In London Heathrow Airport

Jonathan "Is there an airport in this shopping mall?"

Sheryl "I don't know but they sure know marketing, after the three levels of security you land in a huge liquor store."

Jonathan "Oh look, and they have a bar in here."

Sheryl "wow, and free samples... Go for the bar go for the bar!"

Jonathan "You are your mothers daughter."

FW:

We started the day with a bìke tour.
Then found a pub for lunch, and went to the theater this evening.
We've spent more in 2.5 days in London than we did in 2 weeks in France. We wish we could stay for a few more days... But I can't wait to snuggle the new baby!
-S

FW:

We missed our train to London yesterday so we were stuck in the train station for a few hours... grr. But last night we saw 'Wìcked' and it was amazing!

Today we went to Westminster Abby. It's more of an inside grave yard than anything. We went to communion there and it was weird recieving Christ while standing on a grave.
We also had afternoon tea, it was posh. And we did a little shopping. The exchange rate is killing us but we're only here for a few days so we are just getting over it.

I hope every one is well. Love,
-Sheryl

What I'll miss about Paris...

We're very sad to go today. Breakfast consists of a chocolaté croissant covered with powered sugar and almonds. YUM!!!

This is our last evening in Paris. Yesterday we went to a medieval museum, Musee Cluny.

And we went to mass at Notre Dame.

Here in Paris I've discovered my new favorite food... nutella crepes!

Today we slept in a bit and then headed out to see the Eiffel tower. It took us forever to get there and it looked exactly the same as it did the last time I saw it.

We've done a little shopping and had lots of coffee. And I don't know where people get that the French are rude to Americans, everyone here has been extremely helpful and kind. This keyboard is a pain, the letters are in the wrong places which makes typing slow. That's about all I can find to complain about.

In the morning we head to London for a few days before returning home. We have tickets to see "Wicked" a musical about how the wicked witch of the west (from the wizard of OZ) became the wicked witch. We are planning on having high tea at some point, seeing Buckingham palace, Westminster abby, and possibly the London zoo. It all depends on how tired we are and what all we can cram into 3 days.

- Sheryl

PBP Pictures

Marlene ready to start.



Becky coming into a control!



Marlene climbing into the control!



She's still able to fake a smile and look good, even when she's miserable :-)



Control at Brest, the 1/2 way mark.



Sheryl soaking swolen feet in the cold ocean at Brest.



Crew on day 4, all very tired!

In the Suburbs

Now the vacation begins! Yesterday we picked Marlene up from the hotel and bid farewell to the crazy bike people and Marlene and I spent a few hours at a spa. It was lovely! We had massages and floated in hot water for a while, it felt so good after spending 4 days crammed into a car.

Last night we went up stairs and had appetizers with the neighbors who are wonderful. We gave the kids our leftover glow sticks and Marlene still had some stickers that she gave them, they were thrilled.

This morning the market came to the street. We literally had to walk out the front door to shop. It totally rocked. They had all kids of clothes, shoes, & kitchen things, not to mention all the fresh meats, vegetables, & fruits you can imagine. We got a fresh roasted chicken, although it wasn't nearly as fresh as the turkey we saw during PBP, it was still clucking! Really.

We got Marlene off to London and walked around down town a bit. Both Jonathan & Marlene drove in down town Paris which is one of those things that you should avoid at all costs, but they both did great and we're all still alive. Everyone here has been totally great. We haven't had anyone be rude to us and what little broken French we can speak. Jonathan is picking it up quick and now that we don't have Marlene here to speak it for us we're braving it our selves. The hard part is how things look and how they sound are completely different, it's like they do that just to mess with us.

Other than that though the French really do have some things here that make so much sense. Like round-a-bouts. If you miss your turn you just drive in a circle and you get another chance. And the toilets have a half flush button to save water. And public transportation, you don't even have to own a car. The rental car had a navigation system in it that we figured out, even though we speak different languages, and it made finding the house so easy. It also helped to find the actual controls during PBP because we had a street name but that was it.

Time to rest a bit before dinner.

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Becky finished!
It was a hard night and the first time she consitered quiting but she gutted it out.

Her knee is swollen and she can hardly walk because of saddle sores but she's still smiling.

Back in Paris...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, my cell phone ran out of juice so I had to wait until we got back to the hotel and got some sleep.

Becky is till out there riding! She missed one time cut off but they told her she could keep going so we don't know if she's going to be officially cut because of that or if it's okay. I guess we'll see when she arrives in Paris but either way she will have ridden 750 miles!!! She's amazing... and a bit delirious right now too. She's not riding alone, it's just a battle against the clock now. They had some time to make up.

The weather has been miserable, wet and cold almost the whole time. I think we've seen the sun for a total of 5 hours in the last 90 hours.

The DNF (do not finish) rate it SO high. As of 2 nights ago 1,000 of the 5,000 riders had quit and that was before 2 more nights of rain.

Verson is about to finish any min! We've been providing some support for him when we see him. He's going to be hurting for a while, this is just so bad. At some point yesterday he looked at me and said, "you know I don't think the body is meant to do this." I made some kind of "no shit" comment. I didn't have to try this to know that!

Yesterday in the car was a bit more cramped because we had Marlene's bike but it was more entertaining because we had Marlene. At one of the checkpoints when we knew we had hours to wait we found some wine and food and broke into it in the car. As we were sipping our 3 euro bottle of wine from little plastic cups one of the officials directing traffic looked at us and shook his finger as if to say, "that's bad" We were caught red handed. Oops! Then we offered him some and he immediately gave up his job directing cars, bikes, and pedestrians to join us... and then one of his comrades joined us too. They spoke little English but it was easy to understand what they were saying. They had been working for hours and hadn't slept much. We made quite the scene with all the people standing around, it was fun.


Later as I was walking up into the control to find Becky I saw our new friends again. One of them, Joseph, offered me his arm and then paraded me around showing me off to all of his friends. It was clearly the highlight of his day and it was hysterical, he was like a giddy school boy who just got a date with the most popular girl. They bought Marlene and I drinks and we sat around and chatted a bit. Me speaking little French, them speaking little English but I followed most of the conversation and the language barrier wasn't much of a barrier.

Now there's just to get these riders finished and rested. We didn't get much sleep over the last few days. We took turns driving and sleeping in the car. All of us got a bit cranky at some point but we handled it well. It's going to take us a few days to recover.

I think it's time for another nap.

-Sheryl





Marlene is doing great, and she feels good about her decision:













I guess a little chocolate is good for the soul.

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This is by far the stupidest thing we've ever done... yes dad, stupider than sky diving.
Becky is doing great.
Her knees hurt a bit. It's raining again and very cold. 20 percent of the people have quit and there's still a long way to go.

This is so stupid.

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This is Marlene's bike in the back of the car.
I'm so proud of her for deciding to stop suffering. She warn't having any fun and now that she's dropped out she's much happier.
I only know a few people that are physically stronger than her and it takes a different kind of strength to do what she did. She's the strongest person i know. Marlene rode 364.5 K in 23 hours. She
was riding well, passing people on climbs and enjoying the descents, it just wast fun.
And I can't even tell you how many people are praying for some big mechanical failure just so they have an excuse to quit. The
DNF rate is going to be huge.

We all slept some last night. There were 5 of us piled in the tinest hotel room ever but we made it work.

Marlene is staying there, a bit sore but not so miserable or cranky anymore, while Jonathan and i continue to chase Becky to Brest... In the rain.

Becky is a bit delirious but still riding strong. She's still remarkably up beat and i have yet to here her complain about anything. I'm completly amazed, especially considering that all i want to do is whine and i'm not even on a bike. I'm holding up fine though. Becky's biggest challenge now is the clock. The bad weather has slowed everyone up.

As Verson was putting on his wet cycling clothes this morning he smiled and said, 'I think I'll ride to Brest and back today.' he's remarkably chipper too.

Today starts the real climbing and we're praying for good weather. The wind is strong but if the rain will hold off it will make a big difference. Almost half way there.

For those of you who know my frend Beth, she had the baby on the 2øth at 6:43 pm! Kate weighs 7 lbs.
Mum and baby are both healthy.
Welcome to the world little one, you have no idea how excited I am to meet you!

Welcome baby Kate! (One of my best friends Beth, just had her baby. http://noseinear.blogspot.com) Kate Reyburn Henkelmen was born yesterd

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This is a tall coffee in France.

The good news:
Every one is still pedaling. The sun is finally starting to come out. The forcast in Brest looks good. The French people have all been wonderful.

The bad news:
Last night was miserable, fucking miserable. I wanted to quit because of how wet and cold i was, it was horific. And tonight is forcasted to be the same. And they're only 1/2 way through the first third of this thing.

Other news:
The rain slowed everyone down so our girls are chasing the clock, i think they'll be fine though.

Jonathan and i are doing ok now. We've had a nap and gotten out our wet clothes.

-s

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Verson, Marlene, and E at the last supper. They decided to skip the chaos of the organized meal and eat at the hotel.

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We're at the first control. It rained a bit at the start but it's clear now, just a little cold. Every one was in good spirits leaving the hotel. We tried to sleep some when we got here but then the riders started showing up so i don't think it's going to happen until the next one.

one more thing

Sheryl here again,
it's been pissing rain for the last few days. So much that they canceled the bike check yesterday. There's rumor that it will take place at the start but we have no idea how that would work. The weather is looking ok so far today, but it says it's going to rain for the next 2 nights.

pray for good weather

I'm at a real computer typing this, but the keyboard is all wonky.

We're about to head out soon. Everyone is in prety good spirits. Marlene is nervous but she's still eating! She's gotten quiet and Becky can't hold still, she's all over the place.

Start time is officially 9:30 (2:30 state side) I think after the craziness of today we're just leaving from the hotel. The last few days have consisted of walking 6+ miles, and getting lost in the town here. We're out in the boonies and a cab to get anywhere is about 20 bucks. We've just come to accept that we're going to get lost, we get lost everywhere, that's just how it is. We're just choosing to laugh at ourselves, it's all we can really do.

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This is the strangest thing we've seen so far, a bamboo bike. As if riding 750 miles isn't enough, this guy has to do it riding grass.

Today was lots of sleeping and meeting Becky, the other person we're supporting. When she told us that she's planning to stow away in the bike room her last night here, we knew that we would get along just fine. :-)

After 30 hours of planes, trains, and automobiles, we have finally arrived! Marlene is having fun exploring Paris.

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It's not every day you get this kind of greeting! They thought we might have a flat tire, so they sent out the cavalry when we landed in Chicago. Everything turned out OK. Off to London, Baby!

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Bags all packed and ready to go.

Test 2

Trying out the mobile posting feature.

Ready to go?

1:00am
The bags are packed, and we are just attending to some last minute details. Thank goodness it's a long flight to London.

Where do you get stamps at 1:00am?