Tour de France

Bonjour, family and friends,
I managed to exhaust myself sightseeing in order to keep me from getting bored. I've taken a trip some where everyday. Had a full day yesterday. Took a ten hour tour that included a train ride thru the Swiss Alps. Amazing. Went to Gruyeres. Did cheese and wine tasting. Then, we hit the Chocolate capital of the world. Which by the way Nestle has managed to get involved in. Free chocolate!!! Can you imagine?? And, I only tasted three.

I switched hotels. And met up with my tour leader. Guess what ?? Only one other guy joining us. He is from New Zealand.

Today we traveled to the Les Rousses stage. Crossed into France side of Swiss Alps. We got on our bikes and rode to Les Rousses first then came down and back up the other side to Le Ceure. By then it was getting so busy. We called it a day and went to wait for the tour to go by. It was an awesome day. Wish some of the friends back home were here to enjoy this.

Ps: My suitcase arrived 2 days later. Broken handle, no cute colorful luggage tags and the pull handle is wobbly. (Did I mention my bike bag also has a tear on it and a bent skewer, which the boys fixed) But boy, was I glad to have different shoes and clothes. The hotel I booked was not the cute little quaint hotel on the website. The theme was Hollywood and, their were tacky statues , etc... And their was a night club next to lobby. People smoking everywhere. Yuk !!

Le Tour is even more exciting than I had remembered. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be here enjoying this beautiful country and this amazing event.

Thanks for all the nice notes Dear Friends.

Life is Good, Mairie (I'm french right now, remember ?)

Tour de France/Les Alps

Hello friends and family,
Yes, I am at it again. On another cycling trip. Minus my partner in crime Lola. I arrived in Geneva Switzerland on Wed. the 7th of July. The Bike trip does not start until Friday night. I arrived without luggage and even worse than that. Without BIKE!!! I immediately went to work on exploring Geneva and forget my sweaty sorrows. Its sooo warm and humid, clothes are pasted on. And I traveled in jeans. Took a tour around the city, I had already familiarized myself with the city centre. I am smack in the middle.
Geneva has alot of very interesting political importance. Awake 28 hours at this point. I am delerious and exhausted.
Found the nearest expensive, inexpensive store. Bought a fresh blouse and undies. And planned my day for thursday. My bike came in at midnight. Had to get out of bed and to the lobby to identify it. Yup, it was my bike.

Thursday, I got up and decided I would take another tour. I have walked around so much I think I have seen Geneva in 1 day and not 2, like they say you can do. I went to a medieval village, Yvoire, France. It was enchanting and beautiful. Full of color and life. Met a young woman from Sweden, she also alone. We quickly became friends and explored the entire village on the edge of Lake Geneva. Even dipped our toes in the water.

Tomorrow, I am taking a trip to Gruyeres, Monteaux and Chamonix part by coach and part by train. It will be a long and exciting day. After that, I will switch hotels and join Sport Tours for the TDF.

There is a fellow here from Phoenix, on his first cycling trip to Europe. He is also alone. So, he is anxious to talk to me about cycling when re run into each other in the lobby. He is joining another tour company tomorrow. But, he went out riding thru Geneva and into France. He just told me he was scared for his life today. Did I mention there are lots and lots of cars and traffic ? Mazzerati, Ferrari, Rolls Royce.

Well, have I said enough ? Geneva is home of Rolex, Baume Mercier, Patek Phillipe, all the pricey watch makers. And oh yeah,,,CooCoo Clocks everywhere. There is lots of mula is Geneva. I know they already have lots of mine.

AuRevoir,

MyRree (I am french right now)

Day 48 Final Day Palatka to St. Augustine, Fl.

BIKE CHICKS RULE!!! We went out and into the pouring rain this morning. Excited and sad that it was our last ride. Jaime and Joe followed us the entire day. We rode thru wonderful farm roads. Jaime even saved a turtle that was turned on its back in the middle of a road. As soon as he put it on the grass, it pulled its legs out and took off. We saw a gator swimming around a swamp when we stopped for some refreshments. We took in every moment of that final ride.

As we rode into St. Augustine, Kathy and I kept saying, Bike Chicks Rule!!! Lola would just laugh at us... We had quite an entourage, Joe in one car, Jaime in another and Howard came up beside us as we arrived in St. Augustine. We rode directly to The Fountain of Youth. Did our celebration and pictures there. Then we rode to the Atlantic Ocean... We dipped our front tires and our feet in the Atlantic. Howard brought us a bottle of champagne. Joe popped it and we all drank it as we were frolicking in the ocean... We were overwhelmed with emotion...

Well, friends and family, thank you sooo much for your support and encouraging comments. We loved every note. Thanks for your interest and for the vicarious energy you were sending us with your enthusiasm...

Lola and I, friends and Partners in Crime, forever...We enjoyed rooming together and talking, planning and living every part of this journey. Thanks for working so hard planning this trip. And Joe, thanks for taking such good care of us. We really felt safe with you around...

My husband is taking me home to our family... I have missed them terribly, they are the force behind me... I have truly marked my 50th Birthday in a way I will never forget...

Bike Chick Out,

Malena

Days 46 and 47 White Springs to Gainesville and Gainesville to Palatka, Fl.

Hello friends and family, as we told you before. We have been caught a midst massive rain and thunderstorms in Florida... We are lucky to have electricity and internet. There was a 13 inch rainfall yesterday morning. It seemed it would never slow down. We rode in the rain and wind. The temperature was down in the 50's. So, it was really cold. Fortunately, it is back in the 70's today and tomorrow for our final ride.

Jaime came into Palatka today just in time to take The Biker Chicks out to dinner. Tomorrow we will finish our Cross Country Bike Trip. We cannot believe it. It just does not feel like we have been riding such a long time!!! Jaime says, yes we have been gone a loonngg time!!! So, I guess we have...

Tomorrow we will ride 45-50 miles to St. Augustine. And we will finish at The Fountain of Youth. Then we will dip our tires in the Atlantic. The rain forecast is still holding. Yes, it will probably rain all day tomorrow again. But, we are enjoying it all and just taking it all in... The good, the great, the wet and not so great. Like the quickly fading tan lines, darn it!!!

Tailwinds,

Malena

The Pic's: Lola checking in with Joe

The Bike Trail in Gainesville

Day 45 Madison to White Springs, Fl;

Rain Rain go away, come again,,,,next week when we are done... Yes folks, you have probably heard. We are in the middle of terrible and unlikely weather in Florida. And the worse part is that they are saying it is not going to get better. There could be up to a foot of rain by tomorrow!!! We have been without electricity, It just came on, so I am blogging now so that if you do not hear from us for a couple of days, you don't worry too much. We may have to hole up somewhere until we can ride to St. Augustine to our finish...

Still, we had fun riding, even in the rain... We crossed the Suwanee River before it started raining. We sang to keep The Pippin Family tradition. Way down upon the Suwanee River,,,Far Far Away...It was fun..

We had 15-20 mph winds, in every direction but from the rear. Go Figure!!! Oh yeah, that's because ,THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PREVAILING WINDS!!! Unfortunately, if it stays this wet and windy , it will be too dangerous and impossible to ride... However, things can change. We are very optimistic...It's only Tuesday. It's supposed to get better for the weekend...Please pray that the storm dies down...We just wanna ride!!!

Hopeful,

Malena

The Pic's: The Wet Bike Chicks

The Suwanee River

Day 44 Tallahassee to Madison, Fl.

BIKE CHICKS ROCK!!! With Kathy joining The Bike Chicks, we are recharged and re energized. We are happy Kathy and Howard Pippen and his sister Virginia joined us this morning for breakfast ... It was sure nice to have them with us. Our enthusiasm is contagious. I think they both wanted to join us.

Unfortunately, the thrunderstorm from yesterday,continued all night and stayed with us all day today. Although we were able to ride. It was a continuous rain, and cold wind on us, but no heavy rain. I sent all my winter gear home with Jaime. Howard and Virginia made a run to the sporting goods store for us. had to get a new jacket. And borrow tights for the ride. My knees were sooo cold.

We are happy, healthy and strong. We are ready to make it all the way to The Fountain of Youth on Friday.

Please pray that our weather gets better. We are doing the same.

Tailwinds,

Malena

The Pic's: Bike Trail we rode out of Tallahassee

The Bike Chicks, ready to ride