Allez, allez, allez!

It's that time of the year again. While I should be training like crazy for Disney right now, I've conveniently put up a blinder in my mind around that topic (marathon? what marathon? ...and a half?! I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about). Instead I'm spending all my mental energy planning for next summer when I'm going to be a cycling monster. I love planning. In many ways I like it better than the actual training and racing itself. I could (and have) sit there for hours planning out my training, mapping out the minutia down to the last detail, and getting ready for anything. I feel like the planning itself will make me faster. Like simply the act of writing down fast interval times will somehow make them attainable. It makes me feel excited. It makes me feel safe with all the workouts in their tiny little boxes on a calendar or excel sheet.

Often half the plan gets thrown out the window, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Just the act of thinking it through the first time will help me come up with an even BETTER plan next time. I realize what parts were unrealistic and which parts were too easy, where I need more work and where my strengths really lie. I have a whole notebook devoted to evolving plans for plans for plans. I know, I know.

*** NERD ALERT ***

I have lots and lots of outings planned for 2009, ranging from 10-mile time trials to 400-mile weekend trips to Canada and back. But the most exciting one of all, and the one that requires the most planning is my trip to Europe. Shane, my brother from another mother, is going to be my date for my friend Emily's wedding in London on May 24. But as long as we're going to be in Europe, we might as well make the best of it. So after dropping some presentable clothes and bulky non-essentials in London, we are going to go across the channel and spend a few days in Paris, before setting out for Barcelona... on our BIKES!!!

And we're not going in a straight line either. No way, José... or pas de tout, Joseph! We may never get this chance again, and we're going to make the best of it, dammit! From Paris we're going to ride southeast to Lyon. From Lyon we'll continue southwest through the Alps along the Italian border over such climbs as l'Alpe d'Huez, until we hit Nice. From Nice we're going to take some flat days along the coast through Marseilles before turning back inland to hit the meat of the Pyrenees. We'll ride back northeast as far as Toulouse so that we can ride through Andorra and over the Port d'Envalira, the tallest peak in the Pyranees, before riding down into Spain and south to Barcelona. It works out to be about 1,400 miles in 14 days.


Shane is a planner. I am a planner. And ever since we committed to actually making this happen a couple of weeks ago, we've both set to work furiously planning and planning to our little hearts' content. Shane bought maps and books with titles like "France by bike", and I've been studying google maps of France locating every famous Tour de France climb I can. We both speak Spanish and English, but we're setting about learning French. Shane is taking a French 2 class at community college and I'm digging around on my shelves looking through old French books from high school and college to see if I can resurrect the few years of French I took. I'm re-reading all 1300 pages of Les Misérables (no better way to get acquainted with France than Victor Hugo). We've both downloaded and started listening to every Learn French podcast on iTunes. I've already gone to the bike shop and grilled them on the advantages of various bike and component combinations.

(Well-intending commenters: Unless you've done a similar trip, don't worry about giving advice. We've got enough advice from people who know from experience to cull through for the time being.)

Six months out we're trying to figure out all the details. Should we bring our crappy bikes or our racing bikes? Panniers or backpacks? Where will we get food and water? (Shane wanted to bring iodide pills, but I pointed out that we were going to France, not India, and we surely would never go more than an hour without seeing a bar of some kind). Hostels, or camping? (probably a mixture) How would we find camp grounds? Are sleeping bags too bulky? What clothes would we need? (or more specifically, what clothes WON'T we need?) How are we going to get our bike boxes around? (cardboard most likely) How are we going to get our bikes back to London? How much money will we need? (Lots) While I'm wishing we had a French-speaking third musketeer who had unlimited resources to follow us in a fully-stocked RV, Shane has already begun mentally packing and re-packing his panniers.

So without further adu, here's the porn. Day by day, here's the plan so far. Of course they'll most likely evolve over the next 5 months:

Day 1 - Paris to Auxerre - 116 miles

Day 2 - Auxerre to Chalon-sur-Saône - 108 miles

Day 3 - Chalon-sur-Saône to Lyon - 83 miles

Day 4 - Lyon to Grenoble - 80 miles (into the Alps now)

Day 5 - Grenoble to Embrun - 118 miles (including l'Alpe d'Huez and Mt. Dauphin!!!)

Day 6 - Embrun to Nice - 130 miles (Last day in the Alps)

Day 7 - Nice to Toulon - 109 miles

Day 8 - Toulon to Marseille - 43 miles

Day 9 - Marseille to Montpellier - 119 miles

Day 10 - Montpellier to Castres - 112 miles (Into the Pyrenees now)

Day 11 - Castres to Toulouse - 42 miles

Day 12 - Toulouse to La Seu d'Urgell - 135 miles (The hardest day of the trip. We start in France, go through Andorra and over Port d'Envalira, the highest peak in the Pyrenees, and then down into Spain.)

Day 13 - La Seu d'Urgell to Montseny - 94 miles

Day 14 - Montseny to Barcelona - 65 miles