French Riveria and Cinque Terra

After leaving the Pyrenees, we took a drive to the French Riveria. We stayed at a place called Mentone for one night but took a drive through Monte Carlo. There was a certain magic to the place which I didn't see when Sam, Sarah and I visited Cannes about a month ago. The mediterrian was inviting. The rocky coastline, the houses built on the edges and the 1000 mopeds screaming around was like something out the movies. I am glad we stopped - if only for a night. We travelled on towards Italy - destination unknown. As we drove, I remembered a friend telling me about Cinque Terra - a place where you can walk along the coastline visting different villages. I looked for it on the map - not really knowing where to look.

When I finally found it, I realised we were only about 2 hours away. Desitination known. We only stayed for a couple of days to check it out but it is easily a place you could stay for a while.

As the day got hotter, the water got more and more inviting. We found ourselves jumping in and out later in the day as we got to new nice spot.

Along the hills, they grow grapes for there own brand of wine. I am not so sure about the labels they use some of there bottles though. Although it would be kind of cool to rock up to the dinner party with one of these. It would be a converstation starter.

The Race Day

Well the race day came. It was an early start. Rob got up just after 4am. He wanted me to do the same. I stay in bed till six. The race didn't start till 7am. I still had time. I got to the start line at 6:40am but with 8500 competitors it took me a while to get where he was starting - 3500 people back. If you look on the bright side, he was still ahead of 5000 others.

I didn't actually see much of the race. Only the start and the finish. They looked fresh when they started and no so when they finsihed. The first guy came through in 6 hours and 24 mins - a good 10 mins ahead of 2nd. It must be close to the times they will post on the actual tour de france. Over the next 3 and so hours I sat beside the side of the road, waiting for the T-Mobile jersey to come into view. Camera at the ready. It was at the ready for a while.

I had almost given up hope and thought something had happened when finally I saw him coming down the home straight. I was relieved, not only because I saw him finished but if I had missed him then it could have been impossible to find each other with so many people about.

I got the run down. A very short version. Something like "That was one of the hardest things I have ever done". I couldn't quite relate having sat on my backside for the whole day but I tried to help. I dutifully got him food and took photos of him in a not so active state. This is the "Is this little gold (not real gold) medal around my neck really worth 10 hours of pain" picture.

In the end, he went hard for 150kms till the high gear ratio he was using became a bit much for the body. The final 46kms took 4 hours. It will be interesting to watch the actual tour de france when they run the race on monday.

I believe it was worth it. There are always lessons to learn and ways to improve.

Tight Security in Rome

The gods have been conspiring against me in Rome on actually putting up a couple of posts. I was planning to put up a few pictures of the Race day and Cinque Terre but they will have to wait. Rome, it seems, has it in for me. The first day we arrived, I logged on to the Internet in our room only to find that you can't upload any photos because they use a virtual interface through the TV.

The next day, after doing all the sights I went on a 2 hour wander through Rome trying to find an Internet Cafe. I came up with nothing except for some very tired legs.

The third day, I knew where a cafe was so I went there with Rob earlish only to find that all the computers were down. I was starting to get determined. I hang around the Patheon doing some people watching filling in a bit time before heading back an hour or so later. It looked good, it was open and there were some spare computers. I entered and ask for a computer. I got asked for ID. I didn't have any. It was Rome. I was being careful after hearing all the stories about pick pockets. I was denied access. I found another one. It was closed. On the way home, while waiting for the shuttle bus, I spotted another internet sign across the road. Surely. I entered and said 'Internet' in my best italian which sounds pretty similiar to English. She shook her head.

Today, the 4th day in Rome, I spotted I cafe next to the Vatican City. We decided not to enter the city due to the 5000 people already cued up so I went to the cafe. It was looking good again. I entered, they didn't ask for ID, even though I bought with me this time, I logged on, plugged in my camera, it was all looking good. However, I couldn't see the C drive as they had blocked access. Getting photos out of Rome seems like the hardest thing to do.

I have given up. Finally, broken.

On the move

Havent had a chance to update recently. We moved on from the Pyrenees to Monte Carlo and are now in Cinque Terra, Italy. Will update again when in Rome in a couple of days.

Pyreness - the preparation

We have been in Pryeness now for 4-5 days preparing for the race on Monday. I feel like the support crew trailing behind in the car or up front taking photos. We have been tackling different parts of the course day by day, getting to know it, knowing what is hard and what is easy. Below is the race profile.

Having driven the course now, I can say it is an amazing leg. It has some really beautiful climbs (and steep) that will test the riders.

I generally just follow him up the climbs but wait for him at the top and give him a new bottle of water and his helmet for the decents. The decents are crazy. It would be easy to kill yourself. We passed a memorial for one of the riders who died in 1995.

The days have been relatively cool which has been good for the climbs. We have done them in the middle of the day.

However yesterday it heated up. There wasn`t a cloud in the sky and it was hot. Luckily we are tampering at the moment with only a couple of days to go so we aren`t all that active. We are just fueling up and relaxing.

The camp ground has a pool so we spent a fair bit of time yesterday in and out. I am acting as head cook at the moment, cooking up a lot of pasta and rice. Unfortunately, all I am doing is sitting on my arse most of the days so I have to watch myself I don`t eat as much.

It was hot yesterday and will be again today. The forecast for Monday also looks hot so it could be testing. Luckily though, the race starts at 7 in the morning so they can get through half the race before it starts heating up. The hard climbs are the later ones though.

The following picture is heading into the finish. It is a beautiful place. I would love to fly here. And just to rub it in, when we were chilling out by the lake afterwards, we watched a tandem glider fly down.

So now we wait, relax, read a truckload and eat.

One other thing that you tend to do far too much of when travelling, is go and ponder over the architecture and say wow a lot. People who live in Europe probably wouldnt be as impressed but it is a lot different to Oz.

The highlight of any city in Europe seems to be the cathedral in the middle of the city. I will give them something, they are damn impressive. Something we don´t really have in Oz, but if I have to visit another one .....

And who can go to Barcelona without visiting the Gaudi works. Apparently when he graduated from University they said he was either a genius or madman. He was definitely a bit of both. The following was an apartment block he did.

And of course the Cathedral which he spent the last twelve years of his life working on. It still isnt finished. Now that is slow.

And finally one picture of yours truly on top of the Gaudi building, just to keep a few people happy that I am eating well. Although, if you read the last post, you would see that I havent been holding back.

This is a good photo of some of the bits and pieces on the rooptop.

Ok, now I have seen the architecture of Spain, it is time to head back to the hills. Rob and I left Barcelona and are currently in Foix where we will be for the best part of a week while prepares for one of the legs of the tour de france. Every year, they pick one leg that they allow anybody to ride on a particular day .

It feels like I have been doing a tapas tour of spain. Not just eating the tapas on the way but the way of travel. I have just been sampling the different cities rather than spending a whole lot of time there. I spent a day or so in Malaga, a day in Granada and a day and a bit in Valencia. It gives you variety but not much intimacy. I would never say I know any of these places well but I have got the feeling of the city, the people, the architecture, the food.

Whenever you travel, food always plays a major role. It is one of the things I really love about travelling. In places like Spain, food defines part of the culture. Lots of cheese, lots of pasteries, lots of tapas. In Granada, they have a Arab quarter which is still there from when the Arab´s dominated the city. The crepe and mango smoothie (called something different in Arab I reckon) were awesome.

The other major thing that I am starting to get used to is the time to eat. This is a paealla we had close to midnight one night.

There isn´t as much music blaring out of the shops that I imagined. Its a little different to South America where you can´t get away from the stuff. But along with the Paealla, came some of the good stuff.

I am now in Barcelona. Having been on a collision course with my Brother, we have finally met up. He has been travelling south and needs a break from the riding. We will probably stay in Barcelona and then head off again back to the Pryeness.

The flying stops and the travelling begins

I was supposed to fly home this Thursday. For the last two months I have tried to postpone my flight for a week or so, so I could also do some independent travelling. It just wasn´t happening because all the flights were full. After a while, I just said, bugger it, just put me on the next available flight out whenever that is and I can deal with bringing it forward if needed later. The next flight was the 8th August. I took it. The flying component of my trip is sadly over but the am looking forward to spending some time just travelling and catching up with a few friends and my brother.

I am already in Malaga, Spain.


Flights are cheap. It was easy. It was only a 2 and a bit hours travel time to Spain.

It was sad in a way to say goodbye to my travelling buddies, Sam and Sarah. Over the last month, we had spent almost every second together. The only time alone was while sleeping and flying. Sam wants to hang out and try to find some work somewhere. Sarah is still deciding what to do and has a few things to clean up in Frankfurt but is just going with the flow at the moment. In a way, they were like my family for a month. We had some great times.


While on the flying part of the trip, we lived out of the car. We cooked every meal and I can only remember eating out once or twice. We stayed the majority of time in the camping grounds and only spent a couple of hours in the big cities. Now, the environment is totally different. I will be in the cities, staying at hostels and eating tapas with the local music in the background at every opportunity. The following are the essentials for every meal.

Plans are changing on a daily basis at the moment as I understand more about Spain and what others plans are.

The German Nationals

The weather has closed in for a few days but the first couple of days had tasks. The first day saw rain in the morning and clouds whizzing past just above launch height. It didn´t look great. We are getting used to late starts so it was no surprise we missed the briefing and when we turned up at 11:30am, the majority of the pilots had already made there way up the hill. It was a slow process. They had to do what Sam is doing below. Holding up tight to your hang glider while going up on a very small chairlift.

We went to have a coffee instead and waited for inspiration to hit us. It did about 2pm when the sky started to look better. We went up the higher Raschberg mountain nearby instead which used a real cable car. Luckily the task had pilots flying directly over our launch so I managed to launch straight into a small gaggle. I didn´t know what the course was so just followed them. It was tough flying in some places with lift only registering .1 and .2 ms. The sky started to become very overcast and pilots were decking it everywhere. It was challenging but still fun.

The next day, was apparently going to be the day of the competition. I didn´t fly. Had something to do with staying out to 4:30am the night before. Doh. Corrina said it was the best day she had flown in Germany this year. They set a 120km course that took them into the middle of Austria and back. They reached 3300m and registered some strong climbs. I still think it was right decision as it was good to just chill out and chat. I was planning to leave so I also wanted to setup my glider up in the landing field with a for sale sign.

Who would have expected the Germans to have a beer tent at the landing field. Should have been obvious but it was great just sitting around with a beautiful backdrop, beer in had with lots of hang gliders around.

I have loved flying the Litespeed RS 3.5. I couldn´t fault it in any way. It is sad to say goodbye to it. I have even thought about taking it home with me but 4 hang gliders in the hallway could be a bit much.