So I went away for a while...

The Tour de France trips were much harder than expected, but at the same time, not really (if that makes any sense).  I expected the trips to be hard and time consuming, but it does not hit you until you are in the thick of it.  This is why I have not had the time to post in a month!  Our FTP went really well, but it took some time to get everything nailed down.  We were still making updates until a few days before our week 2 trip!

Our week 2 trip was the Behind the Scenes trip and had a decent amount of encounters with all things Tour de France.  We started in Evian, so we had some great water, and then moved down to Les Gets.  That is where we were based out of for the Morzine climb/stage, and the Morzine stage start village passes.  Afterwards, we moved on to Megeve and finally ended on top of Alpe d'Huez.  This trip was difficult to support because we had a very wide spread of abilities, but we did our best and everyone seemed to have a great time.  That was in the Alps, so we had some great rides and hard climbs.  The highlight was probably our helicopter ride around Alpe d'Huez on day 6, and I have some great photos to upload on my snapfish account.  We had a great group of guests and I enjoyed my first time in the Alps.

Week 3 was a lot of fun because we had a very flexible group and everyone was able to keep up with one another.  This just meant that I had 2 very hard rides at the end of the trip (when they discovered their riding similarities), and they hammered for 70k both days!  I was the front man because of keeping up with the group but also making sure we took the right turns and did not get lost in the mass of people at the Bordeaux finish.  We started in Lourdes, which is best known for Bernadette's Virgin Mary apparition and the spring at the spot where she saw this.  It is bottled and sold as holy water, and there are a lot of people in the city.  Lourdes is 2nd to Paris for the most hotels per sq. km., and there are over 300 hotels.  Once again, we had great climbs and fantastic viewings for the TdF.  We climbed Tourmalet twice, once from each side, and explored the region.  The best viewing had to be for the ITT at Chateau Pichon, and there was a lot of great wine, food and fun.

Afterwards, we trained up to Paris for the last stage and our viewing at the Autoclub de France.  That was a great day, but the best was saved for last when we all had dinner and drinks on a Seine River boat cruise.  The guests departed for the hotels around 10 or 10:30, and that's when all of the guides gathered on one of the boats for our party, haha.  We danced until 3am and it was so much fun that we couldn't stop talking about it for days.  We're all very tired and my random 1hr+ nap today is a sign of that.

I'm currently FTP'ing for a Classic Climbs of the Alps trip with JV and Greg.  Today Greg and I rode up to Les 2 Alpes from La Grave, so we had a great afternoon while JV went for a run up the mountain and around the ridge.  The dinner at our hotel, Hotel Edelweiss, was phenomenal.  We started off with fresh gnocchi with pesto, and then had roasted pork with a prune sauce/roasted fingerling potatoes/broccoli.  That tasted great after our hard ride and JV's long run, so now it's time for bed.  Plus, they seemed interested in having me work for them over the winter in the kitchen, so I may not take that lightly :)  What a shame to have to live in the Alps during winter, must be a drag... just kidding.  Although, I just bought my new mountain bike, Gary Fisher Superfly 100, and that will be waiting for me at home along with my family; then I would probably take some time to decompress and travel with my bikes.  We'll see where things go from here, but I'll keep everyone updated on the trips that I am guiding!  Thanks for reading!

Please hold.

You won't have elevator music for much longer, a new post will come soon with new pictures on snapfish.  We are very busy with our FTP work and are currently working in the Pyrenees.  In the city of Lourdes... interesting place to say the least.  Thanks for checking in!

On the road again

We are back on the road and FTP’ing for Tour de France week 2.  I was lucky enough to be chosen for the Luxury Behind the Scenes trip featuring Team Radioshack access.  We prepped for the few days before our departure and this included working on unit inventories, prepping our bikes and repacking our suitcases.  About 15 guides showed up at the house between Tuesday and Thursday, so the place was jam-packed.  Luckily, Renee had scheduled a cleaning service to come and clean the entire house before the chaos, so it was nice and refreshing to have a clean place. 

For having 20 or so people in the house at times, I was surprised how clean it stayed and everyone did a great job pitching in.  I was on cooking duty for the first two nights, and everyone seemed to love the food.  One of the best feelings for me is when someone enjoys what I prepare in the kitchen.  I’ll have even better skills after spending so much time in France!  The one morning was pretty funny because the topic of dinner came up and everyone looked at me! Haha.  They all got a kick out of it, but I was pretty tired and needed to work on my own trip prep… we had to leave in a day and I had no idea where we were going!!

Week 2 sees us riding in the alps near Switzerland, so we drove up to Evian (yes, the water place) two days ago; and yes, the tap water is very good.  The hotel we stayed in during our first night there was the original source for Vittel!  We began charting our routes and finished Day 1 & 2, and got halfway through Day 4; that means we can probably do a nice ride tomorrow since we’ll have a little extra time!  The Day 1 loop from Evian goes into the mountains, and everything has some Swiss influence regardless of it being in France.  The Day 2 ride takes us from Evian to Morzine, up a major climb and back to Evian.  Then we drove the first half of Day 4, which starts in Les Gets and moves south. 

We stopped right outside of Chamonix, because Renee has an good friend that lives there.  Jeff, Renee and I are now in a beautiful home along the crystal clear river outside of Chamonix.  The temperature is fairly cold here and was in the single digits!  Glad I brought some chilly weather gear.  On our way back from our FTP work today, we stopped at a small restaurant in a more remote town.  We had a specialty of the Savoie region, Fondue.  This was comte cheese with some whisky, white wine and cepes mushrooms.  That was an amazing meal, and the fact that Renee's friend gave us the rest of the red wine (worth about a 100euro a bottle), we were having a great time.  I’m exhausted after little sleep, long van day, and a fantastic meal with a lot of wine.  

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for new pictures on snapfish!  

It's business time

Well, in the next few days we will have about 15 or so people at the guide house.  Who's got the wine??  I will likely be on chef duty for a night, but otherwise we will have a big meeting to discuss house duties.  Things can get pretty messy with that much traffic, so we have a cleaning service coming tomorrow to prep the house for us.  Warehouse work will keep me busy while we stay out of the way, and maybe I'll be lucky enough to go for a ride tomorrow afternoon!

It's a good thing that I have taken up running, because that is a fail-safe way to get a good workout in a short amount of time.  I have this problem that when I am alloted only an hour for exercising, I tend to go hard.  The last few days have been that scenario, so I've mixed things up a bit; running, riding, plyometrics & core work.  Today I went for an hour run, so my running endurance has significantly increased and my body is getting used to the activity.  Getting outside for some time is essential to clear the mind, so it's nice to be able to take an hour and well... clear my mind!

The guide house will be pretty crazy with so many people, but that is what makes the situation exciting.  Once again, those hour-long runs are pretty sweet!  Most people will get situated for a little bit and then head off for Tour de France FTP (final trip preparation).  I do not know my schedule yet, or with whom I'm working with.  The guide manager will let me know within a few days, but everything could change up until the last day!

I built a slew of Madone 6.9's for the TdF trips, and I will probably work on rack installation when the extra vans arrive.  Today I sharpened the mower blades, cut the grass and trimmed with the weed-whacker.  Hopefully the heat and lack of rain will prevent the grass from growing too fast, but I'm fine with cutting it ever since I took whole days to mow our lawn last year; I think my mom and dad can attest to the number of hours it took!

Tonight we made a great tart for dinner with all sorts of veggies, pesto and gorgonzola.  We savored it with a special bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape that Renee and I bought when on our trip at a wine tasting in Gigondas; we were kind enough to share with Ryan, haha.  It was 26 euros for the bottle, so we had to split the cost, but oh is it delicious!  Soooooo good!  Time to get some rest so I can be up bright and early tomorrow!  Thanks for reading!

Let's try this again!

Try this link to access my photos:

Stefan's new web-album

I hope this one works!!!  Let me know.

Long time no post!

Sorry for the delay, I see it has been 8 days since my last post... can't let that become a habit (maybe only on trips when I don't have time for the internet).  To be honest, the last week has been pretty relaxed compared to the trip days, but I'm still doing a lot.  We were able to get out on some rides after our trips, but I think my body is still tired and recovering!  The terrain around here makes riding speeds lower and more so when there is wind.  Most personal rides average between 24-27kmh (15-17mph) and to get any higher means you need to go significantly harder.  I did a 102km ride last Saturday that took me over the mountains in the south, along the backside through some small towns, back over and towards the house.  It was a very nice ride, but the heat made it difficult (along with the climbing).  I bonked about 20k from the house and that made for a long finish and big lunch.

One of our global logistics managers, Ryan, arrived on Saturday, and two guides left so there are only 3 at the house right now.  He and I have been doing warehouse work, but I'm only building bikes.  He's taking care of inventory and general cleaning up; the fact that we both enjoy listening to reggae in the warehouse makes for a good atmosphere!  Don't ask why we like it, we just do... try listening to reggae while working on bikes sometime and you'll see what I mean.

Having a little extra time meant that I could do small jobs like mowing the grass, shop for some house supplies, etc.  I became too hooked on full caffeinated coffee during the guide weeks, so I has a headached the first day after guiding.  I was drinking about 5 cups to wake up in the morning, so needless to say I was tired.  Buying a small french press for decaf coffee drinkers (just me) made things easier.  I can make my decaf in the morning separately and not have to transfer or drink it all before others wake up and want the high-octane stuff. 

Right now I'm about to leave for the Criterium du Dauphine time trial, and I'm riding since it's only approximately  20k away.  Although, there is a very strong wind blowing now and we will have a tough ride back.  I'll try to take some photos and post them for all to see.  Google Picasa is a nice place to post photos, but it's hard for me because I can only post 5 per upload.  I am thinking of switching to smugmug and then I can upload many more at one time... Being a Trek Travel guide is all about learning to be efficient with your time!  Stay tuned for those changes and I'll try to post some more photos from the last week or two.  Thanks for reading!

Funny story from last week: I have a fan club, kind-of sort-of but not really.

We had a day going through Vaison la Romaine last week and I was the van driver that day.  Coincidentally, many schools of the Drome region/department had a field trip day to see the Roman ruins.  As I was locking up bikes and going back and forth between the van, I was swarmed by a group of middle school girls.  Sorry Dana, this is the truth but it’s pretty funny.  They were all asking me what I was doing in France and if I was married or had a girlfriend and I just answered the questions while going along with my business.  I went up to Renee at the ruins to grab some more bikes and told her that she needed to help me out. 

We walked back down to the bikes and the group of up to 15 girls came running over screaming my name along with “my beautiful” (in French accents).  I felt like a movie star, which they actually proceeded to ask me.  Renee helped me out and told them (in French) that she was my girlfriend, so then they would stop bugging me.  Then they asked how long we were in France and Renee replied, “Until the end of the Tour de France.”  The girls asked in shocked voices, “You are in the Tour de France?!?!” and we said yes, haha.  One girl came sprinting back with a piece of paper and we signed some autographs, hahaha.  Luckily, the teacher came over and had to gather the students, so I was off the hook, but apparently I have a following in the Drome junior high school.  Renee told them she wasn’t my girlfriend just before they left, and they found that exciting, haha, but I told them that I do have a lovely girlfriend back home!

That is just a small example of all the interesting and/or funny things happening, and I thought I would share that story.

The second trip is going well so far and we are at a beautiful hotel named Val de Sault.  We had a beautiful ride through the foothills of the Alps amongst the true lavender fields.  There is lavande and lavandin, which the latter is only grown above a specific altitude and is the “true” lavender but used in soaps, fragrances, etc. because it is hardier.  The regular lavender is used in cuisine and some commercial uses.

We had a great meal at the hotel last night that started with some fresh wild mushrooms marinated in herbs de Provence.  Next, we had a fresh pasta followed by scrambled eggs with cream and herbs de Provence.  Then we had main plate of braised beef with a soufflé type of side, along with fresh bread throughout the meal.  We proceeded to move on to cheese, which I chose the degustation (choice of cheeses from here and there).  The meal finished off with a trio dessert plate of a strawberry shortcake-like dessert, fig ice cream, and a pear, almond and chocolate cake.  All of the desserts were about the size of a golfball, so it is definitely not gut busting amounts like in the US (no offense). 

I will try to upload more pictures when I can, but enjoy my story for now!