In 2013 I bought a carbon road bike.  That's not exciting in itself, but for me it was a revelation:  my old touring bike really, really, didn't fit.  I decided that I would replace it (the touring bike) before I retired because I was planning to do a lot of touring when that time came.

In March of 2014, I had a slow twisting fall skiing in heavy snow and my binding didn't release.  I got up but could not put any weight on my right leg without it collapsing.  The diagnosis was a "Maisonneuve fracture".  A surgical repair to my ankle followed by several weeks of no loadbearing whatsoever would lead to a full recovery.  It did, but all those weeks of sitting around meant a lot of time surfing the net (when I wasn't working--I didn't miss a day of work since the accident happened during term break).  I decided to get my retirement bike 5 years early.  A custom-sized Co-Motion Pangea was mine that June.  Of course, I wasn't ready to do a big trip that year so I did several small ones, including my first solo trips.  Bigger trips followed in 2015, 2016, and 2017.  Work was too busy in 2018 to really go anywhere but the light was there at the end of the year. 

I started the year with a bang!  Actually, it was a minor pop, but it was my ACL.  Not a full tear, but enough to end my ski season almost before it started.  After seeing my physio, I set up my carbon bike on the trainer I'd bought in 2014 after my previous injury and have been spending an hour a day riding in our dining room.  After much reassurance from my physio, I bought a return ticket to Paris!

France was only one from my long list of destinations but it seems the best one for this trip for several reasons:

• I'll be doing (most) of the trip solo and France is great for that.
• My knee might not be ready for hauling a loaded bike up a mountain this year so I'll have to save those trips for later.
• I've ordered a fully-custom titanium touring bike but won't have it until the end of 2019 or early 2020.  I considered this back in 2014 but was put off by the wait time. Now, I have a very comfortable bike to ride but it's really overkill for me.  I'm not very big and, along with all the gear I can carry, probably weigh less than many riders alone.  I look forward to using the new bike for the Dolomites in 2019.

This is my first time journaling on this site and I've learned something already: I need more photos!  First thing will be a pano for the title page that is more related to this trip.