life is good...

...sprained ankle but up til now i've been doing 1hr swims. im getting tan and ripped and now lafuga is hiring ne for a chiavari to venice to bergamot to geneva to alp d'huez stint!! ahhhhhh

Total like Tuscan like surf competition, whoaa bra!

No, I didn't enter it, but my bud alex did and he won it...

fucking shit on the lens! Well anyways I believe those are the appenines...

Alex's mom, his buddy kevin and alex in the middle.

Oh! So you want a camera fight!!??!

ze Franch expeeree-ents!

I was commenting on how tiny this pickup "truck" was...then the police municipale noticed me...And they wanted in!

So...I've had no internal or external dialogue about France before my trip except that a friend is living in Paris and another friend recommended Brittany area (Brittany Grey is great salt btw). So without any mental preparations conscious or otherwise, including a lack of geographical knowledge of the area I went on the trip. And France was somewhat of a change, as I can't really say it was a "shock" because it wasn't like going from say Russia to Thailand. However first thing I noticed wast he trains were on time and much fancier/techie/cleaner than the Italian ones. The ticket checkers on board seemed to have a corporate dress policy as hip casual. Some looked like straight up hipsters with some minor hat or pin that said SNCF.

The architecture was much more intricate with more detailed iron railings and much more carving in the stone/walls/facade's/etc. Colorwise it is much more drab. Everything is a shade of a very similar tannish-brown. Italy is much more colorful!

I think where France really excels though is the fact that most of the women are topless on the beach...So knowing this...in summer what the hell is the point of doing anything else in France!
Their attitude is either of welcoming friendliness or they wear a permanent frown/scowling face that one has to chip away at just to have a conversation.

French food...I tried foie gras and steak tartar...both good, however foie gras is pretty evil. The rest of French food is filled with dairy so it was a little tough negotiation that. Otherwise they have a ton of pasta dishes as well.

The French noses which although not necessarily or always large have prominent shapes to their schnozzes.

Overall, do I like France? I like the beach, and it is extremely pretty there. However I can't say I've had enough time there to give a solid yes or no. I would like to explore the beaches more though.

LaFuga, QueFiga, Marseille, Italian Riviera

Be prepared...this is a long post!


So here are some pics...more added frequently...
https://picasaweb.google.com/116796398801334726146/MONVENTOUX?authkey=Gv1sRgCPHP567rqZ_yyAE&feat=directlink
Here are lafuga's pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002211@N03/sets/72157626844695843/

These are pics of my experience working for LaFuga.cc on Mon Ventoux in France. One of the most famous climbs in all of cycling. It's on the Tour De France every year, and one man who died, Tom Simpson, of which there is a memorial at the top: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Ventoux#Tour_de_France

The LaFuga Experience:
So I was "hired" on Tuesday and started on Wednesday night. Left Tuscany at www.peraltatuscany.com on Tuesday afternoon and went to Chiavari, then got on train on Wednesday morning and went all the way to Nice StAugustin.
The border at Ventimiglia/France was somewhat chaotic. It was just four Gendarmes standing at the top of the stairs leading down and back up to the other tracks. Anyone dark, ethnic or out of the mainstream was stopped. I was used to checkpoints with the huge brumblebeard...but this time I was waved through without a second glance!

A few hours later at a tiny stop in France I got out and called Gregg who was running a little late due to traffic. So I watched the lighting and listened to the thunder as it slowly passed from my left to my right. A huge Fiat Ducato rolled up with a 12 bike roof rack. We then had a little wait at the airport for Ross, one of the directors and then headed up to a town near Grasse where the HQ is located.

I think Gregg mentioned the movie "Ronin" which was shot in the area, and from then on it reminded me heavily of the movie. A handful of people go to a remote town in France and plan their "Attack" on the area. It was just a bicycle attack, but when I arrived all the bikes, bike parts, radios, computers, cell phones and other gear, along with two vans and a trailer made it seem real. And it made want to save up and do one of their tours!!!

So after some FNG (effin new guy) tasks like scrubbing the van and doing the dishes and putting together welcome packets we got to bed.

Next morning was more moving stuff around and packing the vans. I got shirts from there, which are awesome! Then we went to the airport to pick up an irishman, a brit and a brit lady...sounds like the start of a joke. Well the joke was on me. I had to navigate from the airport to Carpentras and they had a TomTom but I'd never used it and it's wayyyy to user-friendly and retarded, and so after some awkward silences and Ross grabbing the map I ended up taking the scenic route on a secondary highway which was actually very scenic, but added some time to the trip. I HATE NAVIGATION UNITS! THEY WILL MAKE US ALL RETARDED! THROW YOURS AWAY!!!

Once at the place we used the roof terrace to build up the clients bikes. The clients were mostly top level people from the company and a few manufacturing floor and sales rep type of people as well. All the clients really enjoyed all the bikes and talking to us guides and everyone was playing with their bikes and talking cycling. After that was dinner down the street.

okay this is getting a bit boring. On to the big day...the Mon Ventoux Climb for Life! Which is a funny name because you'll nearly die in the process. The goal was to go up and down the mountain three times from three different routes. Everyone met their goals and had a great time. It was a little rushed for us because there were only two vehicles and three guides, which meant once things got spread out it was tough to keep everything together...I ended up loaning out all my warm clothes at the top and getting newspapers to stuff under people's jersey's so they'd keep warm on the descent. Also at the top there were too many people and bikes for one of the vans. So I volunteered (such a sacrificial lamb I am) to take myself and a lafuga bike down the hill. I should mention that the lafuga bikes are carbon fiber specialized models with full Ultegra...niiiiiiice.

Then after everyone went back up and past me at chalet reynard, which is about 6km from the top, ended up riding up with the last two riders to help cheer them on. This was all done on a tiny frame with some sandals and rolled up jeans...very classy, very professional, very Portland.

At the big celebration that night Chris, who had crashed on the way back after the summit ended up being the awards presenter. He was fucking absolutely nut crushingly hilarious. I want an iPhone app that's like those old dolls. You pull the string and then Chris just says something. Only I want the 10,000 phrase full Chris database in it though!

After the trip I had no plans...no idea about France etc. I ended up hanging with one of the clients from the trip and crashing on the floor of his hotel room in Marseille, and sitting at the beach all day with topless women. The air was hot as hell and the water was cold as fucking hell. After two days of that I decided back to Chiavari to plan my next mission...Barcelona...eastern europe...and by the way, Chiavari ain't bad either!

The dilley and his toes in Chiavari...

The Mont Ventoux

This is where I'll be working! Famous! woohoo!

http://www.grenoblecycling.com/MontVentoux.htm

Sent from my iPhone

DREAM BIKE JOB HAS COME THROUGH!!!

So today I got the call from www.lafugia.cc, and I am headed to Nice, France tomorrow where I'll be picked up. I'm going to be doing support for a unique bike tour that starts Thursday! He said this tour will be just support, but he has other tours from now until July 20th that will need riders, and so I will get my chance! WOO HOO!

Below is the team from Peralta...Laura, who made the best lunches in the world...in fact I lived for the lunches at Peralta, which she would begin cooking that morning or even the night before. I don't know where I'll find better cooking and more abuse than from Laura! The wine was amazing (I'm drinking some now), and Kate who is intelligent in all things and super gracious and has a wonderful, witty and sharp sense of humor. Dina (spelling?) who is the owner of the place that took it over from the previous owner a famous artist Fiore de Henriquez (her work is all over the hamlet) is wonderfully English and put up with me for almost two weeks! And of course Laurie who brought me to the place and is responsible for me being able to actually work there!!

Thanks to all!!

lightning has struck!

last night i was up reading and could hear CRACK.....BOOM! and what started as four seconds delay between lightning and thunder ended up as less than one, and lightning shattered the top of the tower just less than 50ft from my room!
cptrs were annihilated but my iphone survived!

Just working along!

I had my first paycheck in Italy...and work has been demanding, only when i have been extremely hungover!

Mostly I've been powerblasting this "Medieval Hamlet" called Peralta...occasionally hauling luggage and trash, and cleaning the pool as well. I've been a tan and able bodied pool boy...too bad there are no available milfs on site to complete the entire pool boy fantasy, doh!

I start work at a summer camp for kids learning english on the 16th, and I still havent heard about the bike touring company that was to hire me to go through the french alps with them...sob sob sob...

But I did reconnect with an old friend that is off and on in Roma, who would love to show me around for a few days! So I may do that before I head off to camp.

Sorry no pics...not using my own computer, but I will try to post some later...And yes, I am an uncle, and everything seems okay, Dave has still had the opportunity to ride his bike, and the baby has been sleeping alright, and seems healthy. So all is well in the world I guess?

Oh, and I have had fantastic lunches everyday, that I simply live for, as I am surrounded by interesting, usually british company and Laura spends all morning preparing them...and this week she is cooking dinners as well! I am so full just thinking about it!

Ciao!