Yesterday (Tuesday) we climbed the Col du Soulor, then continued on a beautiful balcony road on our way up to the Col d’ Abisque. It was one of the prettiest rides I’ve ever done, so rather than talk about it, I’m just going to share a lot of pictures. And yes, I was “attacked” by sheep. They were very interested in the food I was carrying in my jersey! They aren’t so cute close up, by the way…There were more cows and sheep than humans at the summit. All free range, which I loved!

This was 55 mile ride with about 6000 feet of climbing. Yeah, I was tired afterwards. That’s why I couldn’t post anything last night!

On the way up to the Col du Soulor:

The summit of the Col du Soulor, where the sheep attack occurred:

Vicious looking, isn’t it??

At the top of the Col du Soulor, heading off to the Col d’ Abisque:

The balcony road up to the Abisque had incredible views:

One of 2 tunnels along the way to the summit of the Col d’ Abisque (The second was longer, darker and quite spooky):

And the summit of the Col d’ Abisque:

For our first ride in France, we went big. We climbed the Col du Tourmalet, which is 12 miles long and approximately 5000 feet of climbing. I was prepared for hot weather. I nearly froze to death today.

Here’s what it looks like on a sunny day:

A cute little town we passed through on the way up. My blog is not cooperating with me and pictures, so I’m sorry if you have to turn your head to look at some of these!!

It was a cloudy day and we got drizzled on the whole way up. I had no complaints with that type of weather for climbing, but we weren’t able to fully appreciate the beauty of this Col.

Descending, however, was a miserable experience. It was soooo cold! But we made it back in one piece, and had an amazing cafe au lait at the bottom.

We began our trek to Toulouse, France on Friday, late in the afternoon. We flew out of LAX and were originally scheduled to fly on KLM to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Toulouse. We arrived at the airport early, as we were checking 2 bike cases and that usually causes some type of issue.

$300 later the bikes were checked, but they asked if we wanted to take an AirFrance flight to Paris instead, which would get us into Toulouse a few hours sooner. Since our friends, Mike and Jeanne, were supposed to be there several hours before us, we decided to take the AirFrance flight. Unfortunately it was boarding and we weren’t even at the security line yet.

We sprinted up to the security line and talked a TSA worker into letting us go to the front of the line (after trying to explain that 15:25 is actually 3:25 pm and our plane had already started boarding). We ran to the gate and learned it was 50 min late and hadn’t started boarding. The good news was we were upgraded to Economy Comfort on a double decker plane – this was a first for me.

Once we were on the plane we learned that the France flight attendants were on strike and our crew was 6 short. Apparently the cooks were on strike as well – the food was pretty awful.

When we landed in Paris we again had to hustle as we had about 10 min before the plane was departing. And we had to go through security again. Both of our bags got searched which took FOREVER. But we made it on the plane. Unfortunately Jonathan’s bike did not, which we learned when we landed in Toulouse. They have no idea where it is, which is stressing Jonathan just a bit (note my sarcasm).

Our friends fared far worse, however. They left Louisville, KY at 9:00 am ET. Their flight out of Minneapolis was late which caused them to miss their connection in Amsterdam by 10 min. They were then routed to Madrid, and finally on to Toulouse. Their bikes made it but one bag didn’t – the one with Mike’s cycling shoes and Jeanne’s toiletries.

We had a 2 hour drive to the gite, and then had to put the bikes together after dinner.  We finally got to bed around 1:00 am local time! Next post – our first climb. It was a big one!

Jonathan and I are preparing for another cycling trip to France. In fact, we leave in just a few days with another wonderful couple who will be riding with us. But my excitement is overshadowed by a heavy heart.

France has sustained 3 major terrorist attacks in the last 19 months, and a 4th terrorist attack this week. Lest we forget: Charlie Hebdo and surrounding areas in January 2015 that killed 17, a soccer stadium, theater and several restaurants in and around Paris in November, 2015 that took the lives of 130 people, the attack by truck in Nice just a few weeks ago that killed 84 people and injured hundreds more, and now a brutal attack yesterday that killed a priest and critically injured at least one nun in a church during mass.

I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I am concerned about traveling to France. I don’t like to admit it – I feel weak doing so. But it is difficult not to face the facts.  The U.S. has been and continues to be the target of terrorist attacks, from both foreign and domestic terrorists. France, Germany, and other parts of Europe have been recent targets of terrorism. Even if I wanted to hide, there doesn’t appear to be a safe place to do so.

So here’s my solution: I will not cancel my plans. I will make sure my estate plan is in order before I leave. I will tell my family how much I love them before I leave. I will celebrate France while I’m there. I will enjoy every inch of road I have the pleasure of riding while there.

I will stand with France.