John’s Legs

I love
John’s legs,
Pumping pedals up and down.
Strong, sculpted, serviceable
Like David.
As perfectly proportioned
As the Vitruvius Man.
No mere hamstrings these
Sinuous forms moving under taught skin and lycra.
Semitendinosus, semimembranosus,
Vastus lateralis, biceps of the thigh.
The gastrocnemius flexes to display
A great inverted heart
And from the back of calves
Delivers a continual visual valentine.
When rarely I pass, I receive
A full display where quad meets knee of
Rectus femorus, vastus medialius
And vastus lateralis power.
I cannot see the action where hip meets thigh,
My heart flutters,
I can only imagine.

Starting L’Etape du Tour

Yesterday, Tim and I rode L’etape du Tour. It was beyond a doubt the hardest day physically I have ever experienced. We rode a total of 90 miles (81 on l’etape and 9 returning from the finish). In the course of that we were climbing for between 40 and 45 miles. The total ascent was 11,375 feet.

The first half of the ride was to die for. The weather was perfect, blue skies with puffy white clouds and an afternoon temperature of 80 degrees. The course started out with six miles of flat along the crystal azure waters of Lake Annecy with views of majestic mountains in every direction. We then began climbing past picturesque villages to mountain passes with picture perfect vistas. At every village local residents lined up along the route chanting allez, allez, allez (go, go, go).

My granddaughter Monette cheering me on.

About two days before the Etape, John changed. The gregarious, relaxed guy I usually live with disappeared, replaced by a pensive, brooding, pacing, sometimes growling tiger. My space, like Piscene Patel’s (Pi in “The Life of Pi”) was inhabited by a “Richard Parker.”

Fortunately I’ve seen this beast before. The two serious “athletes” in the family — John and Marion — undergo this metamorphosis before every big event, physical or mental. They turn inward, grow silent, scowl and snarl if pulled into the trivialities of every-day life. They are focused on the event, the challenge, the competition and their goals. They are readying for the fight.

I find the process interesting. It isn’t that I’m uncompetitive, anyone who knows me can attest to that. But I am not in John’s — or Marion’s for that matter — league. They have a physical need to “win” and more often than not, they do. What I have learned over the years, though, is that every Richard Parker needs a Pi to perform at his or her best.

John and Tim intensely studying the route.

John putting his race number on the bike.

I’m here in Annecy, France with my friend, architect, and riding buddy, Tim Quigley, to ride in L’Etape du Tour de France. For those of you who are not bicycling aficionados, this means that we will attempt to ride one of the mountain stages of the Tour de France. The actual race with the actual riders will take place on July 20th. We, along with 14,000 other riders, will try tomorrow, Sunday July 7th.

The ride is 81 miles (128 km) long and includes 6 ascents totaling a climb of about 9,500 ft. The hills are 3 category 3, 1 category 2, 1 category 1 and an HC (which means beyond category). The category 1 hill, Mont Revard, is 16km (10 miles) long with a gradient of 5.4% and the final hill, Semnoz (HC), which starts at mile 74 averages 8.3% for 11 km (6.7 miles). These are major efforts. If you want more details about the route go to L’etape du Tour.

Tim and I looking at Mont Semnoz. Worried.

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In the fall of 1965, Lise Hansen rescued me. I was a large, freakishly tall, pubescent 12-year old American enrolled in a public school in Virum, Denmark; a suburb of Copenhagen. My classmates were all petit — a head shorter than I, their growth spurts yet to come — Danish pre-teens whose English consisted of parroted lyrics from The Beatles and Herman’s Hermits and Level 1 ” Learn to Speak English” textbooks. I was a circus side-show thrust into their midst and the boys, in particular, found taunting me rather amusing. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper; miserable enough that, unbeknownst to me, my parents were considering the extreme and expensive option of putting me in a private American school.

Old friends Anne and Lise.

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Anne in front of Hammershus

For the past four days we have been biking on the Danish island of Bornholm: a tear-dropped shaped land mass in the Baltic, south of Sweden and smack in the middle of the main shipping lanes in and out of Stockholm, Helsinki, Gdansk and Saint Petersburg. Its rugged coast is unusual for pancake-flat Denmark with cliffs, craggy outcroppings and stone beaches of tide-ground rocks ranging in size from marbles to melons. Smoked herring and granite quarries were once the island’s main industries, but the fish have moved and granite is cheaper elsewhere. Barnholm is now a garden of beautifully tended farms, rolling hills, quaint villages, thousand year-old round churches and Hammershus, the ruins of a medieval castle. Tourists have replaced fishermen and the smokeries (used for smoking herring) have been converted to restaurants, gift shops and art galleries.
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On top of Cadillac Mountain

I just finished riding my bike up Cadillac mountain five times in a row. Cadillac Mountain, the tallest hill in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, is a 1000 foot climb over the course of 3.5 miles. It took three hours and a fair bit of sweat. But I am in training. The weather was perfect and the views were beautiful.

We got back from Kenya on Monday for a brief stay in Maine before we head out for our next adventure. On Saturday we are going to Denmark until July 4th. We will be biking and kayaking with Lisa and Vincent. On the 4th we head down to Annecy, France to take part in the Etape Du Tour De France.

Tim Quigley and I will be riding a stage of the Tour de France. It is 81 miles long and climbs 9,000 feet in three hills. The actual tour riders will do this stage on July 20th, the last stage before the ride into Paris. It has the longest climb in this years tour and one of the steepest sections. This year is special because it is the 100th riding of the tour. The 100th anniversary was about 10 years ago, but because of a couple of world wars the 100th riding is this year.

Tim and I decided to ride the Etape a year ago and I have been training whenever possible since then but with the Kenya trip, where Anne and I got Zero exercise, I have been worried about being ready. After today, I think I am.