t I do.Before breaking into song, I first wanted to re-cap my busy schedule yesterday. I started the day in Saint Emilion re-working the rides there. I had originally planned some ambitious swings looping east with a wine tasting lunch at a friend's winery but that was too complicated. Taking advice from Spyns former clients, they have often told me that I overplan and overcomplicate their daily rides so my motto this year will be "simple simple simple". Moderate riders will likely want to do some riding so I re-jigged the ride to include a number of trips radiating out from the chateau similar to a clover pattern with the hotel at its centre. This will give clients the opportunity to do as little or as much riding as possible while remaining a maximum 10 km (6 miles) from their hotels. I finally had a chance to pop in for lunch to see my friend Pascal's wine bar in Saint Emilion (see photo). For about $25, I enjoyed homemade soup, broiled quail, and chocolate mousse washed down with an excellent red that Pascal recommended. We'll probably bring one of our Spyns groups to Pascale's restaurant for lunch and dinner because the food, service and price are all excellent.
After lunch, I mapped out the rides for the Bordeaux time trial. On day 5 of the trip, clients will bike from their chateaux along a beautiful greenway right into the heart of Bordeaux. We'll watch the time trial from our top-secret viewing area (details on that to follow next year). Bordeaux is truly a spectacular city. Parts of it are as beautiful as Paris but with fewer than 1 million "Bordelais"
the city is friendlier than larger cities like Lyon, Marseille or Paris. The people also have a singsong southern French accent which is a mixture of the Spanish and Italian intonations. The place is truly intoxicating.After Bordeaux, I mapped out the time trial route northwest through the Medoc wine country. If you've never been to the region, the Medoc is home to the grandest Chateaux (Rothschild, Palmer, Margaux to name a few). I did the entire route from Bordeaux northwest to Pauillac and the chateaux were spectacular (see photo).
It was difficult leaving the region but there is still much to do in preparation for Spyns Tour de France 2010. More posts and photos to follow.
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