Friday, August 17, 2012

Staging Camp

We arrived at London's Hethrow Airport at 5:10 am and were met by Alan our masseuse with a van.  He took all our gear and Dan, our mechanic and they headed off, driving to meet up with us in France.  We (Jenni, Nigel and myself) then had a car waiting to take us to Gatwick airport to catch our next flight to Bordeaux.  We were a tad bit early and had a 4 hour wait for our Easy Jet flight.

Upon arrival in Bordeaux Jenni had a rental car ordered and we then had a 2 hour drive south to where we are staying in Urrugne, which is only 2km from St. Jean De Luz, which is located right on the ocean in the Payes Basque area in the bottom of the Pyrenees.  It isn't far from where we stayed in June Witt eh while team before the World Cup.  So it kind of feels like home, especially because we know how to get everywhere.

It was a very long trip and I think I travelled for a total of 44 hours, from the time I left home till the time we walKed in the door here, with 5 hours of sleep. So needless to say I was a tad bit tired.  But we had a few things to do when we arrived, like shop for some food for the next days breakfast and then go get ourselves something to eat before sleep.  I think we ended up getting to bed at about 11:30 pm!  But what a great sleep, 10 hours through and felt great the following morning.  Alan and Dan arrived about 1pm with our gear and it was time to put the trike together.

We have now been here 3 full days and had some great training rides.  I have been going out on the road with Dan, which is great to have someone with you.  I'm sure that he has never ridden so slow but I'm enjoying his company.  The weather has been unbelievable, with the temperature today hitting 37 so far!  Needless to say we went out for our ride at 9am this morning!

We are expecting Stuart to arrive tomorrow, the last member of our small group.  It will be great to catch up with him and hear about all his experiences in Europe over the last month or so.

Life certainly isn't very tough right now, get up, eat breakfast, head out for a ride, shower, massage, lunch, pool, stretch, dinner then bed!  What a life!

2 comments:

  1. Go carol!! Sounds a little on the warm side... I hope the heat isn't making things too unbearable. Thinking of you as you prepare for this amazing event in your life, cheers, Sally Shaw

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  2. Sounds like my life...without the pool...and a whole bunch of domestic things in between. What a life! No matter what, gratitude is the key.
    See you soon.
    Love Cindy

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