Andorra, just a few hundred metres from Elly and Mike’s
A September to Remember
During our vacation, Mike reminded me of just how far two wheels can take you. In the last six years, two wheels would take him all over North America and Europe. They have taken him to Israel, the United Arab Emirates, China, Australia and other amazing places I have lost track of. They have taken him up to mountain peaks and they have rocketed him down descents at speeds over 110kph. Crazy. They have taken him to highest level of the sport to stand on podiums, and they have taken him to the lowest, taking him to hospitals, with fourteen or more broken bones (I lost count) and more cloth wraps than an Egyptian mummy, to cover wounds that look like they were made more by a tree shredder than by the road.
And for us? Those same two wheels have taken us, as family, to places we have never otherwise seen. Emotionally, they have taken us too, as parents, on a roller coaster that has made us sick with worry to having us laugh and cry with happiness.
So this September those two wheels again took us on a journey, to Andorra, Spain, Germany and Austria. They united our little family together to share thoughts, to laugh, to grieve, and otherwise experience the one of the wildest emotional rollercoasters imaginable.
The trip was bookended wonderfully, with Mike winning his first UCI Grand World Tour stage victory on our very first day of vacation, and on our last day, with Mike winning bronze in the World Road Cycling Championships!
But Two Wheels Didn’t Get Me Up to Mike and Elly’s Place in the Pyrenees Mountains
My sister asked me if I did any riding in Andorra.
No.
Mike and Elly rent a place high in the Pyrenees. I estimated that just to ride my bike to the end of their street and back would take me about four hours: 30 minutes to ride down the mountain switchbacks; 30 minutes or more to unclinch my fingers from the brake levers and to clean the “brown sweat” from my shorts; and then it would take me three hours to ride/crawl my way back to their place.
View from Mike and Elly’s balcony, after sunset, down the road to the valley.
The best part of Andorra was hiking–that is, when we weren’t chilling at Mike and Elly’s.
Ryland was chilling better than all of us…Crack of dawn early morning chillingJust a few metres from Mike and Elly’s…Elly National Geographic’ing Drew and Ryland….In Andorra, like walking through a factory outlet on a city-sized scale.Andorra, after Stage 19, Mike seeing Elly for the first time after weeks of racing….Mike seeing his nephew for the first time ever.
Andorra, just after the start of Stage 20Andorra, this photo is amazing to me in that the person on the far right, Joan, a friend of Elly’s, is the doppelgänger of my sister, Cathie.Andorra: Uncle and nephew warming up for the Stage while a crowd of fans look on.Andorra: Stages 19 and 20 were mountain top finishes in the Pyrenees…and as incredibly high and timeless as the Pyrenees are, the clouds reach higher but for a moment.How to stay warm in the Pyrenees.
Drew demonstrating how pro photographers engage their subjects, while waiting for the race finish.
Girona, Spain
Girona: Cloudy early morningRegulars on the RamblaIndependence Day approaching.
Girona: Father and son sucking it back.
In a cafe in Girona, I caught Danelle lost in thought, perhaps fathoming the depth and breadth of a mother’s burden of love.
Mediterranean: Two Wheels to the Coast
I made a solo bike ride to the Mediterranean and was rewarded with the spectacle of rain coming in from Africa.
Tossa de Mar on a clearer day.
Cadaques, Spain
Husband painting, wife reading.Mike cooling off after our bike ride.Ryland is okay with a hug after a sweaty Mike has cooled down and cleaned up by the dip in the bay.
Sharing some of the sea’s and country’s treasures
Sailing from Sant Feliu
Mike’s teammate, Nate, and his girlfriend, Annie, sailed with us, out of Sant Feliu.
Drew cooling off, without spilling a drop.Toasting to family and friends.Mike checking out the endless horizon.
Munich, Germany: Oktoberfest
Lots of dirdls but not sure the shoes are always traditional.Oktoberfest crowd, but not sure about the turkey hat on the left.The beer tents are the size of hockey arenas, and the beers are lined up, and the bands play on.Having a small one in a nearby market.A glass half-full kind of person
Off to Austria
Seefeld, Austria; a stream ran along part of our trail where we spotted this trout, the water so clear the fish looked like it was flying in air. My being a farm boy who spent endless hours trout fishing, I felt a deeply rooted urge to get a fishing pole!A farmer, I suppose, left these eggs on top of a fence post, planning to pick them up on the way back from the fields?
Innsbruck: 2018 UCI World Road Cycling Championships
For my true bike buddy geeks, who build their own bikes, this and the next photo are for you to aspire to! Why bother with carbon fibre?
Crowds were four or five rows deep near the finish early in the day, and got more and more crowded as the day went on, so it was hard to get photos. Most of the viewing was on the jumbo screens around the finish.
After the podium, Mike sees Elly and races across to the crowd to see her, with the UCI anti-doping agent keeping him in sight!End of Day Celebrations: Team Canada’s Elite Men, along with announcer Randy Ferguson.Special Athlete/Coach moment!Happiness!
And so our September vacation ended…with celebrating Mike’s podium finish in the World Championships. It had started with Mike’s most significant athletic accomplishment in his life, and ended with another accomplishment even more significant, bookending for us three weeks of time as family, with a roller coster of emotions, and with a reminder of just how far two wheels can take you,
But Two Wheels Didn’t Get Me Up to Mike and Elly’s Place in the Pyrenees Mountains
