"Ta ta!" to Tata lane

This Kahler adventure has almost come to an end, and a fine adventure it has been. While most of you reading this have been suffering through a heat wave on the east coast, we've been experiencing some of the most pleasant weather ever--75 and sunny with no humidity everyday.

The past two days have been filled with some great hikes and relaxation. On Monday, we ventured out to the Emerald Bay trails. Dad, Jon, Jessica, Maeve, and I took the trail up towards Eagle Lake--Dad got to have Maeve on his back on the way there. There were great views of Emerald Bay on the way up and Eagle Lake was delightful. I tried to teach Maeve how to boulder but she was having none of it. Jon had Maeve on his back on the way down and we headed back home for lunch. Dad and I did one final ride--just a short one up South Upper Truckee Road--it was steep and scenic.

Today was clouded with knowing that we had to pack things and get ready to leave. I took a run on some trails to see if I could find Fallen Leaf Lake (no worries--I was successful). Jon, Jessica, and Maeve spent a lovely morning on the beach. Mom and Dad went into town to visit the art gallery owned by the couple that owns the house we're staying in. In the afternoon, I convinced Mom and Dad to join me on the Mt. Tallac trail (If one takes it the whole way, you end up on the summit of Mt. Tallac) and we hiked about 2.3 miles in to Cathedral Lake. Mom thought the trail was strenuous (and it technically was) but kept up just fine. We saw more views of both Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe--I'm sure the view from the summit is stunning. I guess I'll have to save that one for next time.

Thanks for reading.

"Will they wear hats?"

While Maeve was very excited to see fireworks, we couldn't truly convince her that she would not be seeing firemen. We showed her pictures of fireworks and described them to her but as we were sitting on the beach waiting for them to start, she asked, "Are they going to wear hats?" Later on she asked about the ladders. Lake Tahoe had a variety of fireworks going on all around the lake and you could really get a perspective of just how big the lake is by how small the fireworks looked on the other side of the lake. We thought we were waiting to the "big" show that's set to music and includes fireworks that are shapes. This show was several miles away from where we were watching, and while we could see them, our attention was divided because a pretty great show was being set off right in front us from a boat. Maeve also didn't expect the fireworks to be so close or so loud. Her look of terror eventually subsided (and she was again able to to speak so she could ask about hats and ladders) until the grand finale when it appeared that she would rather bury her head in the sand than be subjected to such hoopla.

In an attempt to not get caught up in the crowds that have appeared at Lake Tahoe for this holiday weekend, we set off to find Skunk Harbor (a secluded beach on the Nevada side of the lake). We hoped that people would be turned off by the name and decide not to go there. After finding parking on the side of the road, we hiked the mile and a half down a trail that led to a beautiful beach with lots of large rocks to climb around and jump off of. The water, of course, was frigid but that didn't stop us from swimming around. Overall, it was a rather fun 4th of July.

Donner Pass...without the cannibalism

A holiday weekend in Lake Tahoe = tons of people and traffic. We did our best to find some roads without cars, but were unsuccessful. We drove our around the lake to outside Tahoe City to where we were going to start our ride. The first 10 miles were flat and fast but on terrible pavement with lots of potholes. We turned on historic route 40 which would be Donner Pass Road. After going by the crowded lake, we started the climb which was rather short and gradual. I've decided that my favorite scenery includes large granite rocks with a very blue sky and green shrubs/trees. Donner Pass had it all. This area is also a haven for rock climbers and we saw many people scaling the rocks as we rode by. There was a beautiful lookout almost at the top but when we got to the actual summit, there was just a ski school--no sign to take our picture by. This is also where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses this pass. We then headed back down and back to the car on the same crappy pavement that we started on. It was a relatively short ride (36 or so miles).

We spent the evening having dinner out on the back deck trying to figure out how we can extend this vacation so as to not have to go home to 99 degree temperatures. It's the 4th of July so we'll be fighting crowds and watching fireworks today.

Another day in the mountains...

Dad, Jonathan, and I got an early start (well, we attempted at starting earlier but I don't think we really did) and drove over one pass to outside of a small town where we would be starting today's ride. We knew what we were getting ourselves into because we had driven over Ebbetts Pass yesterday on the way to Calaveras State Park. Driving on that narrow two lane road (not wide enough for a yellow line down the middle though), we were a bit terrified. There were switchbacks where it looked the road disappeared and all you could see was mountain and valley. Needless to say, we were slightly apprehensive about the difficulty of the ride. It was about a 16 mile (mostly uphill) ride to where the road got steep. At that point, we had about 7 miles to the top. The 16 mile approach was very nice though--beautiful scenery with the road winding along the Carson River and a nice easy gradient--we were all in our small ring however.

When we started the climb, it was quite steep and reminded us of the start of Alpe d'huez but the rest wasn't that bad (not too terrible). There were sections that allowed us to recover after the steep parts and there were very few places where I had to stand. After the 8000 ft mark, we started riding past snow and eventually got to a lovely mountain lake. The summit was not far from there where we met a few local riders who were coming up from the other side of Ebbetts Pass. One asked Jonathan, "Those wheels look interesting--How do you like them?" Jonathan replied that he was a little biased but he liked them a lot (all three of us are riding on Revolution Wheelworks wheels).

After our obligatory picture with the sign at the top, we made our way back down. Descending is definitely not my skill so it was slow going. We paused for a variety of photo opportunities as well. Those 16 miles of uphill that we started with turned out to be a very pleasant downhill--not steep or windy--and we were able to make it back to the car in good time. The ride ended up being about 45 miles which we did in 3 and a half hours.

With the holiday weekend here, traffic is crazy. The locals at the top of the pass gave us some good non-traffic routes to try so hopefully we'll be successful in finding those tomorrow.

Big trees...check!

The Kahlers went on a driving adventure today. The original plan was to drive to Calaveras State Park, do a 5 mile hike, drive partway back in one car and ride up Ebbetts Pass, and then drive home. The drive to the park took slightly longer than expected and we didn't get there until almost 1pm. After eating some lunch, we sought out the South Grove Trail to see the largest tree in the park--Agassiz Tree. It turns out hiking with a 2 year old is slightly more challenging than just hiking with other adults. Nonetheless, everyone got to where they needed to be. As one who had never seen such large trees, I was in awe of their hugeness. We saw the "Discovery Tree" which was the first large tree to be cut down when discovered by Augustus Dowd in 1852--the stump is there--it took 5 men 22 days to cut it down. All the large trees seemed to have burned out sections but were still alive and thriving. I thoroughly enjoyed climbing through and into the trees. Only once did a bird fly out of one large hole, scaring Jonathan and Maeve. As we walked up to the Agassiz tree, a huge dead branch crashed down to the ground. Dad said, "60 years old and one day--murder attempt by largest tree failed." I had the privilege of carrying Maeve back to the car in the kid-carrying backpacking pack thing. She's much lighter than my normal backpack and much more entertaining.

Because of time, we decided to save the riding for tomorrow. However, because our drive took the same route as the bike ride, we got to preview what we were going to do. I am very much against previewing our rides--I don't like knowing what I'm getting myself into. In this case, I don't like what I see. The climb looks steep, long, and difficult. We're all looking forward to it of course.

The lake from every angle

Happy 60th birthday, Dad! (We'll do our best to make it possible for you to make it to 61.)

To celebrate Dad's birthday we rode around Lake Tahoe. There were no major climbs but it was far from flat. The entire loop was about 73 miles so we were prepared for a rather long day in the saddle. We went around the lake clockwise and the first half was a bit hilly with spectacular views of the lake. We passed the very green water of Emerald Bay and the very teal water of Rubicon and Meeks Bay. Many miles of this stretch was on a paved bike path which was nice because we didn't have to deal with traffic--just children on bikes--I'm not sure which is worse. We made it to the halfway point which was North Lake Tahoe and stopped for lunch. Jonathan wanted to find a place where we could sit outside in the shade so we could keep an eye on our bikes. We came across just what he wanted. After a lovely lunch, we continued on our way into the Nevada side of the lake and around the eastern coast. There were many more spectacular views and relatively flat (or at least much smaller climbs) terrain. All was well until we got back to Route 50--we were still about 20 miles from the house and had to deal with wind, traffic, and steeper downhills. Thankfully there was very little uphill work to be done and once we were back to our familiar stretch of road about 5 miles from home, Jon decided to go for the stage win. I was just doing my best to stay on his wheel and keep the time gaps to a minimum. His reasoning for going hard was because he doesn't like that stretch of road (poor pavement and lots of traffic) so there was no reason to tarry. We were all fairly tired but felt much better than our hot day up Kingsbury grade two days prior.

Mom and Dad went out to dinner for Dad's birthday and Jon, Jessica, Maeve, and I went out for burgers. A good time was had by all. We're looking forward to seeing some large trees tomorrow with some bike riding as well.

Another day at the lake

A tale of two vacations

Since the various people on this vacation had very different days this post will have two different authors. I'll start with the cyclists.

Jon, Dad, and I set out for a 55 mile ride with two climbs--Luther Pass and Daggett Summit. The first climb wasn't too terrible and all reached the top without too much difficulty. We then had about 12 miles of downhill where Dad had a slight mechanical issue but was able to recover. After that we rode into Nevada and were in the flats for quite a bit before we started our last climb of the day--an 8 mile slog up to Daggett Summit. It was hot and no shade for the weary. We started at about 4500 ft and climbed to 7300 ft. There were several sections where we had to deal with head and crosswinds. On our return Mom asked Dad if he was going to kill himself. His response--"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." I said, "Until it kills you..." All three of us were pretty spent after the ride and therefore, tomorrow will be a rest day. --erin

Now it's time for a non-cyclist's perspective...this morning Cindy, Maeve and I went on a cruise around Lake Tahoe to Emerald Bay. We went on "Lake Tahoe's only authentic Mississippi Paddle-Wheeler" for a 2.5 hour tour. It was a hot, sunny day, and the water and sky rivaled each other in blueness. We sat on the top deck and enjoyed the view (and the UV rays...perhaps a tad too much, though not nearly as badly as Jonathan did. He's bemoaning his sunburn as I type this.) Maeve walked around the deck, enjoying getting wet from the paddle-wheels while Mom Mom held her, while insisting on wearing my new straw hat.

As we approached Emerald Bay, we saw a small island (the only island in Lake Tahoe)which had a Bald Eagle's nest in one of the large Sugar Pine trees. The water truly was green like an emerald--so different from the deep cerulean that the rest of the lake had been. Maeve, Cindy, and I had had enough sun at that point, so we went down a level to cool off and watch a short movie about Lake Tahoe history. Maeve proceeded to charm the other travelers around her, earning potato chips and compliments on her cuteness (to which she simpered and giggled). All in all, it was a lovely day on the lake together. --Jessica

A day at the lake

It would be difficult to have a better day than today. The weather was perfect--hot but not too hot and bright blue skies. Dad, Jon and I rode to Angora Lake while Mom, Jessica, and Maeve drove there. It was only about 7 miles away but the road to it was difficult to find due to conflicting maps and conflicting directions given by people we asked on the way. We ended up riding up one relatively steep road twice before we were on the road to the lake. The road to the lake was the only one described as "steep" on the one map we had so we were only slightly concerned. Two of the people we asked for directions also said that the road was steep but we all decided that "steep" is all relative. Thankfully the climb was short--a mile or so, and not as steep as yesterday's ride, but still rather difficult. Fortunately for us, there was a payoff at the top of this hill--a great view of various lakes surrounded by mountains.

To get to the lake, you had to hike a half mile uphill from the parking lot--Jessica enjoyed doing that with Maeve on her back. The lake itself was small but stunning. There was snow on some of the rocks around the lake and waterfalls flowed down past others. The water was a bit chilly but that didn't stop us from getting in. I enjoyed jumping off of rocks (little ones--there was a cliff that we watched some guys jump from that I was not about to attempt. It looked to be about 40 feet up.) and swimming under the waterfall, and sitting in the snow in my bathing suit. You can ask Dad what his reaction to the to water was when he jumped in (it's not blog appropriate). Jon got in and promptly got out and sat on a rock with a small child who yelled back to his mom, "I'm just sitting on his rock with a guy who's afraid to jump in the water." Maeve also enjoyed a boat ride around the lake.

The rest of the afternoon was spent napping and relaxing. I ventured out on the trails around the house to go for a short run. It turns out running at 6300 ft is slightly more difficult than running at whatever Manheim is at. I was also thinking every charred tree stump and shadow was a bear. I really have no desire to see any wildlife larger than a squirrel.

Tomorrow will be filled with more riding for the riders and a boat tour of Lake Tahoe for the non-riders. A fun time should be had by all.

I thought day one was supposed to be easy

It was a beautiful day here in Lake Tahoe. We got off to a slow start with taking care of some errands in the morning and putting bikes together. We didn't start riding until after the US/Ghana game (so unfortunate) so we decided on a short, easy ride to start us off. As soon as we first started going uphill, I definitely noticed difficulty in breathing. We are starting our rides at around 6300 ft and will usually ride to between 7000-8000 ft. After a few checks of the map to make sure we were going where we wanted to, we ended up on a road that went up at a very steep gradient. The climb was only about 5 miles, but it was at a ridiculous angle. Needless to say, I did not like going up or down it. The whole ride was only 25 miles but we were pretty beat. I'm hoping for some longer more average gradient (6-8%) rides in the near future.

The evenings here are quite relaxing. Tonight Jonathan and Jessica went out for dinner to celebrate their 6th anniversary and Mom, Dad, Maeve and I had a pleasant dinner here at the house. Mom and I ended our day with a hike around the area and unfortunately both of us are lacking a sense of direction.

A new Kahler Adventure

We're no longer taking on the Alps and there are now 6 of us instead of 5 but I'm sure there will be plenty of new biking/hiking/lack of communication stories to share over the next 2 weeks or so.

Our travel day went like "clockwork" yesterday or as close to clockwork as the travel plans could have gone. Jonathan, Dad, and I arrived in Reno in the early afternoon and laughed at the poor schmucks who drove away from the airport in their rental cars as we trekked over the median and across the highway with all of our luggage to our less expensive car rental place a mile down the road. Since Dad didn't have a form of communication, we sent him in a car by himself while Jonathan and I took both of our phones in the other car. Almost immediately Dad took one exit and we took another but eventually found each other again closer to Lake Tahoe. Jonathan and I spent most of the drive trying to figure out, "If I were Dad, what would I do?"

Later in the evening, we picked up the other half of our party at the Sacramento airport where we learned that Maeve thoroughly enjoyed her first flight. She enjoyed it so much she didn't sleep at all and was wide awake as we left the airport even though it was midnight eastern standard time. We all finally made it back to the house around midnight local time and our extremely long day of travel was over.

Currently Jon is working on assembling bikes and planning some rides. The weather is beautiful and it looks to be a great time here. We'll keep you posted.

No, Floyd didn't come on the trip with us, but I did get to meet him when we returned to Lancaster and he was doing a book signing at Barnes and Noble. I let him know that we just returned from riding in the Alps and that I appreciated what he was able to do. It's quite hard to ride up those mountains.

Here are some other pictures from our rides in Nice. We only consulted our maps every 2 miles or so it seemed and still ran into roadblocks. The luggage is slowly arriving home. Mom, Dad, and I have all of our stuff including our bikes but Jonathan and Jessica are still waiting.

I also wanted to share some end of the trip stats:

Miles ridden = 246 miles*

Feet climbed = 29345 ft*
*This data excludes the Alpe d Huez day because of low batteries on the GPS. 6 days of riding are represented.

Number of crashes = 4 (Erin 3, Dad 1)

Number of mechanical problems = 0 (I believe this was due to traveling with our bike mechanic)

Number of redlights run = 1 (By Dad and there would have been more if he drove more than the one time that he did since he was trying to get other drivers to go through redlights)

King of the Mountain Jersey Winner = Jonathan Runner Up= The Scudo



I highly recommend doing a trip like this and hope to go back and bag some more Cols. Thanks for reading and commenting. Feel free to share this blog with your friends.

--Erin

So now it's 5 people and 2 bags home...

...but still many bags (and bikes!) abroad.

Yes, as much as I'd like to say that Jon and I had an easier time getting home, I can't really. Actually, we had an extra day tagged onto our already extended visit, although this last day was spent not in sunny Nice, but in the Park Inn hotel, just minutes from Terminal 1, London Heathrow.

Just how did we find ourselves "minding the gap" you ask? Well, our flight from Nice to London was delayed 90 minutes for no apparent reason, so we landed in London at the exact minute our flight to Philadelphia was scheduled to take off. So we found ourselves stuck with no way of getting over the Atlantic that evening, other than taking a bus to the Manchester airport, then flying to Chicago, then to Boston, perhaps take a pit-stop in Timbuktu, and finally to Philadelphia, sometime early in 2009. Ok, it wasn't quite that bad, but given our list of "options" we decided to let British Airways put us up for the night in an airport hotel, then take an early-afternoon flight to Chicago, and connect via United to Philly. Thankfully the Bernackis, ever flexible and helpful, were willing to change plans and pick us up Saturday at 9pm instead of Friday at 7pm. (Thank goodness for good friends!)

So, let's look at the silver-linings: I found out that I do in fact enjoy Indian food (good thing, because the hotel restaurant had an Indian buffet as the only choice we could use for our voucher that evening); we got to watch silly British comedy on TV; we had a bean-free English breakfast (YES! It's possible!); and...drum-roll please..."Due to the trouble you went through the night before, we're bumping you up to business class." Woo hoo, big chairs! It certainly made the 8 hour flight to Chicago much more enjoyable! And the flight to Philly was fine. It was just good to be off a plane!

Now for the not-so-silver-lining part: we made it to Philadelphia eventually, but not so for our luggage...including, most importantly, Jon's team bike. :-( We're really hoping to get everything back intact and as soon as possible. (I hope the same for the other bags and bikes, too!)

But that's life when you travel abroad--you take a risk, and you hope it's outweighed by the experiences you have on the trip. And we had a fantastic time...the cycling, scenery, food, weather, people, places--absolutely wonderful!


But still...having the luggage might be nice, too!

--Jessica

3 out of 5 are home with 0 pieces of luggage

Mom, Dad, and I arrived in Philadelphia last night around 8pm. Unfortunately our luggage did not. Our plane from Nice to London was delayed and then stuck in a holding pattern while a gas leak at Heathrow was being taken care of. We were lucky to land there instead of being diverted to another airport. However, while we made our connecting flight to Philly, the luggage is still in transit. We made our report and should get it back in 24-72 hours. The nice thing about it is that we now don't have to figure out a way to transport our bikes back to Lancaster. Woo hoo!

Our last two days in Nice were good. Jonathan, Dad, and I did two rides around the area in the Maritime Alps and had wonderful views of the Mediterranean Sea. I don't recommend riding in Nice however. The traffic is horrendous and not biker friendly at all. On the second day of riding, we took a train out of the city and then started on a ride that included the Col de Madone and the Col de Eze. That ride was less stressful until we had to ride back to into the city. I have no desire to ride in that kind of traffic ever again.

Jonathan and Jessica return on Friday night and hopefully they have more luck with their luggage than we did.

Thanks for checking out our blog and reading about trip. We had a blast. Look for another post with some final pictures and cycling stats.

--Erin

Ok, expensive WiFi is forcing us to make this quick so please excuse the misspellings. We had a great time in Piedmonte. It is the perfect place to be on a bike. The hills are lower and shorter (3 - 7k) but they are every bit as steep. On Friday we did part of a ride that included "the climbs of champions" and did about 5500 feet of climbing in about 45 miles. The descents were even better than the climbs. After a quick physics lesson for Erin, she was even able to enjoy them. There was hardly any traffic and we didn't have to worry about packing extra jackets so we wouldn't freeze on the descents.

Aside from the riding, we have enjoyed the food, wine and hospitality here in Piedmont. The place that we stayed was the cheapest and nicest place so far and the owners have been great, offering us wines and cheeses and meats and informal lessons in Italian. Next year, we'll just come back here for 2 weeks.

We left this morning to head down the coast to Nice. After miraculously parrallel parking our massive van in a space 9 inches larger than the vehicle itself, we headed towards the beach where we were able to watch the finish of an Ironman triathalon and dip our toes in the Mediterranean. We just finished a lovely meal and are now planning out our rides for the next two days in the Maritime Alps.

Ciao

jon

Over the Col Agnel to Italy

After two climbs, we made it into Italy. Both climbs were quite difficult, but the views were amazing. We started off going from Briançon to the Col de l'Izoard which was very windy. We got off the top of that one very quickly because of how cold it was. After a quick lunch, we continued our descent until we started to ascend again to the Col Agnel which takes us into Italy. This climb was very long and the last 5 km were quite steep. I decided to become part of the support van while Dad and Jonathan continued to descend. We met up at the bottom and drove to our farmhouse near Sinio. The land changed dramatically in one hour from snow and switchbacks to flat and through vineyards. The farmhouse itself is lovely and the owners are very hospitable. We went out to dinner last night and the waitress just kept bringing us food. No menus were required. There were 6 antipastas served, then pasta, then the main course. We were so full we declined on dessert.
We're planning on relaxing here and doing a few rides and tasting the local wine. We'll post again when we arrive in Nice and include more pictures.

Just a note...

...to let our loyal readers know that we may have trouble finding reliable internet access over the next few days. We'll be staying at this lovely Italian farm 15km south of Alba. We'll try to post when we can but might be too busy sampling the Dolcettos and Barbaras.

-jon

Today's La Grave

Cindy's turn

I'm having a great time so far, in spite of the anxiety. The beginning of the trip has gone extremely well. Thanks to John and Lorraine, we arrived at the airport early and had two great flights. I couldn't even feel the landing of the 777 at LHR. We took an Airbus A321 to Lyons and began the adventure of trying to communicate in French. Our first glitch was the car rental, because we couldn't fit everything into the Renault Traffic. An hour later we started off in a Fiat Skudo equipped with GPS (which is easily confused on switchbacks in the Alps).

Jon has chosen wonderful places for us to stay. The views from the apartment in Annecy and the chalet at La Grave are spectacular and we've had wonderful weather so far. There are flowers everywhere, cultivated and wild. I've been admiring everyone's neatly kept vegetable gardens, most of which are surrounded by red raspberry bushes. Tom just bought me a pint of raspberries for $1euro.

I was most anxious about driving, since I rarely drive manual transmission. On Sunday, when we were in Annecy, the three bikers took off for their ride and Jessica and I were to drive downtown to find a parking spot where they would meet us to watch the end of La Dauphine. I neglected to have Jon show me how to get in reverse, so I had to ask a resident passing by for help. We made it downtown and fortunately found a parking spot not far from the finish line of the race. Jessica and I had a lovely afternoon, which included a boat ride tour of the 14km lake and a great lunch at a cafe. The highlight of the meal was a Belle Helene, a dessert crepe with pears, chocolate, almonds and whipped cream. Since it was Sunday, the stores were closed. We visited a church, St. Maurice, but the organ loft was closed to the public.

While the cyclists rode on Monday, I experienced my first hairpin turns up the mountains, while trying to avoid oncoming traffic and pass cyclists safely. I survived stalling going up mountains and was grateful for any large parking area. My muscles ache from hanging onto the steering wheel and my left calf muscle is sore from holding the clutch in while waiting at a construction spot that took longer than I thought. They are doing plenty of construction in the area, so there is frequently one lane traffic. Jon drove to La Grave by way of Col de Galibier (one of the finishes in this year's Tour). They were going to ride that today, but after yesterday, we convinced them to take a rest day. Since Erin got a preview in the car, I don't think she was disappointed not to ride it. Kathy, the ride reminded me of the time we had to stop for the cows in Colorado. We were about 4 hours later than we wanted to be to arrive at La Grave.

You've already heard Jon and Jessica's tales of yesterday (the supposedly easy ride day). I got to know one stretch of the road really well. My driving has improved somewhat. After I picked Tom and Erin up at Alpe d'Huez, Tom kept telling me to slow down and not take the corners so fast. I think the combination of adrenalin and resentment made me ignore him. When I get home, ask me about doing 3 point turns on Alpe d'Huez and meeting oversized trucks in tunnels. I was greatly relieved when we got the call from Jessica that Jon had arrived. I kept thinking about the comments my sisters would make about the "Kahler communication" problem. I think the calls from Tom and Erin made it worse as we were trying to figure out which spot to wait for them. They kept saying there was nothing to worry about, when we hadn't heard from Jon for more than 2 hours. To get her mind off the thought of Jon lying on the side of the mountain, Jessica asked me about family history. That only worked for a little while - I couldn't think of enough funny stories. I'm just grateful the day ended well with a delicious meal, and as per Deb's advice, plenty of wine.

Today we are relaxing and sight-seeing. Unfortunately, the cable cars to see the glacier on La Meige don't open until Saturday. I'll just have to look at it from my patio.

Cindy

No cause for concern here

I thoroughly enjoyed my climb of Alpe d' Huez. While it was quite steep and very hot, it was also overwhelming. I kept imagining throngs of people parting to allow me to climb up the mountain. The switchbacks were nice because they offered a brief reprieve from the 10% grade in most places. However, 10% seems much steeper when you're going down.
We had a lovely time at the top and had a nice podium shot taken for us. We headed out in an attempt to find an alternate route down the mountain. A few wrong turns later, carnivorous flies, and much miscommunication, Dad and I were still together and headed back the way we came sans Jonathan. I was assuming he found the correct way down and we would meet at the bottom (which we did--Yea!).
However, when we were still on top of the mountain and wondering where Jonathan was, I stopped to talk with someone in the tourism office. She provided me with a map and directions to where Jonathan may have ridden. I asked her if she had any suggestions as to who we could call if we couldn't find Jonathan. She shrugged and said she had no idea. Then she asked if I wanted a sticker. It was a pretty cool sticker.
We all got back together a short time later and all was good. One other highlight was on our ride back down the mountain, we did get a chance to see Mom doing a 3-point on Alpe d' Huez being directed by a woman speaking French. Quite comical. Another fine day in the Alps.
--Erin