designing a clip with a pocket for the end of the pole

The prototype took 36 minutes on the 3D printer.

After some design tweaks I now have three clips that hold the flag securely, and a spare. Thanks David!

David wants you to know he's looking for more bike doohickey projects.

So what's "Ici le Paradis" about anyway? Lets get to that. Claire's family had a lot to do with my love of the beach, biking and bike touring. Bear with me on the back story here. We'll get to the biking part soon.

My father Leo and Claire's father Ray were the youngest of five Paradis brothers from Biddeford Maine. Their brothers were Ralph, Oscar and George and their sisters were Elizabeth and Theresa. Leo and Ray were just a year apart and did everything together. Growing up they played music and tennis. I have pictures of Dad as an altar boy; not sure if his brother did that too. Later on they sailed together, as we saw ilat the beginning of this journal.

Uncle Ray and Aunt Anita lived in Belmont Mass where he had a dental practice, and they had a second home in Chatham on Cape Cod. My family used to camp nearby in Brewster.

In the mornings my siblings and I chased balls on the tennis court for our parents. Then we'd bring sandwiches and Hydrox cookies to the beach to hang out with all the aunts and uncles and cousins. While the adults yammered on in their beach chairs, Claire and I and all the cousins would catch hermit crabs, dig for clams, build sand castles, and hope to score a ride on Ray's boat.

These scenes play in my head when we stop at the beaches of Florida. A shameless plug for comments: If my siblings and cousins recall other details, I'd love to read about them here ;) It's pretty easy to set up an account, then you can click the comment icons and chime in.

My best memory of Chatham as a kid was the Friday night band concerts in the park. We'd visit the penny candy store before the concert and devour brown paper bags full of Swedish fish, salt water taffy, SweetTarts and Tootsie rolls while singing along to "It's Band Time in Chatham."

Ray played clarinet in the band. He was quite dashing in his red uniform. As the sun went down, people strung balloons together to float up over the bandstand. At some point in the evening, the conductor, Whit Tileston, invited the kids and their families down to the ring around the bandstand to do the hokey pokey and the bunny hop.

There was a long dry spell with no Cape visits after my family moved to St. Louis in the 70s. 1984 was the first reunion in Chatham. We had four of the Paradis brothers, both sisters and a lot of the kids. It might have been Aunt Anita who organized the painting of a welcome banner for us, and a clambake dinner in their basement.

Ici le Paradis! In English: the Paradis are here! My grandparents moved to Biddeford from Quebec and all their kids spoke French. The expression has become a rallying cry for all sorts of family events.

A few of us at that first dinner... little Nathan I think, Denise, Claire's sister Julie, my first husband Tim, Uncle George, Aunt Charlotte and Claire on the right.

Ray provided the musical entertainment. I've looked at this photo dozens of times. This is the first time I noticed the bicycle.

Ray and Anita were a big part of the magic every time we visited Chatham. Ray would take us sailing and lend us the wooden kayaks he'd made to paddle around the ponds. Anita would listen to all our stories and cheer us on as we grew up and raised our families.

Biking was a big part of the tradition. We'd meet up to ride the Cape Cod Rail Trail or tool around Stage Harbor.

Biking to the Rotary Club's Pancake breakfast before the 4th of July parade

Uncle Ray and my cousins were the first real touring cyclists I knew. In 1982 Ray rode his recumbent with his son Marc from San Diego to Colorado. It was fascinating to hear him talk about cranking the recumbent bike up towards the Continental Divide. Thirty-plus years later when Barry started talking about riding Route 66, I pictured us grinding up hills like that. I hope Marc still has those slides.

A birthday ride Ray and Marc did years later when Ray turned 75 and Marc was 50

Ray's daughter Lise did her own epic ride with a friend around the U.S. - from Boston to the Pacific, down the coast to San Diego, then back to the Atlantic coast to ride north. As she shared her pictures I thought how cool it would be to do something like that one day. There was a picture of a cooler full of ice hanging from her handlebar that kept them going through the desert. When Barry and I crossed the Mojave desert during our Route 66 tour I remembered that hack. We stopped in Fenner for ice and toted it in a rubber camp bucket.

Ray's bike was the first recumbent Barry rode, right up a steep hill near Ray's house. Barry was hooked, and bought his first used Lightning R-84 within a year.

Barry riding his first R84 on our first experimental bike tour in 2013

We heard a lot of great jazz music on those visits. Ray organized a Big Band called the Silver Foxes that played in churches and senior living places around the Cape. On Wednesday afternoons we'd bring the kids and their bubble wands to hang out on Ray's patio and listen to the band rehearse. In the YouTube video that follows you can hear them playing Callipso at the Brewster Methodist Church. Ray appears around 1:13 taking the first solo on the saxophone.

The Paradis of Dad's generation have all passed away. In 2021 Ray and Anita spent their last year here in Melbourne with Claire and David, soaking up the Florida sunshine.

Aunt Anita, aka Mama Nitzie, fixing up a snack for us

And now we're the old folks. We still visit Chatham every other year with our kids and their kids and we yammer on the beach and ride the rail trail and listen to the Silver Foxes and eat the sweet corn and dance the hokey pokey with the littles.

The track from my half of the ride to Melbourne. Total of 82 miles includes Barry's 40 miles from Port St. Lucie to Vero Beach

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Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 398 miles (641 km)

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Nancy GrahamThis was such a delightful story of you family and background. I enjoyed it a lot and it brought back a few memories of my own growing up years. You did have a big family to gather together.!
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonGreat post, Janice. Thanks for sharing your past with us. I’m envious.
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8 months ago

Kathleen JonesWhat a great story. I’m glad you gave us the whole thing. No wonder you’d plan to ride 80 miles in a day to see your cousin.
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8 months ago

Rich FrasierI love these stories!
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8 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Nancy GrahamThanks Nancy. I'm glad it resonated for you.
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8 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Scott AndersonThanks Scott. I was lucky to grow up with this clan of Frenchies.
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8 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Kathleen JonesGood to hear Kathleen. I enjoyed writing this but wondered if it was oversharing. Glad you enjoyed the story.
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8 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Rich FrasierThanks Rich. I'll try to keep em coming!
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8 months ago

Rachael AndersonHow lucky you are to come from such a great family! Thanks for sharing it with us.
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8 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Rachael AndersonThanks Rachel. I feel very lucky, doing what I can to pass on the family traditions.
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8 months ago

Keith AdamsI wish there were a way to give this post multiple likes and a whole truckload of thumbs-ups!
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8 months ago

Janice BranhamThanks Keith! Those are fun memories to dredge up
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8 months ago