One of these days, I'm going to post some photos from the bike tours I've taken and write some entertaining but factual(!) stories to go with them. I have to go through boxes full of images, find the ones that might be meaningful or at least interesting to you or any other reader, and have them scanned.
But for now I'll tell you that when I was pedaling alone in a foreign country (or simply away from home), carrying what I needed , I had moments of pure exhiliaration, when I felt proud of what I was doing yet humbled by the immensity of the world that surrounded me.
There were also moments, however, when I almost felt silly, like the time I rode up the Col du Portillon in the Pyrenees. I ascended on the French side and, nearing the highest part--the border between France and Spain--I was thinking that Hannibal had nothing on me. But I saw two creatures who did: a pair of brown mountain goats, watching me from the side of the road. I could almost swear that I heard them chuckling to themselves. "You think you're such a great mountain climber. We do this every day!"
And whenever I feel confident in myself for carrying everything I need on my bicycle, I should remember that there are people all over the world who haul far more, every day:
I must say, though, that the man makes almost as much of a fashion statement as the woman does!
But for now I'll tell you that when I was pedaling alone in a foreign country (or simply away from home), carrying what I needed , I had moments of pure exhiliaration, when I felt proud of what I was doing yet humbled by the immensity of the world that surrounded me.
There were also moments, however, when I almost felt silly, like the time I rode up the Col du Portillon in the Pyrenees. I ascended on the French side and, nearing the highest part--the border between France and Spain--I was thinking that Hannibal had nothing on me. But I saw two creatures who did: a pair of brown mountain goats, watching me from the side of the road. I could almost swear that I heard them chuckling to themselves. "You think you're such a great mountain climber. We do this every day!"
And whenever I feel confident in myself for carrying everything I need on my bicycle, I should remember that there are people all over the world who haul far more, every day:
I must say, though, that the man makes almost as much of a fashion statement as the woman does!
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