Across and Down --- Of Love and Cycling

By Ronald Zell

This book is a story of how my wife and I met, how cycling played a major role in our developing a relationship and our cycling adventures since we fell in love. We are a vintage couple - I am 77 years old, and my wife is 70, and we are interested in exciting readers enough that they might want to turn to cycle touring as a form of recreation and fitness. Our adventures include a trip across the country from San Francisco to Virginia, a trip down the country from Canada to Mexico, a trip over the Historic Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago and many, many shorter trips in this country and several others. In addition to our adventures, the book also contains some "how to" information to help in planning and executing cycle tours. We have been married eleven years, and this book tracks our cycling lifestyle over that period.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483589749

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BOOK 1

IT ALL CAME TOGETHER

CHAPTER 1

ELIZABETH

Elizabeth was born Elizabeth Jean Crawford in San Francisco, California on June 14, 1946. She was a fitting final addition to her parents’ quiver, as she was the only female, little Crawford. This happenstance likely had a lot to do with Elizabeth’s development, and undoubtedly affected her attitude toward competition and athletic endeavors. From the beginning, she had to fend for herself among a group of smart, active and motivated males, giving her an act now, and question later approach to life. From wake-up to play time to the dinner table, the youngest and fairest was in a battle to make her point.

In her early years, Elizabeth’s family migrated to Marin County, and moved onto the family estate in Ross, CA. Though she came from a family with significant resources, her parents were of a mind to make sure their children had a proper perspective on life – their life was sophisticated, but not lavish. In fact, the focus of recreation and family time was on the out-of-doors. There was a swimming pool, a tennis court and plenty of space to enjoy any sort of outdoor activity. This focus on outdoor life, and the exposure to the many activities of her masculine siblings laid the ground work for Elizabeth’s development as an athlete – to say nothing of the competitive environment.

Early on, Elizabeth was made aware of an episode in her family background that would underpin her value structure her entire life. Back in the Gold Rush days in California, Elizabeth’s Great, Great Grandmother ferried her family, alone, across the USA in a covered wagon as part of a wagon train to meet up with her husband who was already working on their fortune in the Gold Country of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Elizabeth always says that when she is doing anything tough, and thinks of quitting, she immediately remembers the accomplishments and fortitude of this great woman, and everything looks a whole lot better.

Elizabeth was educated in an all-girls school in San Rafael, California, Dominican. As one might expect as result of her background, she was a bit of a rebel, and had to work more than modestly to survive the strict discipline of the Catholic System and the strong hands and wills of the Nuns. However, she matured into an accomplished young woman, and in the process began her athletic career by becoming an accomplished and (You guessed it.) competitive tennis player. She carried her sport with her when she started college at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Elizabeth transferred to the University of San Francisco to complete her education, and counts important, her time living in the Haight after she graduated. She says that she is not sure how she avoided the recreational activities that were top-of-mind at the time, and also wonders how she didn’t become a hippy, but what she did do was get married. She then followed her husband as he worked on an advanced degree – on the south side of Chicago as he attended the University of Chicago and she taught school, and in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco as he sought exposure to the underside of the world, and she continued teaching.

Time passed, and there was a move to a home in San Francisco, and Elizabeth’s first child, Lauren, was born. Three years later, the LaPlante family experienced a major expansion as the twins, Alexa and Jennifer arrived. More time passed, and the family found itself in Little Rock, Arkansas as result of a major career opportunity presenting itself to her husband. He went to work for a man who would become really well known – Bill Clinton, then the Governor of Arkansas. Our athlete was very busy during all this time, so the athletic career went wanting in many regards. There was a little bit of tennis combined with a little of this and bit of that. She had plenty to keep her fit – minding three very active, smart little girls.

The LaPlante family came apart for a variety of reasons after some years in Arkansas. This resulted in a return to Marin County, California by mother and daughters, and a new life for all four. The girls continued to flourish, especially with Grandma Ora back in the picture, and Elizabeth returned to teaching after getting certified as a Special Education Resources Specialist. All of this started her 20 year career as a single mom, and a very special teacher. This also gave her exposure to new opportunities, and trail running became a major part of her life. The lure of the outdoors also returned to the lives of the family, and Elizabeth spent a lot of time teaching the girls how to enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer.

Over time, the girls finished high school and college, and began promising careers. Lauren became a School Psychologist (Now works in the Emeryville School District in the East Bay.), Alexa a Hydrologic Engineer (She is now working for PG&E as a director in drinking and storm water.), and Jenny a Literary Scout in New York City. The girls all now live in the Bay Area as Jenny moved with her long-time boyfriend, Adam Korn, to Oakland, and they married in August of 2014. Elizabeth had done her job beautifully, and had brought about the education and maturation of three beautiful, smart and driven young women, but what was she going to do now? Trail running had done a number on her knees, so she had started mountain biking as a way to stay fit, and meet and socialize with others. The mountain biking lead to road biking, and a membership in the Marin Cyclists Cycling Club and membership and heavy participation in the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. Elizabeth had become a cyclist in practice and purpose, and was even selected as the Marin County Bike Commuter of the Year – she commuted to her teaching job each day for many years. She felt fulfilled in many ways, but something was missing.

CHAPTER 2

RON

I was born, Ronald Albert Zell, on November 17, 1939 in Wolcott, Indiana. I was first born to a couple of very modest means. My father worked for a medium sized grocery chain, so there was a bit of moving around as I grew. However, my early life, and under-graduate education (Purdue University) all occurred in the state of Indiana. I eventually became big brother to two sisters (Carol Lanham and Jane Audette), one brother (Phil Zell) and a half-brother, Neil Lardon (My mother remarried after my father passed away at the young age of 53).

My family didn’t really encourage outdoor and athletic activity, for they had never been a part of either parent’s background except for some hunting and fishing. However, I was active, and was always involved, one way or the other, in some sort of athletic endeavor. I clearly remember racing my Schwinn Road Master bike around the neighborhood as a youngster. I was even my own mechanic – using a hammer to clear the cranks if I crashed and bent something. I also clearly remember that I was the strongest rider in my age group at the time. I won everything, so long as I wasn’t picking myself up from taking a turn too hard. I guess it was a start to what this book is about.

Junior high and high school brought some new things to my life. I worked for my dad in his grocery stores, took up music (I was in the band, and played saxophone and clarinet. I also had my own dance band.) and was active in school organizations and politics. I didn’t do varsity sports, but participated in intramural activities. Admittedly, my sports activities were on the decline.

As I mentioned earlier, I attended Purdue University where I majored in Chemical Engineering. I learned that I really didn’t want to do that, so joined the Navy when I was drafted, and later attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School to study business. I was a Supply Corps officer in the Navy, and that experience helped mature me and show me that a career in business was what I wanted to do.

My last year at Purdue, I met and became engaged to Constance Anne McNeill, who would become the mother of my children, my best friend and love. We were married in 1963, and had two children: Betsy (The other Elizabeth) in 1968 and Andrew (Drew) in 1970. Betsy went on to a very promising career in Advertising, got married and has made a fine career as a mother. Drew became a customer service specialist in payroll, financial and management software, and continues that work today – though he just recently took a turn to try his hand at sales. Both Betsy and Drew found wonderful, supportive spouses - Betsy married Eric Elman, and Drew married Deanna Kolberg. Betsy has two daughters (Claire and Tessa) and Drew has two sons (Nick and Connor) – I can’t thank them enough. All four grandkids are athletically active, superb students, and wonderful people but I have been unable to convince them to become avid cyclists!

My athletic career became non-existent. I was just too busy (Where have you heard that before?), and had become heavily involved in competitive sailing. Between a demanding job (I was an executive in the catalog and catalog-related retail business my entire career.) and many hours on the water, there was not time for other activities. The sailing took my wife and me to Puerto Rico in the late "60’s for two weeks of sailing training. As luck would have it, my wife took a picture of the view from our hotel room that happened to include me. I didn’t know about this picture until we got home, and had the film developed. That picture was a life-changer. Here I was, in profile, with the biggest gut you can imagine. I was fat! I stepped on the scales, and learned that too much inactivity, too many ice creams with maple syrup and too many beers had resulted in 210 pounds. I was amazed.

Shortly after that experience, I started running with the goal of getting down to 175 pounds and getting in shape. My family was amazingly supportive and helped me through training, helped keep me motivated and celebrated my progress. Two years later, I hit my weight goal, and ten years after that ran the Boston Marathon after years of building up my body.

After Boston, I continued running, and also began to do some cycling on the side. After about three years, I made the decision to switch from running to cycling because of injuries. This was about that time that I retired, and the new activity gave me motivation to keep active. I bought a good bike, met new friends in the sport and became very active. I was just beginning to get competitive when my world came tumbling down. I was off visiting my brother one weekend, and when I couldn’t reach my wife for our normal daily phone conversation, I learned that she had died when a vein exploded in her brain.

Everyone does grieving differently. My approach was to bury myself in cycling. I hired a physical trainer and cycling coach, set some really aggressive goals and spent most of my time on the road. During the next three years, I would ride about 10,000 miles per year, achieve wonderful fitness and compete in many single and double centuries. I was really lucky to have such an activity to keep my mind occupied most of the time, yet allow a proper amount of time to miss my wonderful wife.

After three years of concentration on my sport and living life, I awoke one morning knowing that something had to change. I was not suited to living alone – it was time to find another good woman!

CHAPTER 3

IT ALL CAME TOGETHER!

Elizabeth and I are cyber-babies – we met on the internet via Match.com. This is common now, but at the time we were sort of pioneers, and we loved it.

Elizabeth was ahead of me in terms of preparing to go on Match. She had the idea about six months before me, and recruited a number of people to help her with her profile and pictures. Chief among her helpers were her daughters. Of course, each of them had a different idea about what should be said and shown. Elizabeth’s friends offered additional advice, and the result was confusion. In the end, Elizabeth took charge, and made it happen. She took the too narrow approach of saying that she was only interested in meeting a committed, active cycle-tourer who met her needs from an age and profile point of view. She did rely on her daughters for her pictures, and for that I thank them! Elizabeth went live on Match at about the same point that I was nearing having met 18 women in cyberspace.

The morning I awoke knowing that it was time to find another good woman, I remembered a story a cycling friend had told me about how he had found a wonderful woman – Match.com. After coffee, I called him, and asked if he would help me. He asked me over to his house, just around the corner, to take a lesson in cyber-dating. In about an hour, he had taken me through the basics, and I was ready for action. I went home, signed on to Match.com, completed my profile and completed the rest of the process just short of a picture. I thought that I had a recent photograph in my files, but there was none to be found. I wanted to get this thing finished and working, so I reached into my wallet, found my drivers’ license and scanned it. It actually worked, and I was live on Match.com four hours after waking with the knowledge that now, was the time.

I started going through the process of e-mailing, talking on the phone and meeting the women that resulted from my search. Over the course of about four months, I met and had coffee with 18 women, yet no one came close to meeting my needs. There always seemed to be something that made me decide that this person would just not work. They were very nice women, by and large, but after 38 years of a good marriage, I guess I was a bit selective. However, I kept going for I knew that Elizabeth was out there some place.

One night in late December, I logged onto Match, did my normal search and there she was. Elizabeth Jean Crawford. Elizabeth had met one man just before we connected, and we met by e-mail while she was getting to know him. We met and connected primarily because of each other’s relationship to the bike.

We exchanged several e-mails using Match’s anonymous system. We discussed cycling and touring, got to know each other as much as you can via e-mail and spent a fair amount of time discussing Lewis and Clark. I had crossed the country by bike the previous year following the Lewis and Clark Bike Trail, and Elizabeth was involved in school activities based on that great expedition. Our many e-mails gave me great comfort that it was time to hear the voice behind this very interesting creature, so as is recommended by Match, I shared my phone number, and asked Elizabeth to call me if she was interested.

One night, soon after that e-mail, I had just arrived at a market in my neighborhood to buy dinner when she called. We talked for nearly an hour – to the point that I nearly didn’t get food for my dinner, and that would have been okay! In any event, we decided that we liked each other enough to get together for a cup of coffee. We were to meet at Starbuck’s in San Rafael the following week. I didn’t sleep too well that night because, even though I had several disappointments meeting women this way, something told me this was going to be different. Little did I know!

When the night arrived (January, 2004), I went to Starbuck’s a bit ahead of schedule. I had learned from my Match experience that it is better to watch your date entering an establishment than to arrive after she does, and not have time to plan your approach. If you are convinced from the outset that there is not a Match, you can play it in a rather low key fashion, and not mess with emotions. In this case, there was no need to be concerned, but I was still glad that I was able to watch this gorgeous creature fairly float across the room to my table. What grace!

I had been at my table for about 20 minutes when Elizabeth arrived. I glanced up as the door opened, and I just knew the woman who was entering was Elizabeth Jean Crawford. She knew I was Ronald Albert Zell, and headed directly toward my table. I stood, she took my hand and electricity sizzled through the room, and our grasp. She didn’t say, Are you Ron?, and I didn’t say, You must be Elizabeth?, she said, Ron! and I said, Elizabeth!. Volumes were spoken as hands touched, eyes glanced and adrenalin surged. We didn’t know it at the time, but we had experienced love at first sight".

Elizabeth sat down, and since I already had a coffee, I offered to get something for her. She said, I can get it. I said, I would like to do that. She smiled, and said that she would like a tea. As I was going up to get her tea, I could feel her watching me, and she made me feel like a star. I was so excited that I could hardly order for her. When I returned to the table, we glanced at each other, smiled and simultaneously said, We are wearing the same thing. Sure enough, we both were wearing black trousers and pale blue sweaters – that had to be the sign of things to come!

Our conversation was marvelous. On the one hand, we were as nervous as sinners in church, and on the other were perfectly comfortable with each other, our mutual impressions and thoughts of the future. Personally, I was feeling in the middle of the manifestation of a new life-long dream, and loving it. Elizabeth was obviously enjoying herself, and it soon was past coffee time. Simultaneity occurred again, and the topic of dinner came up, and we were soon on our way to Signature Thai, and a wonderful evening.

Dinner virtually flew by because we had so much to talk about, and were so driven to get to know each other. However, it was a school night, and Elizabeth had to get her rest. Neither of us wanted to leave, but we finally headed for our cars with the agreement that we would meet again on the weekend, and try to have a bike ride together. I was so alive as I drove back to Santa Rosa that night, that I was beside myself. I just knew this was going to be very good; very, very good.

On Saturday morning, I arrived at Elizabeth’s home with my trusty steed, all decked out in my finest to do my first bike ride with this wonderful person who had found her way into my life. She said that we were going to ride over to the Fairfax Post Office, and participate in a Marin Cyclists Club ride. That was fine with me. What I didn’t know was that she had stacked the deck on me in the form of many of her friends and a test: She knew I was a strong and competitive cyclist. Would I stay with her during the ride? Her friends were to check me out, and specifically compare me to the other man she had met since going live on Match. I passed both tests (Though I did sneak off for a few minutes at one point to chase down a guy who was trying to be first up a hill. The group was mostly stopped at that point, so Elizabeth was talking and didn’t notice that I was gone doing my competitive thing.).

I really didn’t know what was on the line during all this, but was able to unknowingly get back at her a bit when I Iearned that she was planning to go to Solvang to do a century at the same time I was – a few weeks in the future. While we were stopped at one point, I ask her if she would like to go with me. Since this implied sharing a room, etc., she said that she would think about it. By the end of the day, she had agreed. I was feeling mighty fine for a bit until I learned that she would have been sharing a room with five guys if she had not agreed to go with me. I got over it! I had another amazing trip home to Santa Rosa.

The next week was our time to get together – figuratively and literally. I again showed up at Elizabeth’s home, this time with dinner from a local restaurant. We had a great dinner and a lovely evening, and for some strange reason, I didn’t make it back to Santa Rosa that night. When I saw Elizabeth off to school the next morning, I was again in a zone of complete and utter disbelief that I could be so happy. I later learned that Elizabeth must have been feeling the same way. Apparently her students asked why she was so happy!

Time went on, and I began staying at Elizabeth’s two nights a week. When that wasn’t enough, we stretched it to three, and then I was only home enough to keep the place clean, bills paid, the laundry done and cycling commitments met. We were constantly looking for ways to spend more time together. Then came January, 2005, when I asked Elizabeth to marry me; March 2005, when I sold my home in Santa Rosa and moved in with her and July 10, 2005 when we married. We were like two kids in love, and it got even better when Elizabeth retired and we moved to Ashland, Oregon in June of 2006. We were a team!

CHAPTER 4

PROVENCE, FRANCE

Elizabeth and I rode our bikes together as often as possible. It was something we both truly loved, and it was an important part of our love. Early on came the Solvang Century. I had been training hard, and was prepared to do the double century at Solvang while Elizabeth would do the century with her friends. I contracted a bad cold just before the event, so I decided to do the century with Elizabeth rather than suffer through the double. It was great fun riding with all the ladies, and it was a good thing I was along. The wind was blowing very hard, and I pulled the group for the better part of fifty miles out to the turn-around. We all had great fun, and I got to get to know some of the people important to Elizabeth.

Soon after Solvang, Elizabeth and I were hanging out one afternoon working on our bikes. I asked her, If you had your choice, where in the world would you like to go to bike tour?. She related that she had always wanted to ride in France. I asked her if she would like to go when school was out, and without a hesitation, she said, Yes!. We started doing our planning, and ended up scheduling a trip of some 790 miles to tour in Provence. We would do an organized tour for two weeks, and then pick up our gear, and head back up into the mountains to do our own thing for a week.

As the time for our trip approached, Elizabeth developed some soreness in her knees. This made us decide that she wouldn’t carry any load when we did our own part of the tour. I had already purchased a touring bike for the trip, and we decided that Elizabeth should stick with her road bike for all that riding. That left us with the need to decide how I would carry all of our gear.

Elizabeth owned panniers because of the touring she had done with her daughters. I owned a BOB Trailer because of my trip across the USA on the Lewis and Clark Bike Trail on a tandem. I decided to try both to see which I liked best, and to learn if there were advantages and disadvantages to be learned. On successive weekends (club rides), I loaded the bike – the first week with panniers, and the second week with the trailer. I learned the following:

1. The trailer is faster because it is more aerodynamic that the panniers.

2. You can carry more in the trailer than the panniers because you can stack higher so long as you don’t affect stability.

You can find things easier with panniers because you have four bags instead of having everything in one.

3. The trailer/bike combination is a pain to park. It is like a big rig.

4. The panniers are more stable on a descent. The trailer likes to get down the hill faster than the bike if you are not careful.

5. You can’t draft effectively with a trailer because the bikes are too far apart.

With all things said, I decided to go with the trailer. After sorting through our gear and eliminating everything that was of questionable need, we ended up with a load of about 50 pounds. The BOB Trailer weighs about 15 pounds, so I would be pulling about 65 pounds up into the mountains above Nice.

When it came time to go to France, I packed my bike (with S&S Couplers) in its luggage size bag, and packed Elizabeth’s road bike as recommended by the leader of the tour – We simply turned the handlebars, applied plumber’s foam to all the tubes, removed the pedals, slipped the bike into a twin size mattress bag and tightened the whole thing with duct tape. I built a custom cardboard box to hold the trailer and all our other gear. We were ready to go.

Our group gathered in Nice, and we prepared to start the trip. As I was getting our bikes together, I noticed that Elizabeth’s rear wheel was badly out of true. It apparently had been whacked by something during the trip – so much for the tour leader’s opinion that a bike in a mattress bag is visible, and will be handled accordingly. The tour leader and I spent several hours looking for a bike shop to true the wheel without success. I finally did the job the best I could with the tools I had, and we decided that it was good enough to get us started. Two days out, we came upon a bike/motorcycle shop that said they could true the wheel. They did a good job for the princely sum of five Euros.

Our tour was everything we had hoped. We started by going along the Mediterranean Sea where we saw spectacular scenery, wonderful beaches and topless bathing. Elizabeth gave me a rough time for enjoying those views! In fact, when we reached our hotel the first night, she made the comment that I would now have to learn to get by without those views. While she was saying this, I was looking out the window. I called her over to see what I was seeing, and she said, I can’t believe it. There was a lovely young woman sunbathing topless right across from our room.

Our days on the bike were warm and sunny, challenging and exciting. The trip was well-planned, and we got to see and experience some wonderful things. We also joined some interesting people. The leaders, Link Lindquist and Kathy Taylor, were doing their maiden tour, and we learned with them. There were two others on the tour – we called them the odd couple because they were so different, and had to, reluctantly, room together – the other Ron, Ron Treadwell, and Paul Rosenburg.

I have already commented on the beaches connecting Nice, Antibies and Cannes. Shortly after Cannes, we turned inland, and were able to enjoy the rolling farm land of Southern France. We started seeing a lot of small villages that provided opportunities to meet wonderful people and experience delightful food. We felt very welcome.

Our third night out, we had the pleasure of staying in a restored 16th century French farmhouse. It was such a unique experience, and the colors and design so impressive that we used a picture taken of us there on our wedding invitations. We looked very Provence. The food and hospitality at Le Mas de Foncaudette were superb.

On our fourth day we arrived in the little town of Bonnieux, where we were treated to one of the surprises and wonders of our trip – The Luberon – the breadbasket of France. From above, the fields look to be a work of art. The farms are very diversified, so there is not a lot of any particular crop in one place. This makes for a wonderful patchwork of colors, crop rows and farm buildings. This view gave us a real picture of the differences between European and American farming.

It was at this point in the trip that Paul retrieved his lost bike. The airlines had misplaced it, and it took that long for them to get it to him. Once he started riding, we could see that he was very strong. In fact, more often than not, he would go off on his own because he could cover so much more territory. The whole group benefitted from this, however, because he would return with all kinds of treats for our happy hour before dinner. The most memorable was the wonderful goat’s milk cheese that we enjoyed after he had carried it in his jersey pocket all day. The heat brought out the complexity of flavors, and was a real wow! Elizabeth and I spent one whole day riding with only Paul, and very much enjoyed his company.

After another night in a restored French farmhouse – this one very sophisticated, we arrived in Vaison La Romaine. In this ancient city, we experienced old architecture, Roman ruins, wonderful food and delightful people. We also visited the longest continuously operating farmers’ market in France. The Roman ruins were most interesting because of the almost modern convenience they enjoyed when the ruins weren’t ruined. Their toilets actually had the waste washed away by running water!

Next up was a real highlight of the trip for me. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was experiencing pain in her knees, and we decided that she shouldn’t be climbing. This caused her to have to watch me do the climb of Mt. Ventoux – an occasional stop on the Tour de France. I had done my research, and learned that the professional record for this climb was about 59 minutes. I worked very hard riding up this un-relenting monster, and managed to finish in 2 hours and 14 minutes. I really didn’t feel any embarrassment about my performance, and Elizabeth was delighted to buy me a jersey commemorating the accomplishment. Paul was the hero of day, finishing first in our group, Link did well, finishing a few minutes ahead of me, and the other Ron had to abandon because he became too tired. We all enjoyed the ride.

After the climb and descent of Mt. Ventoux, we rode to another converted French farmhouse near the granddaddy of the French perched cities Gordes. This was a great setting, complete with an Abbey (Abbaye de Senanque), lavender fields and gorges. Our meal that night was one of the best of the trip, and after a 95 mile day with much excitement, the dinner and rest afterward were needed and enjoyed.

We then moved on to the city of Moustiers – a fabulous perched city, and the home of the highly decorated ceramic called Faience. It is also known for the very large gold star that is suspended over the city on cables reaching the mountains on both sides. We spent three nights here, and enjoyed every minute.

After our respite in Moustiers, we headed off for Castellane. As it turned out, we would find ourselves back in this city, as we learned that it has one of the best campgrounds in the area. It also has a wonderful lake nearby, and many routes one can take to do day-rides and explore the area. The real highlight of our visit to Castellane the first time was our experience with sheep being driven right by us where we were having dinner outside. It all started with strange noises and ringing bells. We then heard this swishing, swishing sound (The dogs claws scraping the pavement.), and saw a dog running up the adjacent street like his life depended on it. Apparently he was a sheep dog out to find strays. We soon saw the main flock as it moved very quickly past us. There had to be over 100 sheep going right through the middle of this wonderful city.

The next day would take us back to our starting point for the trip – Hotel Chantilly in Cagnes Ser Mer, near Nice. There, we would take a day’s rest, get ourselves organized and then do the trip back up into the mountains to Castellane for a week by ourselves. Having been in Castellane during the main tour, we were looking forward to seeing and doing the things that we didn’t have time for the first time.

The trip up into the mountains was epic. You will recall that I was pulling a 65-pound trailer behind my bike with all our camping gear for a week. The climb was to be 58 miles with just over 6000 feet of elevation gain. There were three summits to be climbed, and it was pretty hot. Elizabeth had the time of her life. While I was poking along at under five miles per hour, she was really strong – no knee problems this time – and she would go ahead of me, and then circle back, nicely asking me where I had been! I was pleased that she was having so much fun, so the comments didn’t bother me. I had trouble that day. Water ran low, I got tired, I had some trouble with the load shifting and it was hot. However, we made it, and found our campground with plenty of daylight left.

One sort of embarrassing event of the day was getting worried about water, and stopping where a group of men were working. When we told them our problem, one of the men offered us some of his water, and then proceeded to tell us that we would come upon a village where we could find water in 2-3 kilometers. At that point it was too late to give him back his water.

When we reached the campground, Elizabeth took over. While I rested, she went in to look for a spot, and when she found it, she came back for me and we took everything to the spot she selected. It was really nice. Elizabeth decided that we needed a table and chairs to really enjoy our stay, so she headed back to the office, and talked the guy into bringing some over for us. After that, it was time to make camp, so I started doing things. Elizabeth told me to stop, and sit down in one of the chairs she had negotiated. She then said that she would be back in a few minutes, and she would be mad if I did anything while she was gone. She returned in just a few minutes, carrying some surprises – cold beer and snacks. She then proceeded to make camp while I sipped and watched. What a woman.

The next day we took a short, 20-mile, recovery ride out to the lake to a small town where we could have lunch and relax. It was all I could do to turn the pedals that day, and the rest was welcome. The remainder of our time in Castellane was spent doing day-rides out into the hinterlands to just explore. We had a wonderful time each day, and had even more fun when we returned to our campground. It had a very good restaurant, a nice food store and a great pool, so we had plenty of facilities for entertainment. Our best meal of our trip was in the restaurant at the campground, and our best entertainment of the trip was a young Italian couple who had come in on a motorcycle, and camped near us. Their antics at night and at the pool could be legend. After a week of this idyllic life, we mounted our bikes and headed down the mountain, and back to our hotel. The descent was a gonzo payback for the hard climb up. I was able to let my bike run freely most of the time, and it was wonderful riding.

Our adventure really didn’t end when we returned home – it was only the beginning! Our trip home was a bit of a challenge. Late planes and other happenings resulted in our taking over 30 hours to get back to Marin County. Our friend, Gary Kern, met us at the San Francisco Airport, and took us and our gear home. When we arrived, we learned that there were no keys to get into the house. We spent over an hour looking for ways into the house, but we had done too good a job securing the place before we left. The culprit with the keys was Elizabeth’s daughter, Alexa. She had locked the keys in the house rather than putting them in their hiding place outside. We finally reached her, and she came over with her set, and let us in. Alexa is an amazing woman – she nearly ran out of gas coming to let us in, and stopped at a service station. She learned she had no money, but she was able to talk the guy into giving her gas with the promise that she would stop on her way home to pay him. So, four hours after arriving back from our trip, we were able to enter the house. It was then 4:00 AM. We were dog-tired, but very happy to be home, and Alexa had her gas money to keep her promise.

STATISTICS:

Riding days = 18

Cumulative mileage = 789

Elevation gain = 60,000 feet

Miles per riding day = 43.8

Average speed = 11.2

CHAPTER 5

THE DORDOGNE, FRANCE

Our marriage was approaching, and we started talking about our honeymoon. We, of course, knew that honeymoons were supposed to occur after the wedding, but we decided that we weren’t finished visiting France, and the tour we wanted to take took place prior to our wedding date. Never being a couple caught up in convention, we decided to take our honeymoon before we got married. We signed up for one of the famous Glenn Erickson Tandem Tours to visit the southwest of France, The Dordogne.

As we were making the reservations for this trip, two wonderful things happened: Firstly, we learned that if we could find a suitable container for our tandem, it would not cost us anything to get the bike to France (Obviously this was before the airlines went into their FEE STAGE.)! Secondly, Elizabeth’s brother and sister-in-law found out that we needed a case for the tandem, and told us that they would give us an early wedding gift – the bag that they had used to take their tandem to Europe. With two big problems out of the way, we were on our way.

On June 18, 2005, we boarded our Air France flight, and headed for Toulouse and our honeymoon. We were graciously greeted by Glenn Erickson, himself, and taken to our first hotel (in the village of Cordes Sur Ciel) where we would re-assemble the tandem – not too hard because I had already practiced the process – have dinner, and prepare to start out tour the next morning. As we were assembling the tandem, we met a couple who would become wonderful friends, Dick and Linda Collins (Hudson at the time).

We started our 650-mile journey with a trip to the village of Najac. This was a relatively flat day, and was spent primarily viewing the countryside and meeting, on the bike, our tour mates. We talked several times with Dick and Linda, and just knew that we would see a lot of them in the future. We also learned of Dick’s weakness for the pastisseri and éclair chocolate. Dick simply could not pass one of those places without indulging! Our hotel, L’Oustal del Barry was wonderful.

Day two took us to Conquues en Rouergues and Hostellerie de I’Abbaye. This was another relative flat, scene-filled day to make cyclists the world over very jealous. The highlight was Villefranche de Rouergue, a bucolic market town just teeming with friendly people, unique shops and wonderful food. The river Aveyron was our friend for the day, and we were reminded what fun it is to meander with a great river (I was introduced to this wonderful form of cycling when I pedaled every mile of both the Ohio and Missouri Rivers crossing the USA on the Lewis and Clark Trail). The next day, we did a loop from this nice place that was just as scenic as you would ever hope.

We were off for Vesac, and the Hostellerie du Chateau de Salle, and a day with 3500 feet of climbing to prepare us for the big climb tomorrow – Puy Mary. We followed the very nice Lot River. What a thrill it is to ride along great rivers.

The next day took us to Le Theil (Salers), and the most white knuckle experience in our cycling careers – the descent of Puy Mary, a large, extinct volcano that rules the skylines of this area. The climb was 24 miles and delivered 4000 feet of elevation gain. The white knuckles came on the descent that will be described momentarily. The climb was quite eerie because the lava flows were very liquid from this volcano, so the flow was rapid, forming long, flowing valleys and ridges that have subsequently been molded by the Mandailles River into unusual shapes that continue to tickle the imagination as you pedal to the highest point in the Massif Central, Pas de Payrol – where the view is absolutely amazing.

We had been warned about the descent of Puy Mary, and had actually had a drag brake installed on the tandem to keep us safe. That was a good move. The group lollygagged on the pass, taking pictures, snacking and generally delaying the inevitable. Elizabeth and I said to each other, Enough is enough, let’s get out of here!. We eased into the 3-mile, 2500 foot descent (15%) to find it recently chip-sealed and not swept! We were tempted to stop and check things out, but prudently (If we had stopped, maybe that would have been it!) decided to roll ahead. I put the drag brake full-on, didn’t allow the bike to get over 15 miles per hour and probably didn’t take a breath. Suddenly, we were faced with a 90 degree turn to the right, and I could see copious amounts of light gravel in the turn. I slowed some more, prayed a lot and we made the turn still upright. We were there! We slowed, stopped at the edge of the road, congratulated each other and waited to see what the others would do.

We soon heard the sound of screeching brakes, human sounds of extreme dismay and a few expletives. It wasn’t long until everyone was down, but there were casualties in the form of some permanently damaged drag and disc brakes. We felt very good because we had made a very professional go of a very difficult task – we are a team!

The next day we cycled to Carennac where we would spend a couple of days enjoying some more of the country side and the wonderful Auberge du Vieux Quercy, Our day started with a huge descent down to the Dordogne River that would be our guide for the day. There were a few small climbs created by crossing rivers, but it was generally a day of descending.

This was the day when we spent a lot of time with Dick and Linda Collins, and had a great time. Dick was interested in what I had to do up front in handling the bike, and it was fun explaining that it was very similar to a single bike, but the actions and reactions of the stoker had to be brought into each decision. Dick was intrigued that we would lean our tandem through curves as much as we would a single bike. Elizabeth and Linda had fun talking as Dick and I exchanged war stories. We had dinner together that night, and cemented the relationship. We have since seen them many times as we are located about half way between their home in Tacoma and the home of their son and daughter-in-law in Truckee, California, and they frequently stop on the way through. We have also done a skiing vacation with them, and spent a short time together before we did our Down from Canada to Mexico. In fact, they delivered us to the border, helped us get our bikes ready and then drove our car back to Ashland, Oregon for us on one of their trips to Truckee.

The next day was a loop that took us to Goeffre de Padirac, a huge hole in the ground leading to a 13-mile system of caves and channels visited by boat. This was once thought to be the ientrance to Hell, and it felt like it as we descended. However, It was a pleasant, cool experience on a warm day.

Condat-sur-Vesere was our next destination as was the Chateau de la Fleunie, a restored, 12th century chateau that was gorgeous, and had a most wonderful, large swimming pool. This day was a tour of villages – Mayssacc, Collonges-la-Rouges (the whole place is built of red sandstone) and Turenne, each a unique experience. It was a wonderful day on the bike, and the Dordogne Valley is a wonderful place.

Our next stop was Sarlat, but before we would have the pleasure, we would experience some of the most wonderful visual treats available in life! The Caves of Lascaux was our first