THE BICYCLE TRIP

It all began last year when we were in Lyon…David and Roger, our friend and landlord, decided it would be great to bicycle from Lyon to the Mediterranean.  (Actually, to avoid Lyon traffic, they were talking about taking the train a few miles south to Vienne and continuing south from there.) 

For those of you who may not know, France is a very bicycle-friendly place with lots of dedicated bike paths.  And, a bicycle club had published a packet of day-by-day routes from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean, passing through Lyon, complete with detailed instructions, maps, mileage, cautions, etc.  And, David had purchased the packet.

The Happy Duo in a recent picture.

Anyway, rental bicycles were scoped out along with bags to hold belongings, appropriate clothing and other items.  They were pretty much ready to go.  Then Roger got sick, and we left France, and that was that.

In anticipation of our return to Lyon this April, the trip was resurrected.  In fact it had grown from the two riders to a possible six.  Two dropped out, and then there were four: Roger, David, Tony, and Pascal (“the lads”, as Roger calls them).  The route, equipment, clothing, etc., and departure date were set.  The plan was to leave the morning of Saturday, April 28^th.   Then the winds came.  We’re not talking about balmy breezes; we’re talking about gusts of 60 mph against the riders.  And, the rain didn’t help either.  All agreed to postpone the trip.