Stage 17 - My Favorite Things

Stage 17 was our last big day in the mountains.  A bittersweet day.  I do love those mountain climbs but I’m so ready to make it to Paris, to celebrate with our amazing friends and families, and to not sit on a bike for several days… in a row.

Our climbs went great!  We clipped off the mileage quickly and we ended at a little river bed where we got to ice our legs and splash around for a while before heading out for a long transfer.  A good day.

With such a good stage in mind, I thought I’d mention a few of my favorite things out here.

- My Cannondale SuperSix Evo- This bike is badass.  I mean it.  It rides so beautifully and I’ve grown rather attached.  My little Evo and I have spent some long days together, we’ve gotten through the good and the bad times together, we’ve even snuggled up in bed together in these tiny little French hotel rooms.  I truly love this bike and feel so proud to help introduce it to the world.  If the 6 of us can ride 3500 kilometers in 3 weeks and we still love our bikes like the first day, you know you have something special there.

- Pizza and Beer - We have been living and breathing for beer and pizza.  Luckily Kate is a huge beer fan so the fist thing we do after each stage is go on a beer hunt.  Nothing tastes better than an ice cold beer after spending 9 hours on the bike.  It's been the glue that holds us together and keeps us laughing late into the night!

- SRAM WiFli – The WiFli has saved my butt, or more appropriately my knees, on so many of these steep ass climbs.  It makes such a difference being able to spin up Cat1 and HC climbs rather than grinding away a smaller gear.  Our legs were spared and we stayed strong throughout the entire Tour because we had SRAM’s geniuses backing us.  Can’t wait to go race some hill climbs back home in Boulder!

- Bakeries – France definitely knows how to do pastries right.  I don’t know how people here aren’t 800lbs with all the wonderfully delicious apple tarts, croissants, quiche, and begets.  Before leaving for this adventure, people always mentioned how thin we’d all come back after riding that many miles… Let me just break the bad news for you all, I’m pretty sure I’m coming back with a little extra weight specifically as a result of bakeries alone… Haha. 

- Giro Helmets, Gloves, and Shoes – I love all 3.  I was using Giro equipment before the Réve Tour so it was great not having to change shoe types before heading out here.  I haven’t had any foot issues or problems with fit or pressure or anything else.  That’s pretty incredible for how many miles we’re putting in day in and day out.  Shoes that just work and feel great can make a world of difference and I’m just stoked we got to work with such an awesome company!

- Coca Cola and squeezable apple sauces – Thank you to whomever invented these products.  They saved me late in the Tour when nothing else sounded appetizing and my body was so over chewing food. 

- Sunflowers – We rode through some of the most amazing sunflower fields that just went on and on and on.  These were of course always on our long, flat, boring days, so it really helped keep us inspired and was a good reminder that what we were doing was freaking awesome!

- All of you!  The suppor you all have shown throughout this journey has kept me going, kept me smiling on so many occations.  Knowing people cared about what we were attempting and wanted to see us succeed made a huge difference.  We struggled plenty, but we never gave in to the negative thoughts or words because we knew we had all of your support back home.  So thank you for sticking with us, through our dark moments as well as our light days.  We’re on our way and we’re going to get this thing done.  When we cross that finish line, we’re brining all of your with us, because this was a team journey, and you are all part of the Réve Team.  Thank you!