July 15, 2017
In the mood: Bastille Day! (+1)
There's nothing like Bastille Day to get you in the mood for a trip to France. I observed it on the actual day by watching yesterday's stage of the Tour de France, a mountain stage beginning in Saint Gerons and ending in Foix. It was a terrific stage, with a sprint finish that ended up just as I'd been hoping - with a win by a French rider, Warren Barguil:
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I was especially excited to watch this stage for several reasons. First, it ended in Foix, a town we've visited before and will be passing through again on this year's tour. I loved seeing the aerial shots of its great three turrreted castle, which we somehow failed to visit on our first time through. Also, we biked along most of today's route ourselves on our first tour of the Pyrenees. I enjoyed watching them race down roads and over passes we too have ridden (at about one third their speed), and being reminded again of our day crossing Col de Agnes, one of our more memorable and upsetting days we've spent together on a bike: Rachael and I became separated on our way up the pass and at the top I just kept going, incorrectly believing she was ahead of me. After waiting at the bottom for a long time, I concluded that she must have been wrong, so I claimed the pass a second time and fortunately found her waiting at the summit.
Taking in French cuisine and culture is all you need to prepare for a bike tour through Spain and France, really. Just to be on the safe side though, we've been packing in the miles so far this spring and summer. Besides the usual day rides around home, we've taken three shorter tours. Feels like we're ready to go now, but we've still got two months of impatient waiting ahead of us.
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