I'm currently in France putting the final touches on Spyns 2010 Tour de France trips. Yesterday I had dinner with my good friends Alan and Celia at their beautiful estate near Auch. Alan is the former director of the a British cycling association (called the CTC) and I wanted to review in detail our planned rides for 2010 because he knows the region like the back of his hand. They were kind enough to put me up for the night and Celia had made an incredible dinner topped off with an excellent red wine from a vineyard not too far from their house. There is nothing better than dinner with friends.Both retired, they are part of an association called the Affordable Travel Club. I had never heard of the Association but it promotes exchanges between families around the world whereby they host a family or families for a minimal fee of $10/night. Anyhow, through this association Alan has become quite an expert at driving people around the challenging roads of the Pyrenees and he pointed out some things about our planned rides that I didn't know. I've taken his advice very seriously and re-organized the rides accordingly.
In fact, I decided to test our Day 2 rides for Spyns 2010 Tour de France trips by tackling 3 famous peaks today : the Col Aubisque; Soulor; and finally the Col du Tourmalet. I couldn't get to the top of Tourmalet because there was just too much snow but I'm planning to head back tomorrow as the weather is supposed to clear and get a bit warmer. If clients decide to do the complete ride, they'll cover a whopping 120 km and complete the 2nd half of 2010's stage 17 from Pau to the Col du Tourmalet.
Tomorrow morning, I have a meeting with 2 of our guides to review the non-riding activities for our clients in Pau. I also wanted to take the guided tour of Pau's Château. I've taken clients there too many many times but strangely I've never had the time to see it myself. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be back on the road retesting the rides. I was so busy for Spyns 2009 Tour de France trip that I never once touched my bike and it felt great to be back in the saddle in the Pyrenees. The last time I brought a group here was in 2007 and I'd forgotten how beautiful (and wild) the terrain is. I can't wait for everyone to see it.
What a tough life I have! More photos to follow. My best to everyone in cyberland and I look forward to seeing both former Spyns clients and a lot of new faces next July.
Ryan
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