I’m starting this blog 4 days before Myrna and I set off for our dream trip to the Tour de France.  We received the itinerary and the riding days are exciting and challenging.

I feel like I am ready.  Yesterday I hit out on a 65k ride to Horseshoe Bay and felt strong on the climbs, confident on the mini-descents. I felt very within myself…ready to take on the challenge of France in a light-hearted way.  How else can you approach riding parts of the scariest stages of the hardest bike race in history?

I’ve been steady on the bike the last 4 weeks…3-4 rides per week to get used to being in the saddle.

I am finding as the trip approaches that my vanity is starting to show.  I now have cycling socks for the first time.  My mountain bike shoes from 1985 have been replaced with roadie shoes…the first pair I’ve ever owned.  I have matching water bottles (they match eachother, not the shoes…I’m not that far gone).  Chief among these vanities are newly shaved legs.  I’ll just say that they’re taking some getting used to.

Bike insured, bike box reserved, bike tuned.  Here we go!